193 | The Podtastic Playbook: Grow, Build & Monetize Your Podcast Like a Pro

[00:00:00] All right, all right. Yes, I wrote a book. Imagine that. It is called The Podtastic Playbook. It is a book designed to help you, the indie podcaster, grow, build, and monetize your podcast. And, well, check this out at the very end of this episode. I'm going to tell you how you can get yourself a free copy.

[00:00:25] Sound matters. Be heard. Welcome to the podcast where you get exclusive behind-the-scenes tips to make your own show sound truly spectacular. This is Podtastic Audio.

[00:00:40] Hey, what's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I am Chris. And yeah, this is the world famous Podtastic Audio. You know, I designed this show to help you, yes, you, design your amazing podcast. Hey, do you have a podcast? Maybe you do, and maybe you don't. And maybe you're thinking of starting a podcast. Well, great. Here we are.

[00:01:09] Let's do this. Podcasting fun for everyone. And today is a very, very special episode because today it's a long time coming because I worked on, created, crafted, published my very own book. Yes, you can buy it right now. My brand new book is titled The Podtastic Playbook. How to Build, Grow, and Monetize Your Podcast.

[00:01:37] And today we are talking all about my brand new book, where you can find it, how much it is, and how possibly by the very end of this episode, you might be able to win yourself a free copy of the book, Podtastic Playbook. Sound good? Sound great? Great. Let's go.

[00:01:56] So if you are struggling to grow your podcast. If you are struggling to find the right listeners to your show, well, this book is designed to help you out. I wrote this book entirely from this podcast.

[00:02:15] This podcast right here is the inspiration for the book, Podtastic Playbook. More than just a book, it's a playbook to get you to take your podcast to the next level. Now, I know you're probably thinking, hey, Chris, when did you have time to write a book? I mean, you're so busy doing everything else, working 12 hours a day, podcasting for your own show, for the client show, traveling all over the world.

[00:02:40] When did you have time to write a book? Well, little by little, chapter by chapter, I crafted it out, bringing my laptop with me, working on things that were already said in this podcast. The book covers pretty much everything I've said in this podcast. So think of it as a guide to this show. So, you know, somebody once said, after I mentioned the book, they said, is there going to be an audio version of this book?

[00:03:06] And I said, well, actually, the book is based on the podcast, which is audio. So not really. I mean, I guess I could. But if you really wanted to, you can listen to Podtastic Audio, listen to every single episode of this podcast, and you will hear everything that was said in the book, the Podtastic Playbook.

[00:03:26] But like I said earlier, it takes a little while to actually craft this book, put it all together, chapter by chapter, organize it, get it formatted correctly, and then figure out where am I going to sell it and how much am I going to sell this ebook for? As of right now, it's just an ebook. And it might stay this way. I haven't decided yet if I want to make an actual like book, book version, like paper version of this book.

[00:03:50] I kind of like the idea of the fact that you can consume this book on your digital device, whether it's an iPhone, an iPad, a Kindle, on your computer screen, whatever it is, just like audio podcasting. I want to make sure that this book was easily accessible to you anywhere.

[00:04:10] I wrote this book because I want to share my knowledge of podcasting with you, the independent indie podcaster for short, really, which basically means that you started a podcast on your own. You're not tied to a major company. You don't have millions of dollars of backing money to support your podcast. You don't work for a podcast company. You are basically just a one-person show. Most indie podcasters are.

[00:04:38] They'll do interviews or co-hosted shows or however they do it. It's usually just a small independent show, which I am also a small independent show. I don't work for a major company. I don't work for a major podcasting group. I'm not part of a network. Everything I do here, especially the book itself, I wrote myself to give to you to help you out. That is the main reason, the only reason that I wrote the book in the first place.

[00:05:07] Okay, so on this very episode, because it's my book, because I can do whatever I want with my book, I'm not tied to any company or brand. Yeah, it's amazing when you're totally free as an independent should that I can do whatever I want with my book, including giving it to you for free. I know. Check that out. Imagine that, huh? So I'm going to go over all of the chapters, chapter by chapter, what is in each chapter to give you a better idea.

[00:05:36] If you should, and you probably should, purchase this book or stick around to the end. I'll tell you how you can get one for free. So starting off with the very first chapter of the Podtastic Playbook, chapter one is hooking your listeners and making your podcast addictive. Now, some of the things I talk about in this chapter is basically what happens at the very beginning of your podcast.

[00:06:05] In this chapter, I cover things like your listener decides within three seconds whether they're going to stay or leave. So your intro to your show is very important. I talk about this in this chapter. Also, how to craft the perfect hook using curiosity, bold statements, and questions to hook your listeners with the beginning of that episode.

[00:06:28] And I also cover structuring your episodes to keep listeners engaged from the start to the very end of each single episode. That is what's covered in chapter one. Okay, moving on to chapter two, finding your unique voice and brand. So this is basically talking about how you actually, like what is branding and why is it important for your podcast to figure out what your brand is?

[00:06:57] So why is branding more than just like the visuals of your graphics or artwork? What goes on beyond that is actually your podcasting personality. How you come across on the microphone. How are you going to get your podcast to stand out in the massive sea of other podcasts? It has to be more than just crazy, clever artwork. It has to be an entire package. So in chapter two, I'm covering that.

[00:07:24] Plus, I'm also covering, are you developing your signature style, tone, and messaging that makes listeners want to come back for more? Because more than just content. I mean, content can be looked up on Googly Oogly. You can look up anything you want. But how it's delivered to the listener is what really makes a difference. In fact, not that long ago, I actually ran a poll on one of the social medias. I forget which one it was.

[00:07:50] But I was asking like, what makes you actually listen to a podcast? And surprisingly, I think one of the top rated answers, if not the top rated answer, was the podcaster's personality. So no matter what your content is, your own personality has to shine through. And that is exactly what chapter two is all about. Okay, moving on to chapter three. This is where I get a little technical.

[00:08:17] We're talking about podcast equipment and audio without the overwhelm. So basically meaning like, you know, your budget-friendly microphones. Which microphones work best for indie podcasters? Simple audio fixes. Maybe your podcast sounds like you're recording in a tin can or a fishbowl. Or just some kind of big cathedral ceiling kind of thing. And it's got Echo City happening all over the place.

[00:08:42] This chapter basically goes over techniques you can put in place right now. And basically, you know, avoiding or how you can avoid some of those basic, simple audio mistakes that most indie podcasters make. I would say probably 90 to 80% of most indie podcasters make all these audio mistakes. Chapter three, I go over those things.

[00:09:08] And I help you buy the right tools you need without wasting tons and tons of money on crap you don't even need. Moving on to chapter four. This is all about growing your podcast without wasting time. You know, when people try to grow their podcast, a lot of the mistakes they make is that they try to do everything all at once, especially with social media and lots of different things, big variety of things.

[00:09:35] So in this chapter, you know, mostly I do things with social media. So I do talk about social media in this chapter. Why social media won't grow your podcast the way you think it will. Wow. I wonder what that's about. And also the number one growth strategy that actually works. And that is actually guesting on other podcasts. And of course, word of mouth. I talk about all these things in chapter four.

[00:10:05] So if you're tired of posting on Instagram and getting like zero new listeners, you need to listen to chapter four. And that is what it's all about. This entire book was designed to help you make an amazing podcast from A to Z, from zero to hero. So moving on to chapter five. Chapter five is about keeping listeners engaged and building a loyal audience. So having a podcast is great.

[00:10:35] Steering people to your podcast to press play. Well, that's great too. But you also want to have some kind of engagement when it comes to interacting with those listeners. Why are they there? Why are they listening? Why do they press play? Now, engagement is more important than actual downloads for long-term success because you can figure out what's working and what's not working. So this also goes into like podcasting.

[00:11:04] It might feel more like a community and it should feel like a community. So you want to build a community around your podcast and that actually gets your listeners to come back time and time again. So chapter five is all about building community, building a loyal audience. Because if you think about having like a hundred new like podcast listeners to one episode, it's great. But if they don't stick around for the next episode, then what was the point of having them? Podcasting is not a one hit wonder.

[00:11:33] We're not doing one song, a hit, and that's it, and cashing out and leaving. Podcasting is a slow development. It takes a while to build an audience. And the more you have something important to say and how you say it and how you communicate with your audience and get them involved, that is all about keeping your listeners coming back. And that is what is in chapter five of my new book, The Podtastic Playbook. Okay, so we're halfway through all the chapters. There are 10 total.

[00:12:02] We are going on to chapter six. Now, this is one that I think every podcaster thinks about at one point or another, and that is monetizing your podcast without selling out. What? You can do that? But yeah, so there are other ways to actually monetize your podcast other than running ads and sponsors in your show.

[00:12:28] Because that's what everybody thinks about because you hear a lot of other shows. They'll run ads. They'll have sponsors, and that's what they do. And when was the last time you actually enjoyed listening to an ad on a podcast? Never? Yeah, that's usually the right answer. Never. So why would you run ads in your show and piss off your audience just to make a few dollars?

[00:12:54] Now, if you have a major, a big-size audience, like a lot of listeners, then maybe it makes sense. Maybe you can eat that. But for most small indie podcasters who do not have a major audience, why piss your listeners off? There are other ways you can do it. I mentioned things like, of course, Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, affiliate marketing, maybe marketing your own products and merch. If you have products and merch to actually sell, work on those things.

[00:13:21] So chapter six is all about monetizing your podcast without selling out. Selling or sold to the ad devil out there. So that is in chapter six. Okay, so very quickly, I'm going to go through chapters seven through ten. Now, chapter seven really is the marketing side of podcasting. So chapter seven, I'm talking all about marketing without feeling spammy. What do you mean by spammy?

[00:13:49] It's like you put your podcast out in front of everybody. You put flyers at every door. You put flyers at every mailbox. You basically, you know, email everybody you can find and see. Every email you have, you just send them, hey, I have a podcast about deep sea fishing or whatever, you know? And people are like, what? I don't even like fishing. What are you talking about? Get this out of here. So in chapter seven, I talk all about marketing, how to market your podcast. Now, in chapter eight, this is a big one, especially with a lot of indie podcasters.

[00:14:18] Now, chapter eight is all about avoiding burnout and staying consistent, a.k.a. pod fading. And I know, I know a lot of shows that came and started in 2020. The great old COVID year of podcasting. You know, that's going to be like a banner or plaque somewhere. The old great COVID year of podcasting. A lot of those shows, if not maybe 90%, maybe even more. I don't know the numbers exactly, but a lot of them all pod faded, you know, because obviously

[00:14:48] you're not sitting at home, bored, sitting on lockdown COVID thing. You're just, now you're back to work. Now you got things to do. Now you got responsibilities. And having a podcast, it does take some work, especially when you're coordinating things. So I explained why we do not do the Chris and Christine show anymore, which basically means we pod faded, but it's because of these things I mentioned in the book. And that is all about in chapter eight.

[00:15:14] Now, one key thing I can say about chapter eight is that I go over finding a schedule to podcast that works best for you. It's something you can manage long-term more than just the week of the recording or so. So that's basically what chapter eight is, is why we pod faded how to avoid pod fading yourself and keep your podcast consistent. So moving on to chapter nine.

[00:15:42] Now chapter nine is more technical. It's actually going into the advanced editing and sound design of your podcast, because having an audio podcast is fantastic, but having a really good, good audio podcast should sound fairly decent. Now it doesn't have to sound like it was recorded in some Dolby digital sound theater, you know, surround sound system. It doesn't have to sound like that.

[00:16:12] It just has to sound loud, listenable, clear. I like to make my podcast episodes, this one and Ace's show, make them sound a little louder than probably normal. And that the reason why I do that is because when I drive at work in my work truck, which is a big semi, not a semi, but it's a big truck and it's noisy in the thing.

[00:16:38] And when you're pulling a hill, fully loaded, the engine's like begging to die because it's struggling to pull the hill. Engine's really loud. And I'm listening to podcasts. I want to be able to hear what they're saying. So I like to make sure that my podcast, this one right here and the other one, I want to make sure that they are not like blasting your ears out loud, but they're loud enough to where you can hear them in almost any type of environment, whether you're in a big truck, a loud engine,

[00:17:07] or you're in a convertible, or you're on your phone, or your whatever device you have. I want to make sure the audio sounds great on all platforms because I was listening to a show not that long ago and it was a big show. And I'm not going to mention the name of the show, but it's a major show and they've got probably millions of downloads. And I was listening to it in my work truck and I was like, what is going on? That thing is like nearly, it was literally like full blast on the work radio. My iPhone's plugged in via Bluetooth.

[00:17:37] The iPhone's on full blast and the radio, I adjust the radio knob, the volume knob on the radio to play the podcast. And on that particular radio, it has like a number system. So like one is like quiet and the other one is max. So max volume on that radio was number 30. So I had to play that podcast. I kid you not at volume 28, like literally almost full blast.

[00:18:06] In fact, I did turn it to volume 30. It sounded a little bit better, a little louder. I could hear it clear. 28 was fine, but I had to kind of struggle to really hear it. So in chapter nine, I'm talking about how to do some editing on your podcast and make sure not only it sounds great, but your listeners can hear it loud and clear and sharp. And even if you have a guest or you have whatever you have going on with your podcast, how to make it sound great. Because podcasting, like I like to call, you know, podcasting classic, which is like the

[00:18:35] original audio version of podcasting. It should sound amazing. I'm not saying your, you know, your video show should also sound great. I mean, audio should sound great no matter where you are actually, you know, creating content, whether it's for a Instagram reel or for a YouTube video, or yes, even an audio classic podcast, it should sound amazing. And in chapter nine, I go over those techniques that I've used and things you can use for your podcast. It's all right there in chapter nine.

[00:19:04] So that brings us to chapter 10. Now chapter 10 is all about going over some of my success stories, some of my lessons I've actually learned in podcasting. So podcasting can open some amazing doors. It can get you jobs. It can get you careers. It can get you paid. It can get you to think about doing an entirely new type of career, like say sound editing or

[00:19:32] maybe public speaking, things like that, salesman jobs, things like that, any kind of thing, you know, maybe help you master that new interview you're going to work on. Like say you're going for a job interview. And if you're doing lots of podcast interviews, so you're kind of keen to how to do an interview, even though it's a little different than a job interview, but that brand new face-to-face

[00:19:56] with somebody you don't know, you might be able to hold an honest, real conversation and give them real information, real feedback, real good stuff that might make them want to hire you over somebody else. Podcasting opens all those things up for you. And that is what chapter 10 is all about. And there you have it. That is the Podtastic Playbook.

[00:20:22] You can find it right now on Amazon, on Apple Books, on Barnes & Noble Digital, and a few other places. But those are the big three. Links below in the show notes if you want to pick up your copy. So how much do you think this entire book is worth? How much should I sell this book for? Well, I'm going to sell to you for less than the cost of lunch. Yeah.

[00:20:49] $8.88 is what's going to cost you to buy this book. That sounds like a killer deal. $8.88 for this book? Chris, you're nuts. I know. All the podcast experts say I'm crazy. I might also just give it away to you. So the way I look at things is this. When it came to pricing the book is that I want to make sure that the price was low enough

[00:21:14] to where anybody that wanted to pick up the book didn't really have to think about that decision. So think about the very last time you actually had to make a serious purchasing decision for an $8 product. It doesn't happen. People don't usually have to look up their bank account, call their wife, make financial advice, pull up the credit card.

[00:21:41] People don't usually have to do that for an $8 purchase. Usually. Hey, if you do, well, you got bigger things to worry about than your podcast. So that being said, I priced it like less than the cost of lunch. That's it. $8.88 for this book. But wait, there's more. Of course. So I'm going to tell you how I'm going to give you a free copy of my book,

[00:22:11] Podtastic Playbook for free. That is right. Because, well, because I love you. That's why. So here's how it's going to work. I'm going to give away five free copies of the book, Podtastic Playbook over the next five weeks. So it's going to be a book a week starting this week. Now, how you enter to win the book is very, very simple. All you have to do is go to podtasticaudio.com. Go to the contact page.

[00:22:41] Write me a message on there and say, I would like the free copy of the book, Podtastic Playbook or book or whatever. Just let me know you're interested in the book and message me right on podtasticaudio.com, the contact form. You do that and you will be entered in the drawing to win your very own free copy. And the reason why I'm going five weeks, this way everybody has a chance to win themselves a free copy of the book.

[00:23:11] I'm making it fair as I possibly can. So email me directly through my website. That is podtasticaudio.com. Email me, say you want a free copy of the book. I'll put your name in the drawing and then I'll pull a name out every single week for the next five weeks. And how you know you won, you'll get an email from me saying you won. Here's your free copy of the book. Simple, easy peasy. Now, of course, you don't have to wait for the drawing. You can go over and purchase your own copy of the book. Links down below in the show notes

[00:23:41] through Amazon, Apple Books, and I think I have the Barnes & Noble link right there in the show notes of this very episode. Scroll on down. There you go. And if you do decide to purchase the book through those links, well, let me know by leaving a rating and review right there on Amazon. That would be fantastic. And if you have already purchased your copy of the Podtastic Playbook, hey, let me know what you think. Give me your opinion.

[00:24:08] I would love to hear what you think of my book, the Podtastic Playbook. On sale right now for $8.88 wherever you get your digital books at. All of that for the bargain basement price of $8.88 less than the cost of lunch. So there you have it. That is the Podtastic Playbook, my book from me to you that make podcasting fun for everyone, especially you, the indie hobby podcaster. So once again,

[00:24:38] if you want to get your free copy of the book, you let me know. You write me right on my website, podtasticaudio.com. Message me right through the contact form saying you want your free copy of Podtastic Playbook. So thank you once again for listening all the way to the very end of this episode today. I appreciate you so much. That's why I try to give you as much as I possibly can with the time I have allotted to me. I give and give and give. I love podcasting. I love hearing about your podcast.

[00:25:07] I love communicating about podcasting. I love talking about podcasting. And I would love to hear all about your fantastic podcast. So until the very next episode, I will catch you later. And until then, happy podcasting.