This is the first in a short series of four podcast secrets revealed. Hope is Not a Strategy: Preparing your followers to anticipate your podcast launch. If you are launching a podcast, you probably have a list of followers, subscribers, friends, connections, customers, prospects, strategic partners. This is your initial audience. Do not wait until the launch date to ask them to subscribe. Prepare them NOW. As soon as you have your timeline in mind, it’s time to think about getting them excited about the launch.

  1. Once you have your branding created, get a landing page set up on your main site that includes the following information:
    • The show graphic
    • About the show – what will this podcast be about?
    • About the host(s) – why would I want to hear what they say.
    • The most important thing is the ask and subscribe form. Get them excited to receive the notification.
    • Bonus, if you can pull it together – create an overview welcome to the podcast. This will always be here and can be video so they can SEE your enthusiasm. The audio can be your day zero episode, the preview.
    • The preview can also be the first episode you can publish on your podcast site to give the landing page some substance.
  2. Create all sizes of the graphics so you can start to talk about it on social.
  3. Consider a relaunch party online via zoom or something more public.
  4. Invite your “in-group” to an after-party for the launch with a link to listen to the first episode.
  5. ASK them all to subscribe via email for RSS to email notifications.
  6. Remind them you’ll be on all podcast apps very soon – you will need 5 episodes before they will all add you to their directories.

Please don’t create a podcast, launch it, and then hope your friends will find you, and even better, strangers. You need to do some work ahead of time. Remember, your superfans, advocates, strategic partners, customers, team members want you to succeed. They want to be associated with a winner. And a winner with a mic, is cool.