Your Podcast Needs Community

In a world obsessed with chasing vanity metrics like downloads and followers, podcasting can quickly start to feel discouraging.

Read your favorite article about growing a podcast or ask your favorite chatbot, and most of the advice is built around numbers moving up and to the right.

But at what cost?

For most independent podcasters, the real goal is to make an impact on the people listening. More downloads alone will not create that impact. Building genuine relationships and cultivating a community might.

Your podcast needs community - Matt Has A Podcast About Podcasting

Building a community around your podcast is more important than ever.Year after year, it seems like something new is squeezing the podcasting industry. Even as podcasts become more popular, creators continue to face a growing number of external ch…

Buzzsprout

The community trap

If you are anything like me, you overthink everything.

When podcasters decide to start a community, they often get stuck on the technical details. Which platform should you use? What should the landing page look like? Should access be free, paid, or part of a membership?

Those questions can distract you from the most important one:

How is my podcast delivering value to at least one person in the audience?

Can you answer that question confidently? Can you evaluate each episode based on how well it connects with another person, rather than how well it feeds the vanity metric loop?

That is where community begins.

My Number One Tip for Starting a Podcast Community

Do not overthink it.

Once you believe a community could support your podcast, start with one person.

Add a simple call to action at the beginning of your episode inviting a listener to schedule a one-on-one virtual conversation. Ask why they listen, what challenges they are facing, how your content helps, and what else you could do to support them.

That single conversation will teach you more than launching an empty community platform and guessing what people want.

Avoid building something complicated before you understand the people it is supposed to serve. Otherwise, you may spend your time creating discussions, resources, and content based on assumptions rather than real conversations.

Start with one person. Learn from them. Then share what you learn with many.

That is how I plan to build a stronger community around this podcast.

You can start by booking a time to talk with me.