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(By Tim O’Brien) Looking ahead to 2019, those New Year’s resolutions are right around the corner. With that in mind, we thought we’d find out some New Year’s resolutions from podcasters:
Greg Jackson of the History that Doesn’t Suck Podcast
We have two goals for next year: first, a minimum of 100,000 downloads per month by the end of the year; and to have two sponsors.
Our mission statement is to recount U.S. history in an entertaining, story-driven narrative without ever compromising academic rigor. While this has resonated with listeners, to continue at our pace we need funding to offset man-hours, period.
We are reaching out to sponsors. We have large enough audience to do that, we just have to find sponsors we believe in and who do podcast advertising. We won’t hock something just for money. I believe pushing products you don’t believe in or use doesn’t turn out well in the long run.
Our current thinking is that two advertisements will meet our financial needs without overwhelming listeners.
That said, we will also continue to have an ad-free version of our episodes available through our Patreon page. As for growing, we are focused on having guests and making guest appearances. This has proven far more effective than things like Google and Facebook ads. We have one guest per month on our “Office Hours” episodes, and as part of our plan we will seek to make guest appearances elsewhere at least once a quarter.
Steve Garrett of the Within the Realm Podcast
My podcaster New Year’s resolution for 2019 is simple, really. I want to continue to find my voice and find my audience. I believe finding the voice, remaining true to the original idea, and using the podcast as an extension of yourself, is the key to finding the audience, or maybe more accurately stated, allowing the audience to find you.
I guess one of the ways to accomplish that is to be easily found by potential new listeners. Finding ways to do that will take quite a bit of trial and error, so maybe finding some patience might be a good resolution!
On a more personal podcasting note, I think one of the things I look forward to in the New Year is expanding the electronic/virtual friendships and acquaintances I have found in the podcast world. It’s a very supportive community of like-minded folks that I enjoy being a part of.
Dan Weissmann of An Arm and a Leg Podcast
For our next season, our biggest, most important goal is diving deep into the powerful and diverse stories that listeners are sending in and letting that drive the episodes and reporting in Season 2.
Listeners are contributing so much insight already and I want to make the show as responsive as possible.
Tim O’Brien
At Shaping Opinion, our New Year’s resolution is to continue to work on getting great guests that resonate with our listeners, and as with all podcasters, we want to find new ways to grow audience.
What are your New Year’s resolutions? Let us know on Twitter at @PodcastBJournal and @ShapingOpinion
Tim O’Brien is a veteran communications consultant and the host of the Shaping Opinion podcast. He can be reached at 412.854.8845 or at timobrien@timobrienpr.com