My podcast network, Boundless Audio Podcast Network, has a bi-monthly newsletter. We share the latest news in the podcasting world, tips for making a better podcast, upcoming podcast events, and highlight a show on our network. The strategy is to help other women podcasters become better and spread the word about our member shows.
Nov 3, 2022·edited Nov 3, 2022Liked by Courtney Kocak
We have a newsletter that goes out about once per month! I like to provide: additional villain insights or additional villain poetry during the Villain of the Month segment, most recent episodes w/ an "oldie" episode, additional insights about empathy or a humorous villain-related post, villain quotes, personal news, social links, and villain memes. The focus of the newsletter is to provide additional villain-related content that villain fans will like while also encouraging them to listen to our episodes.
One way we got subscribers is by putting up our own self-made Which Villain Are You? quiz online. Once people received their result as to which villain they are, they saw a blurb about our podcast, were asked if they wanted to subscribe to our newsletter, and subscribed if they wanted to. This worked well in getting some subscribers, but once newsletters went out, those who weren't our actual current listeners wouldn't open the newsletter. I'm assuming it's because, at the end of the day, the new people who took the quiz are not sure who we are. I also noticed an issue with the newsletter going into spam folders. I also have some difficulty getting current listeners to subscribe, but some are and it's a work in progress. I currently have 29 subscribers and a 40% open rate.
Did I fail? I'm not sure yet :). What I've learned is: podcast newsletters might just work best for current listeners (but I also don't want to totally throw away the idea of recruiting new listeners through the newsletter), I should consider more thoughtfully if our audience likes emails (they're on Instagram and Tik Tok...are they on email? Hmm..), and I need to figure out a way to prevent it from going into spam folders, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.
Our newsletter strategy is centered around building our engaged audience. We send out a newsletter once every two weeks when a new episode is released, and sometimes once a week when we have information and resources that we feel are valuable for our subscribers. Our content includes:
- New episode announcements
- Articles featuring playlists
- Highlights of kids who send in their questions (with their grownups permission)
- Exclusive resources we only make available for our newsletter subscribers including activity guides, conversation cards, social emotional activities and more.
- We include ways their kids can be part of the podcast
Here are two that are PHENOMENAL examples of how a brand/person can use the pod as a flywheel for content, specifically as it relates to their companion newsletters.
Hi! Our companion news letter to the Reframeables podcast is a Reframeables substack. In it we do a recap of what happened on the pod that week, share all of the links from the show notes for whoever might have missed them, and we also share a healthy recipe (that, 50+ recipes later, has just recently been turned into a beautiful e-cookbook!).
We've been putting a lot of thought into our companion newsletter to The Wintering Sessions, so it's actually really nice to talk about it! Our newsletter includes a short blurb about the conversation and the interviewee, links to anything mentioned in the show, links to similar episodes of the podcast and an excerpt of the full transcription with a link to click through.
We cycle between three types of post on our newsletter: Week 1 is a podcast episode letter, Week 2 is a piece of writing with just a link back to the podcast at the end, and on the Sunday between the two we send out a cultural round-up that mentions other newsletters, books and podcasts I love. It's intersting to note (maybe just to me) that all three types of letter get roughly the same open rate (about 65%) - although only the piece of writing gets any comments. I think the variation works well for us.
Our inspiration is the On Being newsletter, which is always so readable and has every bit of information I need. We aspire to this!
Hey! Wondering how my podcast business or podcast can be featured in your newsletter. Is there a place I can go to submit it for consideration, or pay for sponsorship/ads?
Yes, I have an email newsletter that accompanies my podcast(s).
It has over 17,000 subscribers and gets on average a 39% open rate.
Some weeks as high as 49%.
With some recent tweeks we are now growing it from 70-200 subs a week.
I've been terrible about posting it on our website, but you can see week #41 titled,
Best Investment Advice I Ever Got That Has Made Me a Lot of Money" here:
https://myedgepodcast.com/blog/best-investment-advice-i-ever-got-that-has-made-me-a-lot-of-money-637
You can see my subscribe page here:
https://edge.ck.page/bea5b3fda6
I also have a print newsletter, but that's another story :-)
If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out, enjoy your writing. My email is B at Brandon C White dot com.
Thanks for all you do!
Brandon
My podcast network, Boundless Audio Podcast Network, has a bi-monthly newsletter. We share the latest news in the podcasting world, tips for making a better podcast, upcoming podcast events, and highlight a show on our network. The strategy is to help other women podcasters become better and spread the word about our member shows.
Recent newsletter: https://view.flodesk.com/emails/63514ebc2122f392320cee93
How to subscribe: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62bcaeb7d0d1b82d168106ef
We have a newsletter that goes out about once per month! I like to provide: additional villain insights or additional villain poetry during the Villain of the Month segment, most recent episodes w/ an "oldie" episode, additional insights about empathy or a humorous villain-related post, villain quotes, personal news, social links, and villain memes. The focus of the newsletter is to provide additional villain-related content that villain fans will like while also encouraging them to listen to our episodes.
One way we got subscribers is by putting up our own self-made Which Villain Are You? quiz online. Once people received their result as to which villain they are, they saw a blurb about our podcast, were asked if they wanted to subscribe to our newsletter, and subscribed if they wanted to. This worked well in getting some subscribers, but once newsletters went out, those who weren't our actual current listeners wouldn't open the newsletter. I'm assuming it's because, at the end of the day, the new people who took the quiz are not sure who we are. I also noticed an issue with the newsletter going into spam folders. I also have some difficulty getting current listeners to subscribe, but some are and it's a work in progress. I currently have 29 subscribers and a 40% open rate.
Did I fail? I'm not sure yet :). What I've learned is: podcast newsletters might just work best for current listeners (but I also don't want to totally throw away the idea of recruiting new listeners through the newsletter), I should consider more thoughtfully if our audience likes emails (they're on Instagram and Tik Tok...are they on email? Hmm..), and I need to figure out a way to prevent it from going into spam folders, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.
Here are some examples:
https://mailchi.mp/0e4f344d035e/september-2022-next-door-villain-newsletter?e=%5BUNIQID%5D
https://mailchi.mp/400b88734867/may-2022-next-door-villain-newsletter?fbclid=IwAR1J4vUC6GoT46rcjQ8k8gH2R3iCRUgWXvL7f9G3elajdGh50lK17MaUBD4
Our newsletter strategy is centered around building our engaged audience. We send out a newsletter once every two weeks when a new episode is released, and sometimes once a week when we have information and resources that we feel are valuable for our subscribers. Our content includes:
- New episode announcements
- Articles featuring playlists
- Highlights of kids who send in their questions (with their grownups permission)
- Exclusive resources we only make available for our newsletter subscribers including activity guides, conversation cards, social emotional activities and more.
- We include ways their kids can be part of the podcast
Here are two examples:
https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/awlist5525209/MTU2MjU5MDk=/helping-kids-find-their-calm-dorktales-storytime-podcast.htm
https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/awlist5525209/MTUxOTY0Mzg=/new-mary-had-a-little-yes-and-dorktales-storytime-podcast.htm
Here are two that are PHENOMENAL examples of how a brand/person can use the pod as a flywheel for content, specifically as it relates to their companion newsletters.
Formstack's Practically Genius has a whole episode each month that ties back directly to the newsletter. Podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/practically-genius/id1493538748 Newsletter link: https://www.formstack.com/practically-genius-insider)
Tiffany Sauder's Scared Confident - Tiffany's as a thought leader uses both a podcast and a newsletter to create content to build this strategy. She directly connects the two by following the same "theme" discussed in the podcast, as content in the newsletter. Podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scared-confident/id1555762235 Newsletter link: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6310c72b2812b898e99a95b1
Hi! Our companion news letter to the Reframeables podcast is a Reframeables substack. In it we do a recap of what happened on the pod that week, share all of the links from the show notes for whoever might have missed them, and we also share a healthy recipe (that, 50+ recipes later, has just recently been turned into a beautiful e-cookbook!).
www.refeameables.substack.com
Thanks!
We've been putting a lot of thought into our companion newsletter to The Wintering Sessions, so it's actually really nice to talk about it! Our newsletter includes a short blurb about the conversation and the interviewee, links to anything mentioned in the show, links to similar episodes of the podcast and an excerpt of the full transcription with a link to click through.
We cycle between three types of post on our newsletter: Week 1 is a podcast episode letter, Week 2 is a piece of writing with just a link back to the podcast at the end, and on the Sunday between the two we send out a cultural round-up that mentions other newsletters, books and podcasts I love. It's intersting to note (maybe just to me) that all three types of letter get roughly the same open rate (about 65%) - although only the piece of writing gets any comments. I think the variation works well for us.
Our inspiration is the On Being newsletter, which is always so readable and has every bit of information I need. We aspire to this!
Hi Courtney,
Thank you for including me in the companion newsletter 🙏
I'm happy to write a blurb about things that I'm doing to grow. They're not sexy, but they work :-)
What's the best way to send them to you? And...how many words would you like.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Brandon
Hey! Wondering how my podcast business or podcast can be featured in your newsletter. Is there a place I can go to submit it for consideration, or pay for sponsorship/ads?