This week I am celebrating 2 years as a podcaster. My embroidery and textile art podcast launched very quietly on 19th July 2017. During that time I have learnt a lot, laughed a lot, and built an engaged audience from scratch. My podcast is considered to be a success, and is popular with it’s niche audience of textile artists and embroiderers. I was determined to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of my podcast launch, because we don’t celebrate enough when we have a success. It’s vitally important that we do.
YAY ME 🙂
You Can Listen To My Celebration Solo Episode Here:
My Podcasting Journey
If you look back through my blog posts from late 2016 and early 2017 you will find several where I documented my podcasting journey. They span from deciding I was going to ‘go for it’, through to launching it. You will notice that I didn’t rush.
I Already Had Podcast Production Skills
Of course, unlike many wannabe podcasters, I already knew what I was doing. I had all the skills I needed, and I was already providing podcast strategy, podcast launch and podcast support services. In fact I started supporting a podcast back in 2011. That was when I started working on Inside Cosmetic Surgery Today with my client Dr Barry Lycka.
But I took my time in getting the foundations for my podcast right.
And then of course I ‘just’ had to be brave, and press that ‘GO’ button.
I Want To Put What I Have Achieved Into Context.
I am not a famous celebrity. My audience was zero. And I was nervous about ‘putting myself out there’. Who was I to chat with textile artists about their work? And would anyone even care enough and listen? All that self-doubt came creeping in. I knew what to do technically to produce and launch a podcast. But could I ‘perform’ and make it into an enjoyable show?
Well judging from how my audience has grown, from scratch, and reading the many enthusiastic messages I get from my ‘fans’, the answer to that last question has been a resounding ‘YES’. As I say, not bad for an introvert who started her professional career as a mainframe computer programmer in a car factory!
Some Podcast Statistics
My audience has grown steadily over the 2 years, and tapping into the active community of textile artists on Instagram has been very helpful.
There have been just short of 80,000 downloads according to my podcast hosting service, Libsyn. Now I know that the famous ‘top’ podcasts can get millions of downloads for just one episode but my stats are a massive success for me. And that is still a heck of a lot of people who have decided to listen to me chat with my guests.
Almost since launch, Stitchery Stories has appeared in the Apple Podcasts Top200 for Visual Arts. It is usually found hanging around between 100 and 130. My decision to drop to fortnightly episodes in the early months of 2019 have affected my consistent chart appearances, but I expected that. It hasn’t had an impact upon audience downloads however, which is interesting.
Making It Easy For My Audience
My audience are very ‘tech unsavvy‘ so I have always focused on making the podcast easy to find and easy to listen to. For the majority of my audience, this is the first podcast they have ever listened to. Before Stitchery Stories came into their lives, they didn’t really know what a podcast was. NONE of my 68 guests have ever been a podcast guest before. So again, making it an easy and comfortable experience was crucial.
Creating a separate website just for Stitchery Stories was a key element of keeping things simple. Each episode is featured on the home page, and it’s easy to listen. Just tap on an episode and then the full details, the audio player and images of the guest’s artwork all appear. Easy. Even from Instagram it’s easy. The ‘link in bio’ leads to page with the player, the current episode ready to tap play, the other episodes scrollable below. Easy.
So What, Sue?
Did you know there are over 700,000 published podcasts in this world? Hundreds of new ones are launched every day. It would seem there is an overwhelming level of podcast competition. ‘Everyone’ is a podcaster, aren’t they? However, when you pick your niche, and focus on creating an enjoyable and engaging show, then all the other podcasts out there are irrelevant.
So many podcasters give up after a few episodes when they realise this podcasting lark is much harder than they thought it would be. Many podcasts struggle to build an audience, struggle in creating something that people want to listen to, that is entertaining.
Creating My 2nd Anniversary Episode as a solo podcaster
After some thought about how to celebrate my 2nd anniversary as a podcaster, I decide to record a solo episode. YIKES!
I wanted to chat with my listeners, say thank you and share my thoughts about what might happen next with the podcast. I highlighted that I was going to be sending out an audience survey in the next week or so. I asked if there was anything I could help with, particularly how could I help those artists who run a business around their art. How can I use all my other skills, training, online technology tools, digital marketing?
I also decided to raise the subject of podcast monetisation. I chatted about different ways in which other podcasts earn money and that I am going to be looking at ways to earn money with Stitchery Stories so I can keep it going in an enjoyable and sustainable way.
It was the first episode I had done on my own, so there was another challenge. Another moment to be brave and find my voice. Hats off to those podcasters who always podcast solo 🙂
Feeling Awesome 🙂
After sharing my episode and sharing my achievements, many fans and friends have complimented me and provided great enthusiastic support. And that feels really, really AWESOME.
I have some other posts planned to share further thoughts and learning from reaching this milestone. So for now, this post is done. I have celebrated my podcaster achievements, I hope they help you as a podcaster, and inspire you that you too can do the same.
How I Help YOU PODCAST
If you fancy launching a podcast, being a podcaster for your business or around your hobby, then you will find lots of resources on this blog. I also have a powerful podcast training course that is in the final stages of being made available for sale. And of course you can hire me to guide you and do it for you, through my Podcast Services.
But the first place to start is with my FREE video series ‘Is A Podcast Right For You’ You can sign up here:
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