← The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E593 - How To Build A Podcast Community - The Podcaster’s Path, 24 Steps from Beginner to Pro
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. Is Dave with you? We are in a pathway from beginner to pro. 24 steps. Hey, we're almost there. We're almost there. I can see the finish line. It's just over the hill. So we're gonna get there. And I'm glad you're here. Thanks for checking out the podcast. This is your first episode. There's a whole bunch for you if you go to the show. Notes of this episode, that's the information you'll see on your phone at the bottom of the screen. You scroll down, you'll see a link to our YouTube channel and a playlist where all of the episodes for 24 in a row are all there together in one spot. And that makes it easy to find. So you can listen on Spotify. It's just an audio podcast on Spotify. Sorry, it's on YouTube. Spotify. And you can go there and check it out and you'll find all of the episodes, everything there for you in one spot. I think it works great. So check it out. Share it with somebody else who's thinking about starting a podcast. And this is meant to be a introductory overview of the podcasting world without the tech and all the microphone jargon and all that, the content, the audience, and building something sustainable as a podcaster. I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad you're here. We're going to talk about building a community around your podcast and kind of why this is important, especially for a new podcaster. Building community is something that is a huge bonus over and above creating content that you're going to fall in love with. So I'm glad you're here. Let's talk about this. So, to be transparent, when I first started the how to Podcast series, I knew I wanted to have a community around the show. And I've tried a few things and they've failed miserably. And I put money out. I've spent money on different platforms. I've tried stuff, tried Facebook groups. Completely dead. I tried a apps where you could. It's kind of replicated social media, but it wasn't popular, so nobody signed up. I've tried a bunch of different things to build community. I landed on meetups, and for me, I set up the meetups@meetup.com and I just started showing up. And what I found was people would say that they were coming to a meetup. So I would set up the meetup, I would create the event, and I would show up and all of the people that said, yeah, I'll be there, they didn't show. And I sat in an empty zoom room through meetup for weeks, just kept showing up, just kept being here to the people who promised to come and be part of it, and they just never showed up. People are people. Sometimes you can't count on them, unfortunately. And I remember many times thinking, why am I doing this? Why am I sitting in an empty room that's supposed to have a handful of people here and nobody's here? What is the point of this? What a waste of my time. I could be doing something else. And it's interesting because eventually somebody finally showed up and then somebody else showed up. And the group has had some pretty big days and some pretty small days. Even this week I had a meetup room and several people signed up and nobody showed up again. And it's been over three years now they've been doing this. And I'm just amazed at how transient people can be, how people come. They're super engaged and they just fade away, just disappear. You wonder, like, I hope they're okay because they were a great contributor to the group and then just, they're gone. Don't let that discourage you. We want you to build something out for your show and there's multiple ways you can do it. We're going to talk about that. I just want to focus in on the fact that building a community is a great thing to do as podcasters, even with some of the downfalls still going to be so rewarding. So I'm glad you're here. What I love about community building is it takes a listener and turns out them into something a lot more connected with your show than just passively listening to your podcast. And as a solo podcaster, you're going to feel isolated a lot of the time because you're recording in your home, you're recording alone, you're. It's only you and the monitor and a mic and you're just like, where are the people? So I just want you to picture a community that's alive and vibrant and a community that's focused on each other and building each other up the. There's so many opportunities out there to create community. Different platforms that allow it. Some free, some paid, some are behind paywalls. So your community has to pay to get into it. I like a free and open one for my community. I pay for my meetup. It's expensive. It's very expensive, as most things are. But the investments I get and the people I get to talk to because of it. It's, it's an, it's, it's a priority for me. It's my, my audience is generous. They do give me some donations which help. But it's a commitment over time to build this thing. And it's like building your own little town. You're going to have people who agree with each other, people who disagree with each other. They're going to people who love each other, people hate each other. It's, it's your own little town. And you become not only the person who builds a town, you become the person who runs the town, you become the mayor, you become the cop, you become the judge, you become everything because you have to run the show. Right. I think the big key into creating a community around your podcast is creating a place where people can belong to where they feel a little bit of ownership, a stake in, in what's happening. They feel connected. They feel like their presence matters and that if they miss it, they missed out. I think this kind of connection that we can build with our community can help our podcast grow because we have people who are thinking about us, talking about us, sharing us with others. Community thrives as people share an identity. It's not a bunch of individuals on a zoom call. It's a community. It's a group of people who care for each other with ongoing conversation and accountability. It's not a one way content dump where people just come in and throw their stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Your audience will bond over being a fan or expanding on and tackling some of the things you talk about on your show in the community. Like go deeper, expand on those topics, expand on those things that they listen to on your show. It's the coolest thing ever when people start quoting back to you in your community, things you've said on your show, things you've forgotten about, that you've said on your show. I love it because you just like they are. It's, it's working. People are connecting with what you're doing. Turn your show into a living hub where people feel connected. It's the best thing. And the thing is, we need to keep it simple in what we do as far as building our community. We can have live Q&As. We do that here in our meetups all the time. On Tuesdays and then the last Saturday of every month, we do live Q&As. We just open the doors. People come in. Whatever you want to talk about, we talk about. It's super easy to Plan because I don't have to create any content really. Maybe some key questions to start the conversation, but the the group just steps up because we built this anticipation that that's what we do. So try that and answer some real time questions in the group. Demonstrate your process and make people feel seen in the conversation. You can also have a community that doesn't meet virtually or in person, but has access to you in a private feed. Meaning they get content from you that nobody else gets because they pay for it or they're part of your cohort or your class or your teaching thing. They have access to you special behind the scenes access and bonus content that other people don't get. That can be a community. Meetups like we talked about and other things like Discord and Telegram. There's a bunch of different places that have been available or continue to be available. Things change like there'll be in the next few years. There'll be something else that replaces everything. But online communities are a great source for you as a podcaster to, to build relationships outside of your show. So what's our action step here around building community around our podcast? Well, first of all is to start pick one gathering point for your audience. Be careful of places like Facebook where you don't own your audience. A friend lost all of his stuff when Facebook canceled his account because of a post that reading it. There's nothing in there that's. I don't think would ever offend anybody. And this person's not that type of person anyway, so. But they lost everything they lost and there's no recourse, there's no getting it back. That's what happens when you build your world on a rented piece of land. You. You don't own it. And real owners can come in anytime and change their minds and you're done. So keep that in mind. Pick one place though. Don't try to build multiple places as your starting point. It's too hard. It's too hard to do. And open the door for communication. Allow people to come in with questions. Allow people to come in and be feel safe. And make sure that you monitor the group, you monitor behavior. You have clearly defined what is acceptable, what's not acceptable. You have a general code of content and conduct for your group. All of this stuff will help people to feel more comfortable and that they're in the right place. So think of these things, put them into place, create your community. You're getting to the point now where they're going to start raising their hands, asking what they can do and how they can connect with others. So it's not just about them connecting to you, it's about them connecting to each other without you. Even in some cases, that's a community and that's what you need for your show. If you need help with this, you want to talk through meetup, you want to want some explanations how to use that, or we just want to talk about your plans for your community. Love to help you at howtopodcast ca. Thanks for listening. If you're looking for more information about podcasting and you're looking for a community around podcasting, come check out howtopodcast ca. It's my website where everything we do around podcasting, the show, our community or meetup resources. There's a lot of great stuff there for you. A whole list of free tools that you can use as a podcaster to save yourself some money. That's based on my website, Podcast for Free Dot com, which just leads you back to my regular website. And if you want any more information as well, there's a calendar link on my website where you and I can meet anytime. It's always there. It's always available. Whatever you see available on your end. I'm ready to talk podcasting with anybody. I'd love to help you no matter what your questions are. We can grab a virtual coffee and we can talk through what your big idea is. Maybe some of your struggles in podcasting, maybe some motivational things, maybe some growth things. Happy to help you over at howtopodcast ca. Come check out the website. Let's connect. Stick around because we have a bunch more episodes here on The Podcaster's Path. 24 episodes here in a row. That's meant to be kind of your starting point for your journey as a podcaster or if you're going to start a new show or you want to refresh your journey and catch up on maybe some of the things you might have missed. That's what this show's about. I'm glad you're here. My name is Dave. Love to help you reach out anytime. HowtoPodcast ca. Take care. Talk soon.