Audience building and community building in podcasting are two very different things, though we use the terms interchangeably. And tend to ignore the latter. But true-community building has its own rewards.

As a podcaster, it's often considered important to grow your audience. And I agree with that. But it's also important to do actual community building, where you and your podcast play an active role in helping build out or support the community in which you and your podcast belong.

Why? Because you live within communities. Not just professionally, but also personally. When you think about community building, think wider. Here are three aspects to consider.

Get Involved With Your Local Communities

The people within a five-kilometer radius of where you podcast from may not be the audience of your show, but you still have to live near them! So play an active role and at least attend local community organization meetings or business mixers.

Get Involved In Podcasting Communities

There are several vibrant and active online communities you can join. Again, not to rake in new listeners, but to support all of podcasting. Like the Bello Collective, Earbuds Collective, The Podcast Academy, and other groups that support, spread, or empower the people who make podcasts. 

Get Involved In Your Trade/Industry Communities

And finally, don't forget the communities in and around the trade or the industry in which you and your podcast belong. Just about every industry or trade group out there has governing bodies or other special interest groups that put on mixers, create publications, host trade shows, and more. 

Podcasters tend to know the importance of community building, but all too often take too narrow of a view. Hopefully, this higher-level picture of how you and your podcast can get involved with the communities in your orbit might be helpful.

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Links

• Looking for a remote recording solution that handles both audio and video? you need Riverside.fm!
• Bello Collective
• Earbuds Collective
• The Podcast Academy
• Serious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.