Distribute Your Podcast and 10 Ways to Market It Too

What do I mean by distribute your podcast? – You have a podcast and in Nicole’s words, “If 20% of podcast success is content creation – I’m ok. If 80% of podcast download growth is distribution – I need help.”

Its true though as a podcaster, the hardest lesson I had to learn was that my work didn’t stop at creation. These are my thoughts on how to best take the hard work you’ve put into creating your podcast, and leverage the living crap out of it. Yes, its the technical term for marketing.

1. The email laxness

When it comes to the work of distributing your podcast, this is by far the one that we all miss. In fact, I’m ashamed to say that for the longest time, I didn’t do this. We forget to email our guests to say that the podcast is live and that they can spread the word if they so choose. We forget to make this step as easy as possible for our guest. Because when you think about it, as much as you are giving them exposure to your current listeners, they are giving you their time for their expertise. If you are looking at this exchange of energy in any other way, I think you’ve missed the point of a podcast interview show. Make it easy for them. Here is an example of the one with did with Emma and Carla from the MerryMaker Sisters…

Hey Emma and Carla,

On behalf of Should I Start A Podcast, we wanted to say a big ‘thanks’ for being on our show with Ronsley. We at Amplify are chuffed to host you and hear your story. We greatly appreciate the time you took out of your busy schedule.

Just a heads up that the episode will be online on December 1, 2016, and for your added convenience (and because we take pride in being incredibly helpful), here is the link to the Episode http://wearepodcast.com/shouldistartapodcast58/ ! When you thought it couldn’t get better, please see attached image used to put your name up in lights… well maybe not lights but at least in our podcast blog and email copy to send to your database!

Here are the link and text you can share on social media:

Hey check this out! We are on Should I Start A Podcast with Ronsley http://wearepodcast.com/shouldistartapodcast58/
@WeArePodcast #WeArePodcast

If you know anyone that has an amazing story and would fit the theme of the show, please don’t hesitate to introduce us. Again, thanks a bunch for coming to our show and please give us a shout if you have any questions or suggestions!

Cheers,
Asseth M.
Amplify Agency

Sometimes, or most times, the guests do nothing. But even if one in ten share your podcast, you increase the distribution of your podcast.

2. The guest exchange

We forget that our story is as important as the story of our guests. You forget, like I do, that what comes naturally to you helps distribute your podcast. And, what comes naturally to us comes out in conversations. So, don’t be afraid to use an interview from another podcast on your own show. And interview that podcast host on yours and ask if they would do the same.

As an example, I was interviewed on The Dent Podcast and I used it on both my podcasts. I did an introduction so that my listeners knew what was going on, but other than that it was from the Dent podcast. I have to admit, just like the email laxness, this is an idea that came to me after being a podcaster for more than 2 and a half years.

3. The social soapbox

We forget that we already have people on our social channels and that you can leverage the power of that to distribute your podcast. However we do stupid stuff like, just share the link. We don’t make it relevant for the platform we are sharing our work on. We don’t take into consideration the audience on that platform. For example, when sharing on Facebook, there is no need to share it from you business page – just hit share and expect people to be grateful.

Think about why your friends are on Facebook. They are probably around to get their minds off things, or to scroll through their news feed while they are waiting for their next meeting. Make the share relevant. If it isn’t, don’t share it. Automating this stuff is fine if you have large audiences, but not otherwise. Even then to distribute your podcast, its a fine line of caring and value giving. Don’t cross it.

The same goes with Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, SlideShare, Medium, Quora, and Pinterest. More about this in the AMPLIFY framework.

4. The AMPLIFY framework

I thought long and hard before I decided to add this to the list. And, I was like, “wait, I wrote a whole book on distributing your podcast and business brand. Why shouldn’t it be part of the list?” The AMPLIFY book is all about raising your voice, boosting your brand and growing your business. I outlined in detail using an example how we use it to distribute a podcast, and how you can use it to distribute your podcast. So check that out.

Also Neil Patel in his podcast covered an aptly named episode called “How to Amplify your content” you should check that one out too. For me this is really weird to listen to because of the number of times they say “Amplify your content”, and considering that I’m the author of the book Amplify. This is a total trip for me to listen to. Love the tactics in here – just hit play.

5. The platforms to distribute your podcast

Have you heard of podcast directories? Well, they exist. And the dude that is a legend in this space is Daniel J. Lewis. He has covered them in detail on his podcast and has also outlined it in detail in those shownotes. You can find that here, but here is a small peak of some platforms he covers…

• iTunes Store. …
• Zune Marketplace. …
• BlackBerry Podcast. …
• Miro Guide. …
• DoubleTwist. …
• Stitcher. …
• BluBrry.

Again, that link you can find that here.

6. The advertising clip

If you don’t currently have a sponsor on your show, why don’t you create a partnership with another podcaster. Create small clips of your show as an advert and exchange them. Say do an exchange of 5 episodes as a starting point. If you’d like to use one I have just created to distribute Should I Start A Podcast click here.

If you think that our audience of entrepreneurs and business owners looking to market their business would benefit from your podcast, email nicole@amplifyagency.media with your clip and a brief description of your show.

7. The FBLive factorial

Facebook Live is going gangbusters. And the more I think about how much love live video is getting the more I want to get over my fear and get a regular video happening. There are so many cool things you can do with Live video to distribute your podcast. Here are a few…

• Do a summary recap of your podcast learning and make sure you let people know where to go to get the whole episode
• Create a behind the scenes video of you preparing for the interview
• Even do a live capture of the whole interview for your audience

I’m sure some of you are more creative than what ideas I’ve given you. Any ideas you can add to these? Add them to the comments below.

8. The SEO blackout

I didn’t realise how huge SEO was until Kate Toon did a presentation at the We Are Podcast 2016 conference on SEO and how much it helps (In fact, 2017 We Are Podcast is coming up soon – this is a quick plug). Anyway, she outlined a lot of what needs to be done and I’m sure has written about it. If not, we will be releasing have released all the videos from We Are Podcast 2015 & 2016 soon to take girls out of brothels and keep them in school in Cambodia. Each virtual ticket will keep a girl in school for a month.

More about that soon. In the mean time, the moral of this story is to make sure you take care of SEO for your podcast and Kate Toon is your girl.

9. The email signature

This is what my email signature looks like …

See the bits that show the latest episodes? This is automatically done. That probably says enough.

But just so you know, I use Gmail for all my email and a plugin called WiseStamp to create this amazing signature. Its only $4 a month I think. Worth every cent to distribute my podcast with every email I send.

10. The end of every conversation

I used to have a podcast called Podcast Revolution. That was a dumb name. But Should I Start A Podcast, is a way better name. Because when someone asks me if they should start one, I just say ShouldIStartAPodcast.com is the place you should go. I have that top of mind for the end of keynotes I do, for books I give out and emails I send. Make sure that your podcast is top of mind when someone could benefit from it. And, make sure that its an easy link to give out too.

 

I hope that helps. If you are looking for a quick way to create blog posts and don’t have an amazing community that tell you what to write, then you should download the Content Amplifier. Its Free. Click below…