How to Sail off into the Sunset of Podcast Glory
- Say something interesting on your podcast. If you don't then do not pass Go, do not collect £200 etc.
- Ask good questions. Dare yourself to be silent when your guest seems to have finished answering - that's when the good stuff often comes.
- God (Allah, Yahweh, Darwin whoever) gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen more than you speak! (Unless you decide deliberately not to.) I can't stand podcasts when the interviewer seizes every opportunity to talk about themselves (or asks annoyingly long questions, or makes statements rather than asking questions... This is now turning into a rant against the Radio 4 Today programme! 😂)
- Following on from that point: listen to lots of podcasts. Copy the aspects you like, reject the bits you hate. So for me that meant not interviewing the same group of people I hear on every adventure podcast. And it definitely meant not having an advert in the middle of the episode, regardless of how much that might cost me.
- Nod your head encouragingly whilst your guest is answering rather than doing the usual "uh,huh, yup" type thing that we do in normal conversations.
- Before you begin, teach your guest how to use a microphone properly.
- Before you begin, learn how to use a microphone properly yourself. (Simple answer: park it on your chin throughout.)
- Once you've done all that, you need to give some thought to launch day. Sensible advice seems to be to launch with a few episodes. I launched five at once on Day 1 allowing early adopters an early binge and an easy boost up the rankings.
- Getting a spike of early listens is vital to trick the internet algorithms into thinking that you are amazing, exactly like when you publish a book.
- You'll need to employ all the usual marketing tactics - social media, newsletters, teaser clips, word of mouth etc. Push really, really hard (to the cusp of annoying your audience) in Hour 1, Day 1, Week 1.
- If things go well and you get enough people to listen, the Holy Grail is getting listed on the Apple New & Noteworthy chart. This exposes you to a massive new audience.
- However, as ever, I issue the cautionary cry against such fast and dirty tactics: yes, I got a massive early spike of new listeners. But virtually all of them disappeared after a week or so. Better, as always in the life of the working adventurer, to build slow, steady, loyal audiences.
I have loved everything about diving into the world of podcasting. It has been far easier than I anticipated. Its impact on people (judging from email feedback) has been more profound than I imagined.
I have been surprised by quite how many people I meet who still have never listened to a podcast, nor even quite understand what they are. For this reason I believe that it is by no means a 'saturated market' and you should jump in with your own ideas.
And I was extremely surprised by the power a microphone gives you. Shove a microphone under someone's nose and they seem duty-bound to give honest and interesting answers to whatever topic tickled my curiosity! I felt so fortunate that all these fascinating people (most of whom I had never met before) welcomed me so generously and patiently and indulged me with my quirky deck of question cards. The whole experience was a delightful privilege.
And finally, a quick word about sponsors, because you won't have read this far down unless you've sniffed gold in them podcasting hills...
I initially couldn't be bothered to find a sponsor for my podcast. I wanted to be 'pure', to 'not sell out', and stuff like that. Then a wise friend sat me down and said, "you're an idiot!"
So I sent some episodes round to various companies, asking if they'd like to sponsor the show. But it is really hard to sell an unknown entity like a new podcast. All I could say to companies was, "I have no idea how many people will listen. X people follow me on other platforms, but this podcast is brand new. It could be 10 people, it could be 10 million. Your guess is as good as mine! Fancy taking a punt?"
At last, komoot decided to give it a go and sponsor the podcast. (Use my code ADVENTUROUS to get a discount at that link...). I was delighted: komoot is a fantastic brand, perfectly aligned with what I do. We tussled amicably about the length of the advert, and whether they could have an advert mid-episode (nope!). My agent and komoot locked themselves in a dark room to talk numbers (or wherever it is that such mysteries happen). Then komoot licked their finger, squinted into the wind, and gave me some cash to sponsor Series 1: all 42 episodes of it.
Personally I believe that the listening stats from even the first few months means that komoot got a good deal in terms of a highly-targeted listener demographic receiving a weekly drip-drip of name-recognition advertising. Plus the podcast won't go away, so they'll be benefiting from those ads for years to come. I'm really happy about that.
However komoot decided not to sponsor a second series of the podcast. That's fine, of course — marketing plans change all the time, plus it's really hard to put a tangible, precise number on what counts as 'value for money' for a podcast. The KPIs are hazy and moveable. Never mind: I remain enormously grateful to komoot for taking a punt on my debut podcast. I really hope that over time enough people listen to the episodes for them to feel that they got a decent return on their money.
All of which is a long way of saying it's really hard to find a sponsor for a brand-new podcast. I would recommend that you treat any funds you do secure as a bonus rather than a prerequisite for beginning.
The true rewards of my podcast have been reaching a newer and wider audience, learning so much from the people I met along the way, making new friends, and having a lot of fun.
Go on: give your podcast idea a try today!
PS - Please do subscribe to my Living Adventurously podcast. 😉
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