Video podcasting is having a moment, and Kim is putting it to the test on her own show this summer.

She walks through why she started releasing her Friday episodes as YouTube videos, how video distribution actually works across YouTube, Spotify, and Apple's HSL feature, and what it really costs in gear, time, and editing. She's candid about the parts that are harder than they look: staying comfortable on camera, managing lighting and background, and keeping up with uploads across multiple platforms, while also sharing the upside of chapters, playlists, and YouTube's power as a search engine.

Kim's take is simple: video is a tool, not a requirement, and the right move is to start with what you can sustain. She'll share real results from her YouTube experiment in October.

Join Anna Sabino's Skool community: https://www.skool.com/vault/about?ref=fb8ad1ea319b45b088138034ac140a82

Is your podcast cover art actually working, or is it just sitting there looking pretty?

Kim Parkinson answers real questions pulled straight from her client office hours, starting with how to know if a cover art refresh is actually working (hint: the 30 day arm's length test) and moving into the download benchmarks that actually matter at each stage of a show's growth. One client recently hit 10,000 downloads and asked if it was really a milestone worth celebrating, which opens into a bigger conversation about why comparing your numbers to a friend's podcast is a losing game, and what to expect episode by episode as you build toward 100 episodes. From there, Kim walks through practical ways to turn podcast listeners into paying clients, from newsletter sign-ups to discovery calls, and lays out exactly what to track in a stats spreadsheet heading into fall's podcast growth season.

The throughline is that growth is rarely instant; it tends to show up around episode 100 or years two through five of consistent podcasting. Kim closes with a reminder that consistency, not comparison, is what carries a podcast through the summer slowdown and into the next growth season.

That instant chill you get when a familiar song comes on the radio is the exact reaction Kim wants your podcast music to trigger in your listeners.

Kim breaks down her evolving thinking on podcast music, from why she dropped her spoken intro years ago to why she still keeps a short pan flute melody in her outro. She walks through where music tends to work best, including outros, ad breaks, transitions and disclaimers, where it can actually hurt listener engagement, and how to test whether a musical segment is helping or hurting your numbers. She also covers the legal side of things, pointing to licensed music sources like AudioJungle, Pixabay and Epidemic Sound, warning against free music that can turn into a copyright problem years later, and flagging the new EU requirement to disclose AI-generated audio.

Kim's takeaway is simple. Music is a personal choice but never a legal gamble, so pick sounds that match your show's tone, keep your licensing paperwork on hand, and let those few recognizable notes remind listeners exactly whose podcast they're hearing.

https://kpcreativemedia.com/news

Can your listeners actually hear you smiling, or does your podcast sound like you're just getting through it?

Kim was inspired to record this episode after someone reached out to her on Facebook asking for feedback on an interview, and within the first minute and 14 seconds, she noticed something was missing: genuine warmth, happiness, and authenticity in the person's voice. She breaks down how our voices naturally shift inflection depending on who we're talking to, whether it's a new kitten, a close friend, or a practitioner during a serious conversation, and explains why podcasters need to bring that same authentic range into their episodes. Even heavy topics can be delivered with warmth and presence, while lighthearted content falls flat without energy behind it.

Your voice is often the very first impression a new listener has of you and your business. Kim's takeaway is simple: let your natural ups and downs come through so your audience can hear the real you and feel drawn into your world.

Reach out and let's hear your smile: [email protected]

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspirations with Pastor Wanda B: https://pod.link/1863992925

One tool can take a single recording and hand you show notes, social captions, quotes, and a blog post before your coffee even goes cold.

Kim breaks down Castmagic, the AI-powered platform she picked up years ago on AppSumo and still uses on a regular basis for herself and her production clients. She walks through everything it pulls from a single transcript: summaries, key takeaways, social captions, emails, blog posts, YouTube descriptions, chapter markers, quotes, and timestamps, plus extras like audiograms and reel scripts. She also covers pricing, the AppSumo backstory, and why she considers it worth every penny compared to the hours it saves.

Kim shares why she keeps coming back to Castmagic over other tools she's tried, and how it's grown from a simple show notes generator into something she uses for coaching and client work too.

Grab a free trial of Castmagic here: https://kpcreativemedia.com/castmagic

A talking water glass turned into a squirrel news anchor, a snail correspondent, and an entire fictional universe, and host Kim Parkinson sits down with creator Mycala to figure out how to get more ears on it.

Mycala, who goes by MK, built Traversing Tuesdays from a personal project processing a layoff into a scripted serial podcast complete with Rupert the uptight squirrel news anchor, an underground correspondent named Femick the snail, and a cast of raccoons and skunks running nocturnal programming out of Sparky's Tavern. Kim walks through growth tactics tailored to a serial, character driven show, including adding a searchable title extension with the word serial, fleshing out show notes with character backstories, placing a naked Patreon link ahead of the show notes, using Buzzsprout's dynamic ad slot to promote Patreon membership, syncing the RSS feed to YouTube, and testing short character driven clips on TikTok instead of Mycala's own face.

The conversation reframes MK's fictional cast as marketing assets who can pitch Patreon membership for her, easing her discomfort with self-promotion. Kim closes by pointing new listeners to Season 2, Episode 2 as the best entry point into the world.

Find Traversin Tuesday Podcast: https://traversingtuesdays.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

Traversing Tuesday Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/TraversingTuesdays

Mentioned in this episode:

Traversing Tuesdays

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/traversing-tuesdays-serial-fiction-cozy-animal-comedy/id1826667241

Ever clicked from one podcast to the next and had to scramble for the volume knob because the sound levels are wildly different?

Kim breaks down her secret weapon for fixing that: Auphonic. She walks through what the tool does, from normalizing loudness to the correct negative 16 LUFS standard, to removing background hum, tinniness, and echo, to its newer video feature that lets her upload one file and get both polished audio and video back. She also shares her actual workflow, pairing Descript for a first editing pass with Auphonic for the second pass, plus the specific settings she uses (filtering, noise reduction, adaptive leveling, and loudness normalization), pricing details, and how metadata inside Auphonic can support podcast SEO.

If your podcast audio has ever sounded too quiet, too loud, or just a little off compared to other shows, this episode explains the tool Kim credits for fixing that every time.

Try Auphonic: https://kpcreativemedia.com/auphonic

Podcast Production Course: https://go.kpcreativemedia.com/production-course

What if your body already knew what was blocking you, long before your mind caught up?

Sophie Watson, an award-winning intuitive guide and soul coach, joins Kim Parkinson to unpack what it actually feels like to sense another person's pain, energy, and unspoken truths. She shares stories of physically feeling clients' old wounds, from a shoulder ache tied to a decades-old divorce to a heaviness in her chest that surfaced a hidden heartbreak, and walks through the rituals she uses to protect her own energy and clear what isn't hers to carry.

Sophie also opens up about the personal crisis that pushed her to leave a job she hated and build a healing practice from nothing. Her story is a reminder that noticing what's really going on inside you is always the first step toward change.

Connect with Sophie Watson:

sophiewatson.co.uk

Join my newsletter:

https://kpcreativemedia.com/podnews

Mentioned in this episode:

Rooted to Rise: https://pod.link/1894314207

Editing your podcast doesn't have to mean choosing between free and fancy, you can actually use both.

Kim Parkinson breaks down the two editing platforms she relies on at KP Creative Media, Audacity and Descript. Audacity is free, open source, and waveform-based, great for simple audio-only editing, noise reduction, and crafting intros and outros with music. Descript is the paid, transcription-based platform she uses for the bulk of her editing, especially when video is involved, offering AI features like automatic filler word removal, a built-in screen recorder, and repurposing tools, though she cautions listeners to watch their AI credit usage and dial back Studio Sound so they don't sound underwater.

Both tools have a learning curve, but neither is difficult to pick up if you want to edit in-house. Kim's bottom line: audio-only podcasters can get by on Audacity, while anyone doing video will want Descript or a similar platform.

Podcast Production Course: https://go.kpcreativemedia.com/production-course

Join the newsletter: https://kpcreativemedia.com/podnews/

Mentioned in this episode:

Creative Permission Slip: https://pod.link/1845331984

You just found out someone left you a five-star review, so now where do you actually go to see it?

Kim breaks down everything about podcast reviews after a client asked why she was the only one who'd left one. Turns out Apple Podcasts reviews are country-specific, so listeners in different countries can't see each other's reviews, which explains a lot. Kim walks through where reviews live across Apple, Spotify, Amazon/Audible, Podchaser, and lesser-known apps like Goodpods, Castbox, and Podyssey, plus how each one handles ratings versus written comments. She also covers how a burst of reviews within about 72 hours can push a show up the category rankings, and why asking listeners directly is still the most reliable way to get reviews at all.

Reviews aren't just ego boosts; they're social proof for new listeners and a real lever for podcast discoverability. Kim's biggest takeaway is simple: ask for reviews, make it easy, and don't be afraid to sweeten the deal with a small freebie.

Have you left a review for us on Apple? Stop by and do that today!

Mentioned in this episode:

Your Productivity Pulse: https://pod.link/1867957851