Publishing and promotion for ongoing podcasts

When your podcast is completed, you need a place to host your episodes. Media hosts are services that store your audio and allow your listeners to listen, download and subscribe.

Here’s a list of options to consider:

  1. Libsyn: no free tier; see their plans and pricing page for details.
  2. Spotify for Creators: formerly Anchor.fm, this podcast host has a free tier that we recommend for beginners. Some helpful Spotify for Creator services include the following:
    • record audio on your phone, tablet or web browser
    • edit audio in a web browser, on a phone or tablet
  3. Seriously Simple Podcasting: this service is a podcasting plugin for WordPress (a free blogging service). So, you would have to get familiar with WordPress. However, this is an option in cases where you want to blend in other content (text, images, and more) with your podcasts.

Promote your Podcast

Here are some basic ways to promote your podcast content.

  1. Podcast website: use a platform like WordPress, Substack, or Beehiiv to write about and promote your work.

    A WordPress website, for example, gives you flexibility over both how your podcast website looks and how many pages it has.

    NOTE: we offer a workshop called Personal websites with WordPress. See our Digital Scholarship Commons Workshops page for more information on this and the other digital-skills workshops we offer.

  2. Social Media: sites like Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, etc. are useful to get the word, depending on your target audience. If there are specific hashtags or groups focused on the topic of your podcast, those would be good areas on which to focus your efforts.

    Create images and clips, and share quotes that listeners can share on social media. For example, Spotify for Creators has a tool that helps you create short, shareable video and audio clips. mailchip logo

  3. MailChimp: create an email List using MailChimp. Fans of your podcast who are not on social media may want to hear from you directly about new episodes.

    Make sure to mention your mailing list in each podcast episode and on your podcast website.

  4. Be a guest on other related podcasts: ask friends or other podcasters with related podcasts to be a guest, and use that opportunity to mention your podcast. people podcasting

    Typically, the host of the podcast will include your podcast name as they introduce you (photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash).

Final tips

Ask your listeners to review and rate your episodes, as good reviews are the best way to get traction, and to make it onto podcast charts.

Try to publish consistently, so that listeners know when they will get new content. And, be patient! You may produce and amazing podcast, but this does not mean that you will attract an audience right away.

Start small and focus on quality. Many podcasts fold because creators underestimate the time it takes to make each episode. Pick a realistic publishing schedule for your work/life schedule.

Know your audience and be authentically you. Even famous people struggle to gain an audience if they have generalist, unfocused content.

Finally, being specific has its advantages. For all we know, there could be thousands of listeners out there who want to know the history of yarn bombing, or learn about how to get into historical bottle cap collecting.

Have fun and good luck!

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