Summary
Are you looking to grow your podcast’s listener base? Check out this episode of Rogue Creators! Caleb Talley and Jeff Amerine joined Bryan and Loren to celebrate reaching 100,000 downloads on the Startup Junkies Podcast. Caleb and Jeff co-host the show each week and talk with founders about the stories behind the businesses we love. On this episode, they chat with Bryan and Loren about creating the Startup Junkies Podcast, preparing for interviews, maintaining relationships with guests, and much more!
Shownotes
(2:11) What are you obsessed with?
(8:07) The Creating Startup Junkies Book
(9:31) The Inception of Startup Junkie
(13:26) The Startup Junkies Podcast Origin Story
(20:30) Tips for Growing Your Podcast
(24:28) Using Your Podcast to Build Relationships and Make Connections
(30:23) 1 Million Cups
(34:51) What’s Next for Startup Junkie?
(40:24) Wrap Up
(42:00) Rapid Fire
Links
The Place We Find Ourselves Podcast
Quotes
“One thing led to another because there was a need in the market for the mentoring, counseling, training, the kind of start up support stuff that we do. And now, we probably touch 1,200 entrepreneurs a year through one-on-one counseling. And in normal times we put on 250 events, and all that stuff, thanks to the hard work of Caleb and the whole crew, is now virtual.” (10:46)
“We decided, let’s give the Zoom platform a shot, as far as recording the podcast. I think that really opened it up for us where we weren’t just having local entrepreneur guests on. It gave us an opportunity to expand out and invite people that we otherwise would not have been able to invite on.” (16:26)
“You can be more conversational if you get a sense for the types of things that people are going to want to hear about. How’d you get started? How did you raise money? How do you deal with building the team? What kind of challenges do you face? That sort of stuff.” (24:53)
“[Matthew has] kind of streamlined the process for bringing [guests] on and getting them scheduled. Part of that is getting some seeds of fun facts. He’s got a questionnaire of some things to kind of pull from them that we can throw out during the podcast.” (25:32)
Blog
Are you trying to grow your podcast’s listener base? For many podcast hosts, download numbers are the sole measure of success. While we believe there are several ways to track your podcast’s progress and value, we want to help you reach as many people as possible.
On this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren celebrated a recent milestone with Caleb Talley and Jeff Amerine. Caleb and Jeff are the co-hosts of the Startup Junkies Podcast, which recently hit the 100,000 download mile marker.
Startup Junkie, the podcast’s namesake, is an entrepreneurial support organization that Jeff founded in 2007. Jeff had created eight businesses before Startup Junkie, and he was coerced into starting the business because of his experience operating scalable ventures across the country.
“One thing led to another because there was a need in the market for the mentoring, counseling, training, the kind of start up support stuff that we do. And now, we probably touch 1,200 entrepreneurs a year through one-on-one counseling. And in normal times we put on 250 events, and all that stuff, thanks to the hard work of Caleb and the whole crew, is now virtual.” (10:46)
Check out their tips for growing your listener base!
Invite Guests that Add Value and Have a Following
When the pandemic shut down much of the country in March 2020, the podcast took the opportunity to pivot from interviewing local entrepreneurs onsite to interviewing entrepreneurs from across the world via Zoom.
“We decided, let’s give the Zoom platform a shot, as far as recording the podcast. I think that really opened it up for us where we weren’t just having local entrepreneur guests on. It gave us an opportunity to expand out and invite people that we otherwise would not have been able to invite on.” (16:26)
By increasing their pool of possible guests, they also expanded their potential listener base. With big-name guests like Steve Case, David Meltzer, Sarah Frey, and Norman Crowley, the Startup Junkies Podcast grew its audience to having nearly 3,500 listeners across 100 countries in a month.
Conduct Intriguing Interviews
When you bring on guests with a large following, your show is likely to pick up a few extra listeners. Now, you need to make sure you give them a reason to stick around!
While continually bringing on compelling guests is one way to encourage new listeners to stick with you, consistently leading engaging interviews is typically more effective. The Startup Junkies Podcast tends to be quite conversational rather than following a rigid structure.
According to Jeff, when you understand your audience and what they want to hear about, guiding a conversation becomes easier.
“You can be more conversational if you get a sense for the types of things that people are going to want to hear about. How’d you get started? How did you raise money? How do you deal with building the team? What kind of challenges do you face? That sort of stuff.” (24:53)
The Startup Junkies hosts also ensure that they have done their research before heading into an interview. Matthew typically has guests fill out a questionnaire, providing the hosts with talking points and interesting facts about the guests and their businesses.
“[Matthew has] kind of streamlined the process for bringing [guests] on and getting them scheduled. Part of that is getting some seeds of fun facts. He’s got a questionnaire of some things to kind of pull from them that we can throw out during the podcast.” (25:32)
Be Intentional with Promoting Your Podcast
As a new listener, sitting through a 30-60 minute podcast can be quite the commitment. Rather than trying to convince potential listeners to make such a significant commitment, try promoting your show with shorter content.
30-60 second clips provide your potential audience with an easily digestible piece of content that can convince them to listen to a whole episode. Intriguing quotes or segments work well for this type of content.
By consistently releasing episodes on a schedule and promoting your show through social media, you will prove your legitimacy to your potential audience. As they see more content from you, they are more likely to trust you and stick with your show!
Are you interested in growing your podcast? Contact us today!
Startup Junkie has been a partner of Go Rogue X for nearly a year. This is not a paid promotion.
