How Chrissy Beltran Uses Podcast Seasons and Landed Podcast Sponsors [Ep. 142]

 
 

Click play to hear how to use podcast seasons:

 
 

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Here’s what to expect from this episode:

Have you ever considered doing podcast seasons? If you aren't sure whether or not you should do seasons with your show, I've got a really great episode for you all today.

Chrissy Beltran has been podcasting for over five years now, and she's here to talk about her unique podcast journey. She has so many good things to share with you all, like how she got started, her recent podcast name change, how her planning process has changed over the years, and how she uses seasons to support her planning process.

She has also landed sponsors for her podcast, in addition to promoting her own products and resources. So, she's sharing some behind-the-scenes information about her sponsorship experience, how she landed the sponsors, how she found the right fit sponsors, and what her packages look like.

I just love how Chrissy is using seasons to best plan out her episode content and give herself time to take a break and reflect on her podcast progress.

And if you're in the Podcasting for Educators Prep School, there is a training from marketing expert Jeremy Enns, who shares all about podcast sponsors. It includes how to create a media kit and all of the things that you would need to get started with reaching out to podcast sponsors. You can find that in the guest expert module and he even gives his Podcast Sponsorship Toolkit to us for free!

Topics Covered:

  • Chrissy's unique podcasting experience (for 5+ years!)

  • How she uses podcast seasons to support her planning process and drive listeners to her resources

  • Using downtime between seasons to reflect and drive the next

  • Landing sponsorships and what her packages look like (and cost)

Resources mentioned:

MEET Chrissy:

Chrissy Beltran has 20 years of experience in elementary education, including nine years teaching third and fourth graders and five years as a campus literacy coach. After her kids were born, Chrissy transitioned into coaching, consulting, and resource creation, including 2 courses for instructional coaches and over 300 resources for coaches and teachers. Through her resources, online courses, and podcast, Instructional Coaching with Ms. B, Chrissy teaches coaches how to design their coaching program, build an action plan, and implement strategies from their coaching strategy toolbox; plus, she's got a special spot in her heart for literacy coaches!

Connect with Chrissy:

favorite podcasting resources:

Connect with Sara:

Related episodes:

  • Sara Whittaker 0:00

    Hey there and welcome back to podcasting for educators. I have a really great episode for you all today. Chrissy Beltran is here to talk all about her unique podcast journey. And she has so many good things to share with you all. She's been podcasting for over five years now, Chris, he has 20 years of experience in elementary education, including nine years teaching third and fourth graders and five years as a campus literacy coach. After her kids were born, Christy transitioned into coaching, consulting and resource creation, including two courses for instructional coaches and over 300 resources for coaches and teachers. Through her resources, online courses and podcast instructional coaching with Miss B. Christie teaches coaches how to design their coaching program, build an action plan and implement strategies from their coaching strategy toolbox. Plus, she's got a special spot in her heart for literacy coaches. So you'll hear her talk to us about why she got started how she recently changed the name of her podcast, how her planning process has changed over the years, and how she uses seasons to support her planning process. I know that I've gotten some questions from some of you about whether or not you should do seasons with your show. So this is going to be really interesting for you to hear. Christie has also landed sponsors for her podcast, in addition to promoting her own products and resources. And she's sharing some behind the scenes information about her sponsorship experience, how she landed the sponsors, how she found the right fit sponsors and what her packages look like. Let's go ahead and dive into the episode. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whittaker classroom teacher turned podcast manager. And I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. Welcome to the podcast. Christy. Thanks so much for being here.

    Chrissy 2:03

    Thank you so much for having me, Sarah, of course.

    Sara Whittaker 2:06

    So we're gonna talk about all kinds of things today, when it comes to your experience with podcasting. The listeners heard in the intro, how you support instructional coaches, so they know a little bit about you. But can you kind of start things off by giving us an overview of your podcast, I know that you just recently decided to do a little name change. So tell us a little bit about your show who it's for, and also why you decided to change the name. Absolutely.

    Chrissy 2:33

    So whenever I started my show, it was 2020. And it was actually right before COVID. Right before everybody else started their BioX. I started mine like two months prior to that. So my I started out with buzzing with Miss B, the coaching podcast because my store name has been buzzing with Miss B since 2011. So I was serving a wide audience of people in that store. And I felt like I don't know, it's a good place to start with, like a name that's already established, because people do search for it. And that's where a lot of my traffic comes from. So I thought I'll start with that. And then I'll add the coaching podcast because it kind of targets that specific audience because I had multiple audiences in my store. It's just been around a long time. So as my job changed, so did my target audience. And so then recently, I was thinking about, you know, I'm really focused on instructional coaches, and I want to do a really good realignment of kind of what I'm focusing on. And so I was kind of putting out content that was just all about instructional coaching, right? It was really broad. Anything connected to instructional coaching was like, okay, that falls in my umbrella. And so I've been thinking about really redefining and narrowing that content down over the last year or so. And it was hard for me to do, because I just like to talk shop, if that makes sense. I really like to talk about work. And so I thought, okay, I really want to target this. And one of the things that I'm doing to really target that it's just changing the name to make it a little more obvious that that to my target audiences and also for search ability reasons, because despite instructional coaching being a key word in practically every paragraph, it's just helpful to have it in the name. So it's now instructional coaching with Miss B. And then I'm also going to put, you know, my personal name, Christina Beltran is going to be on the graphic and then buzzing with Miss B will be like in the owner or the author, I guess. So that way I kind of cover all the bases because whatever people are searching for, hopefully one of those things will pop up.

    Sara Whittaker 4:25

    Yeah, I think that that's so smart. And like you said, even though you have that keyword maybe in other places like your description, or your episode titles and things like that, I do find that the title of the show carries like a little bit more weight when it comes to search. So I think that that's super smart. And it's just nice to hear from you who has been podcasting for a while now. I think it's important for people to hear. You know, a lot of people get hung up when they first get started on what exactly like their exact format their show is going to be and exactly who it's for and exactly what Hot Topics are going to cover. And I always try to help people like, yes, you want to get clear on that from the beginning, but you also, it's going to change a little bit over time. And you're going to get a couple years into it. And you're going to realize that you want to tweak some things or kind of tighten up your messaging, maybe narrow in on a specific topic more. So it's cool to hear your experience and see like the direction that your show is going. So are you still is it still, like pretty much for the same audience that you started with? For the most part, though,

    Chrissy 5:30

    it is for the same audience, what I kind of refined is some of the topics that we look at. And so I'm really focused now on kind of making sure that my information is categorized into one of these major categories. So I have helping coaches to find their coaching programs, helping them build a differentiated action plan, and then implementing strategies and building their own coaching toolbox full of strategies. And then also I do feature literacy coaches, because when I started as a coach, that's what I was, yeah, so I do kind of go back to that at least once a year and do a few episodes, really targeting that specific role. So that's kind of how I'm looking at my content throughout the year. And I'm gonna have other things because, you know, you deal with emotions, and that is tangentially connected to your strategies, and you deal with, you know, all these different things that are kind of connected and related, but the majority of my content, I want to sit into those kind of buckets, because that's where my main resources are. Yes.

    Sara Whittaker 6:22

    So smart. That was gonna be my next question. What are you kind of, first of all, why did you start in the first place? And from like, a business perspective? What are you kind of driving your listeners to?

    Chrissy 6:35

    So I started in the first place, because my friend told me to love it. I was, you know, buzzing lispy, I had shifted into making more resources for instructional coaches, but I was still making literacy resources, because I was a literacy coach at the time. And then I left working full time to take care of abandoned for I was pregnant with our first daughter, that was six years ago. So I left at that time to take care of her and be at work from home mom and I have been so thankful for that, all of that. And at that time, I was talking to a friend of mine who was a coach, and she goes, Well, you should have a podcast, I've been listening to Cult of Pedagogy. And I feel like you could do something like that. But you would also have humor, and you know, personality and all these things. And it just kind of stuck to me. And I kept thinking about it. And I finally just thought, yeah, I love podcasts. I listen to podcasts every single day for as much time as I can cram it in. And so why wouldn't I? That's a great medium. I may not be the best speaker, but I do love to talk, you know, yeah, we take advantage of what we can do. And so I thought, why not? I can absolutely do that long form content that is marketable for years, it's just gonna sit there. It's like blog posts that I wrote in 2012 are still driving traffic. So, you know, we have to take advantage of those opportunities we have. And I thought that's a great way to do it. So that's kind of how that came about. And then what was the second part of your question?

    Sara Whittaker 7:56

    Oh, my gosh, I know, I was just thinking about what you were saying, what was the second part of my question? Oh, what, like what exactly you drive to.

    Chrissy 8:04

    So the things that I drive people to are I have a couple of courses. And then I also have a large bank of resources. I have my own shop now. And so I have a teachers pay teacher's store that I've had since like 2011, but or 2012. But I also have my own shop. And so I started to redirect people to that, because I was directing them to TPT until I built my shop this past year. So now I'm sending people that way. And then I also have i realigned all my email funnels. And so those are now driving either to one of the big courses that I have. So like the designing your coaching role, and your coaching program, all of that is leading to my startup worth. And then I also have a course for literacy coaches, and then I'm working on a book that's going to be where my coaching strategy toolbox, funnel is going to end up. And so for now, those are just going to resources that are connected to that, but once I have a book, it's going to lead to that.

    Sara Whittaker 8:58

    Awesome, so excited I love like how over the years, you just kind of build out all these different funnels and streams of income. It's so cool. It

    Chrissy 9:07

    is really an amazing, I mean the possibilities are endless. So whatever you like to do, you can find a way to do that. If you'd like to create resources if your courses were up your alley, if you'd like to do video, there's ways to use your podcast or promote all of that. And then you don't have you said that the earlier you don't have to have the perfect idea of what it looks like you just start and then you What is it done is better than perfect? Yes. And so the perfect unpublished podcast isn't gonna get you any listens.

    Sara Whittaker 9:36

    Exactly, yeah, and even even if you sit on it for months or years waiting for it to be perfect. You still have to start at some point and it's still going to take time to build that listenership no matter when you start, so you might as well do it now. That's

    Chrissy 9:51

    right, you still look back and go, Wow, I'm not gonna do any of those things anymore. I'm gonna do this completely different thing. And that's okay because, you know, your audience will either follow you or you will find the people who want to do that.

    Sara Whittaker 10:01

    Exactly, exactly. So such good advice Are you do you also do one on one coaching

    Chrissy 10:08

    at all? I do some of that, but not very much. Most of my coaching has been group coaching, I was doing consulting with schools in my area. But whenever COVID started, I kind of lost the very limited childcare that I did have. And so I'm still work from home mom, now I have a two year old. And so twice a day, she's in a short program for a few hours. And that's whenever I do my recording, and anything that requires not a two year old to be napping in the next room. I mean, you can record whenever they're napping, but you never know when that will. And so I try to avoid it when I can. So I so I do have other kinds of revenue streams such as you know, work with schools and things like that. But that's very, very limited, just due to our family situation right now. So most of my stuff is virtual. And it's not usually live if I can avoid it. Yeah,

    Sara Whittaker 10:51

    same. I try to avoid most live stuff because it never fails that if you plan something live, your kid's gonna get sick that day.

    Chrissy 10:58

    Absolutely. And you've been promoting it for a month, and there they are with an ear infection. So

    Sara Whittaker 11:03

    like Exactly, exactly. But like you said earlier, there's so many possibilities of other things that you can do where you don't have to show up live, which is what I love about podcasting. Can I do it in little pockets of time? Okay, so you kind of touched a little bit on this. But you know, now that you've had your podcast for five years now, how has your planning process kind of changed over the years?

    Chrissy 11:27

    It has changed a lot. When I first started, I was just like, well, let's just see what happens. And I remember I listened to many episodes about starting up your own podcast. And they said, you should have a bank of four episodes just ready to drop it once so people can kind of binge listen and get hooked and follow you. So I did that. And then every week after that, I was like, hmm, what are we going to talk about this week? Yeah, so it was a very, it was just kind of organic. And it just sort of over time, it has evolved to where now I do batch planning. And I know I've listened to your episodes about batch planning, pros and cons. And I do batch planning for pretty much the whole year. And I do record all of my episodes from like January to April, for the year. And so that has worked for me because I feel both of my pregnancies came my babies came early, very early in one case. And so I feel like I feel better when things are done way early. And so that has helped me a lot. And even though it sounds a little nutty, it's worked out for us. So I what I do is I send out at the I do have seasons. And so then at the end of my season in November, I send out a survey, like a Google form to the people in my email list and also to Instagram or wherever. And then I start doing some keyword research. I have a VA who actually does the keyword research for me. And then I use those, the Google forum I use, you know where I'm heading, like I realized my pillars this year. And then I use the survey results. And I try to build topics around there and I literally write them all. Now I didn't do this before I write all the topic ideas on a stick, like each one gets a little tiny sticky note, okay, then I look at them. And I group them into categories, because my show has like mini series all year. So it'll have like four or five episodes about one topic. So like four or five episodes about working with your administration. And we delve into different aspects of that. And so then all of the individual ideas come from one of those little stickies, so I make my categories. And then I look at my calendar. So I have a massive Google Sheet. And this I did start doing in the beginning. And I'm glad I did because it's all there. So I do recommend having some sort of document where you just keep track of your episodes, you know, when they came out your links and just like basic what's in there, you know, yeah, so I have that. And then I, I go through and I plan out all of the dates for the upcoming season, which my season runs February to November. And then I look at, okay, this is where this topic is going to go because I'm going to be launching this resource at that time. And then I also in that sheet, include what my options are going to be. And so it's a really good time to reevaluate my options and say, Okay, I need to make sure I have something new for this because this is a big push I'm doing and I don't have something I like. And then I can plug in all the episode topics, opt ins, all of the resources that I'm going to promote anything like that, to make sure that it's all prepared for whenever I go planning each individual episode. I'm

    Sara Whittaker 14:25

    obsessed. I love this process. What I love about it is because I think sometimes the problem that people run into when they batch is that they're not looking at things from a big picture. They're just kind of like sitting down and batching a bunch of episode recordings but you're doing it in such a smart way where you're you are kind of doing that backward design approach where you're you're really having to look at your business and how your podcast is going to play into your business and where you want to lead people. What opt ins you want to promote, which I think is so smart. I am getting ready he'll be going on maternity leave in a few months at the time of this recording. And so I'm, I'm in the process of that right now I'm by next month I'll have like recordings through probably July or August, which feels really exciting. Yes, it's like,

    Chrissy 15:15

    almost like it's just this huge relief. And then whenever I like right now I'm in the process of setting up for my new season because my season, February to November, right, so I'm working on getting those episodes recorded. And I it's almost like a bingo game where I want to fill up my board. Just like whenever I can type in in that little box where I have, I have a little box on my my sheet that either has the date I'm recording, or you know the information if I have a guest like, oh, I sent the questions or whatever. And we're recording on the state or I sent an email requesting them, but I haven't heard back, or it has done written in that box. And the minute that I can write done and all the boxes, you just like, done built on great. It's just this wonderful feeling of like accomplishment. And now I'm like, Okay, now I can put my energy somewhere else. And I this is ready, and I can build around it. And I can focus on promoting it. And I can focus on my emails and focus on adding new resources to my store and things like that. Because I already have my episodes. And I I know like you said, I'm working backwards from product launches, my course launches. And so because I have that information, I can make sure that I organically mentioned it throughout the episode because the topic is connected. And then I can also make sure that I have my ads recorded that are my own personal ads. Yeah. For my own things that I want to have in that episode.

    Sara Whittaker 16:31

    Yes. Oh my gosh, yes, yes. Yes. I'm like nodding my head over here with everything you say. And I have a few follow up questions. So do you and actually, let me back up to be just to clarify. So you do your season from February to November? And those are weekly episodes, right? Yes. And then, for your courses, do you do live live launches? Or are they kind of open all year,

    Chrissy 16:58

    it's varied I have the startup course is a live launch. Because it's a very specific, you're only going to need it at a specific time. Pretty much the beginning of the school year possibly can in January. So I do a live launch at those times. And then the other course it's open, but I run coupons in my emails, or sometimes I've just lowered the price and promoted it that way. I've done different things with with the literacy coaching course.

    Sara Whittaker 17:20

    Yeah, that's awesome. And I mean, this process like it really, it just forces you to look ahead and to be five steps ahead of where you currently are. And then everything just kind of like pieces together so nicely, then you've got your podcast episodes, it's your long form content, you can use that for your emails for your social media posts. All of that. Do you ever use coupons in your like when you create ads for your own resources? Do you ever play around with doing coupons to kind of track traffic from the podcast?

    Chrissy 17:52

    I'm not sure I don't think I've done it directly from the podcast. And I probably could. What I usually do is I promote an opt in like a video course. I promote something like that. And then that course has the coupon in it. And I think what I said is join the course, get the coupon something like that. But I don't think I've directly done it from the podcast, but I probably could I could just call it podcast coach. Like that. And then yeah, and then that's the code that they get. Yeah, I can use that. Yeah,

    Sara Whittaker 18:17

    that's awesome. I love it. Love it. Love it. So you. So you, then you're off December and January. So during December in January, which is the period that we're in right now, at the end of January. So you're right now, on those off months, preparing for the upcoming season?

    Chrissy 18:35

    I do honestly in December, I don't do a ton. Yeah. Because that is you know, saying, like I mentioned work from home, mom, kids are home half the time in that month. And I just like to spend time with my family. So I take time off in December at the end of the month. So I try to kind of start getting things ready, like I know where I'm headed. But I don't do a ton of recording or anything like that at that time. January is whenever I really sort of hit the ground running, because I set myself up in December for what my plan is going to be when I do start again in January. So that's kind of like my natural season, I guess. It's February to November, and then December is just kind of like, okay, what's happening? So what is it? Yeah. So I like having the seasons because they are a place to kind of stop and reflect. And it's like a natural stopping point for me. And I feel like if I didn't have a season, it's like having a school year because you can change things throughout the school year. But when you have the end of the school year coming, you stop and really think how am I going to start differently next year. And it's because of that natural stopping place. I feel like I've been able to make changes every season.

    Sara Whittaker 19:39

    Yeah, I love that. And I love that you're getting that feedback from your audience too. And then you have that time to reflect on that. And I mean, December I'm the same way in December. It's like I just want to shut everything down. I need my time. I need my family time. And downloads aren't usually great in December for podcasts anyway. So if you're gonna take a month off, it's a great month to do it.

    Chrissy 20:03

    That's what I that's what I was thinking, you know, maybe someday I'll start again in January when my kids are a little bigger. But if this time February's worked for us, because it gives me a month to get everything back in gear. Yes,

    Sara Whittaker 20:14

    I know. There's always I feel like it's, at least for me, especially with kids, and you probably relate like, it's kind of this myth that, you know, December comes around, and then you've suddenly feel rejuvenated in January and like, I definitely did not feel like that this year. No,

    Chrissy 20:29

    I feel like it takes by the time the kids go back to school, which could be anywhere from like, the third to the 10th. Yep. You know, yeah. And then you have your like, Okay, what's happening? Yes.

    Sara Whittaker 20:38

    And then like, this year, we got snow right after they like they went back to school for I think, like, one or two days, and then it started snowing. And so winter break was just extended even more. Yes,

    Chrissy 20:49

    yeah, it's definitely a time of figuring things out. That's the way I look at it. January is when I get everything figured out, I start recording. And then, you know, after that, I'm on a roll. But January is like my restart time. And I know people are like, Oh, make your plan in December. So you and I do to a degree, but I feel like I can really, I have that time away in December. So that I can come back in January and kind of figure out, okay, this is, this is what I really want it to look like, this is what I was thinking. But now I've had some time to kind of dwell on that. And I can actually, you know, refine that plan and make it better. Yes.

    Sara Whittaker 21:23

    And so do you like on your last episode in November, do you announce, hey, we're going to be taking that break, this is the date that I'll come back.

    Chrissy 21:30

    I do I do. And I also put that in my emails. But you know, remember, my our season ends in November, but I'm going to be back in February. In the meantime, listen to these things, you know, grab these resources, that kind of thing. And then I do start promoting in January on my email list. You know, remember, this podcast is coming back, it's coming back, you know, the states. And in the meantime, you should listen to the top 10 episodes from this year, because that's a great way to get your brain, you know, activated, or I'll say, these are great episodes for this time of year. And now that I have like 170 Some episodes, I can go back and pull from those and you have a nice smattering of different topics, depending on what it is that I'm trying to promote. Yeah,

    Sara Whittaker 22:07

    I think that's so important. You're not just like dropping off the face of the earth. You're reminding people like, Hey, I have this great bank of episodes, these are some good ones to check out until I come back with new content. Awesome. Do you see your retention, keep up after that break?

    Chrissy 22:24

    I usually get a bump. Actually, I think that people are excited. And also maybe they haven't seen the little image on their podcast player and then put the pops up again, you know, and so they're just like, okay, so I think that that has helped. I promoted a lot on social media, probably more than I do throughout the season. Because sometimes it's hard to maintain that. Yeah. So I do a little bump and promotion, I do a little bump in the emails. And so I do actually get usually more listeners than I had at my peak last year, if that makes sense. Yeah. That's great. That's, that's

    Sara Whittaker 22:56

    really good to hear. I know that that's probably a question that people have as they're listening to this, because I've had a lot of people kind of toy with the idea of doing a season and I think people are scared to put a pause on things for a little bit. So it's really cool to hear about your experience and how it's worked really well for you. Okay, so let's kind of jump into talking about because you've had some sponsors for your podcast. And I know that this is something that a lot of people, especially in this, this education niche with podcasting, a lot of people are interested in getting some sponsors for their show. So tell us a little bit about your experience, what has that been like for you? Sure.

    Chrissy 23:35

    I toyed with affiliates, before I went into sponsors and affiliates didn't do a lot for me, to be honest. I mean, it's just somebody has to like stop and go and, you know, use your link and all the stuff. So that one was not as effective for me. And I thought, I wasn't sure when I would be ready to hunt for sponsors, because I didn't know what any of that industry look like. And so I actually talked to my VA, and she is a podcast manager. It's one of the things that she focuses on. And so she said, You know what, let me ask around in my group and things like this. So she asked around and found that with my listens, that there was no reason that I couldn't be getting some sponsors, you know, at a at a reasonable rate. And I should just try it out. And so we put together a media kit. And we had, you know, statistics in there generally what the audience is, I probably need to update that actually now with new information because it does change. Yeah, it was with audience demographics, I do stay on top of my listens, because if those are improving, I want that to be the most current information for sure. No other media kit. So then I just, I search for people in my market that are marketing to the same people that I am. And there are some things that are maybe a little more broad, but I haven't had as much response from those people because they maybe have a broad audience, but they know who their target audience is, you know, they're looking for Oh, women, you know, 18 to 24 or whatever. So the ones that I get better response are the ones that are very targeted on instructional coaching and so I We'll search for instructional coaching software. I will search for instructional coaching printable and just download with to see what there is I don't want people who are competing directly with the stuff that I sell. Right. But I want complimentary thing. Yes. And so I've had several sponsors throughout the second season, the second half of last season, it's pretty much whenever I started really targeting that. And it's worked out really well. It's been I do record, I do the recording of the ad I do about like, you know, 20/32 ad maybe a little bit longer, depending on how much information they're providing to me that they want to include in the ad. Do they send over bullet points and I write a draft, they approve it? And it's been great.

    Sara Whittaker 25:35

    That's awesome. I know, I have a couple of clients who have sponsors. And it's nice, especially when it's a host read ad. So you have like, control over over what you're saying, you get to use your own voice. And so do you record? Like what do your and it might vary a little bit, but what do you usually include in your package? Isn't it like for four episodes? Or what does that look like? If you don't mind sharing? Sure,

    Chrissy 25:59

    yeah, it's four episodes. It's an ad that runs for four episodes. And then I also include a mention in the show notes. And like the ones that are actually on my website. And then I also I think I also put it on the in the app. So I put, I put it in both places. And then I will also include have two packages. And the larger one has the IG story and Instagram story as well. Where I share about, you know, whatever it is, sometimes I've done like a little video, sometimes it's just like a static image. And it's not specific. So I can do whatever. Yeah, whatever it is, I could do a talking head. So that's kind of how I've structured them is the basic one. I think it's just I want to say it's just four episodes with add in the episode. And then the higher package has the show notes and the IV story.

    Sara Whittaker 26:39

    Awesome. Do you include emails ever? Like mentioned in your newsletter?

    Chrissy 26:43

    I have actually done a sponsored email. Somebody asked about that. So I did a sponsored email. And I have, I just started making available sponsored episodes, but I didn't want them to be like Marmee and icky. But you know, I've interviewed people who work for companies who that's like dominating everything they do. And that's basically what the sponsored episode sounds like, you know, if you do it well, I think Yeah. Sound like you're just talking them about this topic. And then they mentioned how their stuff, absolutely no different than what I do, honestly. Whatever I'm trying to market something from my own shop or store. Sure. So that's I've barely made that available. Because I had some I had two people ask about it. And so I thought, You know what, let me think about it. And if it's a company that I think would be a good fit, and that I feel like I can actually talk to this person, then I will go ahead and do that. So I barely made that available, like upon request.

    Sara Whittaker 27:34

    So I'm seeing that a lot more. It seems to be something that companies are super interested in is having somebody that represents them come on and do an interview. Are you and do you do like flat rate package? Or is it like a per click kind of thing?

    Chrissy 27:51

    It's it's a flat rate? Yeah. It's yeah, because it doesn't get it sound terrible, but I don't let him know that I'm asking for so much that it would be. I mean, it definitely wouldn't be in my interest to be per click for sure. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so they they've agreed, like these people who are interested in marketing on podcasts, or advertising, they've actually very quickly agreed they haven't had any issue with the rate. Yeah. And the the rate, I mean, I don't mind sharing the rate is $500 for the four episodes. Awesome. So if I can get two a month that covers my VA, you know, ah, oh, my gosh, that amazing. Yeah. And I haven't had to every month sometimes I do have those spots where I market my own things. Right. And that's fine, too. But that is the way that it's it's worked out. He's

    Sara Whittaker 28:34

    done the the flat rate? Yeah, no, thank you for sharing that. I know that that's something that people are always really curious about. And it's good to hear these examples. Because if you go to straight to Google and Google, like how to get a podcast sponsor, you're probably going to come up with the traditional CPM rate, which is like $25 per 1000 downloads, or maybe even less than that. And it's like, okay, well, that's not worth my time. And so I always recommend doing what you do, which is to create these flat rate packages that you get to name the price. And especially, I think it's a huge benefit of having a niche show like you have a very clear audience because you can find those really good fit sponsors, and they will pay to market on your show and, and you don't have to have a per click because that's what advertising is right. Like we think about commercials. It's just that exposure, that brand exposure and people will pay for that. So I just I think that's awesome. So congrats on landing that How long have you when did you get your first sponsor?

    Chrissy 29:37

    I'm not sure but it was sometime last season probably maybe like April or May of last last year.

    Sara Whittaker 29:43

    And now you can like now that you have had sponsors then you can add that to your media kit and show people you know, I've yeah, I've I've had sponsors before. So cool, so much opportunity, and I like that you mix it with your own resources to like You're also promoting your own stuff. Yes.

    Chrissy 30:01

    And I try I only do two per episode. I don't want a ton. And I don't want a bunch. I don't want competing. So what like, did me and did you coach not the same but similar, you know, software. So I don't want to promote those two things at the same time. So I need to spread out, you know, those kinds of I mean, it's just I feel like kind of tacky. Jack promoting to competitors. Sure. And your same episode Coke and Pepsi don't like it. So I figured that these people wouldn't like it either.

    Sara Whittaker 30:29

    Yes, so true. So true. Are you do you usually do for for the sponsors isn't usually a mid roll.

    Chrissy 30:37

    Usually due to the beginning, I was doing it in the middle. And then my husband, who was my podcast editor, because he's like a videographer, AV all the stuff. He was like, I really think you should just put them at the beginning. And then I talked to my podcast manager, because I don't ever just take his advice. Yeah. And she said, Yeah, that's good. That will be fine. So we're doing that. We just put it at the beginning. And it seems to be working out just fine.

    Sara Whittaker 31:03

    Yes, yes. Awesome. Yeah, I hear you know, mix things. I've tried mix things. And I know, some, some brands will specify like, you need to do it in the mid or pre or they might like pay different prices. But awesome. So cool to hear. Is there anything else that you want to add that we haven't covered today that you think would be helpful for people?

    Chrissy 31:27

    You know, one thing about sponsorships is I did start putting in my email, there was an article that actually shared about what listens pod or downloads podcasts actually get and what percentage you're in? Based on that. I think you've actually shared that one as well. Right? Yep. So my, my VA sent that to me. And I was like, You know what, I'm gonna start putting that in my email. And so I would link to the article and then tell them the average of listens for like the last 10 or 12 episodes, and what percentage we were falling at. And that seems to be working really well to get people interested in the podcast, because it's hard to know what you're looking at. You can't tell if you're looking at your podcast player. Like how many people are listening to this? There's no way for you to know and I have that information on the media kit. But it kind of put it into perspective. Yes. In terms of where we're falling in the list of, you know, millions of podcasts. Yeah, absolutely. That's

    Sara Whittaker 32:17

    such a good tip, I'll link to, like Buzzsprout consistently updates that on their website. I'll link that in the show notes. So you all can see, but it's always very reassuring to look at me because like you said, as a podcast host, these numbers are not available to the public. So you have no idea where you fall, you probably knowing most of you who I've talked to, you probably feel like Your download should be higher. But when you see these numbers, you realize like, Hey, I'm doing a pretty good job.

    Chrissy 32:48

    Yes, think about how many podcasts you loved. And then they just stopped? Yeah, so they have like eight episodes on that fit. And they're just gone. You know? So if you stick it out, more people are gonna listen.

    Sara Whittaker 32:58

    Absolutely. And do you? Do you include any kind of like, like, I've seen people put some reviews from listeners on their media kit? Do you have anything like that any like social proof like that?

    Chrissy 33:10

    I think I do on the bottom have a some feedback from listeners. I want to say I have some from Apple podcasts. And then something that somebody just emailed me because people are very nice about sending you emails sometimes. And nobody else sees them. Which I mean, I appreciate it so sweet that that I do feel and I think you've mentioned this on your podcast as well have asked him would you mind putting that in public? Because if you want to put that in a public forum, that'd be fantastic. And that's happened to me as well on the podcast where, you know, I'll have a guest, we'll chat you know about the topic for 30 minutes, we get off the episode. And then they'll tell me, I just have to tell you, I absolutely love this resource. And this is the change it made in my life. And I'm like oh my gosh, it's the worst feeling. It's the best. And also like, Oh, I wish you would have told like literally one other person about this.

    Sara Whittaker 34:02

    Yes. And I listen, if that happens, literally ask like, can we actually talk about that? And I can add this to the episode because it'd be really helpful for other people to hear. I had a client do that a few weeks ago. And I was like, Oh, I'm so happy that you did this. This so they just have like the second little recording that we could add into the episode. But yeah,

    Chrissy 34:21

    I should I should have I can think of one in particular that Oh, my goodness. I really wish I had it. Yes, yes.

    Sara Whittaker 34:28

    Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much, Christy. This has been really cool to hear about your experience. And thank you for all the information about sponsors. It's definitely you know, everybody's got a slightly different story when it comes to sponsorships and it's not public knowledge. So it's always really helpful to hear how other people are approaching it. Can you tell everybody where they can find you online?

    Chrissy 34:53

    Yes, yeah. If you had to buzzing with Miss b.com It's, you know, that's my site and everything is there. All right now I have a free course for instructional coaches. So if you're an instructional coach, you can get busy with Miss b.com/cycles. And I've got a free little mini course it goes right to your email. And of course the podcast is instructional coaching with Miss B. Perfect. So

    Sara Whittaker 35:11

    we'll put all of those links in the episode description and in the show notes so you guys can go check those out. Thank you so much, Chrissy.

    Chrissy 35:19

    Thank you.

    Sara Whittaker 35:19

    Thank you again to Chrissy for sharing about your podcasting journey. I love how Chrissy is using seasons to best plan out her episode content, and give herself time to take a break and reflect on her podcast progress. It was also really great to hear about her experience with podcast sponsors, I think this is something that a lot of you can tap into. So if you're interested, go for it. Start by heading to Google, like Christie talked about and finding some good fit companies that you could work with. The worst that can happen is that they don't respond to you or that they say no and that is okay. And remember, if you are in the podcasting for educators prep school, there is a training in the prep school, where podcast marketing expert Jeremy ends came on and shared all about podcast sponsors and how to create a media kit and all of the stuff that you would need to go ahead and get started with reaching out to podcast sponsors. You can find that in the guest expert module and he even gives his podcast sponsored toolkit to us for free. Alright, thanks so much for listening, and I will catch you here next week. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

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Podcasting for Educators is the podcast for TpT authors and other online educators. It's a show that will help you get your podcast in front of those who need it most - teachers, counselors, literacy specialists, SLPs, parents, and more! Each week, Sara Whittaker and her guests will share top tips and actionable strategies that you will need in order to launch, manage, and grow your podcast. You’ll learn how to leverage your show to build long-lasting relationships with your audience and promote your TpT resources, courses, and memberships, all while providing valuable and accessible content!

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