How to Grow Your Podcast Using the 7-Point Growth Framework

One of the hardest things for new pod-casters to do is grow their podcasts. Getting more downloads, more engaged listeners and more leads. And that's because. For a long time, people thought that. Podcasting or starting a podcast was a discovery vehicle. It's not though. It is a way for people to know, like, and trust you. It is a way to deepen. The relationship. That's why I put together a seven point podcast growth framework. These are seven things that you can do today to improve your podcast and grow it. So that's what we're going to dive into in today's episode, let's get into it. Having a profitable podcast is like having any other profitable business. You need to make money. Sure. But you also need to grow. You need to spend your time wisely. And you need predictability. A couple of sponsors won't make you a profitable podcaster. But having systems to stay consistent. Create steady growth and generate predictable income will. That's what you'll get with this show. Hi, I'm your host, Joe Casabona and my podcasts have been profitable from day one. I'll share everything i know with you here on the profitable podcaster Okay, so let's go through this seven point podcast growth framework. Uh, I'll just tell you all seven right at the top, and then we'll get into them that way. I'm giving you everything you need. For a year in the first couple of minutes. So one is make sure you're in all the podcast. Directories two is review the show's title and description three is review episode, title and descriptions to attract more listeners. And for SEO, uh, four is rework your call to action. Five is be intentional with your intro or the first 60 seconds. Six is identify other podcasts to do swaps with. And number seven is figure out how you'll make money. What we'll get to that later, but let's take it from the top. Number one, make sure you are in all of the podcasts directories and not just apple and Spotify. You want to be where your listeners are. As I record this, YouTube is actually fighting for the number three spot. And it's in really good contention. Some stats point to 33 or 35% of American adults discovering podcasts on YouTube. And that's because YouTube is an actual great discovery engine. Whereas podcast. Podcasting. Is usually not. But. If you are in all of the podcast directories. Uh, this increases your chances of being discovered. I went to add a podcast in pocket casts recently. That's not my app of choice, but it is where I listened to some podcasts. So I went to add a podcast in pocket casts and it wasn't there, but it was in overcasts. Pocket casts is a very popular cross-platform listening app. So that person, that podcast could be losing listeners because it's not found in pocket casts. This goes the same for any like Spotify exclusive show. And a lot of news is coming out. Lately that maybe these exclusive shows were not the best investment for Spotify. So. The big takeaway here. Make sure you are in every directory. I will try to remember to include in the show notes, a list of all of the directories or I'll put together something. Uh, for podcasts, liftoff, but there's a lot. On Buzzsprout they have like a whole bunch that you can submit to. I usually just use that list. But, uh, I make sure that they are everywhere. Uh, number two. Check your show's title and description to attract more listeners. You want to make sure that your title is relevant and clear. You don't want to call your podcast. The Joe Casabona show because while you're not Joe, Casabona, maybe you are, if you are, if you're another Joe, Casabona listening to this podcast, let me know. Uh, At, um, profitable podcast or.fm/feedback. But, um, You don't want to call it your name because most people probably don't know who you are. Right? You're not Joe Rogan. Um, you're not. Other people who've named their podcast after them. Tim Ferris. Um, so you, you want to present the value proposition? The reason that people should listen. Right in the title. The same thing goes for the description. Make sure that that is well-crafted two to three sentences that tell people. What, what they're going to get what's in it for me. Use your keywords, right? So anything that you want to, um, Common terms that people are searching for. So for me, it's podcast monetize. Should be in the description of my podcast of this podcast. Um, So you want to tell them what's in it for me? Why should they listen right now? Number three check, episode, titles and descriptions to attract more listeners. And for SEO. Don't just I've. I. This is like a hill I'm willing to die on. Uh, don't just make it episode number, colon guest's name. Right. Or episode number, colon generic topic, right? Like episode now. Uh, 3 0 7. Colon. Automation. Or growth. What does that mean? Right. That's meaningless to most people. The episode number is taking up precious space. Most apps. Add the episode number anyway. That's boring. It doesn't give people a reason to listen. Like, I mean, unless you do have, you know, like if you're a. Yankee podcast. And you have Aaron judge. Maybe you just say interview with Aaron judge. Maybe that's good enough to get people to listen. But most of the time it's going, especially for like a mini podcast, it's going to want to be. Uh, actionable advice. Right? So as I record this, it's just called seven points to podcast growth. But it's probably going to be called how to grow your podcast with my seven points framework, something like that. Um, and that's the how to grow. Oh, I want that. Oh, there's a clear path to that, right? It's the, ah, oh yes. Like those are the emotions that you want people to feel in your episode at title means. Okay, so that's number three. Descriptions to write. Don't just be like in this episode, blah, blah, talks to blah, blah. Right. It should be like, Um, similar to the cold open to this show, right? Like, Hey. Growing a podcast is hard. I'm going to give you something today that makes it easier. All right. Number four, review your call to action. This is another thing I've talked about a lot on this show. Um, what's the one action you want your listeners to take? And are you putting it at the beginning of your show as well as the end, right? You know, if you listen to the show that there is a quick. Uh, 30 to 62nd call to action at the beginning to join the mailing list. That call to action does pretty well for me. Because you're listening, you're in it. It's relevant. You're not going to skip it. But by the end, after I say, that's it for this episode, maybe you've banged out already. Right? Maybe you're gone. And you don't hear me say, get all the show notes at whatever. So you want to make sure you're capturing your entire audience. And the only way, you know, that's going to happen is if you put the call to action at the beginning, As far as what the call to action should be, you know, I think it should be joining your mailing list. I think this is the best way to. Uh, grow your mailing list. Get directly capture that audience. The mailing list could be like a circular promotion for the podcast, right? Because maybe people aren't listening to every episode, but if they're on your mailing list, now you're at least putting it in two spots for them in their app. And, um, In the mailing list. I listened to cortex. Great podcast. Strongly recommend it. I usually see it common. My email first before I, cause I checked my app a couple of times a day. But my email's always open. So I usually see it in my email first. And I think, oh, well, I know what I'm listening to next now. So. Um, it can definitely be circular, but I think your call to action should be joining the mailing list. Think about what you want your audience to do most and make that your call to action. Uh, number five, think about the first 60 seconds. What are you doing to hook the listener? What are you doing to let them know what they'll get from your show? Unlike YouTube, where you don't need the long intro you want to get right to the point as quickly as possible because, uh, keeping people engaged on YouTube is a nightmare. Right? But. In a podcast. Maybe someone has stumbled across your episode because they were enticed by the title. But they don't really know what you're all about. So I recommend you doing something similar to what I do on this show. A. Cold open. That tells you what you're going to get from this episode. And then a short intro, right? So. Hey. Here's the problem. Here's the solution. In this episode, let's get to it. Then a little bit about the show and your mission, and then dive right into the episode. That's what I recommend. You have 30 to 60 seconds to hook somebody. We are not going to listen past that. And now I know what you're thinking. What about the pre-roll call to action thing? That's fine. People will skip that or they won't. But the first actual 60 seconds of content. Should hook. The LR. Number six. This is the big one, right? Everything before this was optimization. Optimizing your content optimizing for search engines. Optimizing for attention. Number six is podcast swaps. I have an entire episode on podcast swaps. You can find the whole back catalog. At profitable podcast or.fm. I probably talk about it a couple of times. But you want to identify, let's say 10 other podcasts. 10 other podcasts. That you can work with. Go to your show on apple podcast and see what's recommended underneath. Go to a pod chaser and see what similar podcasts listen there. Reach out, go to the tink media database that I talk about in the episode. I'll link that one in the show notes. Uh, it's going to be at PA uh, profitable podcast or.fm/ 3 0 8. But. Figure out 10 podcasts that you can work with. Either do a podcast swap or a feed drop. Or a collaborative episode. Because this is definitely the best way to reach other audiences. You are putting yourself in front of other people's audiences. Similar audiences to yours, lookalike audiences. And. People will go right in their podcast app and subscribe to your podcast. And number seven. I think about monetization. Right. This is maybe confusing. How is that going to help me grow my podcast? Here's why. Turning your podcast from a money pit. Into a profit machine. We'll give you the motivation to keep growing, right? Because. Here's what ha here's my most people pod feed. They've created a bunch of episodes, six, seven. It's a lot of effort. It takes two, maybe three hours to produce each one. Then they upload them. And they get ones of downloads. Wines of downloads. And one of my shows, we were pretty psyched when we reached 50 downloads. And I know that there are some people out there who are like, dang, I would kill for 50 downloads. So it could feel demoralizing. But if you have a plan for profit. Now you have skin in the game. It's not just a hobby. It is. This is going to be an actual income generator for me. Plus. It will guide how you approach some of your other points from this framework, right? If you, uh, If you were a buyer, this is the one I always go to for some reason, but if you're a bicycle shop and you, uh, teach people how to repair bikes, Then maybe your call to action is join my. Bicycle repair tips or my bicycle maintenance tips. Newsletter. Or maybe you're just, Hey, if you like this podcast. You'll love our, uh, bicycle repair course. It's a library of videos for whatever happens to your bicycle. Um, And so. It will guide how you approach some of these other points. If you have a monetization strategy that is sponsorships memberships. Or selling your own product, your own digital product. Then you'll think about how should I describe this? What should I cover in this episode and how should I title it? It's going to guide the rest and everything else we talked about here. We'll help you grow your podcast. So once again, that list. Make sure you're in all the podcast directories. Check your show's title and description to make sure they are relevant and encourage people to listen right now. What's in it for me answer that question. As the listener. What is in it for me. Uh, and then number three, check the episode, titles and descriptions again. You want to entice people to listen. Episode number colon guest's name is not an enticing. Title. Number four, review your call to action. Maybe you're called to actually share with a friend. Right. And then you're getting people to recommend the show. Or leave a review. That's social proof. It's not going to increase your ranking. But it does show other people who are considering the show to listen. Number five. Think about the first 60 seconds. What are you doing to hook the listener? Number six. Podcast swaps identify here's your homework. I don't know, this whole thing is your homework, but if I had to pick one thing I wanted you to do right now, Aside from making sure the title, right. Cause if you're gonna like promote this and make sure your title is good. Um, Identify 10 other podcasts that you can swap with. And number seven. Figure out how you will make money. Now I know this is a lot and maybe you're, um, you're not objective. You're not an objective party. If you want a little bit of help, I actually just rolled out a new service. Called the podcast growth audit. I apply this exact framework to your podcast. And you get a PDF report. And a video explaining what you need to do next. I prioritize this list for you. So you can check that out@podcastleftoff.com slash audit. Um, I don't know how quickly this is going to sell out, but the first 10 people who buy. Get $400 off. As an introductory rate. Um, cause this is the first time I'm offering this. And so you're going to get a crazy good product at a crazy good price. I will understand. How to package it a little bit better. Again, that's at podcast liftoff.com/audit. I'll link it in the show notes. You can find everything we've talked about over@profitablepodcastor.fm slash 3 0 8. Thanks so much for listening. And until next time I can't wait to see. What you make.