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I'm just finished my second season of the Living Love podcast, focused on how we strengthen kinship and collaboration in times of change. I have a MailChimp newsletter and use that to share about new podcast episodes and offer links to resources and updates on offerings. This is a sample newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/kinshiphub/overwhelm-to-solidarity-10282794?e=6ebfe3f384 I'm looking for ways to grow both the podcast and newsletter and I have been considering Substack.

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Substack is terrific! I highly recommend — there are so many built-in growth features.

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What a great interview. I use Mailchimp and I'm not getting great traction tbh, so I should migrate to Substack, as I love their recommend-three-others-system and of course the fact that you comment. Rather than have the newsletter just about my podcast, which seemed too self-promotey and not give-back-enoughy, I've broadened it to reviewing other podcasts I think the readers will like, too. https://eepurl.com/hz1r-T

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Reviewing other podcasts is a great way to build community with not just your listeners/readers, but other podcasters too.

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I just started my podcast newsletter so I am still figuring it out. Right now, I am providing interesting primary sources relevant to the topics of each episode.

We talk about people you've never heard of who've changed the world. I think of my substack as supplemental reading if someone found a person or topic particularly engaging.

https://dlistersofhistory.substack.com/

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First, I don't believe substack is IAB certified, and not to pop his bubble, but that may be the reason his downloads went up 10X. I do a newsletter that shares "behind the scenes" stuff I don't talk about on my shows. I then put links to my latest episodes (I need to add links to follow...). I have a "what caught my eye" section which mentions anything from tech to Youtube videos, and "what's coming in the future." It's typically a few paragraphs (short) and mainly links. I've had people say they love it because it's quick to read, and yet filled with value. I've had people join my membership from the newsletter. As much as rating and reviews are just social proof (which advertisers like to see). Advertisers also LOVE a nice, fat, juicy email list.

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My podcast, Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic, is hosted on Substack,. Each weekly, 5-minute episode features an audio-recording of a question about friendship from a child (ages 5-13) plus a practical and thought-provoking answer. (I'm a psychologist and author.) The newsletter includes an easy-to-read transcript plus discussion questions that parents and teachers can use to deepen children's understanding.

The kids' questions are deep! And their voices are adorable. This is my favorite work activity!

https://drfriendtastic.substack.com/

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I'd love to feature you and your podcast on my substack written interview series Eileen. Would you be interested in that? I'm Seraphina, 11 years old, started my podcast at 7. It's pretty popular with grown ups and schools. Hope you'll say yes!

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I'd be delighted! Thank you for asking. I've been digging into your podcast. What a wonderful service you offer the world! I sent you my email in a note. Warm wishes, Eileen

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Thank you so much!!!

I'm trying to find ways to reach kids of my age but to be honest I find adults love it!

Seraphina x

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Good stuff as always, Courtney, and I'm a huge supporter of every podcaster having a newsletter. At the very least, it's a great way to keep your community updated about things that are happening in the industry (and around your show) should a listener's preferred app go down, or disappear altogether.

For my newsletter, Be a Better Podcaster, it's all about complementary, expanded dives into the topics of the shorter episodes. This may be tech, tools, audio, guests, and more. It's also a nice way to get feedback from your audience, where that might not always be the easiest thing to do via podcast apps themselves.

https://www.podchatnews.com/

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This was a really interesting read, I also switched my podcast hosting to Substack a month ago and have seen a huge increase in downloads, it’s just so much easier to build community here! I started my newsletter alongside it and find that it’s really helped drive new listeners and subscriptions, as well as being a great way to connect with new people who may not necessarily want to listen to a podcast but enjoy getting the information from the show notes and accompanying blogs…I’m definitely excited to see where Substack grows from here as a podcasting platform!

https://gemmaj.substack.com/podcast

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Courtney this is a great read. A brilliant interview with Paul. I'm going to check him out in a minute. The advice about where readers hang out when not reading or listening to audio is the best. Substack is a reading place as you both say full of writers. As audio people we need to think how to engage writers into a different format OR to find them where they are. Both, right!

*Would you consider completing my written interview so I can showcase you and your pod over on my substack?* I hope you'll say yes. I know you're busy so my hopes are in check. Btw I'm 11 and began hosting my podcast at 7. It started out as observations I wanted to talk about (sexist toys, farts, why boys and men get to not wear t shirts out in public). I'm getting into my social and political commentary quite nicely, people say. 🙂

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