Are you looking to grow your podcast? You’ve come to the right place! This episode shares how to get your podcast unstuck and find success. Whether you’re just starting out or have been podcasting for a while, the tips shared here will help you get your audience clicking with your content. We’ll provide guidance on finding and following effective strategies for growing your podcast.

Weight Loss and Podcasting

Instead of focusing on the goal of "I need to lose 40 lbs" focus on the actions that lead to weight loss. Starring at the scale won't make it move, and starring at your stats doesn't make them move easier. 

What Do We Want Our Audience To Do?

When I thought about what we want our audience to do that leads to more podcast growth, it came down to these:

• FIND: We need our audience to find us. To be easily found we need to know what they are looking for and word it in a way they will use.
• CLICK: We need our audience to click on our listing, click on our titles, click on play and click follow.
• FOLLOW: When your audience follows/subscribes to your show you are becoming part of their routine. Make it EASY to follow you
• SHARE: We want our audience to share the show with their friends. According to Jacobs media 70% of new listeners discover a podcast from their friends. 

Your Show Is An Experiment

Yes we would love to get our show perfect from episode one going forward. I didn't follow my own advice (and didn't get any other opinions) and named one of my shows (about the future of podcasting) "Leading the Bleeding" (as we talk about the bleeding edge of podcasting). I named another "test" show Podcast Rodeo Show (I bet you don't think its full of podcasting tips - it is). If you have to explain your show title - your might regret it later. 

FIND MY SHOW MY NAME TEST

When I say to someone, "I'm doing a show called ______. What do you think it's about?" and they guess correctly, I've got a good name (Especially if there are some keywords in the name). 

I see people put the name of their show asonegiantword and I'm pretty sure your audience isn't going to type that in.

If you want to be found by Goolge, you need a website. Check out www.trypodpage.com to make a site with Podpage, and to learn podpage, see www.learnpodpage.com 

GET YOUR AUDIENCE  TO CLICK

Here are some things that get people to click on your show:

• The name of the show.
• The name of the episodes
• The artwork
• An easy to find play button on your website

FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE

Search in podcast apps is getting better, but nothing beats having follow/subscribe buttons on your website. This way, when you tell people to go to your website on the special page made to follow and subscribe, it makes it easy; they don't have to "Find you," and you are reinforcing your brand.

There is a great plugin, Social subscribe and follow, that makes it easy to add subscribe buttons to your WordPress Website.

Here is my Follow Page, and Subscribe page.

SHARE THE SHOW

When your audience shares your content with their friends, you have a decent chance of getting a new listener. At Christmas, EVERYBODY was talking about the show Yellowstone. Consequently, I came home and started watching. 

You do need to work on your pitch in a way that makes people want to go listen. You should practice this. When someone asks, "So, what is your show about?" they should hear a response that is um, well, kind like, um, you know, um.....

There are some cool plugins for WordPress like Novashare, Social Snap, the Monarch

USE THESE CRITERIA FOR MAKING A DECISIONS

I worked with someone who had named their show DCBN Lifestyle. When I asked (cause they didn't explain it in the show) what it stood for it was, "Don't cook bacon naked" which made me laugh. Which one would be found easier? DCBN or Don't cook bacon naked. The audience doesn't know you've abbreviated the title and if they can't find you they will never know. 

If you're thinking of naming your episode School of Podcasting 861 or How to get your podcast unstuck, which one are you going to click on?

Should use create separate artwork for your episodes? She we use episode numbers in your title? Sometimes it is hard to decide (and there is nobody to ask). What do you do then? 

Go with your gut. Your podcast is not a statue, and you can always change it later.

GROWING YOUR PODCAST AUDIENCE

Make it easy to find you by having a name the audience is looking for, easy to say, spell, and find. Have artwork that makes you stand out (and wasn’t done in crayon) with episode titles that make them click. Have buttons on your website so people can follow and subscribe to your show, and while they on your website they can use the share buttons as you ask your audience listening in their favorite podcast app (because your show is everywhere) to share their show with their friends. We want to grow our audiences, let’s focus on those steps that lead to our audience growth. 

It all starts with knowing who your audience is, and what they want. 

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This month the question is one I often do in January. What are your top podcasting pet peeves? Those little things that drive you nuts.

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

Deadline is 1/27/23

Where Will I Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

Is Chat GPT the End of Civilization?

I've played with ChatGPT, which is somewhat like a search engine where you can ask it to write you a blog post, and it will. Remember, Google wants good words that deliver value. It does make me nervous as I can see where people could "use this for evil. I played with Revoicer (another one is Blakify is another one), which takes a script and has a robot read it. It's impressive, but almost all AI I deal with still needs a human to step in and polish the content (which, in some cases, is blatantly wrong). 

We had a discussion on the Podcasters Roundtable about this and other things happening in 2023.

Ready To Start Your Podcast

You may think nobody would listen to you, but I'm here to tell you they will. I have proven strategies to help you identify exactly what your audience wants. You will sound professional and won't have to spend a million dollars to sound great. Learn through our online tutorials, live group coaching and a private Facebook Group filled with brilliant podcasters. Join worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. See schoolofpodcasting.com/listener

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

School of Podcasting

Blakify

Revoicer

Novashare,

Social Snap

Monarch

Social Subscribe and Follow

www.trypodpage.com

Leading the Bleeding

How to Make Episode Artwork Show in Podcast Apps (even in Apple Podcasts!) The Audacity to Podcast

Podcast Rodeo Show

Apple Website on Charts

Apple website - How Search Works

Click To Tweet

Chat GPT

No Agenda Show

Follow the Show and Never Miss an Episode on:

Apple - Google - Spotify - Amazon

Check out New Podcast Apps for apps to stream bitcoin to podcasters.

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