School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your PodcastHow Mark Grew His Podcast 17% in Five Weeks
Stop Researching, Start Doing (This Time I Brought Receipts)
Be honest: how many podcast growth videos have you watched this month, and how many of those ideas have you actually tried? I get it. I have courses I've bought and never opened. But a few weeks ago I challenged you to quit swinging for the grand slam and just make solid contact, and this time I'm back with proof.
My buddy Mark actually did the work, and his downloads jumped 17% in five weeks. I also share the free, 42-second habit that's sending people to my website every week, the five-minute move that got me mentioned on another podcast without even asking, and some surprising data on what happened to shows that added video in Apple Podcasts.
If you've been stuck in research mode, this is your nudge to press play and then go do something.
Mark Did It: 17% Growth in Five Weeks
Over the last several weeks, we've been running growth masterminds inside the School of Podcasting, talking strictly about strategies to grow your show. Plenty of people listened. Mark Lawley from Practical Prepping actually put them to work. Buzzsprout sends him a weekly download count, and over five weeks his numbers grew about 17%, with a lot of people going back into his back catalog. I'll take that all day.
Find, Click, Act
To grow your reach, remember the order things happen in:
They have to find you first. That means a good episode title that's a promise of what's inside, not clickbait, and show notes full of helpful words (preferably ones that came out of your mouth, not AI's). People find you through word of mouth, paid promotion, or organic search, and Google loves good words.
Then they have to click. Once they land on your website, don't make them dig for episodes.
Then they have to act. Tell a friend, buy your product, visit your sponsor, whatever your "why" is.
My Social Media Experiment
You can't manage what you don't track. I knew some people wouldn't want to pay for a tool (I LOVE Switchy and it's only $39 for a lifetime deal), so I used Short.io, which gives you 100 trackable links for free and takes about 42 seconds per link.
I expected next to nothing from social. Instead, posting once to three times a week, I was getting around 40 clicks a week. That's roughly 160 a month and about 1,920 a year, from less than five minutes per post across Bluesky, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Clicks aren't downloads, and nobody's told me yet that they found the show on social. But before I tried this, I had zero clicks to my website. If what you're doing now isn't growing your audience, try something. Stop waiting for the perfect opportunity while week after week goes by.
Are You Afraid of Success?
Sometimes it's not fear of failure holding you back. You already launched. It might be fear of success. Here's what I hear, and my answer to each:
"If I get popular, people will criticize me." People in line behind you at Walmart are already judging you.
"Who am I to be listened to?" You've done hard things before. You have life experience worth sharing.
"What if I disappoint people?" You already do, on a regular basis. That's life.
"What if my hobby turns into a job?" It's your show. You decide.
"Then I'll have to monetize." No, you won't. If you don't want sponsors, don't have sponsors.
"What if I try everything and it still doesn't grow?" You've already started to grow. We just want to throw some gasoline on it.
Other things get in the way too: perfectionism that keeps you researching forever, goals that are too vague or too big, strategies that don't fit your values (that's okay, you should have values), and plain old discomfort with being visible. I once wanted to refund a client because every option I offered got "I'm not doing that."
The Five-Minute Strategy: Leave a Voicemail
If you listen to a show similar to yours, leave it a voicemail. Neal Veglio did this on the Pod News Weekly Review, and he always brought value. He made me think or laugh every time. So when I was telling people to find someone who shares their audience, I went and found Neal's show, cherry-picked episodes because his titles were so good (there's another strategy), and mentioned him on my show.
Without me asking, he returned the favor on Podmastery:Podcasting Insights. We haven't even figured out what we're doing together yet, and we've already cross-promoted. Total time: less than five minutes.
It reminded me of the Podcasters' Roundtable with Ray Ortega and Daniel J. Lewis. They're technically my competition, and also some of my favorite people on the planet.
How I Got Into the Hall of Fame
I was asked this week how I got into the Podcasting Hall of Fame. My answer is a joke that isn't a joke: I didn't quit. Others did. You can't make a dent in anyone's life if you quit.
There was a time you didn't know how to button a shirt, tie your shoes, or walk. You learned by doing it, and sometimes doing it wrong. As Zig Ziglar said, you don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Figure out who your audience is, go where they are, make friends, and tell them about your show. That's Podcast Growth 101.
Using Podcorn? Remove Your Prefix Now
Podcorn is going away (I believe sometime in early November). If you added their tracking prefix at your media host, every one of your episodes will stop working when they shut down unless you remove it. Do it now so you don't wake up to zero downloads and a pile of "I can't download your show" emails.
Are You Even Close to Being Ready For Ads?
While you're in there: when I worked at Libsyn, I'd see shows with 317 downloads running three or four prefixes for companies that require 10,000. Every prefix is one more piece of technology that can fail and take your files down with it. Find out the minimum you need to qualify, and add the prefix when you get there.
Does Adding Video in Apple Podcasts Help?
Rob Walsh from Captivate always brings the receipts, and he makes stats fun. He looked at shows that opted into Apple's video program in May and compared their August Apple Podcasts numbers to their average for February through April:
15% went up
32% stayed flat (within plus or minus 15%)
53% went down
That's about an 85% chance your Apple numbers stay flat or drop. The theory he heard: listeners saw the show had video and went to watch it on YouTube instead. His advice, and ours from the start: if you want to do video, start on YouTube. If it doesn't add too much stress to your workflow, keep going and maybe add it to Apple. What makes me sad is people who added video, got overwhelmed, and dropped the podcast instead of the video. All of the Podcast Movement presentations, including Rob's, are on the Podcast Movement YouTube channel.
Podcasting in Six Weeks Is Starting Soon
If you want to launch a podcast in 2027, my free Podcasting in Six Weeks course starts in a couple of weeks. We'll work our way around the holidays. Sign up at podcastinginsixweeks.com.
Bonus: The Wendy's Story
Stick around after the outro for a story about a hamburger order that went wrong several times (hamburger, not cheeseburger), me losing my patience, and why I went back to the counter on my way out to apologize. Try saying you're sorry. It makes you feel better, and the other person will probably thank you.
Want to grow your show like Mark? Head to schoolofpodcasting.com, click Join, and use the coupon code LISTENER for a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription. You get courses, community, and one-on-one coaching, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. The website runs on PodPage.
Websites Mentioned
School of Podcasting (coupon code LISTENER): https://schoolofpodcasting.com
Practical Prepping (Mark Lawley): https://practicalprepping.info
P3 Media Group (Mark's editing services): https://p3mediagroup.net
Short.io (free click tracker): https://short.io
Podcasting in Six Weeks (free course): https://podcastinginsixweeks.com
PodPage: https://podpage.com
Podcast Movement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usbj2xiCzTM&list=PLBz7fpQ0lT3I
Podmastery: Podcasting Insights : https://podmastery.co/
Mentioned in this episode:
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Live Appearances
I loved connecting with my audience. Here are the next events I will be at:
November 11: Podindy.com (use the coupon code SOP)
February 23-26, 2027: National Religious Broadcasters nrb.org
I'd love to speak at your event. Go to schoolofpodcasting.com/contact
Where Will I Be?
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We have a guest intake form for collecting information.
That information can be automatically tied to their episode.
We can notify the guest their episode is live
We make a page showing all of your guests (to boost credibility)
You can now feature guests on your guest page
Start your 14 Day Trial by going to podpage.com/preview
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Question of the Month
This months' question is, " How long did it take before you felt like you had "real listeners" — and what made you realize it? If you don't feel it now, what would make it feel "real"? I need your answer by October 23rd. Don't forget to mention your show, your tagline, and your website.
Go to schooolofpodcasting.com/question
Question of the Month
