August 25, 2025 • 10 mins
Promoting your podcast doesn’t have to feel awkward or salesy. In this episode of Podcast Insider, we share practical ways to talk about your show with confidence—whether you’re chatting with friends, posting on social media, or networking at events. You’ll learn how to highlight your purpose, use storytelling instead of pitches, and spark curiosity that leads people to want to listen—without ever sounding pushy.
Today's Hosts: Todd Cochrane and MacKenzie Bennett
✅ Lead With the Why, Not the Download Link
When talking about your podcast, start with why it exists—not just where to find it. People connect with purpose and personality more than self-promotion.
Instead of saying, “Hey, check out my podcast!” try:
“I host a podcast about how small-town chefs are changing the food scene—ever heard of that movement?”
“I’ve been interviewing people who left corporate jobs to start farms—it’s been eye-opening.”
Letting the conversation flow from what you’re passionate about makes people more likely to ask follow-up questions—and then they open the door to you sharing your link.
💡 Blubrry helps: Use your free podcast website or custom episode URLs to easily share your show when people do ask for it.
✅ Share Clips and Stories, Not Just “New Episode!” Posts
Instead of promoting a new episode with just the title or a generic link, pull out a powerful quote, a surprising moment, or a quick teaser.
Some ideas:
“This guest turned their side hustle into a full-time gig—here’s how they did it.”
“Our latest episode dives into what it’s really like to start over in your 40s.”
Use visuals like audiograms, quote graphics, or a short reel to give people a taste before asking them to commit to listening.
💡 Blubrry helps: Easily create short video teasers with Pod2Vid, and share them on social with your custom links.
✅ Think Conversations, Not Commercials
Whether you’re at a networking event or casually chatting online, focus on the person, not the pitch.
Ask them what kind of content they listen to.
Share how your show relates to a topic they care about.
Or invite them to give feedback on an idea you’re working on.
This approach builds connection and curiosity—without forcing the conversation toward a download.
💡 Blubrry helps: Your listener analytics show what’s resonating most, so you’ll know what topics spark real engagement.
✅ Make Your Show Easy to Talk About
If your podcast name, description, or purpose is confusing or overly vague, it’s hard for people to share it on your behalf.
Refine your elevator pitch so you (and others) can describe your show in one sentence.
Example:
“It’s a weekly show about creative burnout—and how people push through it.”
“The podcast shares short stories from first-time entrepreneurs—5-minute episodes, no fluff.”
💡 Blubrry helps: Hosting with us means your show is listed across major directories, making it easy for new listeners to find you—especially when they hear about you from someone else.
Thanks for listening to Podcast Insider, you can subscribe to new episodes out every Monday.
The best place for support with any Blubrry product or service is our ticket system. Tickets give the whole team access vs. direct emails or calls. General podcasting discussions and more can be shared on the Blubrry Podcasting Facebook group.
Fill out our listener survey at surveys.blubrry.com/podcastinsider
Hosting customers can schedule a one-on-one call with Todd or a tech checkup with Mike at todd@blubrry.com and mike@blubrry.com
Stay tuned for more episodes and visit our website for the latest updates and resources.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Everyone. I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist here at
Blueberry.
And I'm Todd Cochran, founder and CEO at
Blueberry. Welcome to Podcast Insider.
Today, we're diving into a challenge that almost
every podcaster faces at some point, how to
promote your podcast without sounding pushy or salesy.
And, of course, whether you're talking to friends
or posting on social media
(00:22):
or speaking in an event, you've really got
to learn how to talk about your podcast
in a way that feels natural,
not like a pitch.
And so that's exactly what we're gonna cover
today. You'll walk away with tips on how
to share your show confidently without turning people
off or feeling awkward about self promotion.
You're listening to podcast insider, a weekly podcast
bringing insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks
(00:44):
to help you start, grow, and thrive through
podcasting
with the support of your team here at
WeVery Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in.
One thing's for sure. In the early days
of podcasting, the only way you were able
to really promote your show is give me
your phone and let me show you how
to subscribe.
Heavy on the give me your phone and
(01:04):
I will walk you through this.
Yeah. You know? And,
thank goodness it's it's not that difficult anymore.
Yeah. And,
but I think really the
you think about a show and why do
we listen to shows is what is the
value we get out of it? So, you
know, when you're talking about your podcast, you
(01:26):
know, the why it exists,
it's probably as important as anything else, not
just where to find it. And people are
gonna connect with a purpose and personality more
than
than self promotion says, hey, check out my
podcast.
You may wanna say, I host a podcast
about how small town chefs are changing the
food scene.
(01:47):
Ever heard of that movement?
And, of course, there's probably many, many more
of those type examples.
Even better in my head is
I'm passionate about this topic, and I also
host a podcast about it. You know, get
hook them in with the interest of the
actual show and then say, and here's where
you can listen to more.
(02:08):
Yeah. And I think too,
if you're anticipating
the place to jump in and promote, it's
gonna feel real obvious.
Mhmm. So make sure that the conversation just
is a is a flow.
And you know, they say, hey, what do
you you know, by the way, what do
you do for work? Oh, I work in
this and by and I have a podcast
too. And that probably
(02:31):
will trigger a
reaction that will they won't even want to
know about your work. They're gonna want to
know about your podcast,
So, there's great ways to kinda drop it
in there casually. And if they see you're
excited about, they're definitely gonna ask.
Yeah. One thing we always,
wanna reassure people or let them know is
everything that we're talking about,
(02:52):
Blueberry can help with in some way.
Just in this scenario,
leaving them to your free website or, like,
a specific
episode URL
of whatever, you know,
thing that you're talking about would be helpful.
And, of course, the powerful thing today is
about sharing clips,
not just episodes. So,
(03:15):
and this is
something that you should invest time in is
instead of promoting
a complete episode with just a title or
generic link, pull out a a quote or
surprising moment or a quick teaser.
Those are always super valuable. If you can
find a
a thirty second or sixty second clip that
really hit hard,
(03:36):
that will often, from a social standpoint,
be enough to get someone to come in
and listen to an entire episode.
Yeah. Absolutely.
There's different ways that you can do it
now too, whether it's just like an actual
sound clip, if you
add quotes
to whatever it is that they're seeing this
sound, you know, whether it be Instagram, Twitter,
(03:58):
whatever.
Instagram's great for the reels, TikTok, obviously, all
that type of stuff.
It's very easy to go back and forth
between video and audio nowadays, and it's it
is by far, I think, one of the
most,
like, worthy things to do for for people
is if is let your content do
(04:20):
do the talking, essentially.
And, of course, our,
podcast AI assistant will help you create short
video teasers.
It really starts with finding that audio segment
and
then pushing it into the production system, and
you'll be able to create a,
a clip that you can share on Instagram
or on Facebook or LinkedIn or wherever your
(04:42):
tribe is at. You wanna create a full
length video, which, you know, that that might
be okay if you wanna share that and
you're not doing video. Pod2bit is another
piece of the kit that we have on
the website that lets you do the entire
episode. But, again, I think from a,
social promotion standpoint, those short clips are gonna
(05:03):
be much better and and and be more
useful, and you'll get more traction than doing
the
entire,
audio episode into a series of video clips.
Yeah. Leading us into our next one is
think conversationally
and not commercially.
You know, it's going back to the first
one that we had, which was,
(05:25):
like,
why people should listen to this and not
exactly how specifically,
it's you wanna be able to tell people,
you know, this is why it relates to
a topic that you care about. This is
something that you can expect to to hear,
you know, like, a conversation going back and
forth
or not necessarily, like, a lecture.
(05:47):
People
don't necessarily wanna listen to that. There's there's
a time and place for that,
and some people might be into that with
their podcast. But I think a lot of
the time what they're looking for is
to be
more casual.
Now one thing that I found and it
was something I picked up years ago in
some online communities where
(06:09):
he would be talking about stuff and, you
know, I would be kind of like, oh,
I wanna tell him I have a show.
And I'm sitting there on edge, you know,
and you're like, oh, no. I can't be
that dude, you know, can't be going in
there and say, oh, by the way, I
have a podcast.
But it was more about if they talked
about
something that I had talked about,
then I could say, Hey, by the way,
(06:30):
I did my podcast, I have an episode
and about the,
you know, the eighteen minute mark that talks
about this very topic, it might be of
interest to you. It kind of fit it
into but there again, then you have to
remember what you've talked about across many episodes.
So that opportunity isn't always as easy to
do a placement like that.
(06:51):
But one thing you can
consider is
in our analytics system, we show you what's
resonating the most. So you'll know what
topic spark in real
engagements. You can see when people are listening
and when they've dropped off, Obviously, things that
maybe you should share or not share or
maybe make improvements to your show. So,
(07:12):
again, use our tools to help you,
build these conversations
and have,
you know,
stuff that's backed up by analytics to help
you with your sharing.
And, I think this one might actually be
a little under the radar or is kind
of a problem you run into after the
fact. You have to make your show easy
to talk about. If you can't do your
(07:32):
elevator pitch,
you you gotta rethink some things.
Your your name, the description of the show,
and and the purpose. You know? You gotta
refine that. So when you do have someone's
attention
for that thirty seconds,
you need to be able to convince them
in that very short period of time.
(07:53):
Yes. I think, you know, my show that
I do,
privately Geek News Central, that kind of explains
it. Oh, you talk about geeky stuff, news,
the central is kind of in there. It'd
be better if it was just geek news,
but that wasn't the domain that was available.
So, yeah, Geek News Central was. Yeah. I
talk about news and topics and it's real
(08:13):
easy to describe. Now if you're talking about
more
mundane topics or business, there's always that little
piece. Yeah. I talk about finance
or interview business leaders
or whatever your shtick may be for your
show.
Again, having that ability to talk about that
show,
easily is is great.
(08:35):
And, you can say it's a weekly show
or it comes out every two weeks and
maybe I talk about I have short stories
or in-depth stories, whatever it may be,
you can you can kinda share that, share
that quickly.
I think one of the last kinda words
of wisdom in that section is also
(08:55):
having
your show and every podcast directory so that
once people do know the show
and, you know, a week later when they're
like, oh, maybe I'll check that out, they
can just easily find it in whatever
podcast app that it is that they use
or that they can Google it. So, you
know,
making sure that you are using,
(09:16):
some type of website for your show as
well as just submitting to these directories. A
lot of them are gonna pick up just
because they are crawling Apple.
But, you know, Apple, Spotify, the big ones,
if you hit those, you're probably okay okay
across the board.
Yeah. I always say I don't care where
they listen as long as they listen. That's
the most important part. Exactly. If they listen
(09:37):
on the website, don't care if they listen
wherever. We don't care how they listen long
as they listen. And that's really the key.
I think that's a wrap on this episode.
Thanks for tuning in. And of course, remember,
talking about your podcast doesn't mean
turning into a salesperson.
And, most people don't like salespeople anyway. It
just means sharing something you care about in
(09:57):
a way that connects with people.
We encourage you to lead with curiosity, use
storytelling over promotion every time and to let
your passion do most of the talking.
And more importantly, don't forget, Blueberry gives you
the tools to promote your show naturally with
custom links, a free podcast website,
and socially friendly features
(10:17):
like Pod2Vid and all the other AI tools
we have for social promotion.
Be sure to follow or subscribe to Podcast
Insider for more tips, tools, and strategies to
help grow your show. Thank you. Thank you.
Happy podcasting.
Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.
And in the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com
for more information, to subscribe,
(10:39):
share, and read our show notes. To check
out the latest suite of services and learn
how Blueberry can help you leverage your podcast,
visit blueberry.com.
That's Blueberry without the e's because we can't
afford them.
Everyone. I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist here at
Blueberry.
And I'm Todd Cochran, founder and CEO at
Blueberry. Welcome to Podcast Insider.
Today, we're diving into a challenge that almost
every podcaster faces at some point, how to
promote your podcast without sounding pushy or salesy.
And, of course, whether you're talking to friends
or posting on social media
(00:22):
or speaking in an event, you've really got
to learn how to talk about your podcast
in a way that feels natural,
not like a pitch.
And so that's exactly what we're gonna cover
today. You'll walk away with tips on how
to share your show confidently without turning people
off or feeling awkward about self promotion.
You're listening to podcast insider, a weekly podcast
bringing insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks
(00:44):
to help you start, grow, and thrive through
podcasting
with the support of your team here at
WeVery Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in.
One thing's for sure. In the early days
of podcasting, the only way you were able
to really promote your show is give me
your phone and let me show you how
to subscribe.
Heavy on the give me your phone and
(01:04):
I will walk you through this.
Yeah. You know? And,
thank goodness it's it's not that difficult anymore.
Yeah. And,
but I think really the
you think about a show and why do
we listen to shows is what is the
value we get out of it? So, you
know, when you're talking about your podcast, you
(01:26):
know, the why it exists,
it's probably as important as anything else, not
just where to find it. And people are
gonna connect with a purpose and personality more
than
than self promotion says, hey, check out my
podcast.
You may wanna say, I host a podcast
about how small town chefs are changing the
food scene.
(01:47):
Ever heard of that movement?
And, of course, there's probably many, many more
of those type examples.
Even better in my head is
I'm passionate about this topic, and I also
host a podcast about it. You know, get
hook them in with the interest of the
actual show and then say, and here's where
you can listen to more.
(02:08):
Yeah. And I think too,
if you're anticipating
the place to jump in and promote, it's
gonna feel real obvious.
Mhmm. So make sure that the conversation just
is a is a flow.
And you know, they say, hey, what do
you you know, by the way, what do
you do for work? Oh, I work in
this and by and I have a podcast
too. And that probably
(02:31):
will trigger a
reaction that will they won't even want to
know about your work. They're gonna want to
know about your podcast,
So, there's great ways to kinda drop it
in there casually. And if they see you're
excited about, they're definitely gonna ask.
Yeah. One thing we always,
wanna reassure people or let them know is
everything that we're talking about,
(02:52):
Blueberry can help with in some way.
Just in this scenario,
leaving them to your free website or, like,
a specific
episode URL
of whatever, you know,
thing that you're talking about would be helpful.
And, of course, the powerful thing today is
about sharing clips,
not just episodes. So,
(03:15):
and this is
something that you should invest time in is
instead of promoting
a complete episode with just a title or
generic link, pull out a a quote or
surprising moment or a quick teaser.
Those are always super valuable. If you can
find a
a thirty second or sixty second clip that
really hit hard,
(03:36):
that will often, from a social standpoint,
be enough to get someone to come in
and listen to an entire episode.
Yeah. Absolutely.
There's different ways that you can do it
now too, whether it's just like an actual
sound clip, if you
add quotes
to whatever it is that they're seeing this
sound, you know, whether it be Instagram, Twitter,
(03:58):
whatever.
Instagram's great for the reels, TikTok, obviously, all
that type of stuff.
It's very easy to go back and forth
between video and audio nowadays, and it's it
is by far, I think, one of the
most,
like, worthy things to do for for people
is if is let your content do
(04:20):
do the talking, essentially.
And, of course, our,
podcast AI assistant will help you create short
video teasers.
It really starts with finding that audio segment
and
then pushing it into the production system, and
you'll be able to create a,
a clip that you can share on Instagram
or on Facebook or LinkedIn or wherever your
(04:42):
tribe is at. You wanna create a full
length video, which, you know, that that might
be okay if you wanna share that and
you're not doing video. Pod2bit is another
piece of the kit that we have on
the website that lets you do the entire
episode. But, again, I think from a,
social promotion standpoint, those short clips are gonna
(05:03):
be much better and and and be more
useful, and you'll get more traction than doing
the
entire,
audio episode into a series of video clips.
Yeah. Leading us into our next one is
think conversationally
and not commercially.
You know, it's going back to the first
one that we had, which was,
(05:25):
like,
why people should listen to this and not
exactly how specifically,
it's you wanna be able to tell people,
you know, this is why it relates to
a topic that you care about. This is
something that you can expect to to hear,
you know, like, a conversation going back and
forth
or not necessarily, like, a lecture.
(05:47):
People
don't necessarily wanna listen to that. There's there's
a time and place for that,
and some people might be into that with
their podcast. But I think a lot of
the time what they're looking for is
to be
more casual.
Now one thing that I found and it
was something I picked up years ago in
some online communities where
(06:09):
he would be talking about stuff and, you
know, I would be kind of like, oh,
I wanna tell him I have a show.
And I'm sitting there on edge, you know,
and you're like, oh, no. I can't be
that dude, you know, can't be going in
there and say, oh, by the way, I
have a podcast.
But it was more about if they talked
about
something that I had talked about,
then I could say, Hey, by the way,
(06:30):
I did my podcast, I have an episode
and about the,
you know, the eighteen minute mark that talks
about this very topic, it might be of
interest to you. It kind of fit it
into but there again, then you have to
remember what you've talked about across many episodes.
So that opportunity isn't always as easy to
do a placement like that.
(06:51):
But one thing you can
consider is
in our analytics system, we show you what's
resonating the most. So you'll know what
topic spark in real
engagements. You can see when people are listening
and when they've dropped off, Obviously, things that
maybe you should share or not share or
maybe make improvements to your show. So,
(07:12):
again, use our tools to help you,
build these conversations
and have,
you know,
stuff that's backed up by analytics to help
you with your sharing.
And, I think this one might actually be
a little under the radar or is kind
of a problem you run into after the
fact. You have to make your show easy
to talk about. If you can't do your
(07:32):
elevator pitch,
you you gotta rethink some things.
Your your name, the description of the show,
and and the purpose. You know? You gotta
refine that. So when you do have someone's
attention
for that thirty seconds,
you need to be able to convince them
in that very short period of time.
(07:53):
Yes. I think, you know, my show that
I do,
privately Geek News Central, that kind of explains
it. Oh, you talk about geeky stuff, news,
the central is kind of in there. It'd
be better if it was just geek news,
but that wasn't the domain that was available.
So, yeah, Geek News Central was. Yeah. I
talk about news and topics and it's real
(08:13):
easy to describe. Now if you're talking about
more
mundane topics or business, there's always that little
piece. Yeah. I talk about finance
or interview business leaders
or whatever your shtick may be for your
show.
Again, having that ability to talk about that
show,
easily is is great.
(08:35):
And, you can say it's a weekly show
or it comes out every two weeks and
maybe I talk about I have short stories
or in-depth stories, whatever it may be,
you can you can kinda share that, share
that quickly.
I think one of the last kinda words
of wisdom in that section is also
(08:55):
having
your show and every podcast directory so that
once people do know the show
and, you know, a week later when they're
like, oh, maybe I'll check that out, they
can just easily find it in whatever
podcast app that it is that they use
or that they can Google it. So, you
know,
making sure that you are using,
(09:16):
some type of website for your show as
well as just submitting to these directories. A
lot of them are gonna pick up just
because they are crawling Apple.
But, you know, Apple, Spotify, the big ones,
if you hit those, you're probably okay okay
across the board.
Yeah. I always say I don't care where
they listen as long as they listen. That's
the most important part. Exactly. If they listen
(09:37):
on the website, don't care if they listen
wherever. We don't care how they listen long
as they listen. And that's really the key.
I think that's a wrap on this episode.
Thanks for tuning in. And of course, remember,
talking about your podcast doesn't mean
turning into a salesperson.
And, most people don't like salespeople anyway. It
just means sharing something you care about in
(09:57):
a way that connects with people.
We encourage you to lead with curiosity, use
storytelling over promotion every time and to let
your passion do most of the talking.
And more importantly, don't forget, Blueberry gives you
the tools to promote your show naturally with
custom links, a free podcast website,
and socially friendly features
(10:17):
like Pod2Vid and all the other AI tools
we have for social promotion.
Be sure to follow or subscribe to Podcast
Insider for more tips, tools, and strategies to
help grow your show. Thank you. Thank you.
Happy podcasting.
Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.
And in the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com
for more information, to subscribe,
(10:39):
share, and read our show notes. To check
out the latest suite of services and learn
how Blueberry can help you leverage your podcast,
visit blueberry.com.
That's Blueberry without the e's because we can't
afford them.
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