The Power of Community in Podcasting

Wouldn't you love to be that friend who helped someone launch their podcast? We break down a simple, feel-good way to support new creators using Buzzsprout’s Refer a Friend program. Whether you’re cheering on a friend or reigniting your own workflow, this conversation is your reminder that community creates a solid foundation for a successful podcast. 

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If you have questions for the Podcaster Success team, email us at support@buzzsprout.com.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:29 The Buzzsprout Affiliate Program
• 3:46 Preventing Podcast Burnout With Community
• 5:17 Resources And Support
• 5:56 Join The Facebook Community

Transcript

Cara Pacetti: 0:00

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you by the people at Buzzsprout. I'm your host, Cara Pacetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you podcasting with confidence. As we approach the end of the year, this is typically a time of reflection and goal setting. There are conversations swirling around about what big endeavors are planned for 2026. And often we hear that one of those big goals is starting a podcast. If you've had a successful year of podcasting and all of a sudden you're hearing from your friends that they're encouraged to start a podcast too, take that as an awesome opportunity to become their biggest cheerleader and supporter. Just last year, I actually had a conversation with some of our Buzz Sprout podcasters at a conference. And they mentioned that every time they hear somebody thinking of starting a podcast, they always point them to Buzz Sprout. While I was super pumped to hear that, I mentioned that they should be using the Refer a Friend link whenever they send their friend to Buzzsprout. And to my surprise and theirs, they actually did not know what I was talking about. And so that encouraged me to record this episode and let all of our podcasting Q&A listeners know if you are hosted on BuzzSprout, there is an opportunity to use a refer a friend link and share that with your friends who are thinking of starting a podcast. The Buzz Sprout Refer a Friend program is really easy to use and it's actually available across all of our Buzz Sprout plans. When using this refer a friend program, it will give you $20 in Buzz Sprout credits and the podcaster that you referred. You can find the refer a friend link by going to Settings, My Profile, Refer a Friend. And there you can send that link to any of your friends who are thinking about starting a podcast. Anyone who uses that link to sign up for a BuzzSprout account will automatically get the referral applied. So when they upgrade, that referral will kick in after being on a paid plan for about a month. Then your friend will see $20 in Buzzsprout credits added to their BuzzSprout wallet, and so will you. One caveat here is that you cannot refer podcasts that you are managing or hosting. So you will want to keep this for new podcasters that you are not working with directly. Of course, if you have any questions about the referral program or using a referral link, reach out to us and support. We can definitely help. The whole reason this episode topic even came up is because I was speaking with podcasters who were just genuinely sharing their love of podcasting with others. And so I want to talk a little bit about the importance of podcasters encouraging other podcasters. There's a bit of a stigma around podcasting. Some people may have a great idea for a podcast, but then immediately get super embarrassed about putting themselves out there and launching one. If you have had a successful year of podcasting, show them how rewarding it can be. Remind them that their voice matters and that honestly, through repetition of publishing episodes, they will find their community. If you've been podcasting for a while, you may have forgotten the growing pains of launching, but it can be super hard. It can feel really overwhelming to learn all of the tech and logistics that come with podcasting. And so if you've been doing this for a while, offer help. Help them navigate the process and be a resource for them if they get stuck. As we are approaching the holidays, some of you may not even be that excited to share about podcasting with your friends because you are just on the brink of podcast burnout, also known as pod fade. Once the excitement wears off, it's really easy to burn out. Either you've been there or maybe you're there now. So if this is you, I want to encourage you to pay attention to other podcasters in your space. Listen to their episodes, send them fan mail, suggest episode ideas or respond to the questions that they're putting out there. It can be really hard when you're not getting engagement. So as a podcaster, make it your goal to fully support other podcasts. It can really help bridge the gap between burning out and keeping this thing going. The biggest takeaway that I want to leave you with is that the community here is just that. It is community. It is not competition. There is a lot of talk out there about the podcast industry being oversaturated, but that's just not the case. Would you tell somebody not to write a book because somebody else has written a book on a similar topic? No way. Podcasting works just the same. There are literally podcasts about everything, and there is still room for more. So remember that podcasting is about community and not competition. It's about supporting each other and sharing our voices and stories. And when you do help that friend get over that hurdle and launch their podcast, have them use your referral link. It benefits you both. If you have any questions for the podcaster success team about using your refer a friend link, you can reach out to us by emailing support at buzzsprout.com. If you're listening to this and maybe the wheels are turning and you're the one that is in the position of brainstorming a podcast, but you're not quite there and ready to launch yet, I want to give you some resources. First, please email us on the support team. We are a team of real people and we are genuinely excited to not only answer your questions, but to celebrate you and encourage you along the way. If you are on the brink of PodFade and you just need a little bit of encouragement, reach out to us. We will offer any support that we can. If you don't already have a community around you supporting your podcast, or maybe they're just a little unfamiliar with the podcasting space, I highly recommend joining our Facebook community group. The conversations there are awesome. They are so uplifting and it's fellow podcasters that are running the same race as you. So some have been doing this for a while, some are not yet launched, and some just launched this year. Everyone in that group is eager to share tips and tricks and encouragement. We also have questions that we put out there to prompt conversations and to share your latest episodes so that we can celebrate you and your milestones. And so I'm gonna link that in the show notes. And so whether you've been podcasting for a while or you're just getting started, go check that out, join the conversation. There are a lot of really helpful tips and encouragement going on there. If you have a question that you'd like to see answered on a future podcasting Q&A episode, click the send us a text link in the show notes and send in any questions you have. Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your week. Thank you so much for listening. And as always, keep podcasting.