July 15, 2022

Pod Hack

What We're Into 

• We're thrilled to announce Sol de Agosto / August Sun, an original LWC Studios film, is now available on Amazon Prime Video in Spain. This Argentine independent short film by Franco Volpi tackles the complexities of adult children caring for aging parents.
• Hosting platform Blubrry has launched a podcast media kit automation tool. Blubrry customers now have access to their own custom media kit with information on their show, such as host bio, show description, average monthly episodes, and social media follower count, as well as insights from listener surveys.
• On the Simplecast blog, Amanda McCormack discusses lead magnets for podcasts and why newsletters serve as a great tool for not only promoting your show, but also adding value and extending your connection with your listeners. Amanda shares steps for creating a lead magnet that can turn listeners into newsletter subscribers, along with a fun idea suggested in an episode of Social Media Decoded: "make your lead magnet a shout-out on your podcast."
• Ochenta Studios has published a complete guide in Spanish for creating fiction podcasts ("Guía fabulantástica para hacer tu pódcast de ficción"). The 80-page manual provides creators with an in-depth breakdown, exercises, and helpful resources on everything from concept to scripting, launch, distribution, and marketing.
• Interested in applying for grants for your audio project but don't know where to begin? Register for a virtual one-day workshop for an introduction to grant writing, hosted by The Newberry Library, on August 13. The workshop will cover the essentials of grant writing and how to identify potential funders.

What We're Listening To 

Podcasting, Seriously at Home 

Overheard on Podcasting, Seriously Live 

This week on Podcasting, Seriously Live on Twitter Spaces, we welcomed Arielle Nissenblatt, founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective and SquadCast community manager, for tips on how to promote your podcast brand on Twitter using threads and engagement. Some takeaways are:

• There is no guarantee that social media engagement will translate to downloads. Use Twitter as an engagement tool, as a place to interact with your audience, and as a way to inform them. "It's still very important for your show to have a presence on social media, to show your audience and potential listeners that you're putting content out, and that they can easily get in contact with you," Arielle says.
• A good way to get plugged into the podcast industry, learn more about the space, connect with fellow creators, and find collaboration opportunities is by being active on Twitter and joining communities like Podcasting Twitter and Indie Podcasters.
• "For those who have podcasts about more visual topics, platforms like Instagram and TikTok are best suited to reach your audience since they are highly visual in nature," Arielle notes.
• Arielle suggests using a formula to up your game on Twitter: 1 question, 1 statement, 1 thread. Try this with different content and posting times and see what works for you.
• How Arielle creates an effective thread: the hook (first tweet) should pull-in the reader and spark curiosity. It can be a statement or a theory, and should ideally end with a question (like in this thread). Following the first tweet, you should include the meat of your message, while tagging people and including hashtags.
• Keep up with Arielle on Twitter for more useful tips!

Upcoming Workshops 

Creator Spotlight 

Community Offers 

Thanks for the Love 

• Thank you to Podcast Movement's PodMov Daily for including our weekly Spaces meetup in their newsletter. Check out our upcoming sessions!
• Thank you to Podcast The Newsletter for highlighting The Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund's news of expansion.