Launched the Podcast On Other Platforms
Expanding my reach to market myself as a creator.
Over the weekend, I spent several hours setting up the After Hours podcast on a variety of platforms. I was debating on spending a few bucks for podcast hosting, but then I realized that most podcast platforms need the RSS feed from the podcasting host to distribute the episode, which is what Spotify provides.
Long story short, uploading the episode to Spotify means I can send the show to iHeartRadio, Pandora, and Amazon Music simultaneously. It’s a time saver, and I don’t have to spend $25 per month for a podcast host if Spotify does it for me.
I was going to set up an account on Apple, but the payment method page to create an account kept crashing. I suppose that is fine, considering I’m not a big fan of Apple anyway.
What is After Hours with WriterSanctuary?
After Hours is a show that I started with my good friend, Chris Desatoff. Although I do the show alone nowadays, it’s been a lot of fun to host on YouTube.
After Hours is a live stream on Monday nights at 7:00 pm (MTN) where I talk about writing, host live author interviews, and try to have as much fun as I can with the viewers. Most of the time, we veer off course from the topic unless I have an interview. But the random conversations have usually been fun. And it’s definitely not safe for work.
On June 22, I pushed to host the show on Spotify and distributed it to other platforms. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years now, and since I put Crossing Colorado and ColoradoPlays on the back burner for the moment, I’ve had the time to dive into a lot of writing projects I wanted to implement. And since this is the Year of Time for me, I’ve also been focusing on maximizing time management. The results so far have been quite promising.
Two or Three Episodes per Week at the Moment
Currently, I have hundreds of videos in my library on YouTube to upload to Spotify. Of course, I’m not going to upload all of them, as some are either obsolete or just didn’t turn out that great in my opinion. Still, just the author interviews alone are going to take some time to add to other platforms.
That’s not including the new shows that are live every Monday.
The plan is to see if I can upload between two or three shows per week until I get caught up. That would be the current show plus one or two more throughout. I could also just not worry about the shows that aren’t interviews and re-record the topics to cover them fully for Spotify.
Regardless, it’s going to take a minute to get all of the shows I want to share on all of the other platforms. It’s all good, though. I’ve had some great interactions, and we’ve had some fun and amazing conversations throughout the years. I’d love to share all of that with a wider audience. For instance, perhaps I can help someone on iHeartRadio who didn’t know WriterSanctuary existed.
Where Can You Listen to the Show?
Currently, the WriterSanctuary podcast is on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, and (of course) YouTube podcasts. According to Backlinko, these are the most prominent that people listen to in the United States. Well, with the exception of Apple, but as I said, they apparently didn’t want my business.
I’ve never had the best of luck dealing with Apple since the 1980s. Yep, it’s a long and sordid tale.
Anyway, I record them live on YouTube and often include interactions with my viewers. So, in a way, you’re part of the show.
Need to Work on the Topic Spreadsheet
I still need to sit down and create a topic spreadsheet for days when I don’t have an author interview. There have been a number of times when I just went live with something mundane, like goal setting for the week, because I didn’t have anything planned. The funny part is that those livestreams usually have the most engagement.
But they don’t have the best rewatchability. At least, that’s what the stats say in YouTube analytics.
My hope is to get around to creating the spreadsheet this week. Besides, there are certain metrics I’d like to monitor and analyze when it comes to topic ideas and performance.
Going All In This Year!
So far, I’ve accomplished some great things for myself as well as WriterSanctuary. I’m still waiting on feedback for my next book and look forward to publishing it very soon. Plus, I’m already scheduled for two book signings in the coming months while looking for more opportunities.
Things are moving in some grand directions, and I’m looking forward to seeing what unfolds.
The odds of life dropping amazing and fun things in your lap are slim to none. You can’t sit idly by and hope for the best outcome in any career path. The best chances for success come from taking action. Now, that action could result in failure, but that’s when you learn from your mistakes so that the next attempt has a greater chance of success.
The point is that you need to take those first steps to make your life better without worrying about the outcome. You’ll miss 100% of the shots you do not take. Even if you only make 30% of those shots, it’s still better than not scoring any points at all.