How to Smartly Invest in Your Podcast

Hours Categories Growth

I like to think about podcast growth as traveling cross country. You could technically do it for free — pretty much. You can walk, find free public transportation, or hitch the occasional ride.

But it will take a long time, and you’re not in control of your time. If you want to get there faster, invest in a bike or a car. Or better yet, a plane ticket.

If You Want Your Podcast to Grow, Invest in it

The same thing goes for podcasting. Yes…you can do it for pretty much free. But that means you’re doing everything yourself or you’re skipping crucial things.

The other day I tweet:

https://twitter.com/jcasabona/status/1543576297108127745

I sincerely believe that. Investing a little money to add a feature or take something off your plate can go a long way. Like renting a car, or flying, instead of walking.

But what should you invest in? Here are 4 areas where you can invest in your podcast that will help you grow your show.

Hire an Editor

When you invest in your podcast, one of the things you should get back is time. So pick the activities that take up all of your time. For me, it bar-none was editing.

If you’re anything like me, you hate editing. It takes a long time, and you’re probably overly critical of yourself, which means you’re heavy-handed.

And while it’s true that some editors cost hundreds of dollars per episode, some cost around $50 per episode.

My recommendation: head over to Fiverr or Upwork and see if you can find someone who will do good cleanup work for you.

Podcast Booster Blueprint

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I’ve made the argument for podcast transcripts before. They are accessible, convenient, and they help SEO. Many podcasters skip them because they are expensive, but do so at their own peril.

In that same article, I outline how to do transcripts. Some folks will use a tools like Descript and then fix them — but they are spending their time in the wrong place.

My recommendation: Use Fiverr or Upwork again. I’ve found some fantastic transcribers there. They are more affordable than Rev, and produce a better transcript. You’re looking at about $50-70, and it’s totally worth it, especially now that podcast platforms are starting to support them natively.

Repurpose Content for Other Platforms

One of the drawbacks of podcasting is there’s not really a single place for people to go and listen like there is for YouTube. As a result, you have Apple Podcasts and Spotify accounting for 60-70% of downloads, and a mishmash of lesser-known apps for the other 30%. So how can you combat this? You repurpose content.

You can create audio clips to share on social media, have episodes repurposed into blog posts, and convert the audio into a video format to upload on YouTube.

There are lots of companies that offer services like this, ranging from $250 to a $1000 per month.

My recommendation: pick a couple of platforms you want to repurpose to and focus on those. If you decide to do audio clips, for example, you can likely hire someone who specializes in that for much less than $1000/mo.

Promote your podcast with affordable ads

Organic traffic isn’t the only way to grow your podcast. I’ve experimented with paid ads and have has some success. You can do it for as little as $100 and it can lead to a nice boost in downloads.

I would make sure the latest episodes are especially good, with a super clear CTA to capture the audience.

My recommendation: Check out places like Buzzsprout Ads, Overcast, and Castro to do paid ads. Set a budget, and experiment a little. I had especially good success with Overcast!

What Should You Do Next?

As you make these money investments to free up your time and grow your show, it’s time to re-invest your time into the things that matter:

  1. Finding and researching good guests (if you do interviews)
  2. Building a better format
  3. Finding sponsors
  4. Building a product you can sell.
  5. Growing your mailing list!

I’ve been able to grow my podcast to one in the top 2% of podcasts because of the investments I made above. What can you do if you invest just a little bit of money?

Here are some of the best automations for your podcast.

You want to free up your time but you don’t know what’s possible — so here’s 40+ automation templates to get you started.

Download them for free below!

Ana

Related

  • How to pitch your podcast to year-end “best of” lists

    Hours Categories Growth, Tips

    🚨 Guest post alert! I’m SUPER excited to be sharing with you an article from Tink Media and Podcast Marketing Magic. I love this advice because it’s great for the best-of lists, but it applied any time you pitch yourself! If you want more tips on how to get people to listen to the beautiful show you’re making, subscribe to Podcast Marketing Magic!

    With the end of the year nearing, apps and podcast newsletter writers are creating some version of 2023 “Best Of” podcast lists (You can check out Tink’s Audio Delicacies 2023, our delicious end-of-year list, here). Getting on these lists can be great to boost the listenership of your show! 

    Today, let’s look at how to pitch your podcast to get on these lists. 

    Curators of these lists will start making them soon, if they haven’t already begun. So get your pitching gear ready and let’s get this show on the road. 

    But, first…

    If you only have time for one thing 

    Word of advice: if you can find a podcast list and/or writer that’s more specific to your genre, pitch them. For example – if you have an audio fiction show, you’re better off pitching to be an audio fiction list than a broader podcast one. 

    Let’s begin! 

    How to pitch your podcast to a “best of” list 

    Begin with research 

    ✅ Start by creating a list of what publications and journalists typically create end-of-year lists. 

    ✅ Create a list of 10-15 publications and/or writers you want to include on your outreach.

    ✅ Make careful note of what they’ve called their lists in the past and what kind of podcasts and/or episodes have they included. 

    ✅ Cast a wide net and go deeper. A simple Google search is a good place to start. However, look beyond the first page to see what comes up. Often, the first page throws lists made by bigger publications. These are not bad to include on your outreach list but they might not all be relevant to you.

    Pick where your listeners might be 

    The very same Google search for “podcast best of list 2022” brings up lists created by bigger publications such as The Guardian or The Atlantic. Now, for independent and/or new creators in the audience, these can be daunting places to start. So while you should pitch yourself to these publications, you might be better off finding places and writers that are more specific to your genre. For example: if your podcast is about food, pitching to food publications might be more relevant than to The New Yorker.

    If you’re running short on time, we recommend: 

    ✅ Creating a general pitch to send to the bigger publications. 

    ✅ Creating pitch templates which you can then customize for publications that are more relevant to your genre and audience. 

    💡 Pro-tip: prioritize pitching to podcast newsletters over generic media publications. The audiences of those newsletters are already podcast listeners and have a higher chance of tuning into your show, as compared to readers of generic media publications.

    Give them your why

    Every good pitch includes a clear, concise, and customized why. Be sure to include: 

    ✅ Why did you choose them to pitch to? 

    ✅ Why should they choose you for their list? 

    ✅ Why should their readers/listeners know about your podcast?

    Include your best episodes

    Podcast “best of” lists could be either curations of complete podcasts or just single episodes. Either way, it’s always best to pitch a specific episode so that the person making the decision knows exactly what to tune into. Here are a few things to keep in mind: 

    ✅ Include your trailer. 

    ✅ Depending on whether your show is serialized or episodic, include your first or best episode. 

    💡 Pro-tip: your best episode might not mean the episode you had most fun creating. It could be the one that has the highest number of downloads or most listener engagement. When in doubt, put yourself in a new listener’s shoes and pick the episode you think they might enjoy the most. 

    ✅ If you’re a serialized podcast with a lot of episodes on your feed (for example: a TTRPG podcast) be sure to link to a recap episode.

    Pitch to relevant writers

    In addition to publications, consider pitching your podcast to relevant writers in your field. Even if they have not curated a list in the past, you can pitch your and other shows to them.

    ➡️ You never know what might get their wheels turning! This might happen when pitching to writers/publications in your niche. Maybe a food magazine or travel blog has posted about some podcasts, but never made a best of list at the end of the year. Now’s your chance to encourage and help!

    Make it about more than yourself

    💛 Most folks receiving these pitches are busy. A great way to catch their attention and earn their appreciation is by suggesting more than just your show. This works especially well if you’re pitching to a list of podcasts in a specific genre. It’s also a great way to platform fellow creators. 

    With these tips, we hope we’ve set you on the right path to pitch your show for end-of-year lists. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!

    Thanks so much to Shreya Sharma and Lauren Passell for authoring this post —and to the entire Tink Media team for their contribution!

  • In the Age of AI, Podcast Pitches are Getting Worse.

    Hours Categories AI, Growth

    A movie scene that has stuck with me for nearly 30 years is from Men in Black.

    Vincent D’Onofrio, playing an Upstate New York farmer named Edgar, gets killed by an alien who immediately puts his skin on and wears it like a suit.

    Then, walking into his kitchen, alien Edgar immediately demands of his wife, “Sugar…in water.”

    D’Onofrio perfectly plays this — moving and talking uncomfortably…as if he’s actually unfamiliar with how humans move.

    But it’s the request — “sugar in water” — that always gets me. It’s odd, because even though most beverages we consume have sugar (or some sugar substitute) in it, no one explicitly asks for sugar in water.

    And while it’s an odd request, Edgar’s wife obliges and watches in disbelief as he downs the entire glass.

    It was so close to being believable, but it was missing something innately human.

    That’s how I’ve felt about podcast pitches as of late.

    Bad Podcast Pitches Aren’t New

    Bad pitches aren’t new. I’ve written about them on my blog and on social media.

    But in the age of AI, bad pitches have become rampant and worse. More pitches are coming in where the sender, “hopes this email finds you well,” or they, “recently discovered your podcast and it has quickly become one of my favorites…”

    That last one has very strong sugar in water vibes.

    In fact, for the question on my form, “What episode made you want to reach out,” someone straight up sent a ChatGPT summary. How did I know? Here’s the entire answer:

    In the episode “Great Things Require Time,” Joe begins with an anecdote about impatient customers waiting in line at the “best” bagel shop in New York, stating that if all they wanted was a bagel, they could have gone to any grocery store. But the best bagels would be worth the wait. This sense of dedication was admirable–that something great will not be reached without patience and hard work.

    The 3 most important values to building a successful digital presence are professionalism, authenticity, and consistency. This framework encourages creators to ask themselves:

    -Do you have high-quality, professionally edited content on social media?
    – When you are sharing things online (to the public), is it truly what you value and believe in?
    – Are you showing up every day to be seen as a creator worth following?

    This ticks all the boxes for a terrible AI answer:

    • Clumsy intro
    • 3rd person about me
    • Unnecessary 10-point vocabulary word
    • Factually incorrect (I was talking about PA, not NY)
    • Doesn’t even remotely answer the question

    Bad. Bad. Bad.

    But they don’t have to be.

    What Makes a Good Pitch?

    Recently I had Jennie Wright on Streamlined Solopreneur, and her pitch was a breath of fresh air. She focused on the audience, sent the right sort of topics, and showed she at least looked at the episodes of my podcast before pitching.

    I’m under no delusion that everyone who pitches my show is an avid listener, but part of pitching is understanding the show, who the audience is, and how you can help.

    Jennie did that — and had a great guest page to boot. I knew having her on the show would add a TON of value.

    My Advice for Pitching Podcasts

    So what can you do if you’re pitching?

    1. Make it relevant to the show’s audience — not just an email about how amazing you are.
    2. Check out the show before pitching. Listen to an episode if you can, but at least scroll through the back catalog and see what kind of topics the show covers.
    3. Confirm they actually have guests. Seriously. Spray and pray is a bad look.
    4. Have a great ​guest page​. Make it easy for the host to understand who you are, and why you’re qualified to talk about what you’re pitching.

    It takes more time than blindly (and annoyingly) pitching random shows — but everything that will actually get you good results does.

    Steal this Podcast Pitch Template

    Want an actual good pitch? Here’s how I do it: 

    I came across your show and love its mission to help [TARGET AUDIENCE]. Here's how I think I can help you add value for your listeners:
​
[3 TOPICS THAT ALIGN WITH THE SHOW'S GOALS].
​
I'm happy to answer any questions you have. You can learn more about me here: [PAGE SPECIFICALLY BUILT FOR GUEST PODCASTING].
​
Thanks so much!

    Notice we:

    1. Make it clear we know who the show is for
    2. Pitch 3 relevant topics for the show and its goals
    3. Send them to a page to show them we know what we’re talking about

    This will achieve your goal: show the host you actually care about their audience.

    And for the love of all things righteous and good, don’t outsource this job to ChatGPT. It’s too important if you’re trying to forge genuine relationships and actually grow your audience.

  • ConvertKit for Podcasters Part 1: Getting Started

    Hours Categories Content, Growth, Tools

    I’ve been saying for a long time that if you have a podcast, you need a clear call to action (CTA), and it should be to join your mailing list.

    But what I often don’t talk about is literally everything else. Where do you get a newsletter? How much should it cost? What do you send once people start signing up?

    So I thought there was no better time than Podcast Advent to dive deeper into the topic of building your newsletter — specifically with ConvertKit — so that you can start building, and leveraging, your email list in 2024.

    This is Part 1: Getting Started. Part 2 will be sending emails and automating. Part 3 will be growing your list and making money.

    Why Have a Mailing List?

    Let’s address the elephant in the room first: if you have a podcast and perhaps a social media presence, why do you even need a mailing list? The answer for most creators and small business owners is simple:

    A mailing list is the only place where you truly own the access to your audience. If Facebook, X, TikTok, or Medium disappeared today, you’d immediately lose access to the people you were able to reach so easily a mere 24 hours ago.

    For podcasters, it’s even more important than that. You don’t really have access to an audience at all. Sure, people subscribe or come across your show and listen — but there’s no platform to send them messages outside of their podcast app.

    Further, they can’t interact with you at all. There’s no liking or commenting on individual episodes. And if someone rates your podcast on Apple Podcasts, you don’t get further access to them.

    Podcasting without a mailing list can feel like a one-way street. But what you have a mailing list, you have direct access to people and you’re not just relegated to their podcast app.

    Mailing List Options

    Now, there are lots of options for creating a mailing list — ConvertKit isn’t the only game in town.

    There’s Mailchimp, which has been around forever.

    There’s the relative newcomer that’s gained a ton of popularity, Beehiiv.

    There’s also ActiveCampaign, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)1, AWeber, MailerLite, and a bunch of other ones.

    Outside of that, there are publishing platforms that double as mailing list services — most notably Substack, which also has its own ability to host a podcast.

    I started on Mailchimp, but moved when I outgrew everything they had to offer. And honestly, if I were starting today, I’d give Beehiiv a closer look…but as you’ll see in Part 3, there are some features that put ConvertKit in its own class of Email Service Provider (ESP).

    It really depends on what you’re looking to do. There are pros and cons to each, but here’s why I’ve stuck with ConvertKit.

    Why I Recommend ConvertKit

    ConvertKit is free for your first 1,000 subscribers — and honestly it gets pretty pricy after that. But there’s good reason for it. They have infrastructure in place to allow you to connect with your audience in ways other ESPs don’t.

    You can tag and segment your list based on interest (or favorite episode), and send just those specific segments emails.

    You also get rich automations to make sure your new subscribers feel welcomed as soon as they subscribe.

    Their growth and monetizations tools are fantastic. They offer the Creator Network — which is a similar feature to Substack’s recommendations — and they allow you to sell digital products right from the platform2.

    Finally, they know the industry and share their knowledge. Their podcast, Deliverability Defined, is a gold mine of information to help you keep a clear, healthy email list.

    And of-course, you own your list. If you want to export it and go somewhere else, you can!

    If that sounds good to you, check out ConvertKit here3.

    How to Build a Form (📹)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-LN41Ah0kg

    In the video above, I show you step-by-step how to set up your free ConvertKit account:

    Setting Up Your Account

    1. Sign Up for a Free ConvertKit Account
      1. Provide your email address, create a password, and agree to ConvertKit’s terms and conditions.
    2. Set Up Your Account
      1. Select “I’m just starting out” and choose the free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers.
      2. Specify that you are a podcaster when prompted to select your creator type.

    Create the Opt-In

    We’re going to create a landing page — that way you don’t need a place to embed the form, just in case you don’t have a website for you podcast.

    1. Create a Landing Page
      1. Click on “Landing Pages & Forms” under the “Grow” section.
      2. Choose “Create New” and select “Landing Page.”
      3. Select a template that best suits your podcast.
    2. Customize the Landing Page
      1. Edit the general styles, font, and background to match your podcast’s branding.
      2. Replace the default artwork and add text or a testimonial to encourage sign-ups.
      3. Set the color scheme and customize the call-to-action button.
      4. Create a thank you page and customize the redirect settings.
    3. Publish Your Landing Page
      1. Save your settings and publish the landing page.

    In the video I cover some other options worth checking out too…things like how you might want to set up a custom domain, what to do you do have a WordPress site, etc.

    How to Connect Your RSS feed (📹)

    Something you’re probably wondering is what you should send to your subscribers. I’ll cover that more in Part 2 of this series, but for now, you could automatically email them when a new episode is out. This video shows you how to do that:

    https://youtu.be/CrcBkOD1pLI

    You’re Ready!

    All right — you’re all set to start building your mailing list. Now, it’s time to start promoting it on your podcast.

    Keep a look out for Part 2, where we’ll go through your first set of emails (the welcome sequence), and some basic automations.

    1. Disclosure: both Brevo AND ConvertKit have sponsored my podcast, How I Built It. ↩
    2. I’ll touch on some drawbacks to their service in Part 3, but it’s still better, comparatively speaking, than other similar services. ↩
    3. This is an affiliate link ↩

  • What Are Show Notes (and do you need them)?

    Hours Categories Content, Growth

    There’s a scene from the 2003 movie Bruce Almighty that has stuck with me for over 20 years.

    Bruce is driving and asking God for “a sign,” while ignoring literal signs in front of him that are warning him…right before he gets into a car accident.

    The point being that you can find the thing you require if you look for it — and don’t ignore the obvious.

    Recently, while giving a talk, I mentioned “show notes,” and someone in the audience asked, “What are show notes?”

    Last week, I got an email from my friend Krystal. She talked about coaching her friend into the decision to nix show notes all together.

    I’ve been considering writing a piece on show notes, and my friends… I don’t need a 3rd sign.

    So, let’s start at the beginning.

    What Are Show Notes?

    If you’ve been listening to podcasts for a long time, the idea of show notes is intuitive. It’s the text that accompanies a podcast episode. It usually has some description about the episode and links mentioned in the episode.

    However, I read an interesting stat a while back: most new podcasters have been listening to podcasts for less than a year. So if you’re relatively new to the medium, and you don’t know what show notes are, the clearest answer is this:

    Show notes are the text in the podcast listening app for a particular episode.

    They are defined by 3 elements:

    1. A description of the episode, so people know what it’s about before they listen to it
    2. Links and resources mentioned during the episode
    3. A Call to Action

    I suspect the main reason they are called show notes is that they were largely made of up links mentioned during the show1. Otherwise, it would just be called a description.

    So, now that you know what they are, let’s answer the next import question: why should you have them?

    Why You Should Have Them?

    Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a great idea, and not write it down because you’ll “remember it in the morning?”

    Except you don’t remember it — you should have written it down.

    That is — I feel — the primary function of show notes. You mention some resources in an episode, and you write them down for your listeners to make them easier to find later.

    After all, they might be driving, at the gym, cooking, or doing some other thing where they can’t take action right at the moment they’re listening.

    They have a metaphorical night stand with no pen and paper.

    The show notes can include any number of resources:

    1. How to find your guest
    2. Tools and websites mentioned during the show (which is a great place for affiliate links)
    3. Sponsors
    4. Your resources and CTA
    5. A link for feedback, support, and anything else you may or may not mention explicitly in the show.

    Having these directly in the description for your episode means it’s as easy as possible for your listeners to take action without extra steps.

    Convinced? Let’s look at the best way to create show notes.

    How You Can Do Show Notes

    As far as how to keep track of them and what to include, here’s what I recommend:

    Keep a swipe file (in Notion, Apple Notes, Google Docs — wherever you keep notes) of the common links you want to include. This could be a link to your mailing list and podcast feedback page, or the main URL for your podcast, so people can subscribe and listen to other episodes.

    For solo shows, add links to your outline or script so you know to include them.

    For interviews, during recording keep a note up on your screen, or a pen and paper handy, and any time you or your guest mention a useful resource, write down the name — you (or your VA) can always grab the link later.

    Then when putting together your show notes, I recommend this format: 

    HOOK + DESCRIPTION

PRIMARY CTA

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM THE EPISODE

SPONSORS

SHOW NOTES (Any of the links you mentioned)

TRANSCRIPT / LINK TO TRANSCRIPT

    Do You Need Show Notes?

    Now that I’ve made the argument for show notes, I want to answer a question that Krystal posed in her newsletter:

    Do you actually need show notes?

    Her ultimate point is that you shouldn’t let the process get in the way of actually making your content. And I agree.

    However, I think there are must-haves that come along with anything you do.

    If you go to a restaurant and order a steak, they give you a steak knife because a butter knife won’t cut it (ha!).

    Without a steak knife, the experience is much worse, and it reflects poorly on the restaurant.

    I think show notes is the steak knife of podcasting. It’s a crucial tool to help you create a better experience for your listeners, and get them to take the all-important next step.

    That next step could be joining your mailing list, checking out a sponsor, or leaving feedback.

    Any of these things positively impact your show — and they are much, much less likely to happen without show notes.

    1. As far as I can tell, there’s not a canonical history of Show Notes, so this is pure speculation. ↩

  • Getting Press For Your Podcast

    Hours Categories Experiments, Growth

    Today’s guest contributor is one who needs no introduction: Arielle Nissenblatt! Related, RSS.com is hosting a webinar with Arielle on Wednesday, December 18th.. I’m MC’ing, and she’s giving us even more tips. Register here.

    I know we’re all looking for that ONE thing that’s gonna grow our podcast. I know this because when I first started in this industry, I was searching for it too. Far and wide. I asked everyone. I thought that if I asked the question the right way, the answer would be revealed to me. But with time, I came to understand that there’s no one thing. There’s many things. And we need to try all of them — constantly — in order to figure out which levers we should continue pulling to eventually find growth.

    Here I am today to discuss the level of podcast press. 

    When you launch your show, you want it to show up on all of the podcast platforms. You probably also want to be on social media (to a certain extent – situations may vary and we can get into this another time). You probably also want to alert your newsletter subscribers (if you have a newsletter). And you may want to alert the town crier so that she can spread the news far and wide. You also want to make sure you’re getting mentioned in all sorts of relevant online publications, newsletters, podcasts, and other media that’s relevant to your show’s topic. And that’s where this article comes in.

    Let’s break it down: you should seek podcast press and you should seek press in your topic area. Say you have a podcast about coffee, you want all of the coffee-related publications to mention you in some way AND you want the podcast industry newsletters all over you as well. (You probably also want coffee-adjacent publications up in your business, so factor that into your research as well).

    Podcast Advent is presented by The Unstuck Sessions. Want to start 2025 off on the right foot? What if you had an expert ready to give you the exact steps you need to take to get unstuck — in your podcast, your business, and your process? You can with the Unstuck Sessions. Get the most valuable part of my coaching at an incredibly affordable price. Get Unstuck Today.

    Podcast press

    Here’s what to do:

    • Subscribe to all of the podcast industry and podcast recommendation newsletters
    • Read them (do not immediately pitch)
    • Get a sense of how they write, what segments they have, who they tend to feature
    • Notice: what don’t they feature very often?
    • Think: how can I fill in?
    • Reply to their email. Not every week. And make sure it’s relevant and HELPFUL. For example, “I loved the show you recommended last week about beluga whales. I listened to a similar one that I think you’d love. Here’s a link to it.”
      • You’re not promoting yourself yet. You’re genuinely taking the time to give value.
    • Establish a relationship with these writers. Follow them on social media. Tag them when you listen to a show that they recommended that you’ve fallen in love with.
    • Eventually, hone your pitch. Why is your show a good fit for their newsletter?
    • Before you pitch, ask them how they like to receive pitches. Do they need a press release? Do they just want a paragraph or two? Do they need sample audio? Do they want to receive the trailer before it goes live? 
    • Once you know how they like to get their assets, pitch away. Make sure the pitch is personalized. Do not mail merge. We can tell when you mail merge.
      • I know. It’s time consuming. But it’s worth it to build genuine relationships with these writers so that they come to trust what you put out into the world.
    • Follow-ups are fine. Once or twice at most. If they don’t reply, they don’t reply. If they reply with a lukewarm or negative response. Take a look at the steps above this bullet point and see where you may have gone astray. (Also consider: this is my experience and it tends to work for others, but I’m not watching you type your emails). (I can if you want).

    Non-podcast press

    The process for getting in contact with and getting a yes from publications in your podcast’s topic area is similar to the above, however, the process for finding these publications is different.

    Hopefully, you’re at least somewhat aware of the media landscape that your podcast now finds itself in. For that coffee podcast, we definitely want to be subscribed to all of the coffee equipment influencer newsletters, YouTube channels, TikToks…etc. But then we also want to zoom out a bit and get acquainted with food, drink, and other luxury-related items newsletters and publications. 

    What next

    It’s hard to keep up with all of the publications in your orbit. But it’s worth checking in on them with some regularity in order to stay engaged in the conversations happening around your topic and to eventually (hopefully) score some press mentions.

    I focused primarily on newsletters in this article, but the same principles can be applied when pitching for mentions in blogs, on podcasts, on YouTube channels, and other media. Most importantly, don’t come right out the gate with an ask. No one needs to feature you. But if you hit them with the right ask at the right time — that respects their publication — it’d behoove them to feature you because your show is just that great. So be patient and begin pitching!

  • What is the Best Call to Action for Your Podcast?

    Hours Categories Content, Growth

    We’ve all experienced analysis paralysis. There are too many items on the menu at a restaurant and you’re not sure what to order. There are seemingly a million Apple Watch bands – which do you pick? What’s really the difference between the Toyota Sienna LE and XLE?!

    What’s the balance between offering choice and getting people to take action? That really depends on the medium. For example, you may notice podcasts have a ton of calls to action (CTAs). Maybe you do. My podcast does at times. Is that really the right route?

    I don’t think so. Here’s why.

    Too Many Requests Result in Zero Action

    My daughter is 6 years old and there are a few things we need to do for her to make her feel like she’s in some sort of control.

    We need to tell her what’s happening next. This comes in the form of a daily schedule. She knows when she wakes up we get changed, brush teeth, eat breakfast, and clean the sun room. Then she can have iPad time.

    I need to make sure I don’t tell her to do too many things at once because she’ll get overwhelmed and do none of them.

    My son, who’s 3, needs the same treatment. Except when he’s overwhelmed, he gets upset because he doesn’t understand what’s going on. This is how toddlers act. They want to be in the know.

    I also need to show them the positive results — the benefit — of them doing 3 things they’d rather not do. Experts call this a “preferred activity,” and it’s their reward for following the schedule.

    Now, I’m not saying our podcast listeners are toddlers, but much like little kids, we don’t usually have their full attention. Podcasting, for many, is a multitasking activity. So we need to make our intentions and the benefits crystal clear.

    You Should Have One Clear CTA

    Because of that, you should have one clear CTA that you repeat throughout the show. You should mention it at the beginning, somewhere in the middle (related to the content) and you should mention it a few times at the end.

    Remember: you have listeners who are half paying attention so repetition is important. You don’t want to overwhelm or confuse the listener as to what you want them to do most. So have one CTA.

    Make Your CTA to Join Your Mailing List

    You know what is a great place to promote multiple things? Your mailing list. You have a reader’s full attention there — especially if they open the email.

    There you can promote your membership, products, or even ask for a review in Apple Podcasts.

    Plus, while it might be easy to skip an episode, mailing list subscribers will at the very least see your name in their inbox weekly. They’re buying into more of your content!

    So in your CTA, ask people to join your mailing list. Give them an incentive. Tell them all the great things they’ll get outside the podcast.

    Highlight the benefits!

    Podcaster and friend Matt Medieros recommends having a dedicated subscribe page with the email opt-in as well as podcast subscribe buttons, which I think is a great idea.

    What About Show Notes?

    Sometimes there’s a lot you want to mention. Maybe there are links you reference, a mailing list, rating and reviews, etc.

    The way apps handle show notes/episode descriptions these days are pretty great. I recommend putting the crucial links there — anything referenced in the show, a link to your mailing list, etc.

    But listeners will probably see those anyway. So you still need to ask them to do something — and I think “join my mailing list” should be that something.

    Clarity and Repetition are Key

    Clarity and repetition are key. You need to make sure your listener knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, what you think their most important next step is.

    This takes some practice and strategic placement. And as I discussed with Zach Swinehart on a recent episode, you might want to track certain placements differently.

    But if you take one thing away from this article, it should be this:

    Have one, clear call to action for your listeners.

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