0:00

Every now and then

0:00

podcast inspiration can strike

0:03

and give you the best idea

0:03

you've ever had. And once you

0:06

have this amazing idea, it can

0:06

be difficult to decide whether

0:10

to create a second podcast, or

0:10

quit the first podcast

0:14

altogether and run with a new

0:14

idea. Or maybe integrate it into

0:18

your current podcast, or what if

0:18

you rebrand your current

0:22

podcast? There's just so many

0:22

possibilities. I'm Jordan, host

0:26

of Podcasting Q&A, where we

0:26

answer your questions about how

0:28

to start, grow and monetize a

0:28

podcast.

0:37

This week's question is from Kelly.

0:39

Hello, this is Kelly

0:39

McWilliams from this versus that

0:43

wedding decisions with Kelly

0:43

McWilliams. I just finished

0:46

recently season three of my

0:46

first podcast. In the meantime,

0:51

I've come up with a second

0:51

podcast idea that I think will

0:55

actually do even better than my

0:55

original. My question is in two

0:59

part one, how can I best use my

0:59

first and original podcasts to

1:05

make a success of my second

1:05

podcast? They're within the same

1:09

industry and going to be the

1:09

same listenership. Second,

1:14

should I continue having both

1:14

podcasts if the new one does so

1:20

much better than the original?

1:20

Like, I'm totally open to

1:23

keeping both going. But what I

1:23

do better just having the one

1:27

and putting all of my focus

1:27

there. Thank you so much.

1:31

Great question, Kelly.

1:31

To help me answer it. I've

1:34

invited Baader Milligan, who you

1:34

might recognize from the

1:37

Buzzsprout YouTube channel, and

1:37

is a host of the short box

1:40

podcast. Father, thank you so

1:40

much for coming on the podcast.

1:43

Jordan, it is my pleasure

1:43

to be here. Thank you so much.

1:45

Kelly's question, I'm

1:45

actually very excited about this

1:48

question, because you can sense

1:48

in her voice the excitement at

1:52

this new idea. Like you can tell

1:52

she's really sitting on

1:55

something good. So I think we

1:55

can start out with her first

1:58

question, which is basically,

1:58

how can she leverage her current

2:01

podcast to make the new podcast

2:01

successful? Honestly, the fact

2:06

that her podcast is the same

2:06

topic and the same listenership

2:10

is a huge advantage to

2:10

leveraging your current podcast.

2:13

Yeah, so first of all,

2:13

congrats to Kelly. I mean,

2:16

that's, it's a lot of work to

2:16

just do one podcast, but to also

2:21

be able to say, like, you know,

2:21

you've been so successful, the

2:23

first one that, you know, you're

2:23

thinking about spinning off, or

2:26

even launching a second one,

2:26

there's not a lot of podcasters

2:28

out there that can they can

2:28

claim that. So, you know,

2:31

congratulations to Kelly,

2:31

that's, that's awesome. So I

2:34

would say that, I think she's in

2:34

a in a really good position,

2:37

like you were saying, you know,

2:37

if her two podcasts are dealing

2:40

with the same industry, you

2:40

know, I think it's safe to

2:43

assume it's gonna have very

2:43

similar audiences. And I'd

2:45

almost say like, you know, I

2:45

would recommend that she uses

2:49

her first show. And maybe even

2:49

the second one right for like, I

2:53

think there's a lot of branding

2:53

and marketing opportunities,

2:55

especially since both shows are

2:55

going to be aimed at the same

2:57

like target audience. And I

2:57

would almost encourage her to

3:02

add, she's building the hype and

3:02

getting the word out for the

3:05

second one, to possibly, you

3:05

know, promote herself, right.

3:08

Like, this is a big deal like

3:08

you spinning off, she's kind of

3:11

like grunt won't say, I think a

3:11

network is far too early to say

3:14

right now. But having two

3:14

podcasts that are in sync, I

3:17

think gives you a lot of really

3:17

cool branding and marketing

3:20

opportunities. And I think if

3:20

she was to promote herself by,

3:23

say, like running an ad, and her

3:23

first podcast to promote the new

3:27

one, you know, something along

3:27

the lines of like, Hey, if you

3:29

enjoy this show, and me talking

3:29

about, you know, the wedding

3:31

industry, then you'll enjoy my

3:31

new show where I really dive

3:34

into, you know, this nuance are

3:34

this topic here. I think there's

3:39

a great way of having that

3:39

synergy. And like using both

3:41

shows to feed into one another.

3:43

Yeah, I completely agree

3:43

with you. And I think that this

3:46

is maybe even a good opportunity

3:46

for using something like dynamic

3:51

content insertion, such as like

3:51

what Yes, Buzzsprout has, where

3:54

you can do a promotion at the

3:54

beginning of your episode

3:57

dynamically inserted into all of

3:57

your previous episodes,

4:00

especially if your contents

4:00

evergreen, and you might have

4:03

listeners, going back to like

4:03

some of your first episodes,

4:05

create a promo saying, Hey, if

4:05

you love this, definitely go

4:09

check out this new podcast, I've

4:09

done something like that, and

4:13

then dynamically inserted into

4:13

all of your back catalogue so

4:16

that anyone who is a new

4:16

listener, or just getting caught

4:19

up on your older episodes, is

4:19

able to hear that announcement

4:23

prior to doing a baked in

4:23

promotion, maybe in the intro or

4:28

housekeeping section of your

4:28

latest episode. So I think that

4:32

that is a really good option.

4:34

Well said, and that is a

4:34

excellent suggestion, because it

4:37

saves. It's like working

4:37

smarter, right? Like, it sounds

4:41

like you know, she's been doing it for a while. So I'm gonna assume she's got a lot of back

4:42

catalogue episodes. So it's an

4:46

opportunity to use that back

4:46

catalogue to promote like this,

4:49

this new thing, right? Whether

4:49

an episode has been a year old

4:52

or two years old, you still can

4:52

use that as a means to

4:54

communicate this new thing that

4:54

you got going on, because you

4:57

never know where someone might

4:57

start. You know, there's folks

4:59

that's or at the newest episode,

4:59

they might go to a specific one

5:04

because you had a guest or a

5:04

topic. And then there's the

5:07

outliers who start from episode

5:07

one and there goes work all the

5:10

way up. I think that's your

5:10

point, leveraging, you know,

5:13

automatic ads, you know, the

5:13

dynamic ads you make like to

5:16

spread that announcement out is

5:16

a great idea.

5:19

Something else that she

5:19

talked about, she did briefly

5:22

mention, I just finished my

5:22

third season of this podcast,

5:27

right? Impressive. Yeah. And

5:27

then she has an idea for a

5:30

second thing. And what kind of

5:30

came to mind for me is if it's

5:34

the same topic, and the same

5:34

listenership, this could be a

5:39

really good opportunity for a

5:39

rebrand of your current podcast.

5:43

So maybe start season four, with

5:43

a rebrand and you can do an

5:48

announcement, we actually have a

5:48

Buzzsprout video and a blog

5:53

about how to rebrand your

5:53

podcast. Buzzsprout has done it

5:56

successfully, we went from five

5:56

minute Mondays to Podcasting

6:00

Q&A, which was the smart thing

6:00

for us to do. Because by Mondays

6:06

didn't make any sense. But there

6:06

is an opportunity here for

6:11

rebrand, especially in between

6:11

seasons, and you could drop an

6:15

episode saying like, I'm

6:15

actually going to be pivoting my

6:19

podcast to this topic, and you

6:19

know, changing up the name

6:22

changing up the premise of the

6:22

podcast, but you're gonna love

6:25

it, because it's still about

6:25

this topic that you enjoy.

6:28

Exactly. Yeah, I don't

6:28

think your audience would get

6:31

annoyed by that, like, by you,

6:31

like, kind of, like hammering in

6:35

that announcement, and really

6:35

sharing that and pushing that

6:37

because it sounds like you know,

6:37

three seasons, and you've seen

6:41

enough success to launch a

6:41

second one, I think they would

6:44

want to hear like more. I mean,

6:44

clearly, you know, going by, by

6:47

what we know, so far, I think

6:47

safe to assume her listeners

6:50

would want more of what she's

6:50

providing.

6:55

All right. So the second

6:55

part of her question is

6:57

basically saying, Should I

6:57

continue having both or just

7:00

focus on the better idea? And

7:00

that's the whole thing is you

7:04

you get this sense from her,

7:04

that she's so excited that she's

7:09

like, Oh, should I continue with

7:09

the old one, or go with the

7:12

better new one? And so I kind of

7:12

feel like this answers the

7:16

question for her.

7:18

My immediate thought, as

7:18

someone who has recently, I

7:21

think last year is when we when

7:21

I launched a second podcast, but

7:25

that one was just more so for

7:25

fun, right? I don't have a

7:27

Patreon attached to it, or a lot

7:27

of like, risk or responsibility.

7:31

Like, it's just for fun, it's

7:31

completely different thing. And

7:34

this question kind of resonates

7:34

with me, it's got me thinking a

7:37

lot about, you know, my own, you

7:37

know, situation. And what I'll

7:40

share is, I think, at the

7:40

moment, I would advise sticking

7:43

with both until it doesn't make

7:43

doesn't make sense to have to,

7:47

like if one is is at some point

7:47

clearly outperforming the other,

7:50

and there's more opportunity to

7:50

grow or whether that'd be

7:53

sponsorships or monetization or

7:53

growing like the following. Then

7:57

I say make that call down the

7:57

line. But if if you've got it

8:00

and you to run two shows, I say

8:00

go for it. And don't cut the

8:04

other one off until like, you've

8:04

really kind of had a chance to

8:07

gauge the interest and success

8:07

of the second one, I do

8:10

see where you're coming

8:10

from. And basically, she just

8:13

needs to be aware of the

8:13

considerations that you know, if

8:16

you do have two podcasts, you're

8:16

going to have to host to

8:21

podcasts, you're going to have

8:21

to dedicate time to to podcasts,

8:24

you're gonna have to manage

8:24

socials, for to podcasts, and

8:28

try to monetize to podcasts. And

8:28

it's almost like a separate

8:32

thing. And so I think that's

8:32

definitely something to

8:34

consider. And my concern for her

8:34

is that she's so excited about

8:40

this new idea that it's like,

8:40

palpable. And I'm kind of

8:44

wondering if she's just gonna,

8:44

like, run with it and be like,

8:46

This is so much better. It's so

8:46

fun. I'm enjoying this so much

8:50

more that the current podcast

8:50

she has might just kind of like

8:55

fade into the background. So I'm

8:55

kind of circling back to the

8:59

idea of like, maybe a rebrand as

8:59

opposed to doing a second

9:03

podcast idea. But yeah, it's

9:03

definitely something she's gonna

9:07

have to consider is if she can

9:07

tie in both. Can she make the

9:11

new podcast idea actually, like

9:11

maybe a segment or like a type

9:16

of episode, there's podcasts

9:16

that will do an episode every

9:21

other week. And then, like, once

9:21

a month, they have like a

9:24

special episode or maybe once a

9:24

week, they have a special

9:27

episode that is a little bit

9:27

different from their current

9:30

format. So I wonder if she could

9:30

do something like that, too.

9:35

I like that. So you're

9:35

basically suggesting maybe test

9:37

the waters out instead of

9:37

launching a full blown second

9:40

podcast, kind of test the waters

9:40

out and see like what the

9:43

reception will be right like to

9:43

your point whether and I really

9:47

liked the rebrand angle, the

9:47

more I'm thinking about it,

9:50

that's a that's a pretty unique

9:50

way. If there's a way to combine

9:53

both concepts and ideas. I think

9:53

a rebrand is a smart way to go.

9:57

But if she's, you know,

9:57

dedicated to launching a Second

10:00

one, for whatever reason, I

10:00

think you could kind of get a

10:03

feelers out there by like, like

10:03

you said, having a special spin

10:06

off episode or, you know, like

10:06

rebranding those episodes in a

10:09

certain way, and gauging the

10:09

interest there before really

10:12

diving in. Because to your

10:12

point, it's, you know, like I

10:15

said, you know, running one

10:15

podcast and seeing it succeed,

10:19

especially for running three

10:19

seasons. That's no small feat,

10:22

you know, so think about all the

10:22

work that you've probably

10:25

already put in, in this first

10:25

one. And now the thing that

10:28

you've got to like, multiply,

10:28

yeah, it's a, it's not a

10:31

consideration, I would say take

10:31

lightly. And you know, really

10:34

kind of think about your passion

10:34

and, and you know, if your

10:37

heart's really in it, but I will

10:37

say if to podcasts does make

10:41

sense, I would highly advise

10:41

really taking a look at your

10:44

workflow, working smarter,

10:44

right, like seeing how you can

10:47

save yourself from doing double

10:47

the work. And if maybe you can

10:50

follow the same workflow or be

10:50

able to, you know, batch record

10:53

and stuff like that, I think if

10:53

if you go to the to podcast

10:56

route, you've really got to

10:56

think about how you're going to

11:00

approach doing the work for both.

11:01

You know, and speaking

11:01

of working smarter, and not

11:05

necessarily harder...you think

11:05

about with podcasts how hard it

11:10

is, to grow a podcast, and to

11:10

get a podcast audience is

11:14

brutal, sometimes, especially

11:14

depending on your niche. So it's

11:18

kind of like cutting the corner

11:18

of finding another audience or

11:23

trying to migrate your current

11:23

audience over to this new

11:27

podcast, if she were to somehow

11:27

incorporate the new podcast idea

11:32

as a bonus episode, like a

11:32

weekly bonus episode, or monthly

11:36

bonus episode or something like

11:36

that. And then just slowly move

11:41

into a rebrand direction or into

11:41

another podcast direction, if

11:45

she does decide to like split

11:45

them off. But it's kind of nice,

11:50

because you're just kind of like

11:50

ushering your podcast audience

11:55

into this new idea, as opposed

11:55

to like trying to coax them to

11:59

come with you over to this other

11:59

channel.

12:03

Agree. Yeah. And that's I

12:03

couldn't imagine trying to

12:06

convince my current audience for

12:06

the short box to follow me into

12:10

like the I mean, I'm kind of

12:10

experiencing that. Now. Granted,

12:13

it's like two separate subjects.

12:13

But it's a lot more challenging

12:17

than you think to retrain

12:17

essentially, your listeners

12:20

actions and like kind of

12:20

routine, right? Like they're

12:23

used to going to this particular

12:23

feed that she got, listen to

12:27

your episodes. I know like the

12:27

show drops here to train them to

12:30

also do like, you know, a second

12:30

show or go in a different route.

12:34

It can it can be challenging to

12:34

your point. Yeah, absolutely. I

12:38

would almost say what we've

12:38

shared so far. I personally,

12:41

really liked the idea of testing

12:41

the waters with special

12:44

episodes, and getting a feeler

12:44

there and making that final

12:48

judgment, whether you'd launch a

12:48

second show based on that, see

12:51

what the performance is on that

12:51

kind of zip your big toe into

12:55

the water and see like if it's

12:55

worth going, adding more work,

12:59

which you're already doing. I

12:59

think going to rebrand route is

13:02

a safe bet for now. Best of

13:02

luck, Kelly and you know, once

13:06

again, congratulations on

13:06

success, regardless of what

13:09

option you go, I think you're

13:09

gonna do great.

13:11

Yeah, she's gonna nail

13:11

it. Well, thank you so much for

13:14

joining me on this episode of

13:14

Podcasting, Q&A. botter I

13:17

appreciate you taking time out

13:17

of your day to join me for this.

13:21

This was awesome. Thank you so much, Jordan.

13:24

I hope this episode of

13:24

Podcasting Q&A has been helpful

13:27

to you. If you have a question

13:27

you'd like us to answer on a

13:31

future episode, go to

13:31

podinbox.com/buzzsprout or click

13:35

the link in the show notes to

13:35

leave us an audio message. And

13:38

as always, Keep podcasting.