Comments on: WWJCD? #1: How to promote your podiobook (or podcast)

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:24:36 +0000

Awesome advice JC. I’ve been paying attention to this very sort of advice and experience tells me you’re spot on. I too am releasing my novel via podcast and the community of ‘casters has been very open and welcoming.

By: Colin Francis Barnes

Colin Francis Barnes — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:11:14 +0000

Hey JC – what a timely post this is. As I sit here reading this entry, my purpose to coming to this site was to look up your contact details so that I could fire of some questions and flattery, but you have answered all my questions in this blog entry, so thanks a lot for that!!

Loving your work! Keep blazing a trail, and watch out for that dastardly FDO

By: Indiana Jim

Indiana Jim — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:40:06 +0000

Community is IT, man. The days of being anonymous online are over! I’m not saying you need to put out your REAL name, necessarily, for privacy concerns if you’re paranoid, but you have to BE somebody.

You have to be a personality people can connect with. You can’t just be some shmo. Well, you might be a shmo (like me), but be a shmo people can connect with.

You also can’t just make empty platitudes to the podcasters you like (as J.C. said up there about form emails). You must be sincere. This is not all about you. It’s not all about Hutchins, it’s not all about Sigler. It’s all about EVERYONE. It’s not a “scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” tit-for-tat machivellian power play, though some have made it that.

This is about real community. It’s life, lived open-source (you can’t have that, I made it up. But J.C. can use it all he wants). We’re here to do something useful, not just blather at ourselves out of self-importance.

After all, right now it’s just some hobby. Do something meaningful with it.

By: Tony Mast

Tony Mast — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:13:42 +0000

This would apply more to a podcast than a podiobook, but you never know.

I would add three things.

1) Participate in the podcasting community. If there is a podcasting event local to you, get to know your fellow podcasters. If you can make fans of other podcasters, they will evangelize your work for you. If they are in a different genre, or speaking to a different audience, you could expand your base audience, or at the very least your audience awareness.

2) Participate in communities that interest you but that might not necessarily have anything to do with your podcast/podiobook. I joined the forum of a gaming podcast just because I met the guys who were running it. A couple of thousand posts later, I’m considered one of the ‘old timers’ there and am free to pimp any of my podcasts, books or other ventures without fear of being banned. It’s important though that you are actively contributing to the community, and not just shilling your podcast. Also beware of the potential for time-sink.

3) Post content to your site. An easy way for your site to get listed higher on the search engines is to fill it up with juicy new content. For example, on our movie podcast http://www.fanboysmackdown.com, we post movie reviews. We have two writers who post reviews for us once or twice a week. This keeps people coming back to the site and it keeps the search engines happy with us. On my weight loss podcast, I post recipes, gadgets, articles and exercise info. If you find that you aren’t posting episodes often, you’ll still get traffic to your site by keeping the blog rolling along.

By: Terrence McLean

Terrence McLean — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:17:28 +0000

This is very timely for me as I’m about to kick off book two of my Podiobook. I had learned some lessons mentioned above from J.C. for a previous book. When I forwarded my Promo sent my promo out to people this time I started with the podcasts I listen to. I looked up the contact emails and then composed an email for that podcast with details about current event. I then offer to play a promo or otherwise promote something for them (something I learned from JC).

If anyone is interested in a promo exchange please let me know.

By: fsfalcon

fsfalcon — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:49:43 +0000

Great advice JC, thanks for taking the time to lay it down.

By: Steve Riekeberg

Steve Riekeberg — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:36:14 +0000

I think it all comes down to building a community of engaged listeners and having an active friendship, and inspiring loyalty. I think J.C. and 7th Son are a textbook example of this and what a resource it can be. It’s not necessarily about promoting, it’s about developing followers who believe in your work and are loyal to you, and *they* will go promote it, tell their friends, some even random strangers. Allow these people to be your marketing team and to help you promote your work. Looking at fans as simply a statistic is a grave mistake.

By: Jack H

Jack H — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:15:59 +0000

about the only thing that I would add to this:
Don’t be afraid to do cross promotional stuff with other podcasts.
Interviews, skits, bumpers. Not that I am as successful as you are almighty one

By: Nicholas McRae

Nicholas McRae — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:11:11 +0000

Awesome! This was a perfect first read. I’m polishing up a few projects and am about ready to start thinkin’ about the whole “putting it out there” thing, and this was exactly the kind of guidance I’ve been hoping to find.

Thanks for doing this, Mr. Hutchins!

Nicholas
FLippantMoniker