Why You Have to Promote Your Podcast & How to Actually Build an Audience

In this episode, host Gabe Leal discusses the critical importance of promotion for podcasters. He emphasizes that creating content is only half the job; the other half is ensuring that the right audience knows about it. Gabe challenges common fears surrounding self-promotion and provides practical methods for effectively promoting a podcast, including leveraging existing networks, engaging with communities, and utilizing email marketing. He encourages listeners to shift their mindset from self-promotion to finding the audience that needs their content. The episode concludes with actionable homework to help podcasters begin their promotional journey.TakeawaysMaking the show is only half the job.Promotion is not optional; it's essential.Visibility is what your show needs to survive.You can't find what you're hiding; promote your work.Start with your existing network to build an audience.Show up where your audience already lives.Build a repurposing system from day one.Guest on other podcasts to reach new audiences.Email is your anchor for consistent communication.You're not promoting yourself; you're finding your audience.The five methods Gabe covers are practical and sequenced deliberately:1. Start with your existing network. Not a mass blast, personal messages to 20 or 30 people who might actually care. Ask them to listen to one episode and leave a review. Reviews matter algorithmically early on. But more importantly, hearing that the show is landing for someone is what keeps you going past episode five.2. Show up where your audience already lives. Subreddits, Facebook groups, LinkedIn communities, and YouTube channels in adjacent niches. Go there to be present and contribute, not to drop links. The trust built in a community before anyone knows you have a podcast converts better than any cold click.3. Build a repurposing system from day one. One recording session should never produce only one piece of content. Short clips, quote graphics, LinkedIn posts written as reactions, not summaries, email newsletters, the full stack turns one hour of recording into a week of content that reaches people who don't listen to podcasts yet.4. Guest on other podcasts. The fastest way to get in front of an already-podcast-listening audience. Pitch yourself before the show is big, the honest story of what you're building and why you're the right voice for a specific conversation often converts better than a guest who's already everywhere.5. Email is your anchor. Platforms change their algorithms. Email is the channel you own. Build the list from episode one, show up with something worth reading, and treat the subject line as the first test of whether the email deserves to be opened.The debrief complicates the standard advice. The podcasters who make it past 20 episodes all have one thing in common: they told people, consistently and without apology. But Gabe adds something most promotion content skips: volume without clarity is just noise. Promotion works when the show has a specific point of view. When every episode delivers on a clear promise. If the show is still figuring out what it is, promotion accelerates the reveal that there's no there there.The frame he leaves you with: you are not promoting yourself. You are finding the people who need what you made. That shift changes everything.Learn more about podcasting from the experts. Join the daily Podcasting Morning Show. Learn more at www.podcastingmorningshow.comWant to create more amazing-sounding audio clips for your own podcast. Check Eleven Labs. https://try.elevenlabs.io/6ih6wtdsxjkqHave a Question? Leave us a text or voicemail. We would love to hear from you. Support the showTHE PODCAST ABOUT PODCASTINGA weekly interview show answering the only question that matters before you start — why should you do a podcast?New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.SUBSCRIBEApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-about-podcasting-with-gabe-leal/id1890063067 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2mFSFuT6n3R26Xm28h9Qbd?si=92a9db77895f4521YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodcastAboutPodcastingwithGabeFOLLOW THE SHOWInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heygabewhatsup/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heygabewhatsup/Substack: https://substack.com/@heygabewhatsupSEND GABE A [email protected] this episode hit — share it with one person who keeps almost starting. That's who this show is for.