Insider Secrets to a Top 100 Podcast with Courtney Elmer | Podcasting Strategies for Growing a Podcast That Converts

If no one is sharing your episodes, recommending your show, or mentioning it in their communities, the problem usually isn’t the quality of your content. It’s how (and where) you’re asking people to engage with it. Podcasting Hall of Famer Arielle Nissenblatt is breaking down the podcasting mistakes that make a show harder to share, from email newsletters that train subscribers to ignore you to podcast pitches that get deleted before anyone even opens them. We also unpack how a handful of nic...

Apple Podcasts just rolled out a new video experience, and the industry is split down the middle. Some are calling it transformative. Others are calling it irrelevant. But the real question is: what does this actually mean for your show? I'm breaking down what’s changed inside Apple Podcasts (in plain English), why this update improves user experience but does NOT improve podcast discovery, and when video podcasting makes sense for you (and when it doesn’t). If you want podcast growth without...

There are the podcasters who publish an episode, close their laptop, and hope the right listeners somehow find it. Then there are ones who understand that if their show doesn’t appear in search, it might as well not exist. Fellow podcaster Eve Hall knows what it feels like to be invisible to the very listeners you’re trying to serve. But instead of recording more episodes or chasing the next podcast marketing tactic, she made a few strategic changes to the content she was already creating, an...

If you’ve been telling yourself that bigger downloads are the reason other podcasts land better guests, sponsors, and opportunities, think again. PR and media experts Bridget Sicsko and Lydia Bagarozza are breaking down what actually gets small podcasts taken seriously, and how you can get quoted and featured in top media and PR publications to build social proof for your show with fewer than 100 downloads an episode. If you want dream guests, sponsors, and big opportunities to co...

If you’ve ever opened your content calendar, stared at a blank doc, and wondered whether skipping a week of publishing would really be that bad, this one’s for you. Instead of forcing an idea or recycling old content, I’m sharing 5 stealthy ways to come up with episode ideas fast, plus exactly how I decide what to record when my brain is empty and an episode needs to go live in less than 24 hours. If you need a way out of the panic spiral when an episode is due and you’ve got nothing re...

Most podcasts lose listeners in the first 15 seconds. Not after the first ad. Not halfway into the episode. Right at the start. I'm breaking down what’s happening in your listener’s brain the moment they hit play, why top podcasts obsess over their opening lines like the rest of the episode depends on it (because it does), and a simple structure to follow to grab and keep your listener's attention. If you’re ready to turn your first 15 seconds into a reason listeners stay, hit play and let’s ...

If you think getting picked up by a podcast network is the fast track to podcast growth, this episode will save you from disappointment (and probably a bad contract). Stephen Perlstein (Senior VP at Libsyn) is breaking down how podcast networks actually work and when the right one can be a smart move for your show. We’re also unpacking what networks do well, what they don’t do, and the biggest red flags to watch for when evaluating a potential network deal. If you’re curious about podcast net...