Audience building and community building are two very different
Speaker:things in podcasting, though we tend to use the terms
Speaker:interchangeably.
Speaker:And we tend to ignore
Speaker:the ladder.
Speaker:But true community building has its own rewards.
Speaker:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Speaker:What does community building mean to you as
Speaker:a podcaster?
Speaker:If your
Speaker:first thoughts turned to the properties you've created to leverage out and
Speaker:build a community for your show, we have a problem with language.
Speaker:Those properties that you've built are for people who listen to your
Speaker:show or consume your content.
Speaker:A better word for those people would be audience.
Speaker:And while I agree and support your desire to grow your audience,
Speaker:I'd also suggest you not neglect building an actual community in
Speaker:which you and your podcast live.
Speaker:Community building in this context means you and your podcast playing
Speaker:an active role in helping
Speaker:build out or support the
Speaker:community or communities
Speaker:in which you belong.
Speaker:See, we often focus on our community, but we don't podcast in a vacuum.
Speaker:No podcaster is an island.
Speaker:It takes a village.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:choose your aphorism here.
Speaker:And while
Speaker:yes, getting more involved with our community of listeners might increase
Speaker:our audience, or even getting involved in the larger community might increase our
Speaker:audience, that's not
Speaker:the primary goal of community involvement.
Speaker:I mean, how much more business do you think that bar and grill on
Speaker:the corner does because they've
Speaker:sponsored your kids' little league team?
Speaker:Sure, they get some, but it's likely not going to cause anyone to be a dedicated
Speaker:patron just because they saw the logo of the restaurant on the kids' cap.
Speaker:No, the owner of that bar
Speaker:and grill sponsors your kids' little league
Speaker:team because they're part of the community, and when the
Speaker:community thrives, they thrive.
Speaker:Not just professionally, but also personally, because they're part
Speaker:of that community.
Speaker:I'm going
Speaker:to climb down now from my pulpit and give you three areas of community
Speaker:building to focus on as you start this process of building out your community.
Speaker:And again, not just that community for your
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:Let's
Speaker:keep it local to start, as in your physical
Speaker:location.
Speaker:Yes, I realize
Speaker:your podcast may not necessarily speak specifically to the
Speaker:area in which you live.
Speaker:You
Speaker:also likely have listeners from all around the globe.
Speaker:But, not everyone in
Speaker:business in your local
Speaker:community directly serves your local community.
Speaker:The people within a five kilometer radius of you may not be your
Speaker:audience, but you still have to live with, or at least around, them.
Speaker:Getting involved in your local community shows that you and your podcast are active
Speaker:members of this community.
Speaker:Look, I'm not suggesting
Speaker:you set up a recording booth at your local farmer's market.
Speaker:That's probably not what you need to do.
Speaker:I am, however, suggesting that you play an active role with local
Speaker:community organizers, business
Speaker:mixers.
Speaker:And sure, why
Speaker:not
Speaker:have your podcast sponsored
Speaker:by a local little league team for a couple of hundred bucks per season?
Speaker:It's not that big of an investment, and it shows that you value the people who live
Speaker:around you.
Speaker:Also, what
Speaker:a great conversation starter, having your podcast logo
Speaker:on that little league cap, huh?
Speaker:Then there's
Speaker:the overall podcasting community you could get
Speaker:more involved with.
Speaker:They - okay,
Speaker:let's use the term we - could probably use more of your support
Speaker:and more of your involvement.
Speaker:If, that is, you have any more
Speaker:to give.
Speaker:Yeah, it costs
Speaker:a lot
Speaker:to travel to podcast conferences,
Speaker:which I'm cautiously optimistic we might be able to do in the near future.
Speaker:And while you definitely see the eager beavers at those conferences,
Speaker:trying to drum up listeners to
Speaker:their show, they're
Speaker:missing the point.
Speaker:The best advice I can
Speaker:tell you for attending
Speaker:these things is becoming part of the scene.
Speaker:That's hugely valuable, but you don't have to wait for
Speaker:conferences to get involved in the
Speaker:podcasting scene.
Speaker:You can
Speaker:get more involved with the various social properties where
Speaker:podcasters gather and other
Speaker:online groups.
Speaker:Again, not
Speaker:to rake in new listeners, but to
Speaker:support podcasting.
Speaker:You can
Speaker:work with people
Speaker:like the Bello Collective,
Speaker:or curate for Earbuds Collective, or join The Podcast Academy.
Speaker:There are lots of ways to get involved.
Speaker:The podcast community is rich, vibrant, and pervasive.
Speaker:It's everywhere you probably want to be.
Speaker:So pick a corner and start making
Speaker:your mark.
Speaker:Finally, there
Speaker:may be a huge opportunity to get more involved in the communities in and
Speaker:around the trade or the industry in which you and your podcast belong.
Speaker:Just about every industry or interest group out there has one, or several,
Speaker:different governing bodies or other groups that are putting on mixers, creating
Speaker:publications, putting on trade shows.
Speaker:Seek
Speaker:those things out.
Speaker:See how
Speaker:you and your podcast can become more involved with those industry groups.
Speaker:Showing others in your trade or your industry that podcasting is also a
Speaker:part of that trade or industry can really introduce and create some
Speaker:interesting collaborations down the road.
Speaker:Or just elevate your status within the industry that you've chosen to be a
Speaker:part of.
Speaker:That in itself
Speaker:will give you more access,
Speaker:prestige, and, sure, probably
Speaker:some more interested
Speaker:listeners.
Speaker:Podcasters
Speaker:tend to know the importance of community building.
Speaker:Hopefully, this higher level view of how you and your podcast can get involved
Speaker:with the communities in your orbit might
Speaker:be helpful to you.
Speaker:With that,
Speaker:I shall be back
Speaker:tomorrow with yet another
Speaker:Podcast Pontifications.
Speaker:Cheers!
Speaker:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Speaker:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Speaker:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Speaker:section of your podcast listening app.
Speaker:A written-to-be-read article
Speaker:based on today's episode is
Speaker:available at podcastpontifications.com
Speaker:where you'll also find a video version and
Speaker:a corrected transcripts, both created
Speaker:by Allie Press.
Speaker:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.