First off I want to begin this post by saying the topic of growing a podcast and building a PLN prior to creating a podcast is something that really interests me, so I felt like I could share my experience with something similar to that.

I don’t do podcasts, but I do livestreams on YouTube for entertainment purposes, since the topic of my livestreams is gaming. I also post videos teaching people how to play certain games and increase the chances of unlocking or obtaining things in game that are usually incredibly rare. The channel has only just reached 800 subscribers, which when looking at other, much bigger channels, isn’t much, but it’s difficult to get to that amount in the first place.

What really helped for me was building a community before creating this channel. I used to post pictures on instagram of some of the rare encounters I would have in my games, which then gained a decent amount of attention. From there, people started asking me how I got so many of these rare things and so quickly. So I created a brief tutorial on how to play the way I do. Then people started suggesting that I make a YouTube channel and make a video tutorial on there.

So with those suggestions in mind, I created the channel, which quickly gained 50 subscribers, all who were following my instagram. Since then, my most popular videos have all been tutorials on how to play the game the way I do. All of those videos gained at least 1000 views, and up to about 3000 views. I then started doing livestreams where I played those games and demonstrated what my tutorials did, but in a live format so viewers could ask questions.

Do I want to share what the channel name is? Not really. But if anyone comments and wants to know, I’m willing to share.

Building a network

So the reason why I shared this story is because I believe before starting a podcast, after choosing a topic, you should build a network based around that topic. In my personal experience with my YouTube channel, I used Instagram to post about a specific video game franchise and soon people interested in the same topic started following me and from there we discussed the said topic in detail, looking at the odds of obtaining rare items in the game and how to increase those odds or find those items as quickly as possible. I shared what I knew about the topic, and others shared what they knew, which added to my knowledge on the subject. I also used an app called Amino, where users can pick specific topics and join groups based on those topics.

Another tool that can help in building and growing your PLN is Twitter. Bianca Woods (2013) shared several ways to use the app, two points of which stuck out to me:

  • “Follow your favorite industry experts”. Having people you look up to who focus on the same topic as you would like to in podcasts is a great way to both develop a PLN and draw inspiration from them and use it in your own work. By following them, seeing what information they share, and what people they retweet, you can learn more from them or find more people to follow, which as a result grows your learning network.
  • “Start conversations”. Connecting and interacting with other users on twitter helps in building connections. Sharing insights on posts other users have made can result in conversations with the user that could build connections or insights on a given topic.

 

How to emulate success stories and create a good podcast

Similar to the first point I shared from Woods’ article, following “industry experts” or those who have made successful podcasts on similar topics is an ideal way to create a podcast with similar success. It’s important to note that although sometimes discussing a relevant topic that is being shared by many users can be useful, it can also leave you buried underneath more popular podcasts. Choosing a unique topic or discussing a topic in a unique manner can spark interest in those looking for podcasts to listen to.

Additionally, advertising within your learning network is a great way of marketing. In my situation with doing livestreams on YouTube, I like to post on my instagram story, saying what time the stream is at and sharing my enthusiasm on what we’ll be doing live on the given day.  I also create a countdown on the same story so those in my time zone know how much time is left until I’ll be live on YouTube. This countdown also doubles as a notification for those who are interested. Tapping on the countdown gives viewers the option to be notified when the countdown is over, which means the instagram users are notified of my livestream on YouTube even if they don’t receive notifications for my YouTube channel. This can be used the same way for podcasts. Having grown a PLN, you have people who see what you post and read what you have to say, which means they’ll see when you’re doing a new podcast.

Collaboration is also key in growing an audience. Let’s say you have one user with an audience of 100 people, and you have an audience of 100 people as well, with no overlap. Doing a podcast together means their audience and your audience are listening, thus potentially doubling your audience, as those who came from the other user might enjoy your podcast and follow along. This collaboration tactic is used for all sorts of media forms, from podcasts to videos to music.

 

Privacy and Security

Before I delve into this topic, we have to first acknowledge that there will always be a privacy concern with podcasts. Unlike some social media platforms where you can choose who sees your posts or whether your account is public or private, podcasts are always public. Anyone from anywhere can watch them.

Podcasts can be about all sorts of topics, and people can share all sorts of stories and anecdotes and opinions. This means you could say something that’ll potentially put you in danger. Although it’s important to be genuine in your podcasts, it’s also important to filter out personal information that may put you at risk of a privacy or security breach. For instance, if your podcast discusses food and you share an experience you had with a local restaurant, this gives viewers the opportunity to find this restaurant location, and gives viewers an idea of where you live. This could also put the restaurant in a bad space if you had a poor experience. Viewers may give the business a bad review just because you didn’t have a good experience with it.

References

Woods, Bianca. “Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network.” T+D, vol. 67, no. 11, Nov. 2013, p. 70+. Gale OneFile: Business, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=9daf4a31.