How do we get more potential podcast listeners from 0 to 1?

Plus: podcast events, opportunities, collaborations, and more

January 22, 2023

Podplane is a monthly newsletter curating podcasts by trans and nonbinary creators. Subscribe for podcast recommendations of new and old shows! Podplane takes flight every new moon. [Ad].

Hello. Hey. Hi. How are you?

I posted on social media last week pointing people toward this newsletter and gained close to 100 new subscribers. Welcome, y'all.

Whether you're a podcast-listening enthusiast or you're looking to learn more about the podcast/creator industries, this issue will have something for you.

🗞️What is this newsletter?

Great question. This & That shares smatterings from around the podcast and audio world. Think: ideas, resources, events, opportunities, and merch.

It comes out irregularly (AKA when I feel like it). It's my experiment with inconsistency in content creation.

This week's idea: How do we get more potential listeners to go from 0-1? How do we bring folks from not listening at all to listening to just one podcast? Hit reply if you've got some thoughts and I'll make a thread on Twitter and Linkedin with your replies. Plus, my answers are at the bottom of this issue.

🛎️Resources:

  • New newsletters on the block: Talia Augustidis is launching a newsletter with Transom called All Hear. Devin Andrade started a podcast recommendation newsletter called Podstack.

  • Communities to discover: I run a podcast community on Discord that I think you should join. But if you are simply not into Discord (I get it), we also have a newsletter so you don't miss a thing.

  • Collaborate: Find a bunch of ready and willing podcasts to set up promo swaps with right here.

  • Newsletter platforms: If you're a podcaster, I really do believe you should be capturing the email addresses of your listeners. I explain more about that here.

  • Creator tools: I'm launching a podcast in a few weeks (more on that below) and I want to shoutout some of the tools and sponsors I'm using to make it happen:

    • SquadCast.fm (duh + I am the head of community & content there)

    • Ausha is our podcast host (and automatically publishes to YouTube)

    • Recast Studio allows us to quickly make video and audiograms with simple and sharp-looking templates

    • Aug X Labs uses AI to create video elements from our audio

    • Focusrite makes the amazing Vocaster audio interface AND we're giving away one Vocaster for every episode of season 1!

MIDROLL AD (for my own stuff):

🔊Merch

If you're looking for a gift for a podcast person in your life (maybe even you), ummm...let this be your sign. Learn more here.

🫂Events

🏋️‍♀️Things I'm working on

🫶Shoutout to...

  • On Air Fest for sponsoring this past week's EarBuds newsletter.

  • Fiona Sturges for the helpful tip on pitching podcasts to journalists.

I COULD GO ON ALL DAY.

Now, to answer my own question: How do we get more potential listeners to go from 0-1?I want podcast listenership to grow a. because I love podcasts and want more people to listen, and b. because I want more creators to get paid for their hard work. Here are some ideas for how we can find more listeners:

  • Education. It may be a long road. But taking the time to let people know how to find and listen to podcasts will pay off. Lauren Passell has some ideas on this front. Subscribe to her newsletter to learn more when she shares her next initiative.

  • Niches. One of the things that makes podcasting so amazing is that anyone can make a show about anything. Of course, this is a blessing and a curse. But we do have the ability to reach incredibly niche interest groups. If you have an idea for a niche podcast, I hope you're not turned off by the fact that your total addressable market may not reach HUGE numbers. That's ok. Because you'll be serving a targeted group (and can likely find committed ad partners).

  • Audience-first. Related to the last bullet point, it's important to identify your target audience and then create content for them. If you know who you're serving, you won't have trouble coming up with ideas for episodes, guests, and advertising partners. Plus, you can always ask them. It may take time to assess a potential audience, but it's worth it.

Those are just some ideas. I look forward to reading yours. Hit reply and let me know what you think about the 0-1 question. Here's to the growth of the podcast industry!

There's so much great stuff going on in audio land. But I'll end it here. I'll be back...soon!

What'd you think of this issue of This & That? Thanks for reading!

📊Transparency stats

If you're new to the newsletter, lemme tell you about this section. I share subscriber numbers, as well as open and click rates. Why? It's fun to track growth.

  • Number of subscribers: 517

    • Up from 433 when the last email was sent

  • Open rate: 61.2%

  • Click rate: 19.2%

  • Unsubscribes: 2 from last issue