← 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
E624 - Engagement Starts With You as the Podcaster - Be Sure To Acknowledge Your Listeners
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. It's Dave with you. Hope you're doing well. Just came from a podcaster meetup and excited to meet with podcasters from around the globe. It's really cool when you want to meet a bunch of great people and you're tired of podcasting alone. We have the Podcasting Alone Buster. What is it? It's. It's our community on meetup, and it's really great. So if you're interested how to Podcast ca. You'll see a link there for our meetup, completely free. We don't sell anything. There's no paywall, there's no sales funnel, nothing. It's just great people who podcast and show up for each other on a regular basis. So if you're looking for a podcast community, you can't afford to fly all over the world and go to all these podcasting events and spend all your hardware and money and all your personal time off to travel. And here's the next best alternative. It's virtual. You can join from your computer. And we have multiple days during the week where we get to. We do this, and we've been doing this. Now we're into our fourth year. So if you're interested in community, come to our meetup. I'd love to have you there. And we. We talk podcasting, we help each other, we listen to each other's shows. We can ask questions of each other, get feedback, and not be alone. So come join us. Love to have you there. So I want to talk today about engagement with your podcast listeners and a couple things that I want to put in front of you I have for this show. I use Buy me a coffee buymeacoffee.com and it's a free thing to set up. I encourage all my new podcasters when they come work with me. We set up a Buy me a coffee link and get that account all set up. And we also set up a speak pipe link. Those are two engagement pieces that every podcaster should consider when starting their show. And if you work with me, you're going to end up with these for sure. So what I encourage my podcasters to do is set these up and then talk about them on your show right from the beginning. Episode one, you have no listeners. You're just starting. But we talk to the listeners that we are going to have, and people are going to come back to episode one. When you're way past that and you're like, episode 20, somebody's going to come Somebody's going to go back to episode one. So being consistent from the beginning, having that pie me a coffee link, having that Speak Pipe link for people, leave your voice messages again, both of these are free. Speak Pipe has a paid version where you can get longer messages, but you can start with for free. It's, it's great and it doesn't cost you anything. That's what I'm really focused on. In 2026 I have my podcastingforfree.com website where I have all my free resources for podcasters. Again, unlike other podcast gurus, I think free is a great option for somebody starting. You don't know how much money you want to put into your show right now because it's brand new. So why blow a bunch of cash on your new love of podcasting? Let's start and get this thing growing and then decide if you want to move to something paid. But you can really podcast for free at Podcast for Free dot com. Love for you to go check that out as well. It's all my list of all the things I'm using to podcast for free because it is a good choice. I don't care what those gurus say, it is a good choice. So two things again, buy me a coffee and Speak Pipe, both free. Set them up, get them set up. But it's one thing to set these things up and put them out there. It's another thing for you to actually engage with what happens when your audience actually starts clicking on those links. So for my Buy Me a Coffee, for example, every time somebody leaves me a buy me a coffee donation or money for the show, however you want to word this as it comes into me, I see my notification comes in an email. So and so bought you five coffees. That's. That's amazing, right? At $5 a piece, that's awesome. That's a really generous gift from a listener or a past guest. A lot of people are using this and it's really, really great. So it's. I could just ignore that, put that email in a folder and move on. But somebody just took time to give money to my show and help pay for some of the costs for this. It's. It can be expensive the more things you add on and bolt onto your podcast. So when your audience starts sending you money as an engagement play and engagement piece, it's worth commenting on. So what I do on Buy Me a Coffee is I can just flip back a pre scripted question, copy, paste and send it back and be done. Or I'd like To go a different level, there's an option and Buy me a Coffee to record a video podcast or video recording of me talking to my donor, whoever's given money to the show. And that's what I do for every coffee donation that comes in through Buy Me a Coffee is I actually record a short little video. They're really tiny. But it's, it's personal. It's, it's a one off. It's not done. Like I can't click a button and have it automatically generated for me. I'm doing this myself. There's intentionality behind it. I'm doing it on purpose and I want to say thank you to that person. So that's what I'm encouraging you to do. And consider as a podcaster, when your audience reaches out to you, be intentional, acknowledge. Don't just file away these emails and move on. If you want to get more feedback, if you want to get more Buy me a Coffee donations coming through, then show up and acknowledge the people who have been so kind to you as a creator. Don't miss this opportunity. Your audience is giving you feedback. Your audience is reaching out to you, which is probably one of the hardest things to get people to do on the Internet. Everything is so scammy right now. Everybody's a little bit gun shy about doing or participating or giving money to people. It's a big ask. So when somebody does it, acknowledge it. And by doing that, you're going to create this atmosphere. A, they get, they get some recognition for their kindness for giving to your show. And B, it just ties it all up nice. So don't snooze on replying to your Buy me a coffee notifications. Get on there. Record a short video with your phone or online on your computer, something quick. Talk to the person and thank them directly for their donation. And make it specific so people know that you're talking to them, not just talking to the world. Right. Make it obvious. So that's one. The other one would be your speak pipe. When somebody leaves me a speak pipe message, you can hit reply. You can record a speak pipe message back to them and it shows up in their email as an audio file. They can press play on as well. People love that. That is like, that's really kind of cool when somebody that you've reached out to responds to you. I've reached out to podcasters who talk about podcasting and I get crickets, nothing. They say they want feedback, they say they want comments. They say they want all this interaction. And when I reach out to them, I get nothing. I try multiple times and I get nothing back. And as a listener, it's a bad experience. So I'm encouraging you. If you ask for feedback, then please show up when people give you feedback, because if you ignore your audience, they're not coming back because you've broken your promise to them. So when you ask for feedback and people show up, you better be there. So respond to your speak, pipe messages, hit the reply button, record something, and send it back to them. At least acknowledge that you got the message. Don't leave it hanging. Something to consider as a podcaster. The other thing, too, and again, I've encouraged you and other podcasters who listen to the show is even if you're not hosted on Spotify for Creators, it's a hosting site. This is where my show, this show is hosted, is. You can claim your show, so you could be hosted somewhere else, like buzzbro, Captivate, you know, fill in the blank. But you can go to Spotify for Creators and claim your show, which then gives you the ability to look under the hood, Spotify for Spotify, and see what's happening with your audience. You get to see retention rates. How long do people listen to your last episode. You get to see all kinds of metrics that your hosting site does not see, so you get better details. And you get to see the comment section every episode. If you have it turned on, you can have comments left within the episode. These comments need responses. They need to be acknowledged. So I love going into my comments because you can't do this on Apple. Apple's so far behind in this, I don't know what their problem is. But on Spotify, you can do this. You can actually leave a comment within the episode, and it's great. It works really, really well. Some other apps are bringing this on eventually, too, so that's great. But Apple's lagging behind and many things in podcasting. So go to your Spotify, claim your show, and go in the comments. Your audience might be talking to you and you have no idea. So don't just let that hang out in the, in the, in the Internet and just live there and have the. All these unanswered messages on Spotify, go and interact with your audience. They're showing up for you and they're anticipating that you're going to respond again. I go into podcasts about podcasting. I go into podcasts that I listen to and I leave comments in the. In the comment section of the episode. Some people are amazingly fast and responding. Some don't never respond. And I get to learn that over time that they're not here. So I stop commenting. And you know what I hear on their show? Why does nobody leave me any comments? Why does nobody ever reach out to me? Why does nobody email me? Nobody does anything. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, you probably have never been on Spotify. You've never seen your comments because I'm leaving you comments. I'm a person, so you're not responding to me. So it tells me you're not aware of what's happening and you probably have more comments than you know. My big thing in all of this for you and for your show, however you set up your show, however you create your content, however you show up when your audience reaches out to you, if you value your audience feedback, if you invalid, if you value engagement, you need to respond. When you get a buy me a coffee donation, when you get a speak pipe message, when somebody leaves you a comment on Spotify, you better be there or stop asking. Stop asking because you're not going to do anything with it anyway. So why should I invest time as a listener, which is a big ask of me to do this if you're not going to do anything with it. And lastly, create a listener survey for your podcast. I have one running right now for the how to Podcast series. There's a link right there in the show notes the very bottom of the page. Scroll down to the bottom, you'll see it and it's completely free. I'm not going to spam you, but it's just some questions about the show and I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's also on my website, how to Podcast ca. You'll see a survey button, jump in, let me know what you think. Love to hear your thoughts. And all of this is just designed to get ideas from you. If you've already responded to my survey, thank you. If you haven't yet, please go. I'd love to hear your thoughts and how we can make the show better from your perspective. It's going to make everything better for everybody. So only a small amount of people ever respond to anything you put out there as a request. When they do be there, show up, acknowledge them and respond. Stop asking if you have no desire to respond. Stop wasting everyone's time because you're not going to act. And if you want more feedback, then be the one to respond. Acknowledge your audience, build your community. And again, if you're tired of podcasting alone, come join our meetup. We'd love to have you there. Go and check your messages, please, please. You might be surprised. Take care. So I get asked quite often, usually at the end of a podcast, like right now, Dave, how can we help you? Like, how can we, as a listener, like, support the show? Can we come rake your leaves? Can we cut the grass? Shovel the snow? Watch your dog help you move? What can we do? Clean your dishes? Oh, that'd be interesting. Well, if you don't, if you can't do that because, you know you're in Poland, maybe you can help us by supporting us with our Buy Me a Coffee. It's right there on our website. And you know, it just will help us to a stay fueled because, you know, we drink a lot of coffee around here and it helps the show. So if you want to help us, it's out of the goodness of your heart. I can tell you that listening to the podcast to this point, you've already helped us so much. But I do have people saying, dave, I'd love to give back something small, even just to the show. Buy Me a Coffee Link is on our website, howtopodcast Ca. And you can support the show that way. It would mean a lot to have you on our team supporting what we do here. If you find value in the show, then that's great. Share the show, tell somebody about it. And when somebody says, dave, I want to start a podcast, who should I check out? Oh, you should go check out the how to Podcast series because of all the great co hosts and all the things that happen here, the meetups, everything. And I would appreciate that. And then fill her a cup once in a while if you can. But again, thank you so much for being here and supporting the how to Podcast series. Take care. Talk soon. You're still here. Awesome. Great. This is a bonus part for you as you stick around at the end of the episode, and it's to reward you for your time and your engagement. So thank you. The one thing I think as podcasters, we need to develop more is our storytelling. So a question came in to me through my coaching with podcast recently that they were asking, how do I develop my storytelling? And what we kind of worked on together was that great storytelling is the heart of a compelling podcast and that your own personal point of view and how you navigate life could be the element of a great story. And that's something you can use in your podcast when you hone in on your POV on your personal point of view, it helps you to establish your brand as a podcaster. Your unique take on things. People listen to your show and they come for your content. Well, they also like you like they like you and they like how you show up. They like the tone of your voice, they like the feeling of your podcast, they like the everything that you do and they're curious about your take on things and they want to hear things from your perspective. In that moment, you're actually becoming an influencer. Not the type that sits on the fan, the hood of a fancy car, or takes selfies by a jet. Not that kind of influencer, but you're influencing them by sharing your point of view and helping people to make sense of their life. They trust you, they find value in what you do, and they're curious about your opinion on things. So they're looking for your unique point of view. So share it with them. This point of view will become your mission statement over time, and it's a statement that you should remind yourself of and it should be your point of reference for you as you create content, lean into telling stories from your point of view, your slant, your unique opinion. And don't be afraid to share things that are meaningful for you because your audience loves to get more of you and loves to get more of your insight. Again, they come for your content. They stay for the host. So don't be afraid to share your ideas with your listeners. I think they want more of you, and it's up to you how much you want to share. But the more the better if you want to deepen that relationship between you and your audience. So tell better stories by sharing your unique point of view. It's going to really help together.