It's Our 100th Episode! A Giveaway, Podcast Life-Savers, and MORE! [Ep. 100]

 
 

Click play to hear our 100th episode!:

 
 

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Here’s what to expect from this episode:

I cannot believe that we're already at episode 100! The time has flown by. 

I'm so excited to celebrate with you today with a round-up of 10 podcast-related "things" (because we'd be here ALL day if I shared 100). So tune in to this fun episode to hear all about the super simple giveaway celebrating this milestone, the new segment I'm adding to my solo episodes, the impact this podcast has had on my business, some advice, and lots more! 

And whether this is the 1st or 100th episode you've listened to of this podcast, THANK YOU. I hope it's been (or will be) a helpful resource for you wherever you are in your podcasting journey.

TOPICS COVERED:

  • A giveaway

  • A new segment

  • An impact my podcast has had on my business

  • A shift I've seen in the podcast space

  • A "what's saving my life" moment

  • A favorite podcast tool (or three)

  • An important podcast routine

  • An ask

  • A challenge

  • A THANK YOU

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Sara:

Related episodes:

  • Sara Whittaker 0:01

    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 Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager, and I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. You are listening to the 100th episode of podcasting for educators. I cannot believe that we're already at episode 100. The time has flown by. And I'm excited to celebrate with you today. I wanted to do some sort of round up, but we would be here all day if I went through 100 different things. So I'm going to keep it short with 10 podcast related things for lack of a better word. These are going to include some announcements, reflections and advice. So let's get right into it. For number one, we are starting with a giveaway. You didn't think I celebrate our 100th episode without a giveaway, did you I am giving away 520 $5 gift cards to Amazon. So you can put that gift card towards anything new that you might need for podcasting, like a new mic, a new pair of headphones, or anything else podcast related or not. I'm keeping it so simple for you this time. I want to know who is listening to this episode and where you are listening from. So all you have to do to enter the giveaway is snap a selfie, add it to your Instagram stories and tag me at podcasting for educators with text sharing where in the world you are listening to this episode from. If you don't have Instagram, you can email me your picture to Sarah at podcasting for educators.com. And if you are 100%, against showing your face on social media, just snap a picture of where you're listening from your car or your office. Outside while you're on a walk in your classroom. Wherever super, super simple. You have all week to enter the giveaway will end this Sunday, June 4 2023. And I'll pick the five winners on Monday, June 5. All right, number two is a new segment I am going to be starting a new segment in my solo episodes called podcaster. pulse check. And here's how it's going to work. Before I record the episode I'll ask a question on my Instagram. It's going to be a different question every time and then I'll share some of your results inside of the episode. That way you can hear the advice, opinions and experiences of other podcasters. And I thought it'd be fun to start with the very first one today. A few weeks ago, I asked the question How has podcasting open new doors for you? And here were some of your answers. One of you said it's led to connections and further spreading the message of empowering math students. Someone else said it's led to trainings for an education company and speaking opportunities. It's led to paid sponsors for my podcast. It's driven listeners to my paid offers, and made them loyal fans who keep coming back. It's helped me take the leap and hunt for sponsors. And it's led to leading workshops in schools. How cool is that? I love hearing all the ways that podcasting has made an impact on your life, and in turn other people's lives as well. It sounds like a lot of you have experienced some really, really cool opportunities that have all started with your podcast. So if you see me ask a podcast or post check on my Instagram Stories, be sure to submit your answer so that I can share them in the episode and they will be shared anonymously.

    Sara Whittaker 3:56

    I'm moving right along to number three, an impact that my podcast has had on my business. You all shared some opportunities that podcasting has brought about for you. So I thought I would share some of the impacts that podcasting has had for me. As far as business goes, this podcast has been an absolutely invaluable tool for building my business. As many of you might already know, because I've shared this before. I did not start my email list until I started my podcast. So my podcast has been a really great avenue to driving people to my email list. It's also been a place where I can share about my online courses. And by far the majority of of you who have joined any of my online courses. First were podcast listeners and you heard about these courses through this podcast. And getting a little deeper into that. Having these courses has allowed me to get to know so many of you better through Facebook communities that we have that compliment the course. So that has been a really, really cool perk that originally stemmed from this podcast. And then another direct impact that this podcast has had on my business is definitely that it's brought one on one clients to us. So both for like retainer clients that we provide monthly podcast management too, as well as one on one strategy calls that I've been able to do with some of you as well. Okay, number four, I'm sharing a shift that I am seeing in the podcasting industry. And that is a lot more use of video. Now, video podcasts have been around for a while, that's nothing new. But I'm definitely seeing more people sharing clips from their podcast in a video format, specifically for Instagram reels, or YouTube shorts. And I'm seeing this with people who were not really showing their face very much on social media before this. But now they are using clips from their podcast episodes, to hook people in to their podcast and to share some behind the scenes footage type of video as well. There's so many different ways to create these kinds of videos. From what I've seen, and from talking to some other people in this industry, it seems that an effective route to go is to make sure that you're of course, pulling a clip that is engaging from your episode, keeping it pretty short, and almost hiding the fact that you're promoting a podcast episode. So when somebody is looking at this video clip, they obviously might see you and or your guests talking into a microphone, but there's not big blaring text saying like a new episode or, or your cover art on there, that comes at the end of the video. So you're really hugging people in quickly. And then either at the end of your video or in your caption, you can share that it is in fact a podcast episode and where people can go listen to it. So it's definitely something to try out. If you haven't already. I think it's safe to say that if the only way that you are sharing about your podcasts on social media is through a still graphic that says New episode, or an audiogram. And those are the only things that you're doing, it's probably time to try some new strategies. Up next number five, what saving my life with my podcast right now. I first heard this what saving my life right now on the lazy genius podcast. If you're familiar with that show, if not go check it out. It's really good. But that term was actually originally coined by Barbara brown Taylor. And it basically just means like, what is something simple that's making your life just a little bit easier right now? And if we're talking about what's saving my life in podcasting, hands down, it has to be my podcast manager, Brandy. Yes, podcast management is what my business is all about. It's the services that we offer our clients, but I 1,000% have my own podcast manager, because I think that when you're ready to pass that torch to someone, you absolutely should, so that you can really focus on planning out your content, recording your content, and everything else can be done by somebody else. The great thing about having somebody take care of your podcast production for you is that you're not going to spend way too long second guessing everything as you're editing it, or as you're writing your show notes, somebody else is going to do that so that you don't have to brandy obviously, you're listening to this because you're editing this episode. But you are absolutely amazing. I'm so so grateful for you and everything that you do for this show, you're so so good at what you do. And just a little side note here, if you are somebody who has never outsourced any of these kinds of tasks, whether it's with your podcast, or your email marketing, or your social media, I really encourage you that you start dipping your toes in that even if you know how to do that thing. That doesn't mean that somebody else can't do it just as good, if not better than you. And it can be an absolute game changer for your business and for your time. Okay, number six, a favorite podcast tool. I could not just choose one, I am going with a trifecta between clickup for organization, it's where all of our podcasting tasks are stored. I can pull up a click up document and outline my episodes right there. Graphics can go there like everything can be right on click up and it's all in one place if I ever want to refer back to anything as well, and it's where I communicate with brandy and where she sets due dates for me, and all of those things. If you are podcasting without any kind of project management tool, I'm just going to go ahead and say it's time to change that. Whether it's clickup Trello. Asana what ever pick your poison, but get something set up for yourself so that you do have everything in one place and you can just become a bit more organized. So click up Captivate, I talk about Captivate all the time on this podcast, I made this switch back in, I want to say, I don't know, maybe last August, and I've been so happy with them, I have a few episodes, I actually have an episode dedicated to the details of why I switched over to captivate and why I love it. That is where I host my podcast, it's where I get my stats, it's where I can utilize dynamic ads, they've got all kinds of features in there. Obviously, I couldn't have this podcast without a host. But I do think especially in the past couple of years, different podcast hosts are adding different features. And they really are setting themselves apart from other hosts. So for that reason, Captivate is one of my top tools. And then the third would be my content calendar, I am finally becoming more consistent with my content calendar. Whereas before, I would just kind of like I would go in these streaks where I'd sit down and I plan things out, and it would be great, but then it would kind of fall off. And I wouldn't keep up with that planning. But I'm happy to say that I've gotten much better about that. And it makes a huge, huge difference. Because when you really utilize your content calendar, it allows you to plan in advance and plan really, really intentionally for the content that you are going to be putting on your podcast. And if you are a student in the prep school or in podcasts like you mean it, you have access to content calendars within those courses. So click up Captivate and my content calendar top three podcasting tools right now. I will also link to an episode that I've done episode 57. That goes into more details about seven of my favorite podcast tools. Alright, next up number seven, an important podcast routine. One of the most important podcast routines that I have is tracking my data each month, I do it the first week of a new month, for the previous month. And sitting down and really documenting my stats and reflecting on them and thinking about how it can really drive my content planning, that's become a lot easier and a lot more fun. With the podcast data tracker that I created with my friend Allison, I had her on the podcast a couple months ago where we talked all about this data tracker, I'll link that episode in the show notes. And this data tracker is also included in podcasts like you mean it, it's been a favorite element of this course for a lot of the students in there. And I know why because it's fantastic. And you can add your own branding to it, it makes it look really nice. It turns your numbers into visuals. So you can really see what your downloads mean, and what kind of content you're creating, what kind of content is resonating with your listeners, what kinds of things you're promoting in your episodes, so much good stuff. I just think that tracking your podcast ads is something that we all need to be doing. Even if you have never done it before. It's never too late to start. Try it out this month, because there is all kinds of really great information that we can get from our podcast stats. And if you're interested in learning more about how to do this really effectively, podcast like you mean it is not open as of right now. But you can get on the waitlist and I'll leave the link for that for you. But you can get on the waitlist at podcasting for educators.com/waitlist. Okay, number eight is an ask. And that is an ask to you that if you are a listener of this podcast, and it's been helpful for you and you're enjoying it, and you have not yet written a rating and review on Apple podcasts, I would be so grateful. If you would do that today. You can push pause right now in this episode, it'll take one minute for you to go and leave your review. It's a great free way to show your support for this show. And to just show me that you're listening. Number nine is a challenge for you. And that is to celebrate your next milestone in a really fun way. Whether that's your 50th episode, your 100th episode, your one year mark of your podcast, you can make up all kinds of milestones. But I encourage you to make it a big deal because it is think about how you can get creative in your celebration. You put a lot of hard work into your show and you should absolutely celebrate it and I'm sure that your listeners would love to help you do that. Okay, and then last but not least number 10 on our list is just a big thank you. Thank you for listening, whether this is your first episode or your 100th episode that you've listened to of this podcast. I know that there are So many different podcasts out there, there's so many different things that you can consume online. And that is why I am so appreciative of your time and that you choose to push play on this podcast. And I hope that it's been a really helpful resource for you as you've started your show, or if you're working on growing your show, or maybe you're just kind of considering the idea of starting a podcast wherever you are in your journey.

    Sara Whittaker 15:25

    Thank you for being here. All right. So that's it, we had a thank you a challenge for you and ask from you, and important podcast routine, a favorite podcast tool? Well, three tools, actually, what's saving my life with my podcast, a shift that I'm seeing in the podcasting industry and the impact that my podcast has made on my business, a new segment that I'm introducing to my solo episodes, and of course, a giveaway that we are doing to celebrate the 100th episode. And just a recap of that, all you have to do is snap a picture, ideally of you and your beautiful face, add it to your Instagram Stories, tag me and let me know where you are. And by that I mean geographically where in the world are you listening to this episode? You have until Sunday, June 4 to do that. And then the giveaway closes Monday, June 5, I will pick five winners for those amazon gift cards. And hopefully it's your name that I pick. All right, that is all for today. Thanks so much for celebrating with me and I'll see 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 the podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

More about Podcasting for Educators:

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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Sara Whittaker