I recently came across these tweets by Scott Monty and Josh Spector regarding the value of creating a free weekly newsletter.
As someone who’s committed, but still fairly new to the newsletter game (14 issues in as of this writing) I’m already starting to see the benefit of putting it together every week.
I completely believe that over the long term, writing my weekly Listen Up newsletter will be one of the things that provides the most value to me and my business, both personally, and when it comes to revenue.
Writing this daily blog is another source of immeasurable benefit to me, regardless of how many people read the articles.
Some posts get picked up and promoted and get thousands of reads, but probably sixty percent of my posts have less than five views, and around fifteen percent have zero.
But my writing process is structured in such a way that for most posts, even if no one ever reads them, I’ve already gained far more value than the hour I spent writing them.
What if your podcast production process was structured similarly?
Alternative Returns Take the Pressure off Growth
For one thing, producing your show in a way that rewards you whether or not anyone listens takes the pressure off you when it comes to growing an audience.
It allows you to relax and take the long view of the show, building up an asset that grows in value over time, rather than one designed solely to capture attention in the short term, even if you can’t then hold onto it.
Slowing down and detaching yourself from your download count allows you to take a cool-headed view of where the content you want to create overlaps with the content that a small, specific group of people want to consume, allowing you to then work your way to become the best in the world in that space.
But lowering the pressure and extending your runway is just the tip of the iceberg.
Increasing Your Own Expertise
One option is to produce at least a segment of your show similar to how Josh Spector and Scott Monty write their weekly newsletters and focus on sharing a selection of curated content.
This is something I incorporate into my newsletter as well and where a lot of the value in writing it is locked up. By committing to sharing five cool things I’ve found every week, I have an obligation to find at least five cool things.
Most often, the links I share relate to helping podcasters and online creators grow an audience and a business. This puts me on the alert throughout each week to seek out and find new resources related to growing an audience, and in the process, I learn a ton about how to better grow an audience myself.
Consider similarly sharing curated content on your show, or doing book, product, or software reviews. Anything that forces you to engage further with and learn more about your niche will have an immeasurable benefit over the long run as you work your way to becoming one of the premier sources of knowledge in your field.
Leverage Your Guests
Another big opportunity available to you as a podcaster is the value of your guests.
Hosting an interview podcast can open you up to an incredible series of opportunities if you approach it the right way.
Almost every seasoned podcaster I’ve talked to has told me that they’ve received way more value from their guests than they have from their listeners.
For your guests to pay off for you, you first have to reach out and target guests that have the potential to enrich your life. It could be someone you look up to and you’d otherwise never get a chance to talk to, it could be someone who would make a great client or customer of yours, or maybe they would be an ideal mentor for you.
Remember, they should 100% still be a good fit for your show and your audience, but there’s nothing wrong about bringing on guests because you personally want to meet them.
I always like to set up the interview so that I have a healthy amount of time either before or after the interview to chat and really connect with them on a personal level, and make sure to follow up regularly after the interview. This can be as simple as sending an email to check in every few months.
Look For Multiple Benefits
I have a rule that any project I work on must have more than one potential benefit. This ensures that even if a project flops on one front, it’s likely to benefit me somewhere else.
For example, while I created both Podcast Audio Academy and Podcast Marketing Academy to help podcasters everywhere record and market their shows more effectively, even if neither of them ever sold, I would still be happy with the fact that I could provide these to our clients at Counterweight Creative as part of their monthly production package.
As I mentioned earlier, this daily blog has proved to be valuable beyond what I ever could have imagined even as overall audience growth has been fairly slow. Building my audience would be nice, but I don’t need that to make writing worthwhile.
The same goes for my Listen Up Newsletter, and the same will hold true for the podcast I’m launching in a few months, aimed at helping health and wellness business owners create more profit, ease, and impact in their businesses.
What would it take for your show to get you excited to produce every week for the next ten years even if you knew for a fact that only a dozen people would ever listen?
Find out what that show looks like and start working toward creating it. I can almost guarantee that if you find a way to build a show like that, the audience will build itself.
Every Sunday I send out an exclusive article on how to use podcasting to build an audience and grow your business.
No opt-in, no freebie no bribe. But hopefully a new perspective, encouragement, and maybe even some occasional wisdom. It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to share it with you.
Jeremy travels full-time, loves long-distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements. He believes that the way to grow sustainable businesses is by leading with heart, vulnerability, and helping your people be and become their best selves.
- Why Wouldn’t They Just Google It? - March 14, 2021
- Before You Can Market Your Podcast, You Need To Create A Marketable Podcast - March 11, 2021
- Podcast Promotion & Marketing Are Different (Here’s How to Use Each Effectively) - March 10, 2021
