206 | Why Every Podcast Needs an Email List - Grow The Show

Summary

Grow The Show Podcast - Episode 206 Summary: "Why Every Podcast Needs an Email List"

Host: Kevin Chemidlin
Release Date: January 6, 2025
Title: Why Every Podcast Needs an Email List

Introduction

In Episode 206 of Grow The Show, host Kevin Chemidlin delves into the profound impact of building and leveraging an email list for podcast growth and monetization. Drawing from his personal journey and extensive experience coaching over 450 entrepreneurs, Kevin elucidates why integrating email strategies is indispensable for podcasters aiming to scale their audience and revenue effectively.

Kevin's Personal Journey with Email Lists

Kevin begins by sharing his initial oversight regarding email marketing. Despite podcasting since 2018, he neglected email strategies for the first four years. It wasn't until December 2021, when his coaching business, Grow The Show, was averaging $50,000 monthly revenue with just one offer and three employees, that he recognized the untapped potential of his accumulated email list.

“I had this list of emails that I wasn't really ever emailing... I was sitting on tons of revenue on that email list.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [02:15]

A pivotal conversation with a mentor illuminated the power of email marketing for him. Committing to a weekly email strategy in February 2022 led to a staggering 226% increase in revenue within four months, elevating his average monthly earnings to approximately $107,800 without any additional expenditures.

Three Reasons Every Podcast Needs an Email List

Increased Revenue

Kevin emphasizes that email calls-to-action (CTAs) are more effective than podcast CTAs in driving sales and leads. Emails provide a direct line to engaged listeners who are more inclined to take action, such as purchasing a product or booking a consultation.

“People are more likely to buy something or book a call from an email CTA than a podcast CTA for reasons we've already described.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [04:27]
Boosted Podcast Downloads

Utilizing an email list can significantly increase podcast downloads. Kevin explains that many listeners who enjoyed past episodes may forget about the podcast over time. Regular email reminders about new episodes can rekindle interest and drive consistent downloads.

“Email allows us to remind people that our podcast exists. It allows us to retarget them.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [10:45]
Reduced Reliance on Social Media

Relying solely on social media platforms for audience engagement and growth is precarious due to ever-changing algorithms and platform policies. Email remains a stable and reliable channel, ensuring that podcasters maintain control over their audience communication.

“Email doesn't change that much. Email's kind of been the same as it was for the last 20 years... It's much easier to correct for.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [12:30]

Effective Strategies to Build and Utilize Your Email List

Kevin outlines actionable strategies to capture and nurture email subscribers:

Offer Lead Magnets: Provide valuable free resources, such as email courses or masterclasses, in exchange for listeners' email addresses.

“Every single episode of your podcast should offer your audience something in exchange for their email address.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [14:10]
Launch a Newsletter: Repurpose podcast content into a weekly newsletter, offering additional value and keeping your audience engaged.
Transition CTAs When Guesting: Instead of solely directing new listeners to your podcast when guesting on other shows, encourage them to join your email list. This approach provides multiple touchpoints to convert listeners into active subscribers and eventually loyal listeners.

“When I'm a guest on other podcasts... my main call to action... I will say, you should take my email course.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [16:00]

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Kevin wraps up the episode by reinforcing the significance of an email list in amplifying podcast success. He highlights that integrating email strategies not only enhances monetization and audience growth but also provides a buffer against the unpredictability of social media platforms.

“If you've ever listened to Grow the Show before, you know that a great way to grow a podcast is by collaborating with other podcasts. But what's more impactful is getting those people onto your email list.”
— Kevin Chemidlin [17:20]

Kevin invites listeners to implement these email strategies and offers his expertise through the Grow The Show Academy and Grow The Show Accelerator programs for those seeking personalized guidance.

Key Takeaways:

Email Marketing is Crucial: Building and maintaining an email list is essential for podcast growth and revenue.
Higher Conversion Rates: Email CTAs outperform podcast CTAs in driving sales and engagement.
Consistent Audience Engagement: Regular emails remind listeners of your podcast, leading to increased downloads.
Stability Over Social Media: Email provides a reliable communication channel, mitigating risks associated with social media algorithm changes.
Actionable Strategies: Utilize lead magnets, newsletters, and strategic CTAs during guest appearances to grow your email list effectively.

By integrating these insights, podcasters can transform their email lists into powerful assets, driving sustained growth and profitability.

Transcript

A (0:01)

This is Grow the Show, the podcast that helps you grow your podcast. My name is Kevin Spidlin. I am your podcast growth coach. And today we are going to talk about the power of email and how focusing on collecting email addresses from your listenership is going to translate not only to more monetization, AKA more leads and sales to your business, but also it's going to grow your podcast downloads. Now, as a audio podcast guy who's been podcasting since 2018, I did not focus on email at all for the first four years of my podcast life. So in the Philly who days in 2018 and 2019, I didn't do anything with email. And even in the first two years of this business, Grow the Show, I really didn't do much with email at all because I'm a podcast guy. I make podcasts, right? I'm an audio guy. This is what I do. And I didn't get for a long time how powerful email is and how it can be. One of the key reasons that a podcast grows and is fully monetized, where you're maxing out the amount of brand deals and sponsorships that you get, and also you max out the amount of leads and sales you get from your podcast audience to your business. Back In December of 2021, my business was doing about $50,000 per month on average. So from 2-20-21 to January 2022, grow the show. Average $50,000 per month in revenue to my coaching business. And at that point, I had three employees. My only offer then was the Grow the Show accelerator. I now have two. There's the accelerator and the Academy, which confuses everybody, but that's a topic for a different day. And So I had three employees, I had one offer, and I was doing about 50k in revenue per month. Now, I, throughout this time had a masterclass. And when people clicked on an ad to access the masterclass, they gave me their email. And people got to the masterclass in other ways as well. And every single time somebody wanted to access my masterclass on how to grow and monetize a podcast, they would give me their email. So I had this list of emails that I wasn't really ever emailing. I want to say it was like maybe 5 or 10,000 emails that I had accrued over time, and I really wasn't doing that much with it. Well, I was speaking with a mentor at that time who told me, dude, you are probably sitting on tons of revenue on that email list. And he explained to me the power of email and why it is so, just so freaking powerful. Which, again, I didn't get it. I didn't have experience with email, my experience with podcasting, so I said, okay, fine, I'm gonna commit to emailing my list once a week, and that's the only change that I'll make. And so I did that. In February of 2022, I started emailing my list every single week. Nothing else changed about my business. I still had three employees. I still had the one offer. The offer was priced the same. And over the next four months, with still no changes to the business, my revenue went from an average of $47,500 per month to an average of $107.8K per month. This was a 226% increase in revenue with no increase in expenses just by utilizing email. After this happened, I became a bit of an email freak. So there's a very good chance, if you're hearing my voice right now, you are on my email list, or you used to be on my email list. And it has been a key part of my business ever since. And probably because of that, it is now also a key part of the help that I give to other business owners with podcasts, because, again, it's super counterintuitive. But what I have found now, after working with over 450 entrepreneurs to help them grow their podcasts, is that the podcasts and the businesses that utilize email are the ones that have the most growth and make the most money. And so this episode was inspired by an onboarding call I did for the Grow the Show accelerator this week. I onboarded a business owner who has a mastermind business. That business is already doing over six figures per month, and most of their sales calls come from their podcast. And when I reviewed the onboarding form for this business owner who's now gonna be working with me one on one.