18. Easy Growth Hacks for Your Podcast

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Laura: Welcome to Podcasting for Business Owners. I’m Your host, Laura McRae, a podcast consultant, educator and self confessed podcast nerd. If you’re thinking of launching a podcast or want to grow the one you have, you’re in the right place. Hold on to your headphones and let’s go. Welcome back to Podcasting for Business Owners, the podcast that helps you share your story, lead your industry, and grow your network through podcasting. I’m Laura McRae and today we’re going to talk about one of the biggest challenges I hear from business owners. Finding time to grow a podcast when your business already keeps you busy. If this sounds familiar, stick around because I’m going to walk you through some time saving growth ideas that can help you expand your reach and, um, build your podcast audience without adding a tonne of extra work on your plate. These strategies focus on efficiency and impact. A great way to grow your podcast is by collaborating with others. The first strategy I recommend is guest swaps. Invite other business owners or industry experts to be guests on your podcast and offer to be a guest on theirs. This is such a great way to introduce your podcast to a whole new audience and both parties benefit. Another approach is cross promotion. Find a few podcasters or peers in your field who serve a similar audience and agree to mention each other’s shows. It could be a quick mention at the end of an episode or even a full shout out, whatever feels right for you. And if you want to take it a step further, you could do a collaborative miniseries with another expert. Pulling your audiences together for a series of episodes gives you an extended reach without a lot of extra work. If you’re looking to grow your network, consider joining online communities or podcasting groups where collaborations are common. There’s a few Facebook groups full of other podcasters looking to connect, share advice, and set up guest swaps or cross promotions. But while these groups can be valuable, you don’t want to be wasting your time with Sam interviews. So choose wisely who you connect with. If you post a, uh, vague request saying something like I’m looking for guests expect to be flooded with responses without a specific asked. It can become overwhelming to sift through dozens or even hundreds of replies, many of which may not align with your podcast’s theme. Not every podcast will be a good match. Going on any show just for exposure can waste your time if their audience isn’t a good fit for your content. Quality is always better than quantity when it comes to these collaborations. To make the most of these communities without getting bogged down in irrelevant responses Be specific with your requests. When posting that you’re looking for guests or a, uh, collaboration, clearly outline what you’re looking for. For example, you might say, I’m, um, looking for business consultants specialising in digital marketing to discuss content strategy. This saves you time by attracting responses that are actually relevant. Before agreeing to guests on someone else’s show or inviting them on yours, listen to a few of their episodes. Ask yourself if their style, content and audience align with yours. Going on a show that doesn’t fit your brand can actually confuse your audience and won’t provide much value. It’s essential to ensure that their audience has a similar interest to your own listeners. If their followers are unlikely to be interested in your podcast, it’s probably not a good match. There are quite a few Facebook groups dedicated to podcasters looking to collaborate. Some are open to all niches, while others may be more focused so you can find a community that suits your style and objectives. I’ll link a few of these Facebook groups in the show Notes that can be a good starting point for you. Podcasting groups can be fantastic resources for networking and growth, but approach them with clarity and intention. By being specific with your asks, vetting potential collaborators and focusing on alignment, you’ll create partnerships that actually benefit your podcast. Rather than casting a wide net, aim to build meaningful connections with podcasters who have similar goals and audiences. Now let’s talk about repurposing. It’s one of the best ways to stretch your podcast content and reach more people without creating a tonne of extra work. The great news is repurposing has evolved a lot and we have more efficient tools than ever to make this process smoother. If you have a transcript for your episode, try popping it in ChatGPT or another AI tool. You can use it to generate a range of content like newsletters, blog posts, or even social media captions,

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Laura: all tailored to different platforms. By repurposing this way, you’re taking the valuable information you’ve already created and extending its reach to different audiences. But remember that you must always cheque what these AI tools come out with. I wouldn’t recommend just copy and pasting what they say. They’re great for creating the backbone of your content, but they must be edited so that they’re in your tone of voice and suit your branding. Another great option if you’re filming your podcast is to make short video clips. These can work as Instagram Reels, YouTube shorts, or even TikTok videos, each given a quick preview that grabs attention and encourages listeners to Cheque out the full episode One single episode can be repurposed in so many formats. You can turn key takeaways into email snippets or create social media posts that highlight specific tips or quotes. This keeps your message circulating and your audience engaged across different platforms. If you want to hear more about repurposing strategies, cheque out episode 13 where I chat with Krishla all about making your podcast work smarter, not harder. I’ll put a, uh, link to that in the show Notes when it comes to promotion, let’s make things as efficient as possible. I’ve got a set of social media templates in Canva that I use for each episode. With a few templates ready to go. Creating graphics and posts for social media can be so much quicker. If you have an email list, send a weekly or bi weekly roundup that includes links to your latest episodes and key takeaways. This is a great way to keep your subscribers engaged and can even encourage them to share with others. Another tip is to focus on a single social media platform. Rather than trying to be everywhere, pick one platform where you know your audience spends time, whether that’s LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Focus your efforts there to maximise your reach without spreading yourself thin. For me, I tend to focus on Instagram and LinkedIn. I’ve tried TikTok, but I just couldn’t find the time in the day to engage with that audience. And with Facebook I don’t have many followers on there and I also don’t have time to engage on there either. So I tend to just focus on LinkedIn and Instagram where I get the most engagement. And don’t forget the power of a simple call to action in each episode. Whether it’s asking listeners to share with a friend or leave a review, keeping it short and clear increases the chances of them doing what you ask them to do next. Let’s look at some ways to boost audience engagement. One strategy I love is incorporating listener questions. Ask for questions on social media or through email, then answer a couple at the end of each episode. It makes your show more interactive and builds loyalty. A couple of my clients do whole episodes answering listener questions and these have been really successful. Another great option is creating quick polls or mini surveys. These can be done in your Instagram stories to find out what your listeners want more of, and it’s an easy way to find out, uh, what your listeners are interested in. For people joining your mailing list, consider setting up an automated email sequence that welcomes them and introduces popular episodes. This way, you’re nurturing newcomers with minimal effort. And don’t forget to regularly ask for reviews and testimonials. Asking listeners to leave a review at the end of an episode encourages engagement. Just a gentle reminder can make a big difference in your podcast’s growth. Finally, let’s talk about batching. I know you’ve heard this before, but batching is a lifesaver for staying consistent without spending every week working on your podcast. A great example of this is a client of mine who batch recorded three podcast episodes in one day. Unfortunately, the next day she had to go into hospital and was there for a couple of weeks. Because she’d saved those episodes in our shared drive, her podcast was one less thing for her to worry about. I was able to edit the episodes, write the show notes, and schedule her episodes, all thanks to her decision to batch record. This goes to show that batching is incredibly helpful. You never know what’s around the corner, and it’s a great idea to record multiple episodes when you’re in the mood and have the energy for it. Personally, I set specific days to edit episodes. I find editing fits best on days when I’m not feeling social. I feel more inspired and creative in the morning, so I use that time for brainstorming, writing, or recording. Then, once my energy is a bit lower, I shift to editing because it’s something I can focus on without needing that same creative spark. Having a designated editing time and day helps me use my energy wisely. Scheduling social media posts in advance is

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Laura: another big time saver. Take one day to create and schedule posts for upcoming episodes so promotion happens automatically and frees you up for other tasks. I even schedule my recording, editing social media and other tasks into my calendar. Sure, I move things around if needed, but having them in my calendar ensures I stay on top of what’s important. This also helps me make sure I’m in the right frame of mind for each task. You can’t record your episodes when you’re feeling low or have a cold, and you don’t want to waste creative energy on something like editing when it could be better spent on content creation. So to recap, we’ve covered five main growth ideas, collaborating with others, repurposing content, efficient promotion, easy audience engagement, and batching your content. Each of these strategies is designed to save you time while still growing your podcast and reaching more listeners. I’d love to know if you try any of these, so feel free to reach out to me M on Instagram@podcast.support.services and share what’s working for you, and if you have any favourite growth hacks of your own, let me know. I’d love to feature them in a future episode. Thanks so much for listening. And remember, even small, consistent growth efforts can have a big impact over time. See you next time. If you found value in this podcast, please leave a five star rating and a review would be even better. Your support shows that this is a good show which will attract high profile guests and in turn deliver greater value to you. This podcast is produced and edited by me. Don’t waste your time on editing. Let me help you with your podcast. Cheque out the links in the show notes to get in touch.

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