Listen to the full episode here
Welcome to Up an Octave, a podcast by Sonivia I'm your host, Rue Spence, founder of Sonivia the podcast management agency that helps women and non binary people take up space in podcasting.
Up An Octave is here to support you in your podcasting journey, from how to market yourself, how to sound great, how to edit for your specific voice, and how to make your podcast feel like magic.
Thanks for tuning in. Let's get into it.
Welcome back to Up An Octave. If you haven't had a chance to listen to episode one, I recommend going back and starting there. We're going to be continuing our conversation about the three types of podcasts and the different strategies for success behind each one. In this episode, we're going to be talking about the fandom podcast model.
So, fandom podcasts are the podcasts where you shine, where you are the brand and you are also what you're selling. So, regardless of your niche, your show is focused on entertainment and education for the sake of education. These shows can reach monetization with strategy. So the key to a fandom podcast is knowing from the jump who you're talking to so that you can appeal to that specific type of listener.
You should create a sort of like avatar for who your ideal listener is. What they do for work, where they spend their time, what their life looks like. Being able to answer these questions is going to help you pinpoint your target audience and grow your listenership. By being really strategic with identifying your audience, you're going to be able to figure out where they spend their time online to make your social media marketing easier and avoid wasting your time on the wrong platform.
So, there are some markets that do really well on Instagram, there are some that are pretty much exclusively on Facebook, and there are some that are on LinkedIn, but for a fandom podcast, that's not really gonna be your sweet spot. And also, I mean, X or Twitter or whatever, I don't know. I'm, I'm so over that platform.
Your fandom podcast is gonna have a specific niche. Whether that's true crime, parenting, books and reading, or whatever it is, You're going to have to decide how you want to move in that niche, especially if it's a busier one. I don't like the idea that a niche can be saturated, because I believe that there's space for everyone if you know how to occupy it.
If your niche is busy, i. e. saturated, You need to be able to answer the question, why me? Because there are so freaking many podcasts out there. You need to know in your heart, in your core, what is separating your podcast and making your show stand out from all those other, often more well established and more well known shows that are out there that people could be listening to.
If you are true crime, why are people gonna listen to you, somebody who has a very low following, who has very few shows in their catalog, over someone like My Favorite Murder, or Morbid, or any of those really well performing shows? And you have to be prepared to know how you're gonna stand out among all of that noise.
Think of what, like, unique angle you could spin on your topic. Now, I want to stress that this does not mean niching down. If you're spending any time in, like, social media marketing, you're familiar with the term niching down. And I, and I don't really like that phrase, because I think it sounds kind of scary, and I also think it's inaccurate.
I look at it more as, like, tunneling in. So instead of feeling like you can only speak on what's within the confines of your niche, you look at just how detailed you can get within your specific topic. Like when you play around on Google Earth and you zoom in all the way, you know, you can see the continents and you can see the states, then you can see the cities, the streets, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But I want to see you zoom in on like the cat that's licking its butt. That's where the really interesting stuff is. Let's go back to the true crime podcast analogy. If you are trying to tunnel in, because remember we're not niching down here, we're tunneling in, You could look at highlighting, you know, less well known cases that are only in a specific region or cover only criminals who are Sagittariuses.
Find some way to set yourself apart from shows that are just covering Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer and all of these names that we're so familiar with. What is something that you and you alone are bringing to that space? Because if someone's a big true crime listener, A, they're already familiar with those stories, and B, if they can get those stories from a more familiar source that they've been listening to for years, why are they going to listen to you? So if you can find a way to bring them something that they've never heard through a lens that they've never seen it, I guess you don't really hear through a lens, so yeah, you see, whatever.
If you're able to bring them something unique, that's why you. So, we've spent a lot of time on if you're a true crime podcast. Let's pivot to if you're a business podcast. You could speak specifically on balancing the first five years of motherhood with a business. I would personally be your first subscriber.
I have an 11 month old and running a business and being a mom is crazy sauce. So that's really appealing to me, because tunneling into the first couple years of motherhood and being a business owner, for me, my day to day looks very different from someone who... Does not have children. My day to day and how I conduct myself and my business looks a lot different from someone who has children, but they're 18 and they're heading off to college.
It's just a different setup. So when you're tunneling that far in, it allows you to remain curious and go way beneath the surface, which helps you stand out and stay invested in the topic yourself. Too often, I hear podcasts that sound kind of generic, but because of that, the host also sounds like they're just kind of giving a school presentation because the material is so familiar.
I think podcasts, even when you're positioning yourself as an expert, sound the best when there's still a little bit of curiosity in why you're doing what you're doing and how you're doing it. And so if you can continue, To think about things in a new way and shed new light on things. I think that that's really where your sweet spot lives.
So, let's talk about the elephant in the room, monetization. Fandom podcasts are great candidates for Patreon because you are the product. Like I mentioned earlier, people who are listening to fandom podcasts are listening to fall in love with the host. This doesn't have to mean that you have a lot of banter because I know that there are a lot of people who feel very strongly about banter.
Honestly, both sides of the banter camps feel very strongly. There are people who love banter. There are people who hate banter. And you have to decide very early on which side your show's gonna be on. There's not a right answer, there's not a wrong answer. It's just deciding what feels good to you and what feels right for your brand.
Either way, whether you're a banter heavy show or not, people are going to fall in love with you. Most of the time, unless you're truly reading a script, people are going to kind of get to know you. Because you're gonna be offering anecdotes, you're gonna be connecting things to your real life. So people are gonna kind of start to feel like they know you, and they'll look forward to spending that time with you every week.
So this is why Patreon is great, because it offers more access to you. And a really easy way that you can do Patreon is, you know, just a little extra bonus content. If you're already sitting down to record, you know, have a segment that's just offered to patrons. That's a little more exclusive. It doesn't have to be long and it's very very low effort because you're already doing something that you're doing you're just doing it for a little bit longer, but it can look like a lot of things I know that there are some people who do a live Q& A for patrons I know that there are some people who do a book club for their patrons It depends on what feels good to you to offer and what you can commit to offering.
Because there's nothing worse than not following through when people have already paid you money to do so. So being able to do something that you're going to be accountable to and that's going to feel good to show up. Because people can always tell when you're kind of like phoning it in. So you're going to want to make sure that your offers, when monetizing, feel good and stay authentic to your brand.
Because as a fandom podcast, you are the brand that people are paying for. So if it feels like your energy is not there, they're going to feel like they're not getting their money's worth. For fandom podcasts, I'm sure that we've all heard the HelloFresh ads or BetterHelp or whatever, you know, is currently the big ad spot that's working with brands, that's working with podcasts.
So there is definitely the potential for that version of growth as you're looking to monetize. There's also affiliate marketing, and this can sometimes work better with your being in a very specific genre or niche. Because that allows you to partner with brands that are really authentic to what you're offering your audience.
Now, brands like BetterHelp are great because a lot of us could benefit from therapy. I think probably most of us would benefit from therapy. And, you know, HelloFresh, we all have to eat dinner, but if there is truly something that's very specific to what you're doing, affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize.
And if you're not familiar, affiliate marketing is where you have, like, a code. So when you hear, for example, if it was for me, I'd be like, use code Octave for however much percent off of this one specific thing. By using my code, you're affiliated with me, so I would get the kickback if I was marketing something.
So those are kind of the ways that you can monetize for a fandom show. If you get to a certain listener threshold, you will absolutely have the opportunity to work with traditional brands on marketing that way, on getting money that way. You can also do ads that, you know, you don't have as much control over depending on your host.
And, you know, so that's where other voices are reading ads that are generated per the population that has more to do with who's listening as opposed to your show specifically. But you can also have, you know, more control if you're working specifically one on one with a brand. Where it's you recording your voice, your offer, they'll probably send you the products from the brand to try out, and then you give your feedback and get support that way.
So there's a lot of different models that can work for monetization when you're a fandom show. Now on to the big question, which is what tech do I recommend if this is the model that you're following? So at this level, I recommend investing in better tech than if you're just a fun podcast. I recommend investing at least a little bit if you're starting a fandom podcast, it's because you have the intent to grow.
You do want this to turn into something where you are monetized, you are creating a brand, and if those things are not resonating, I think you need to reevaluate because it sounds like you're probably a fun podcast. There can absolutely be overlap where people like you, but it's not about making yourself marketable the way that a fandom podcast is.
So I would recommend getting a microphone that is going to last and tech that will grow with you, especially if you're recording with more than one person in a room. I don't like people sharing mics and I don't like recording on a single track. Those are big. Not even red flags, because you can really, I mean, it's your show.
Do what feels right. Those are things that I think devalue your show from the onset. And the reason is, is that when you're only recording on one track, you can't edit separately. So if you have a co host who coughs or interrupts you, even if you sounded great, If we're trying to remove them, but there's overlap on one track, there's really nothing that you can do.
If you are a multiple voices show, that's where you need an audio mixer. I recommend the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. That's what I use. I love it. I live it. I swear by it. And it allows you to record two voices on separate tracks. And it also gets you into the world of the XLR microphone. The microphones that just plug into your computer are USB mics, and they can totally work just fine.
I have no beef with USB mics. There are awesome alternative options for microphones that are USB. I like XLR because, like I mentioned earlier, it is tech that's gonna grow with you. So if you do a live show, you're gonna be using XLR. Those, if you're not familiar with what XLR means, it's the microphone cable.
That looks like the three prongs at the end and it's just a different type of cable whereas the USB is the one that plugs into your computer where you plug in a flash drive If you're a solo show, there's absolutely nothing wrong with using a USB mic I started with the USB mic It got the job done.
I've upgraded USB mics. I have a USB mic that's a Yeti sitting right next to me. I personally, for this show, am recording on a Rode PodMic with the XLR cable feeding into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which then plugs into my computer. That is the setup that I use that works for me, and it's only around 100.
Obviously, you're going to pay more for the Focusrite. But the PodMic does have a USB option. Same with Shure. Shure, S H U R E, is a brand that has USB and XLR options. The MV7 is an option that has both XLR and USB.
AD Break: Hey don't mind if I do. I'm just cutting in for a minute to share something exciting. Ever thought about making a podcast that doesn't feel overwhelming?
If you're listening to the show, then I know you're curious about making the best podcast you can. And that's where Sonivia comes in. I'm your podcast launch specialist, and I'm here to take your show from concept to content. I've immersed myself in the world of podcasting for years, and I have got the knowledge and industry secrets to help make your show the success that we both know it can be.
If you're ready to take the leap and start sharing your voice with the world, head on over to sonivia com and snag your free call. Let's chat. Oh, and by the way, the party's still on. I decided to keep celebrating until Halloween. So mention up an octave when booking your call before October 31st for a cool $50 off of your launch.
Let's make some podcasting magic together. Your dream show awaits! Anyway, now back to the good stuff. All right. So before I wrap up this episode, I am answering a question from Abby at Creativity Uncovered. And Abby asks, what is success in podcasting to you? I love this question because there's not a straight answer, but I'm going to give my answer.
So to me, success in podcasting is delivering a show that I enjoy and that I'm proud to deliver. Beyond that, depending on the kind of show that I have. I may have other benchmarks depending on what I'm trying to get out of it. If I have a goal to get traditional sponsorships with traditional brands, success might look like celebrating reaching a thousand listeners.
If I'm trying to funnel, which is what we're talking about on episode three, then success may look like selling ten of whatever products my funnel is for. If I'm just trying to get consistent with my podcast, then success could mean getting to 50 episodes without missing a week. I think that being proud of the podcast that you're putting out there is the crux of all of these goals because it changes how you show up for yourself, which makes other people want to show up for you.
Success is really kind of mercurial because of the different ways that it can look. And I don't think that there is... Uh, a math equation for a successful podcast because there are people who are, you know, service providers, maybe like a therapist, and if they are trying to book their calendars with new clients, maybe their new clients are nervous to share, Oh yeah, I'm listening to a podcast about therapy.
Because maybe therapy is a really taboo topic in their family or in their culture. And so, they're not gonna be super loud about how much they love this podcast about therapy. Maybe that's a more personal, more private journey for them. But, they're going into her DMs and they're booking her. And so, for her...
Having a successful podcast could look like, wow, my calendar is full for the next three months. Maybe she doesn't have but a dozen reviews or a dozen ratings on Spotify, but if her calendars are booked, boom, she's a successful podcast. Maybe, for someone else, it's gonna look like that they're on tour, you know, maybe it's that they're so successful that they're able to go on a four city tour in different theater venues.
How dope is that? That sounds like a great time. That could be a benchmark of success. If you're just trying to book your calendars as a therapist. Then maybe you don't want to be on tour because maybe you can't leave your office that has your clients for that long. So that would not be what success looks like for you.
So, really, it's just having a clear vision for what you're trying to get out of your show and what you want other people to get out of your show. If you don't feel like you're successful, if you're not getting feedback, then your success looks like making sure that people want to give you feedback. So that also would maybe not work for this therapist because people aren't gonna give her feedback because they're scared to talk about therapy.
All of that's just a really long winded way to say, know what you're seeking. And so, with that, if you have a question that you'd like me to answer on the show like I did for Abby, send me an email at rue. sonivia at gmail. com, that's rue.sonivia@gmail.com feel free to either write in via text or send me a voice message and I'll play it for you on the show.
All right, so that's it for this episode. The episode on funnel podcasts is already up, so go check that one out. Thank you for joining me and spending my birthday with me. If you're late to the party, that's okay, too. But I appreciate you being here and helping take podcasting up an octave. If you found this episode helpful, please do share it with a friend.
Just like your podcast, mine needs ratings and reviews to grow. So please rate it on your podcatcher of choice, RIP to Stitcher, which officially closed today. You can also leave a review on Apple Podcasts, which is so, so helpful so that I can spread this message far and wide. And I will see you next time.
Comments