Has your podcast growth plateaued?
Research. Record. Edit. Publish. Episode Art. Tweetit.
Research. Record. Edit. Publish. Episode Art. Facebookit.
Research. Record. Edit. Publish. Episode Art. Instagramit.
Do you feel like you’re doing everything you can to promote your podcast? Or do you read that list above and realize you’ve perhaps gotten into a routine and really haven’t broken out of it?
The gurus will tell you to go after bigger guests and give them everything they need to promote your show.
Others will tell you that it comes down to finding the elusive guest everybody wants. Have Will Smith on your show the day after “the slap,” and your podcast will rocket to stardom forever.
And while that’s true, “hope” is not a marketing plan, and your show can’t rest on timing and guests alone.
Fortunately, every month there are opportunities for podcasters to grow their skills, network with other podcasters, and get in front of fans. This month is no exception, and while it takes a bit of searching, that effort can be handsomely rewarded.
A quick search to start with is “podcast conferences,” for which a calendar of podcast events comes up listing two events in June—PodStock and Craft and Commerce. While Craft and Commerce looks largely like a content-marketing conference, PodStock is specific to podcasters.
PodStock is an event put on by the podcasting network New Pod City. While the event promises great speakers and education on topics like hosting, recording, distribution, promotion, monetization, and trademarking, it’s also an opportunity to get an inside look at being part of a podcasting network.
A podcasting network is a group of podcasts that work together to promote the whole and have the benefit of the parent company itself marketing the complete network. How better to determine whether a podcasting network is right for you but to attend an event with podcasters in the network itself?
A search on Twitter for podcasting events brought up more opportunities. The Intelligent Speech Conference is an online conference for podcast fans who want to listen to their favorite podcasters tell stories. What better way to gain new listeners than to be among people who already love podcasts?
Intelligent Speech, which looks to be in its fourth year, brings popular podcasters together for an all-day live event of telling stories, answering questions, and interacting with true fans. Can you think of a better use of time for a Saturday than speaking to people who love podcasts?
A search on Facebook revealed dozens of people raving about Podapalooza.
Podapalooza is an education event for podcasters similar to PodStock, but with a focus on getting paid to speak. If there is one thing podcasters love, it’s opportunities to share their expertise, insights, and stories with others. And VIP attendees actually get interviewed during the event by other podcasters to be featured as guests in their upcoming episodes.
Finally, a search on Google for “podcast events” brought up PopCon.
PopCon is one of those grandiose Comic-Con types of events that bring your favorite pop culture tv, music, movie, and radio stars to one place for autographs, selfies, and merchandise. And this year, they are giving out PopCon Podcast Awards.
When you’re growing your show, every little bit of exposure can help. From a practical standpoint, an award is a marker to put on your website that adds social proof that others enjoy your show. Also, award shows send out press releases, so thousands of venues have an opportunity to see your show on the list AND to go listen to it.
An award may not turn you into Joe Rogan overnight, but if you were to take advantage of four activities like these every month, you’d certainly make tremendous headway in breaking any sort of growth plateau.
So, in one month, taking advantage of all four events could mean finding a network that would grow your show, speaking to hundreds of podcast fans to grow your listenership, becoming a guest on five other podcasts to reach even more people, and adding an award badge to your website.
Of course, there’s always…
Research. Record. Edit. Publish. Episode Art. Tweetit.
But why not give a new strategy a try?
