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What if you could save 12+ hours per week in your business? Being a solopreneur sometimes focuses too much on the “solo” part: doing all the jobs, figuring things out yourself, and spending too much time in your business. But we didn’t start out own solo business to spend all of our time at our desk.
We did it because we want freedom: to travel; to spend time with our family; to watch a movie in the middle of a week day. That’s why Streamlined Solopreneur exists.
Each week, host Joe Casabona talks about how you can build a better business through smarter systems and automated processes. He does this by bringing on expert guests, and sharing his own experience from years as a busy solopreneur parent — so that being a solopreneur feels…less solo.
With every episode, you'll get insights, great stories, and 1-3 actions you can take today to improve your business processes and spend your time the way you want.
Hey, everybody got a bit of a
bonus episode for you today.
It is.
The first deep dive episode of
my podcast podcast workflows.
It's a daily podcast, but every
Wednesday I do a deep dive on
how a popular podcaster publishes
their show or the process for
publishing a specific type of show.
Like a mini podcast or a daily podcast.
I'm really excited that this show
is back after a short hiatus until
I wanted to share the first deep
dive with you, how trailer park got.
10,000 downloads in six weeks.
I hope you enjoy it.
If you do, you can subscribe
wherever you get your podcasts or
learn more over at show dot podcast.
workflows.com.
That's it for the intro now let's
get to the episode REO missing Blatt
eats, sleeps and breathes podcasts.
Her main job is with a podcast company.
Her newsletter is all
about podcast curation.
And she runs a newsletter
and podcast community.
On discord.
She loves podcasts so much that she,
along with her cohost, Tim Vegas.
Produce a podcast about podcasts.
Well, really it's about
podcast trailers specifically.
It's called trailer park.
And you might think that sounds too niche.
But they got 10,000 downloads
in just a few weeks.
Their outreach process was crucial to
achieving this goal and today that's
what we're going to talk about on
podcast workflows Welcome to podcast
workflows, where you get daily tips
to improve your process, grow your
show, and maybe even make some money.
Each week.
I also do a daily dive into the
process of the world's most successful
podcasters and reveal their tools,
processes, and systems to help you
simplify the production of your own
show and reclaim hours in your day.
You can improve your own
podcast production process
by seeing how the pros do it.
I'm your host, Joe Casabona
and it's Wednesday, which
means we're doing a deep dive.
We're going to look at how
the trailer park podcast got
10,000 downloads in six weeks.
And specifically we're going
to cover these three things.
Why a super niche podcast
is the path to success.
Y spending some time in the edit
can greatly enhance your show.
And why pitching indirect outreach is
still the best way to grow your podcast.
Now a couple of quick stats before
we get started, it's hosted by
Arielle, NIS and black and Tim Viega.
Vegas.
It launched in February, 2023.
At the time of this recording,
it has about 14 episodes.
There are a few bonus episodes in there.
It is weekly with seasons.
The format is host cohost.
It takes about 10 hours
to produce one episode.
The recording tool is squad cast, which is
acquired or has been acquired by descript.
And the podcast host is all HSA.
I hope I said that.
Right.
So let's dive into it first.
What is trailer park about?
Well, here's how Arielle describes it.
It's a podcast that
highlights podcast trailers.
In each episode, we feature a
trailer for a show that took
one of the following paths.
Started off as a seasons long.
Show was made as a proof of concept.
Was made just for fun.
Or a stuck somewhere
in the prelaunch phase.
But it's not just about
highlighting the show.
Arielle.
And Tim also talk about what worked
well offer constructive criticism.
And say, if they've listened to
the show based on the trailer.
As for the goal of the show.
Well, let's throw it back
to Arielle for this one.
She says to help creators a master
the art of the audio teaser and
to expose listeners to their
next favorite show or creator.
This is definitely a
podcast for podcasters.
So knowing that let's dive
in to the production process.
First let's talk about
how they find trailers.
Arielle and Tim's process
for finding subjects.
Namely trailers to cover is
very similar to what I have
set up for podcast workflows.
Podcasters can submit their chiller and
then they listen to see what's a good fit.
Here are some of the questions they ask.
Is it interesting?
Is it complex?
And can we critique the show
without hurting the host's feelings?
Once they do find a trailer.
They like, they reach out to the creator
to get a voice clip to use in the episode.
Perhaps that's something that I should be
doing for future episodes of this show.
One important aspect is that as they say
in their own trailer, It doesn't have to
be for a launched or successful podcast.
It can be for a podcast
that never got made.
The only requirement.
Is that there is a trailer.
This is a great move on their
part because it makes the show
super focused and super niche.
Number one, their audience is creators
and podcasters who want to create
a good teaser for their content.
A skill that's increasingly important in
the age of clips and short form video.
There potential content pool seems vast
over 4 million podcasts, but they don't
need to spend time sifting through 4
million shows to find a good episode.
They're always looking for
one episode, the trailer.
And they can start with submissions
from their own audience.
So your takeaway for this is when
you're starting a podcast or looking
to improve your workflow, go narrow.
This will help you focus on
the content that matters most.
Now let's talk about their
notes on the trailer.
Once the trailer gets elevated to
the status of episode, topic, Arielle
and Tim get to work on the episode.
There's a lot of debate between script
outline or off the cuff and on trailer
park, they use bullet points to
cover the things they want to cover.
I think this makes perfect sense for
a host co-host format where they're
offering critiques of any kind.
Uh, script feels too limiting.
Because, well, they're trying to
have an insightful conversation.
And some of the best points
will come up organically.
On the other hand, you don't really
want to go in completely cold fumbling
for words or grasping at straws.
You want to be prepared when you're
critiquing someone else's work.
Bullet points help the two hosts,
get a heads up on the general topics.
While offering enough flexibility
to go off the cuff when they need.
And again, here it's Arielle and
Tim are playing off of each other.
So it's important that they have good
chemistry, which they do since they're.
Working with each other's points and
adding to an ongoing conversation.
If these were just a single
host show, the script might be a
better way to tell a better story.
But that's also an entirely
different format where you'll
need to add some dynamic element.
To the show without another
person there to help.
Again, these notes are also
for me as I continue to.
Read these deep dives that you can
find over@podcastworkflows.com.
With that out of the way, let's talk
about the recording and editing.
Well, volley we'll I'll say, uh, after
their notes, Arielle and Tim record
together using squad cast naturally
since Arielle works for a squad cast.
Now descript.
Using the bullet points, which they
create using a template, they run through
everything they want to hit in the show.
This includes any promos recaps of
previous episodes, what to expect
sponsors, which they feature prominently.
But in my opinion, not intrusively.
And of course the trailer.
And while they could just
call it a day right there.
Export the recording and call it finished.
They spend a bunch of
time editing the show.
Remember in a previous daily tip, I
told you not just to record and release.
I've seen this statistic that for
every one hour of finished content,
it takes four hours of work.
But trailer parks episodes are nine to 12
minutes with the full trailer that they're
covering and it takes 10 hours of work.
That's about four times longer.
Which got me asking the question.
Why.
If I were to guess, I'd say finding
entry, critiquing the podcasts.
Take around two hours at absolute most.
The combination of Arielle's
encyclopedic knowledge of podcasts.
And the fact that trailers are
innately short means that it's
not a huge time commitment.
Even at three minutes,
five listens is 15 minutes.
Then let's say about 45 to organize
their thoughts into bullet points.
My guess is the lion's share of
production time goes to editing.
So here's how it works again.
According to Arielle.
Tim handles the initial cuts.
Then Arielle goes through with a fine
tooth comb, hands it back to Tim, and
he adds the music and sound effects.
Then they go through a few more rounds
before settling on a final draft.
The edit is important for
any podcast, for sure.
But when you're trying to create a
show that's as punchy and informative
as the content you're critiquing,
you want to spend a lot of time
in the edit to make it rock solid.
For example in the show, crucial fusion.
They move quickly between the recap
promos, actual trailer and notes
before moving to what to expect next.
Without audio cues and proper editing.
It would be easy to
get lost or even worse.
Bored.
So your takeaway here editing is more
than just removing ums and barking dogs.
You can change the feel
and pacing of the show.
As long as the content is there, editing
can greatly enhance your podcast.
I mean, just look what
it did for star wars.
Am I right?
Now let's talk publishing
and the call to action.
Once the episode is done, Arielle
and Tim upload the episode
themselves to Asha their podcast.
Host.
For episode notes, Arielle
says they use a template.
They share a bit about the trailer,
include links and make sure to
highlight their sponsors prominently.
And they write all of
that within their podcast.
Host.
The use of a template is crucial here,
especially since the show has several
sponsors, any season long giveaway.
At least in season one.
You can use a simple Google doc that you
make copies of, or you can use a tool
like text expander, if like Arielle.
You prefer to write directly
in the podcast, hosts editor.
Another important aspect of a template
for notes is the call to action.
On the trailer park podcast, the
CTA is to submit your trailer.
They make sure to include
this link as well as mentioned
how to do it on the show.
Your call to action should
be prominent and obvious.
If I had one critique for this show,
it would be that there are several CTS.
But that's not necessarily
unique to this podcast.
In fact, you've probably
heard me give multiple CTS.
On podcast workflows.
Plus they benefit here from the main CTA
being precisely what the show is about.
Okay.
Now let's get to the main event
to reaching 10,000 downloads
in 10 episodes or fewer.
One of the most interesting aspects of
trailer park, the trailer park show.
Is that even though it's so
niche, it grew pretty quickly.
During an interview on the grow, your show
podcast with It came up that they reached
10,000 downloads in just a few weeks.
Let's look at what is, and what's
not a factor in that growth.
Video is something more podcasters
are recording and releasing.
So Arielle and Tim record
with Scott squad cast.
And they have the option
to record with video.
So they do.
However, they're not doing anything
with that video at the moment.
Instead they're making use of tools
like recast studio, one of their
sponsors to create audio grams.
They share this content on Twitter,
Instagram, and LinkedIn, but social media.
Isn't where I think the magic happens.
Social media is notoriously hard to
grow your podcast on because you are
asking people to fully switch contacts.
They're scrolling through Twitter
or threads or Facebook or LinkedIn.
And now you're asking them to stop what
they're doing to listen to a podcast,
which is something totally different.
Instead, here's what Arielle shared
about their efforts to promote the show.
Social media pitching themselves as guests
on other podcasts, writing blog posts for
other outlets that link back to the show.
Pitching their show to
podcasts newsletters.
This is how I discovered the show.
And pitching themselves
to be featured in apps.
You can see that there's a lot
of pitching and direct outreach.
In fact, I heard about the show because
Arielle who has subscribed to my
newsletter, asked if I'd mention it
to my audience, which I gladly did.
So your takeaway social
media shares are fine.
But they aren't a growth strategy.
Instead identify other podcasters,
blogs, YouTube channels, and newsletters
that align with your show's mission.
And ask them to share
it with their audience.
Now where they can improve because
podcasts are a constant work in progress.
And they should be iterative.
And improve based on feedback.
The trailer park podcast is no different.
So when asked Arielle said we
could always spend more time.
On promotion.
This is almost assuredly true for every
podcast or at least most podcasts.
If you like Arielle.
And Tim has spent a lot of
time creating the content.
The last thing you likely want
to do is think about promotion.
Likely they have the tent poles in place
to be able to do this well, though.
They're recording video, which they can
repurpose for Instagram and YouTube.
Their sponsor.
And one of the tools at
their disposal is cap show.
Also owned and run by the
aforementioned DJ Shen.
So this will transcribe episodes
and create Twitter threads, LinkedIn
posts, and a newsletter draft.
They can use that as a starting
point for written content.
Plus they're helping creators
who are often willing to share
content that they're a part of.
But going back to their playbook,
direct outreach is a fantastic
way to promote the show.
Talking to creators in their network,
the creators they cover, the tools
they cover and doing podcast swaps
are ways to expand their reach.
Now as they gear up for a new season,
they can also make another big launch.
This is one of the
benefits of seasonality.
Reach out to the previous outlets,
as well as new ones for coverage and
mention that the show is coming back.
As an aside, they also
mentioned that they're behind on
publishing some bonus episodes.
Another benefit of seasonality is that
bonuses can be dropped when they're ready.
So, how can you use the trailer park
podcast to improve your podcast workflows?
What are the biggest and best takeaways
from Arielle and Tim and how they produce,
publish and promote the trailer park show.
Number one, pick a narrow niche, go
narrow on the niche of your podcast.
It will help you focus on the
content that matters most.
You can always expand or
change based on feedback.
Instead of choosing to interview business
owners, make your show conversations
with solo preneur parents who are
building a business around family life.
Your podcast, mission statement can
inform and assist in the direction of
your content here and keep you focused.
Number two, make editing a priority.
Editing is more than just
removing ums and barking dogs.
You can change the feel
and pacing of the show.
Arielle and Tim record their conversation,
but bring in plenty of other elements like
interstitial music, sound effects, sound
bites, and commentary from the podcaster.
If you're going to spend a lot of time
on your podcast, do it here and leverage
automation and delegation to do the rest.
What are some small incremental
changes that you can make for
the next episode of your podcast?
Figure out two to three things
that can turn your show from
a meandering conversation.
Into a punchy attention grabbing story.
And number three, ask for
the share social media.
Isn't a growth strategy.
Direct outreach is a tried and true
method for growing your podcast.
Reach out to a similarly aligned
websites, podcasts, newsletters, and
YouTube channels to see if they're
willing to help you promote the show.
You can also do podcast
swaps or other trades.
That's why it's important to find outlets
that align with your goals and mission.
You could also experiment
with paid placement.
Either way, remember that most people
aren't just going to share your
podcast, reaching out and asking for the
share can help you grow more quickly.
Offering to create unique
content also works well.
It's more work for you, but it allows you
to stand out more than just a back linker.
I mentioned.
You have the opportunity to give
a new audience, a taste of what
they can get from your show.
The simplest way to get started with
this is to use Google sheets notion
or my personal favorite air table.
To keep a list of people in places to
reach out, to track when you reached out,
when you need to follow up, if they accept
and what your promo article or mention is.
And when it goes live, So there you go.
That's it for this deep
dive into the workflow.
Of the trailer park podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it.
And the top takeaways you
can read the full article.
At the link in the description
or over@podcastworkflows.com.
Let me know what you
thought of this episode.
You can find me on X and
threads as at J Casabona.
And if you want to connect on
LinkedIn, um, Joe, Casabona over there.
I hope you enjoyed that deep dive as
much as I enjoyed making it again.
If you like this show, subscribe
in the app or you're listening
right now, or learn more over at
show dot podcast, workflows.com.
Thanks so much for listening
and until next time get out
there and build something