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Prioritize Community Building With, Not For, Your Podcast
Episode 782nd February 2022 • Podcast Pontifications • Evo Terra
00:00:00 00:11:37

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Audience building and community building are two very different

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things in podcasting, though we tend to use the terms

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interchangeably.

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And we tend to ignore

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the ladder.

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But true community building has its own rewards.

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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

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What does community building mean to you as

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a podcaster?

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If your

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first thoughts turned to the properties you've created to leverage out and

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build a community for your show, we have a problem with language.

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Those properties that you've built are for people who listen to your

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show or consume your content.

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A better word for those people would be audience.

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And while I agree and support your desire to grow your audience,

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I'd also suggest you not neglect building an actual community in

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which you and your podcast live.

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Community building in this context means you and your podcast playing

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an active role in helping

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build out or support the

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community or communities

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in which you belong.

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See, we often focus on our community, but we don't podcast in a vacuum.

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No podcaster is an island.

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It takes a village.

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You know,

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choose your aphorism here.

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And while

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yes, getting more involved with our community of listeners might increase

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our audience, or even getting involved in the larger community might increase our

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audience, that's not

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the primary goal of community involvement.

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I mean, how much more business do you think that bar and grill on

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the corner does because they've

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sponsored your kids' little league team?

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Sure, they get some, but it's likely not going to cause anyone to be a dedicated

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patron just because they saw the logo of the restaurant on the kids' cap.

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No, the owner of that bar

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and grill sponsors your kids' little league

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team because they're part of the community, and when the

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community thrives, they thrive.

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Not just professionally, but also personally, because they're part

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of that community.

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I'm going

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to climb down now from my pulpit and give you three areas of community

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building to focus on as you start this process of building out your community.

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And again, not just that community for your

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podcast.

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Let's

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keep it local to start, as in your physical

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location.

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Yes, I realize

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your podcast may not necessarily speak specifically to the

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area in which you live.

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You

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also likely have listeners from all around the globe.

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But, not everyone in

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business in your local

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community directly serves your local community.

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The people within a five kilometer radius of you may not be your

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audience, but you still have to live with, or at least around, them.

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Getting involved in your local community shows that you and your podcast are active

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members of this community.

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Look, I'm not suggesting

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you set up a recording booth at your local farmer's market.

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That's probably not what you need to do.

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I am, however, suggesting that you play an active role with local

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community organizers, business

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mixers.

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And sure, why

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not

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have your podcast sponsored

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by a local little league team for a couple of hundred bucks per season?

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It's not that big of an investment, and it shows that you value the people who live

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around you.

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Also, what

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a great conversation starter, having your podcast logo

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on that little league cap, huh?

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Then there's

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the overall podcasting community you could get

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more involved with.

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They - okay,

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let's use the term we - could probably use more of your support

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and more of your involvement.

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If, that is, you have any more

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to give.

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Yeah, it costs

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a lot

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to travel to podcast conferences,

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which I'm cautiously optimistic we might be able to do in the near future.

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And while you definitely see the eager beavers at those conferences,

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trying to drum up listeners to

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their show, they're

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missing the point.

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The best advice I can

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tell you for attending

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these things is becoming part of the scene.

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That's hugely valuable, but you don't have to wait for

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conferences to get involved in the

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podcasting scene.

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You can

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get more involved with the various social properties where

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podcasters gather and other

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online groups.

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Again, not

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to rake in new listeners, but to

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support podcasting.

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You can

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work with people

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like the Bello Collective,

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or curate for Earbuds Collective, or join The Podcast Academy.

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There are lots of ways to get involved.

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The podcast community is rich, vibrant, and pervasive.

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It's everywhere you probably want to be.

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So pick a corner and start making

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your mark.

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Finally, there

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may be a huge opportunity to get more involved in the communities in and

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around the trade or the industry in which you and your podcast belong.

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Just about every industry or interest group out there has one, or several,

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different governing bodies or other groups that are putting on mixers, creating

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publications, putting on trade shows.

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Seek

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those things out.

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See how

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you and your podcast can become more involved with those industry groups.

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Showing others in your trade or your industry that podcasting is also a

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part of that trade or industry can really introduce and create some

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interesting collaborations down the road.

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Or just elevate your status within the industry that you've chosen to be a

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part of.

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That in itself

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will give you more access,

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prestige, and, sure, probably

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some more interested

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listeners.

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Podcasters

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tend to know the importance of community building.

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Hopefully, this higher level view of how you and your podcast can get involved

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with the communities in your orbit might

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be helpful to you.

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With that,

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I shall be back

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tomorrow with yet another

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Podcast Pontifications.

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Cheers!

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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.

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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.

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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes

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section of your podcast listening app.

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A written-to-be-read article

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based on today's episode is

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available at podcastpontifications.com

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where you'll also find a video version and

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a corrected transcripts, both created

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by Allie Press.

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.