My Podcast Journey Wk12 – Podcast Launch

That is great to write… podcast launch.

My podcast Stitchery Stories was launched last week. Stitchery Stories is where I chat with textile artists and embroiderers about their life in fabric and thread.They share their inspirations, techniques, disasters & delights.
I haven’t written a blog post about my podcasting journey for several months. That’s because for several months I didn’t make any notable progress. So here are the final steps and work I had to complete for my podcast launch.

Reluctant Guests

I started recording interviews in April but it has been slow progress, to be honest, getting textile artists to book an interview slot with me. Many say they don’t like talking about their work. Or they say they are a very private person and don’t feel comfortable talking about themselves. In truth I think that most are just plain scared! And that was people who I actually knew in real life… I admit to being rather surprised about this. In the online world I inhabit, many online marketers and online professionals are typically VERY keen to be a podcast guest. But there again, they are more aware about the power of being a podcast guest. They actively look for opportunities to spread the word about their stuff.

Building Up My Pipeline Of Guests

I provide plenty of reassuring information to my prospective guests and that seems to be working. Many guests were very busy and finding a time slot was a challenge, with bookings for months in advance common-place. BUT, I plugged away at it, and found a nice pipeline of prospective guests who WERE willing to jump on board. It is also lovely to get personal recommendations from my guests. They continue to provide other artists they know of who would like to have the opportunity of being a podcast guest. And of course, who love the opportunity for getting some FREE marketing and online exposure as well.

I also had the challenge of the looming summer school holidays. You might know that I am a single mum with a boy of (just) 13. I wanted to accumulate enough episodes before my podcast launched. I didn’t want to worry about running out or trying to get some more recordings done, because I wanted  to enjoy my summer holiday time with him. Doing that has delayed my launch but I now have enough until mid September.

Stepping Out Of Our Comfort Zones

It is fair to say that this has been the first time any of my guests have been interviewed for a podcast. They have all been nervous but willing to step out of their comfort zone and take part. I truly appreciate that willingness. I viewed this as very much a shared experience as I too have stepped out of my comfort zone to be the host of a podcast.

Getting Ready To Launch

Three episodes were ready for launch. Once I edited the episodes , and  added the intro & outro, I then used Auphonic to process the audio. It balances the loudness and removes hiss etc. It is also possible to load up the episode information and artwork in there too. Then Auphonic posts into Libsyn, my podcast hosting service. I pop into Libsyn to check all is ok and schedule the episode for release into iTunes and other destinations. The wide screen version of my episode artwork is also added. That is used as the image when Libsyn posts the podcast episode into Youtube.

Waiting For iTunes

I used one episode to get my podcast submitted into iTunes. It only took 24 hours to be approved by Apple, sometimes it can be a longer wait. Then I released the other 2 launch episodes. My episodes sat in iTunes for a week before I was ready to announce my podcast launch. What was heartening was that it was getting found in iTunes and had over 50 downloads before I actually told anyone it was there. My podcast has indexed well in iTunes for the essential terms embroidery / textile art / textile artist/. That is down to my optimisation efforts. That’s another blog post…

Finishing My Podcast Website

So what was I doing after my podcast was launched in iTunes? Well I was finishing the setup of my podcast website. This was very important for me. I know that my audience is not likely to be iTunes users or to have listened to podcasts. I very often get asked the question, ‘what is a podcast?‘ . So my website, for my audience, is crucial as a simple place to be able to listen to my podcast. Having a website is also an easy way for my listeners to listen to my podcast through their mobile devices. They don’t have to mess about with podcast listening apps. Wherever I use my ‘podcast feed’ from Libsyn, any listens & downloads will be included my podcast statistics. 🙂

Using WordPress & Some Excellent Plugins

I have used WordPress, and I have chosen a specific podcast theme. The Automate theme from Appendipity. I also won a licence for the Simple Podcast Press plugin. This is a wonderful plugin which can be set up to automatically create a formatted podcast episode post. A nice player is included, and the artwork and all the information from Libsyn is used. The Automate theme has been set up specifically to work with the SImple Podcast Press plugin.

So I had some settings to investigate and some tweaking to do so that the posts created are as I want them to look. I have also added some extra work for myself because I want to include examples of my guest’s artwork on their particular episode. A simple image carousel does that job and was created by using a simple shortcode, from the excellent Shortcodes Ultimate plugin. I have also used typical WordPress plugins to track Google Analytics, backup the website contents and keep it all optimised and secure. An email signup feature The Stitchery Stories FanClub  enables listeners to signup and be informed of new episodes. Again this is a simpler feature for them than having an iTunes account and subscribing.

stitchery stories textile art podcast artwork

Here is the link to view my textile art podcast website.

Launching my Podcast

I have taken a very low key approach to launching my podcast website so far. When I have some breaks in-between client work and spending time with my son, I am doing what I can. I have shared with several relevant groups I am a member of in Facebook. My 3 launch guests have shared their episodes in Facebook and on their websites / blogs. And that’s it so far. I have quite a list of things to do to start developing listeners outside of my immediate circle of friends, guests, local textile artists and embroidery friends. Twitter & Instagram are the next areas to get organised. Then I need to develop my weekly podcast marketing activities into a regular schedule. Nothing gets forgotten, and it makes it easier.

Can I Help You Launch Your Podcast

Remember that this is what I do to earn a living. I already knew how to do everything I needed to develop, create and launch my podcast. If you don’t know what to do then it can be a time consuming process to try and piece together some accurate and up-to-date learning resources. It also takes time to read & watch them, and then try and apply them. And if you get stuck….. or don’t know what is the best choice to make…. it can be a frustrating waste of time. So why not make things easy for yourself? Outsource your podcast creation and launch with me. I guide you through the very important strategy aspects, BEFORE, we get into the actual creating and implementation pieces.

If you are wondering about those strategy aspects then I recently recorded a detailed webinar, Podcasting Strategy: 7 Things To Nail Before You Hit Record. Watching that and taking some notes would be well worth your time.

And if you don’t have 45 minutes to watch that presentation? Then I strongly suggest you spend 2 minutes and send me an email . We’ll schedule a chat about how I can get you started with my podcast services 

Are you ready to get started with your podcast launch?