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Posting about your podcast on social media without posting ONLY about
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your podcast can be exhausting.
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I can't fix that, but I can give you 10 questions to ask yourself that
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make for great social post ideas.
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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So there I was staring at the flashing, "What's happening?"
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prompt on my computer, and nothing comes to mind.
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Has that ever happened to you, podcaster?
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I mean, if you're a natural born social media person, then it's likely it didn't.
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Or if you're a writer like I am, you probably already have developed
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some solid practices for busting through writer's block when looking
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at those social media posts.
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But if putting words in print is something that doesn't come natural
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to you, as it often doesn't come natural to podcasters, you may get
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anxious even thinking about posting content on social media properties.
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Or, or maybe that's not your problem, but you are not at all happy with the
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proliferation of visual social media apps that have stolen all of our thunder.
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You might be great with text and you may be great behind the mic,
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but you look at services like TikTok and you wonder how the hell you're
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supposed to compete with that stuff?
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Social media, hard or not, takes work.
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Social media, like just about all kinds of work, takes developing new skills
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and adapting to changing environments.
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Even natural-born storytellers, and many podcasters do fit that
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bill, aren't all that great when it comes to telling stories socially.
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But social media is also part of the game we have to play as podcasters, right?
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We know the value, even if the value is difficult to accurately measure, of
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engaging with our listeners, engaging with other podcasters, and doing our
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best to build our brand, find new people to introduce to our content and to keep
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connected in our particular niche and even the larger world of podcasting.
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We know we can't get by with just posting a link to our latest episode
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and thinking we've got social covered.
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We know this.
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But knowing this does nothing to help when you're staring at that
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flashing, "What's happening?"
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prompt.
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That knowledge comforts us not when we're looking at our selfie image,
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wondering what we were thinking when we pushed that big plus sign.
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Look, I'm not here to tell you what to post on social media, podcaster.
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But I can give you, as I am wont to do, some questions to think
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about the next time you berate yourself for having nothing to post.
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In fact, I have five questions, five questions for you to ask yourself the
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next time you are drawing a blank.
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And I promise you that one or more of these will work for you every single time.
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Number one, did you just get off the phone with someone who left you
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inspired about a new episode idea?
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Then share it.
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Tag that person.
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Don't bottle all that stuff up and wait till you've got something.
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No, tell everyone how much you appreciate the person, the
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conversation, and that you are excited to craft that into a new episode.
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Number two, did you just, or recently record an amazing interview with someone?
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Share it!
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Like, as soon as it's over, as soon as you leave the recording session, jump
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on your favorite social platform, tag the person you just interviewed, mention
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some key insights you got and that you're looking forward to digging deep
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into them when you release the episode.
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Number three, has anything changed in your podcast tech stack?
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Share it!
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I mean, maybe you just upgraded your mic cables or maybe you switched DAWs.
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Things like that might seem mundane to you, but I promise you, they are not.
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Someone in your social circles cares and someone else was
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hoping you'd make that change.
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So maybe now they'll give your show another shot.
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Number four, did you recently schedule an episode?
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Now, if you're super smart, like at least some of you are some of the time, and
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you get your episodes produced well in advance of their publishing date- great,
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you've got another reason to share.
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Go ahead.
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Let your audience know that you've just scheduled an amazing
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episode that won't come out for a few days, or weeks, or whatever.
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It doesn't matter.
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But tag the people or the companies you mentioned in the episode, go ahead
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and add a link to your show's website there and get people up- excited
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about what's to come on your podcast.
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Number five, did you learn something new at a podcast conference?
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Or, or maybe something at a conference in your particular niche or a webinar you
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attended, something that you just can't wait to put into place on your podcast?
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Share that.
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People wanna know that you're constantly improving.
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And others who are interested in that new thing you discovered might be intrigued
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enough to give you or your show a follow.
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Number six, did you just sculpt the most amazing bit of sound?
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Something like smoothing out a tricky edit or just nailing the timing of the
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bed music, and you were pumping your fist in the background - that is share worthy.
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Take a screenshot.
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Or, or better yet, consider using that screenshot as the background
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of an audiogram that just isolates that part you're so proud about.
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This is fun content and it should get the attention of other podcasters.
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Being attached and connected to more podcasters always a good idea, right?
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Number seven, have you hired anyone new or maybe you've decided to
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outsource a part of your process?
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Like, I don't know, maybe you engaged a PR firm.
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Let the world know about that.
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The other party that you mentioned will likely reciprocate and
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maybe reshare that status update.
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And it gives people who are following you another reason to look at your
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podcast, if only to see what's changed.
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Number eight, have you been noodling on writing an article or putting
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out a manifesto or generating some other form of long content that
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you really would like to share?
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Well, then do it.
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All of today's social media properties allow for long-form content.
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So write it out or record a video, whatever, and get that out of your
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head and then into the social sphere.
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Number nine, are you frustrated, scared, or facing yet another existential crisis
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for either for you or for your show?
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Open up, be vulnerable about that.
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I know that's hard.
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I, I struggle with it, too, but remember that - and get your shot glasses ready
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- that podcasting is an intimate medium.
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And that sort of honesty is almost always repaid with an outpouring
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of supporters who have your back and maybe are even able to help.
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And finally, number 10, what's happening?
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I mean, if all else fails, write about your life.
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That old question, "What's happening?"
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that's staring you in the face?
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Well, answer it.
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No, not every single thing you post about your life should,
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is gonna be worthy of that.
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I get it.
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But also not everything you post on social should be about your show or
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the fact that you are a podcaster.
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Heck, I'd even say that most of the things you post should not be about your podcast.
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So go ahead, share what's happening in your personal life.
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Be a person.
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Other people love that.
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So there you have it, ten ideas for podcasters who have no idea
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what to post about on social media other than their latest episode.
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So many people make this look easy and for them it is.
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But hopefully these items give you some ideas for the next
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time you are feeling stuck.
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Feel free to share them with others.
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And with that, I shall be back next week with yet another 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 based on today's episode is available at
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podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
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transcript, both created by Allie Press.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
