The 30-Day Podcast Power-Up Challenge

A month of tips, ideas, and resources for podcasters looking to grow their shows and improve their craft

Hello, Challengers! Whether you’re participating in the actual Challenge (sign up here anytime throughout the month), or you’re here to get the daily tips, this article will act as a hub of knowledge.

Each day throughout the month, I’ll add the tip of the day (originally distributed via email to Challengers) here… PLUS some extra, much-needed context. If you want to discuss the tips / ideas / resources / tools that I recommend further, join the Challenge and jump into the Slack channel. There are a couple hundred podcasters hanging out there, helping each other and improving their shows.

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The 30-Day Podcast Power-Up Challenge

Here are the tips, day by day.

Be a student of the craft (July 1)

Listen to podcasts in your niche. Read newsletters in your niche. Engage with podcast industry-focused discussions. Learn from other creators.

Many podcasters get their start in podcasting not as creators, but as consumers. You fall in love with the medium and then say “I’ve gotta do this myself.”

BUT it can be hard to keep up with the demands of making the show AND listening to others.

Today’s tip, though... it’s critical to keep up with what other creators are doing, both in your niche and beyond.

Resource round-up:

• ​Subscribe to podcast industry newsletters​.

• Use ​Reletter.com​ to find newsletters in your niche.

• Use ​Rephonic.com/graph​ to find other shows in your niche.

• Regularly check in on the shows in your category on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and other podcatchers.

• Use Substack’s search bar to find trending stories and articles in your topic area

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You need a trailer for your podcast (July 2)

A trailer is a shorter snippet that teases, introduces, or primes a potential listener for what’s to come.

Crafty-reasons to make a trailer:

• It forces you to distill your who what when where why how of your show into a short snippet that hopefully attracts audience.

• It helps set the sonic (and perhaps, visual) scene for your listener / viewer.

• It allows you to create an onramp for a new fan. You get to lay out your promise for the show. Hopefully, it’s something they’re into.

Marketing reasons to make a trailer:

• You get to have a launch before the launch. This means… two moments to let your friends, family, community, and followers know that you’re bringing something to the world.

• You get to “test” your RSS feed to make sure things are running smoothly before you officially publish episode 1.

• You get to use that mp3 or mp4 file to trade with another show. Find a podcast that’s in your general category (complementary to your niche) and see if they’d be willing to drop it as an extra at the end of their next episode. Maybe you can return the favor down the line.

Platform reasons to make a trailer:

• Podcast hosting providers allow you to mark an episode as either a trailer, a bonus, or a full episode. Giving your audience distinctions is a great practice to get into.

• Podcast apps (podcatchers) then mark episodes as such, and often, a trailer lands in a nice, visually prominent spot.

FAQ

1. How long should my trailer be?

   1. Exactly as long as it needs to be and not a minute longer. Trailers are usually somewhere between 60 seconds and 3 minutes long.

2. Should it be a video trailer?

   1. If you’re recording a video podcast, maybe! My rule of thumb is that it should match the tone, texture, and scope of the show itself. So if the show itself is a video show, video might make sense. If it’s an audio show, you get to decide!

3. What should be in the trailer?

   1. Before you make your trailer, go to Apple Podcasts, locate the New Shows section on the browse page, click on a few shows that spark your interest, and hit play on their trailers. What do you notice? What do you like?

   2. Outline a script based on those trailers + some trailers in your show’s category.

   3. Typically, you’ll hear a lot of quotes from episodes, mixed with narration from hosts. This is not a requirement, but it’s a relatively easy-to-understand format.

​Submit​ your show to ​Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast​ for a chance to get your show analyzed on my show.

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Your podcast cover art is more important than you might think (July 3)

And as much as we think we’re immune to this: we do judge podcasts by their cover art. And we should! We have a lot of potential entertainment to wade through in this world, so we need to be discerning. So, ask yourself: does your artwork…work?

3 Simple Tips for Creating Better Cover Art

1. The 5-Second Test: can someone understand what your show is about within five seconds of seeing the artwork?

Ask a friend (or a stranger) to take a look at the artwork and tell you what the show is about based on the cover art alone.

2. The Thumbnail Test: shrink the image so it’s the size of a postage stamp. Can you still read the title?

If not, enlarge!

3. The Self Test: imagine your podcast sitting next to twenty other podcasts. Would it stand out? For good reasons?

Cover art probably isn’t THE ticket to show growth. Your show still needs to be GREAT. And you still need to be marketing / engaging with your audience. BUT it can absolutely increase the number of people who stop scrolling long enough to learn more.. which is the first step toward hooking a new listener.

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You might be losing first-touch fans because your show’s quality sucks (July 4)

With so many other shows, books, videos, and IRL things to choose from, your show better be an obvious choice to make. Bad sound / video quality can signal a not-worth-your-time show, even if that's not the case at all.

Why should someone add you to their coveted entertainment rotation?

Getting the product (the story, segments, co-host flow...etc) right is one thing, getting the “basic” elements like sound levels, video quality, and noise reduction is a whole other thing. And it’s really important.

Keep these things in mind:

• Export audio to -16 LUFS (in stereo) or -19 LUFS (in mono). These options should be available no matter which DAW (digital area workstation like Descript, Audacity, Adobe Podcast, Pro Tools...etc) you're using.

  • Keep your loudness consistent so listeners aren’t constantly adjusting the volume.

  • Listen with fresh ears before publishing — in headphones, out of headphones — to get the experience of the listener.

  • If you run ads on your show, make sure they’re at the same level as your actual show!

• Record 1080p video at 30 fps. This is the standard that works well across platforms and should be configurable in most remote recording scenarios. If you’re recording IRL using fancier equipment, this should be the standard as well.

• Keep your microphone 4-6 inches from your mouth. If you’re using a dynamic microphone, this is generally a good rule of thumb.

• Use soft lighting in front of your face. Face a window or place a light at eye level in front of you. Avoid bright windows or lamps behind you — those give you the appearance of being backlit. Avoid being backlit.​

• Do a 30-second test recording before every session. Check for noise peaking, background noise, the correct microphone, camera framing, and focus before you hit record for real. Clean your camera lens before recording!

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Develop a strong “hostiness” muscle (July 5)

First, what is “hostiness?”

It’s a combination of very different factors. There’s a likability in someone’s voice or style. There’s this innate sense that I’d really like to spend more time with them. There’s also this range of curiosity and joy and versatility that comes across when you encounter hostiness. But it’s that compelling nature, that if you saw them live on stage, you’d never want the show to end.

— John Barth, on the ​Sound Judgment podcast​, hosted by Elaine Appleton Grant

For 16 years, John was the chief content officer of PRX. He was the founding producer of Marketplace and a key developer of shows ranging from The Moth Radio Hour to Reveal.

Being a great host means serving your audience, respecting your guest, and so much in between. There's a bare minimum here that many of us hit, but we can take it further? Can we up our "hostiness?"

When I first heard this episode of Sound Judgment a few years back, a bunch of things clicked for me. Being a great host is about a lot more than just asking great questions and backing off so that your interviewee can respond. It’s about everything that goes into the interview AND comes out of it: from the prep emails and the pre-recording chatter to the post-interview thank you note and the taggings on social media. Barth and Appleton Grant don’t necessarily get into the social media sharing aspect of all that in their conversation, but for this Challenge, we’ll take a concept and run.

A big part of the “hostiness” factor can be likened to hosting a great dinner party. Are you making sure everyone is taken care of? Is there something for everyone to eat? Is your extended audience being served? Asking these questions is a great way to start working that muscle.

A few tips for getting “hostier:”

• ​Read or listen to this WHOLE episode​, wherein John Barth defines and gives examples for “hostiness.”

• Listen back to your own episodes. I’ve gotten a lot of pushback on this one. But, please! Listen so you can learn. And ask yourself: what filler words am I relying on? Do I encourage my guest to continue or do I rush them along? Am I leaving room for chatter that might bring on a breakthrough?

• Encourage retakes. Tell your guest that they should feel free to start sentences over, that you're editing this interview and your goal is to make them sound great. Whenever possible have them start over as a full sentence (better for editing).

• Silence is ok. If you're like me, you probably want to fill it as quickly as possible. But let it linger for a moment.

• Before you hit record, get your guest to talk about something else entirely that they're passionate about. It'll help them settle in AND give you a sense of what they get animated about... now, aim to make that happen again.

• While you have them, ask your guest what kind of social asset they'd be likely to share, and on what platform. That way, you can create assets FOR them, rather than making what you'd want to make and then wondering why your guest isn't sharing them.

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Consider: your podcast’s home on the web (July 6)

When someone types your podcast title into a web search bar, what's popping up? It better be your website!

In a world of constantly shifting algorithms, it’s important to own what we can on the web. As podcasters, this is important because we don’t automatically get access to email addresses for anyone who follows / subscribes to our shows.

BUT, we can control newsletter traffic (more on that later 👀) and web traffic.

Tips on securing a website for your show:

• Your hosting provider should give you at least a landing page that you can share. You can customize it... to an extent.

• If you’re looking to level up, consider a dedicated website builder that’s built for podcasters.

• You can always start with the page your hosting provider gives you and then when you’re ready, redirect it to a website you own.

• You can absolutely dedicate a page on your existing website to your podcast.

  • For example: yourwebsite . com / nameofpodcast

• Consider a Start Here page for people encountering your vast calatog of episodes and wondering where to begin. You can create a starter playlist.

• Here’s an ​example of a podcast website​ that works.

  • ​And here’s why it works​

Quick hits on what goes into an impactful podcast website:

• An embedded podcast player situated ​above the fold​

• A clear showing of the show’s name, a one-liner on the show and who it’s for, and that embedded player, all close to the top of the page

• A navigation bar that has an about page, a listen here page (linking to other players), a newsletter/blog, a contact form, and any other elements specific to your show.

  • For example, for my ​Trailer Park Podcast​ website (still building it), one of my tabs is “submit your show.”

• How can listeners / fans support you? If you have a membership / subscription / send-us-a-tip option, make that clear!

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Your podcast can't rank for keywords you don't use (July 7)

A lot of podcast discovery starts with search. If your show title, episode titles, and descriptions don’t use the language your audience is actually searching for, you’re making it harder for new listeners to find you.

Let’s look for opportunities to use clearer, more searchable language.

Suggestions for Implementation

• Assess: What would someone search for to find a podcast like yours? Do those keywords appear in your show title, show description, episode titles, and episode descriptions?

• Optimize your author tag: Your author field can be more than just your name. Instead of “Arielle Nissenblatt,” try something like “Arielle Nissenblatt | Podcast Marketing Strategist.”

• Research your keywords: Use tools like PodSEO or Ausha’s PodWars to identify keyword opportunities. Both offer free trials, so you can experiment before committing.

• Update old episodes: If your content is evergreen, revisit older episode titles and descriptions to make them more searchable.

• Write for people first: Don’t keyword stuff. Use your target keywords naturally while keeping your titles and descriptions clear, compelling, and readable.

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You don't have to publish every week for the rest of forever. Create a lower-lift episode format to mix in (July 8)

As with ALL podcast advice, what you should do depends entirely on your goals, format, bandwidth, skill, resources, and so many other things. Read this tip, click on the links in our emails, and reach out if you have specific questions.

Maybe you’ve been told that consistency is the key to podcast growth. Hmmm, well what if your show is consistently not great because you’re churning out subpar content just to feed the content engine? That wouldn’t be a recipe for podcast growth.

I’m here to say this: set a precedent of flexibility with your audience. Sometimes you’ll publish weekly. Sometimes, monthly. And sometimes, if it makes sense thematically, daily. AND YET STILL, sometimes it might be a little all over the place.

You’re a human. Your audience understands that (actually, they love that) about you, so if you need to change things up, just be transparent with them.

Being consistent in the quality of your podcast is more important than being consistent in the sheer volume of content output. Some episodes can be lower-lift productions than others.

Make your show more sustainable by intentionally creating a second, lighter episode format.

Suggestions for Implementation

• Create a companion series that goes alongside your main episode format. Some format ideas:

  • Listener mailbag episode

  • Voice notes from listeners

  • Recommendation roundup

  • Solo episode sharing takeaways from recent interviews

  • What’s going on in your industry? A news roundup

  • A quick interview with someone you don’t necessarily want to host for an entire episode

  • A sponsor spotlight

• Use different music or record a separate intro so that listeners immediately recognize a different format.

• Use different episode titling conventions and consider episode-specific artwork so listeners know the difference.

• Batch record these episodes for future publishing gaps.

• Set a target cadence (such as one full episode and one mini episode per month).

• Your lower-lift format should be equally valuable for your audience, just a different angle. It’s not a bonus or behind-the-scenes episode, but one that shares something valuable from a different angle.

• Use these lighter-format episodes as a collaboration opportunity:

  • Ask hosts of other, complementary shows to guest-host, record a question, or contribute a segment

  • Insert an episode of another show into your feed (a feed drop). You’ll want to record an intro at the top of the episode introducing the show and why it’s a good match to prime your listeners.

  • Play the trailer for another show at the end of an episode

    • Theoretically, your collab partners should return the favor for you (now or in the future).

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Claim your podcast on all podcast platforms (July 9)

When you created your podcast, you set up an RSS feed through a podcast hosting provider (like Ausha, Buzzsprout, Captivate, RSS.com, Libsyn, or many others). Then, hopefully you logged in to Apple Podcasts for Creators and Spotify for Creators to submit that RSS feed.

Doing those things should make your podcast available on most podcatchers (listening apps). But sometimes, even if it’s technically there, your show may not be searchable. So...

Claim your podcast on all podcatchers by verifying ownership of your RSS feed.

Why?

1. It’s free.

2. It’s important to know how your show appears wherever someone might be searching for you

3. Many podcatchers allow you to create an account — you can then go in and add your website, social handles, see comments people might be leaving...etc.

4. Claiming your show allows you to apply to be featured on some apps (more on that below).

Suggestions for Implementation

• ​Here’s a big list of podcatchers​ — is your show searchable on all of them?

• Here’s how to add your podcast directly to ​Amazon Music,​ ​Pocket Casts,​ ​Castbox​, and ​YouTube​ (yes, you can submit an audio show to YT).

• Once you’ve verified that your show is your show, you can apply to be featured. Here’s the info for ​Apple Podcasts​, ​Castbox​, ​Amazon Music​, and ​Pocket Casts.​

• In a future tip, we’ll cover best practices for pitching podcast apps because, as you might’ve guessed, it’s competitive. And there’s no guarantee you’ll be selected.

• Bonus: you can also submit your podcast launch of new season news to newpodcasts.net.

You might be asking (FAQ):

Is it really worth it to be on every platform?

Your listeners / fans could be hanging out anywhere. It’d be cool to know where those places are for a number of reasons but #1 for me is: there may be more potential fans in that place.

Maybe I don’t want to spend time claiming my show everywhere. Which podcatchers should I prioritize?

Go to your hosting provider analytics dashboard. Filter by podcast platform. Most of them will be a small percentage of the pie chart (other than Apple and Spotify). Choose based on where most of your listeners are.

I want to know more about getting featured on apps. How does that work and what will it do?

When a potential listener is deciding what to listen to, they may be scrolling around on a podcast app, looking for something that catches their eye. If you’re front and center, or at least listed in a curated collection on the homepage of an app, that makes it more likely for someone to find you.

A good deal of podcast discovery happens in-app (and in the search bar, as we learned in this tip. But keep in mind: just because you apply does not mean you will be selected. You can increase your chances by following these tips (for Apple Podcasts).

In a future tip, we’ll cover pitch letters and the general best practices around pitching for features.

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Pitch yourself to be featured on podcast apps (July 10)

Yesterday, we covered the importance of ​claiming your show on all podcatchers​. Then, we got into the benefits of doing so, which include possibly getting featured on podcast apps. Today...

How to increase your chances of getting featured on podcast apps.

Suggestions for Implementation

First, here’s the ​Apple Podcasts pitch form​

• Here are four ​tips from Apple​ on getting featured

• Here’s an ​artwork guide from Apple​

​Here’s an article​ where I go through the Apple Podcasts pitch form, fill it in, and share screenshots with my responses. Big notes:

• Make sure your show looks and sounds professional

• Your show is unique (hopefully!) so make sure that’s clear and that you’re showing off what makes it stand out

• Timing is key. Make sure to submit in advance.

• know that just because you submit does not mean that you will be selected

Pitching to Pocket Casts

• ​There’s a lot of great info here,​ including “If you’d like to suggest your podcast for a featured spot, contact us at ​curation@pocketcasts.com​,” and

  • “We are mostly looking to feature new and emerging podcasts or podcasts beginning a new season, but no podcast is out of the question.”

Further pitching

• Spotify, Castbox, and others used to have official submission forms, but they’re gone.

• You’ve gotta get scrappy here:

  • Find some lesser-known podcast apps, click around on their websites, find unofficial submission forms

  • Go on LinkedIn, search for podcatcher company pages, look for the curators. Don’t pitch them right away! Build a rapport.

• Look beyond podcast apps (we’ll cover this in a future tip):

  • Pitch your show to newsletters

  • Pitch your show as a partner for a high traffic website / player in your category

  • Pitch your show as a partner for upcoming events in your category

• If you have a podcast marketing budget, here’s how I recommend spending it:

How To Spend Money To Grow Your Podcast: Recommendations For Paid Growth Campaigns

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Quick, easy-to-check-off to-do items for podcast growth (July 11)

Whether you’re launching your show, getting ready for a new season, coming back from hiatus, or anywhere else along the journey, here are some helpful links.

Bookmark these links!

Suggestions for Implementation

• ​Submit your podcast cover art​ for a feature

• ​Submit your podcast​ to Podcast Delivery

• ​Learn how to submit​ your show to Podcast The Newsletter

• ​Learn how to submit​ your show to my newsletters (EarBuds & Podcast Plunge)

• ​Submit your show​ to The Podcast Radar

• ​Tips for getting featured​ on Good Pods

• ​Submit your press release​ to Pod Roo

• ​Submit your press release​ to Sounds Profitable

• ​Submit your show​ to newpodcasts.net

• ​Learn how to submit news​ to Podcasting Today

• ​Learn how to submit​ to Podnews

• ​Learn how to submit news​ to Podcast News Daily

• ​Submit your show​ to Podcast Review

• ​Submit your show​ to Podcast Rex

• ​Add your show​ to Great Pods

Bonus: when you receive emails from the softwares / services you use to make your show, check: do they feature customers? If so, reply and pitch yourself. If not, ask if they'd consider it!

Best Practices

• Subscribe / follow first. Get a sense of what these publications tend to feature. Hone your pitch. When you’re ready, pitch through the appropriate channels.

• Be patient. Follow up, but not aggressively. Know that your show might not be a fit for all.

• Here’s an ​Apple Podcasts-specific pitch submission​ walk-through

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Make it easy for a new fan to get into your podcast (July 12)

Whether you've been at it for a while and have a huge episode catalog, or you're newer to the game, here are some tips to help you create an easy on-ramp for your potential new fans.

Suggestions for Implementation

Create a Start Here page on your website. If someone is finding your show for the first time, which are the episodes that’ll bring them in and get them up to speed? Create a playlist and embed it onto your website.

• Don’t have a website? Create a playlist on Spotify, Listen Notes, or anywhere you can group episodes together. Link to it in your show notes and tell people about it on your show.

• Create Starter Pack episode groups. If your show has a broad premise such as “conversations on food,” try grouping episodes into playlists such as “local businesses,” “fine dining,” and “family recipes.”

• Add a link to your show in your email signature.

• Add a link to your show in your social media profiles.

• ​Create a podcast trailer.​ Make sure to mark is as a trailer so that someone just finding your show is prompted to listen to it first.

• Consider a reverse interview. Is there someone in your orbit (even a podcast you want to collaborate with) that could interview YOU on your own show? It’d be a great way for your audience to understand why you make your show and what your goals are for it.

• If you have a newsletter for your podcast, make sure your welcome sequence introduces your show (and is generally...welcoming). ​Here’s a guide.​

• When outlining your show, consider that someone may be finding you for the first time... every time. Introduce yourself. Introduce the show’s premise.

  • If you’re worried that this will be repetitive for return listeners, challenge yourself to change it up slightly from episode to episode. It’s also a good reminder for you to keep things fresh and to remember why you do this.

• Know your elevator pitch. If you’re meeting someone IRL and they ask about your show, you better be able to tell them about it succinctly. ​More on that here.​

• Posting about your show on social? Point to your show’s website (with an easily accessible podcast player) or to a universal link such as pod.link or ​Podfollow​. Here’s why:

  • If you link to Apple Podcasts and the person clicking doesn’t have the app on their phone, they’re out. If you link to your own website, either they can listen there or click on one of the other podcatchers you have linked on your site. If you link to a universal link page, they can choose there too.

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Grow your podcast audience by borrowing from other audiences (July 13)

Find collaborators, set up a meaningful and valuable content exchange, analyze results, iterate, and grow.

One of my favorite tried and true podcast growth tactics — one that brings about slow, steady, and real audience development — is collaboration with other podcasts. Sometimes those shows will be in your exact niche, sometimes a bit outside.

Today, how to find shows and approach them for collaborations.

Suggestions for Implementation

• Use rephonic.com/graph to search for shows. If your show is on the smaller or newer side, you may not find too many useful suggestions here. If that’s the case, search for a comp show (one that’s similar in scope and topic to yours), then go through the connected shows that pop up.

• Browse your category on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube regularly.

• Use ​Listen Notes​ to search for topics, episodes, and shows. Note that once you land on a suggested show, you’ll see more recommendations on the right side of the screen.

• Search on Apple Podcasts, scroll to the bottom and take note of the “you may also like” section.

• Learn about the ​Podroll tag through the Podcast Atlas​.

• Use Substack’s search bar to search through publications, notes, podcasts, and people writing / posting about your topic.

• Browse general listicles. Search by topic, “best podcasts about x,” scroll through, make some notes.

• ​Use Million Podcasts’ free trial​ to search for shows

How to find contact information

• Low-lift: check their social media bios for email addresses or websites, use the direct message features available.

• Medium-lift: go to the show’s websites, go to the contact form and leave a note. Or, hover over the email button and look at the bottom left of the screen to see the email address.

• Heavy-lift: go to listennotes.com, search for a show, click on RSS feed, use the keyboard shortcut “command+F,” search the “@” symbol. This should take you to the email address associated with the show’s RSS feed. With great power comes great responsibility - DO NOT SPAM PEOPLE.

What to do with those shows

• Promo swaps

• Feed swaps

• Interview swaps

• Creatively integrated episodes