Get your first 100 Podcast Listeners

The first thing you should do in the quest to get your first 100 podcast listeners is email your mailing list about it!

Seeing as this also marks the start of your podcast promotion, go ahead and also record the date you do this and the name of the podcast in the form field below.

Now, granted, this may not be applicable if you're starting from scratch; in this case, go ahead and email as many people that you know who might be interested in the topic! If you personally know them, go ahead and ask them to share it too.

The next thing you need to do is to update your signature in your email provider. Insert a link to your new podcast and record the new signature with the form field below.

 Now you should share the new podcast through every (personal) avenue possible! Use the sub-checklist below to keep track of where you have posted the podcast to, in order to avoid duplicates.

Why not take advantage of whatever Twitter presence you have? Go ahead and update your Twitter profile page to include a link to the podcast!

Although you can't share the podcast itself, Pinterest can be a great way to generate interest in your podcast.

Do so by sharing the post image of the podcast - remember to record a copy of (or link to) the image you share with the form field(s) below.

If relevant, it's always worth sharing the new podcast in any Facebook groups you belong to. Record which groups (and their links) you share to with the form field below.

Remember, if the group is irrelevant to the podcast's topic and you aren't a very well known member, this may be considered spam and reflect negatively on your product.

The next step in boosting your podcast's potential audience is to buy Facebook ads which target a narrowly defined audience. Keep track of the amount you have spent in the form field below.

Now, a warning with this step - do your homework before you buy any ads, otherwise you will be pouring money down the drain. You not only need to draw people to your podcast, but you need to draw the right people in; blindly paying for advertizing is not the way to go.

Now you need to make full use of LinkedIn by sharing the podcast within the relevant groups, updating your status and sending it to all of your contacts! Keep track of the groups you share to with the form field below.

Another good way to promote to an audience which is likely to enjoy your content is to email your existing customers, asking them to review your podcast.

This way you are further engaging your existing customers and making them a part of shaping your podcast. Remember to include the emails gathered through PayPal.

You should also ask your website visitors to share and comment on your new content. This way you can get feedback from fresh faces, as well as your existing customer base.

This step is pretty self-explanatory; you should submit your podcast to Stitcher. This can be a huge boost, as many car radios come standard with Stitcher now!

Next, you need to post your content to relevant forums. Record the forums you post to with the form field below.

Much like your email, you need to remember to update your forum signature with a link to the podcast. Record the new signature in the form field below.

In your efforts to get your first 100 podcast listeners, you should now create a short press release for your new show. Upload the press release for safe keeping to the form field below.

Instagram can be an incredibly powerful tool when used correctly, and so the next step is to create images with quotes from your show to share on there.

Fill in the form field below with links to the completed (and shared) images.

A great way to get more attention (and not just for podcast promotion) is to submit guest posts to popular blogs in your industry. Record the blogs you have targeted in the form field below.

Remember to include at least some links to your podcast within the post; if possible, the guest post should be based around the same content or even about the podcast itself.

If you haven't already, make sure that you record episode 2 as fast as possible!

It’s been shown if you can release your podcasts all within a certain period of time they are more likely to get shown on new & noteworthy in iTunes.

Another great way to get your first 100 podcast listeners is to contact other podcasts in your category and be interviewed on their show. Record the podcasts you have pitched to with the form field below.

In return for getting an interview on their show, many podcasters are likely to wish to be interviewed on your own show in turn. This is a great start, but be sure to reach out to all others in your category and ask them to come in too!

You're almost done with this checklist! Now you need to ask any interviewed guests to share the episode that they appear in. Below is a sample email of how you might ask them to share.

Remember that you need to be careful to not alienate the guest when doing this, as being too aggressive will alienate a potentially fantastic future resource.

Now that you've reached out to fellow podcasters, you need to contact everyone you would like to interview and ask them to be on your show. Keep track of who you've reached out to with the form field below.

Finally, remember to repeat the syndication process for every show that is released. By this, we mean the process of emailing your mailing list, sharing on social media, etc, etc.

Congratulations! You're well on the way to get your first 100 podcast listeners, if you haven't reached that milestone already.

This checklist, along with a Podcast Formatting Checklist and Get Your Podcast Live on iTunes was taken from the blog post The Formula for Creating a 1,000,000 Download Podcast from OkDork. It was written by James Schramko, the founder of Sydney based online marketing coaching business SuperFastBusiness.

See also our Podcast Management Software blog post and our complete Podcast Publishing Checklist.