Episode Transcript
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Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to
Podcasting QA, brought to you by
the people at Bus Bro.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
I am so excited about today'sepisode for a couple of reasons.
(00:20):
But the first being, we areanswering a question that was
sent in through our fan mailfeature from Sacramento,
California.
One of our real podcasting QAlisteners wrote in and is asking
how to relaunch your podcast.
That's so appropriate becausewe actually just relaunched this
(00:40):
podcast, podcasting QA.
And I got to walk through thatprocess.
And I actually had a lot ofhelp from Albin, who is the head
of our marketing department.
And that is who is here with metoday to help tackle this
question.
So, y'all, I hope can hear theexcitement in my voice, but this
is going to be a really funepisode.
Let's go ahead and tackle thisquestion together.
(01:03):
Albin, thank you for taking thetime to be here with me.
Alban Brooke (01:06):
Thanks for having
me, Cara.
Cara Pacetti (01:08):
Okay, so Alban,
there is a difference between
rebranding your podcast andrelaunching your podcast.
Before we dive into this, canyou just explain the difference
in those two?
Alban Brooke (01:18):
Sure.
We've actually done both withthis podcast.
So I'll use these as anexample.
Rebranding is when you realizethe brand for the podcast
doesn't really fit the contentanymore.
And so you're changing thingslike maybe the title, you're
might be changing artwork, thedescription, and you're just
taking the show in a differentway.
So the show has grown out ofthe brand that you initially had
(01:42):
for it.
This show, I don't know, sevenyears ago used to be called Five
Minute Mondays.
That didn't make sense becausenobody knew what five minute
Mondays was about.
They didn't know if it wasballet tips or if it was about
the gardening or if it was aboutpodcasting.
And so we went, okay, we need abetter name.
And then we came up withpodcasting QA because that felt,
oh, that's much closer to whatwe're actually uh talking about.
(02:06):
So we rebranded to podcastingQA.
What you just redid, what youjust did was a relaunch.
And a relaunch is when a showmight go on hiatus, maybe you
just weren't loving it and soyou stopped for a while, and
then you come back and you go,ah, this is the time to get back
(02:27):
into podcasting.
Well, that's a relaunch.
And so it's exciting to kind ofdifferentiate this for some
people because rebranding canhappen just in the middle of
podcasting.
Relaunching is when a show haskind of gone away for a bit and
you're trying to bring it back.
Cara Pacetti (02:43):
Great explanation.
That really clears things up.
I kind of think of a rebrand asvery obvious changes.
Like we are changing audience,even.
I mean, we're talking maybe todifferent people, totally new
content.
And I feel like a relaunch,when it comes to any changes
that you're making, are like alittle bit subtle, uh, maybe
more known to the podcaster thanthe listener.
Alban Brooke (03:03):
Right.
Because you know why the showkind of podfaded for a little
bit.
And in that relaunch, you'regoing, okay, we gotta kind of
think through why did the showstop coming out for a bit?
For this show, we were doingpodcasting QA as an audio
podcast.
And then eventually we said,what if we also added on a video
(03:24):
component?
And then we went, what if wehad multiple hosts who did the
video component?
And the show got bigger andbigger and bigger.
We went, Oh, this is easy thisis too much.
Yeah.
And what it ended up being waspodcasting QA was the piece we
went, I think that can go onhiatus.
And then an opportunity came upwhere you're doing all the
lives and loving it, and said,Oh, it'd be fun if I also added
(03:48):
on like a podcasting component.
When now we go, Oh, that's nota new podcast.
You could actually take thisone we have had for a long time.
Let's relaunch that podcast.
Cara Pacetti (03:57):
Yeah, this was an
exciting uh new project for me.
And so I've been honored tocarry on this already very
successful podcast.
We see value in this podcast,even when it was paused.
Listeners were still activelylistening to episodes.
And so I want to bring up thatpoint, though, about historic
episodes.
With a relaunch, you may have aback catalog of many, many
(04:18):
episodes.
Alban, what do we look for todecide?
Do those need to stay live andavailable?
Or when would we archive thoseand say, nope, we need to take
those off the feed and unpublishthose episodes?
What are some of thoseidentifying factors, would you
say?
Alban Brooke (04:34):
I think uh my
default is keep it.
And the reason is a lot oftimes people will take stuff
offline because they'reembarrassed and they go, oh, I
used to not be as good as I amnow.
You know, I my mic techniquewas bad, and so you can hear it
here in this spot.
And so we're always theharshest critics of ourselves.
And so we go back and we wantto take them all offline.
Cara Pacetti (04:54):
Yeah.
Alban Brooke (04:54):
Now, if there is
something out there that's going
to get traffic and is wrong, goahead and re-record it, maybe
take it offline.
But even um Buzzcast, we've gotepisodes that are about you
know, changes that Apple made in2018.
Well, those changes have beenchanged two more times since
then, but those episodes arestill kind of a historic record
(05:17):
of what was going on in 2018.
So I feel comfortable leavingeven those episodes out there.
Cara Pacetti (05:24):
That's such a
great point.
And I think most podcastersback up their episodes on their
local hard drives, but somedon't.
Hopefully.
I was gonna say, hopefully, youare backing up your content.
But if you're not, they mayonly be live on your RSS feed.
And so you're right, don'tremove it, and especially as a
relaunch, it kind of plays intolook at what I've done and then
(05:45):
look where we're going now.
With any relaunch, there aregoing to be some changes.
Like Alban said, podcasting QAhas gone through a rebrand and
now a relaunch.
And one thing that we changedwas the host.
And so we started with Travisfor five minute Mondays and then
it got passed on to Jordan.
And now I get to hostpodcasting QA.
(06:06):
And that was a staffing change,that was a workload change.
So that one was kind of obviousfor us.
But Alban, what are some otherthings that might change in a
relaunch?
Alban Brooke (06:16):
So obviously,
hosts can change, formats can
change, you can change uh theepisode publishing frequency,
maybe the length.
Some podcasts just realize thatgoing all in on quality and
publishing once a month is thebest way for them to create
great content.
Others realize the weeklycadence is right for them and
(06:38):
they'd rather have a little bittighter episodes once a week.
Find out what works for you.
Cara Pacetti (06:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's kind of the pointI was making in the beginning
that maybe the frequency ischanging, or maybe you started
as a question and answerepisode.
And I actually, on a recentepisode of Buzzcast, uh, I heard
Dave Jackson say he created apodcast expecting it to be a QA.
And then he said, We didn't getany questions because we had no
(07:03):
A or no audience.
And I loved that.
So maybe that's how you startedyour podcast, but now you need
to revisit it and actually buildup that audience before you can
incorporate that component.
And so maybe that's what'schanging.
Um and that would be perfectfor a relaunch.
So really identifying where youwant your podcast to go and how
you're gonna get there is thatlegwork you need to do
(07:25):
beforehand before you actuallygo live with it.
Alban Brooke (07:28):
So we've
identified why we're relaunching
a show.
Then we've identified what'sthe solution so that this
doesn't happen again, what'sgonna change?
What's the third step?
I mean, I imagine it's gotta bewe're going to launch this
show.
Cara Pacetti (07:41):
Exactly.
So the first two steps wereconceptual.
Now we're into action.
So the first step for us wasactually recording and
publishing a trailer, whichactually, Alban, you and I saw
differently on this.
So I wanted to record a trailerbecause I knew that I was gonna
be a brand new voice forpodcasting QA.
And I wanted to just say, hey,I'm new, I'm Cara.
It's gonna be the same things,uh, same podcast, but you're
(08:05):
gonna hear a new voice and Imight offer a new perspective.
And so I just record atwo-minute trailer and then on
our launch date, publish thattrailer.
That was one way of doing it.
Alban, do you have another kindof method for whether or not to
incorporate a trailer for arelaunch?
Alban Brooke (08:21):
I mean, my default
is often just do the thing you
want to do.
And if what you want to do isrelaunch the show and you've got
an idea of what it is, I justsay record one episode and
launch it and see if it's anygood.
See if you enjoy it, see ifother people like it, and you
can just skip kind of to thatfinal step.
(08:41):
With relaunching a podcast, andyou were this is the first
podcast you were gonna take, uhmy default was more on the I
don't know, do you know if youreally like this?
Why don't you just take an doan episode?
But you it sounded like youfelt like it's much more
comfortable to be a bit moremethodical, think through this,
come up with a handful ofepisodes, record, plan, and then
(09:06):
launch.
And lucky for us, you followthrough on all of that stuff.
So it actually happened.
Cara Pacetti (09:13):
No analysis
paralysis here, yeah.
But that is such a great point.
So once you've recorded thetrailer, you want to make sure
that your podcast is available.
So if it is hosted with apodcast host and your content is
on an RSS feed, you want tomake sure all of your listening
directories are up to date sothat when you do publish that
new episode, your listeners willhear it.
(09:35):
And so you want to go throughall of your directories, make
sure that your historic episodesare there.
And then another thing toconsider is are there any new
directories that have popped upsince your podcast was on pause?
I know YouTube is now acceptingRSS feeds, and that was within
the last two years.
And so maybe that's an optionnow.
(09:55):
You want to go ahead and getyour podcast listed on YouTube
and so that when you do startposting new episodes, it's
available for your listenersthere.
And then really the last stepis to get the word out.
That's really the last step inrelaunching your podcast.
So, Alban, what are your go-toways for advertising and
sharing?
We are back.
Alban Brooke (10:15):
I mean, the first
is to release an episode because
hopefully uh people's podcastapps are still following your
feed.
And if they are, they'll getthat episode.
And so you can just be honestin the trailer or the episode
and say, hey, we're relaunchingthis podcast, we're coming back,
here's what's changing.
Thanks for sticking with us,you're the best, and move on to
(10:36):
the content.
Beyond that, you can startsharing stuff on social media or
in your community groups orjust in your friend group.
Because you may have friendsand family that weren't
subscribed or dropped off, um,people who follow you on social
media who never knew you had apodcast.
And just depending on how longit's been, it's a great
(10:58):
opportunity to say, I did thisshow, I took a pause, I'm coming
back.
I'd love for you to check itout.
Share it on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn seems to be a goodplace for podcasting now.
Cara Pacetti (11:10):
That's good to
know.
Yeah, I I do know it's a littledifficult with social media,
but in general, podcasting is somuch still word of mouth.
Like when you hear a greatpodcast, you share it with your
friends.
And so, like you said, thatfirst step of just re-release
your content, start publishingnew episodes, get it out there.
If your listeners are lovingit, they're gonna share it.
(11:32):
And so that is a great way.
And especially with a relaunch,it's a little easier because,
like you said, hopefully youhave listeners or followers who
have been subscribed this wholetime and your show is in their
library, they're just waitingfor new content to be released.
So when you're ready torelaunch your podcast, you first
want to determine why are yourelaunching and why did it stop
(11:53):
in the first place?
You want to make sure yourdirectories are up to date and
you're listed there.
And then the third step, go forit.
Publish your first episode andjust start producing new
content.
I hope that it soundsencouraging and not
intimidating.
You can do this.
Alban, do you have anything toadd to that?
Alban Brooke (12:12):
Oh, just throw it
out there and you know, people
are gonna be excited that you'reback.
If someone's been subscribed,there's so many podcasts that I
still hold on to them in mypodcast player, and they just
sit there in this folder that'slike all these dead podcasts
that I loved at one point.
And one released an episodeafter two years of being gone,
(12:34):
and I listened to it that nightbecause I was so excited that
they were back.
So you might be that podcastersomebody, you probably are.
Release the content.
Don't be embarrassed.
It's exciting to come back andtry something new.
And you know, if it works outthis time, that's gonna be so
exciting for everybody who'sstuck with you.
Cara Pacetti (12:53):
Love that.
Yes.
And if you have any questionsabout relaunching your podcast
or any questions aboutpodcasting at all, you can
always reach out to us byemailing us at support at
buzzsprout.com.
If you have a question thatyou'd like to see answered on a
future podcasting QA episodelike this one, please click the
send us a text link in the shownotes.
(13:15):
I was so excited to get thisfan mail and to answer it.
And so, my listener fromSacramento, California, if you
are listening to this, pleaseshoot me another fan mail and
let me know uh that you heard itbecause I was excited to answer
your question.
Albin, thank you again forjoining me on this episode.
It was really fun answeringthis question with you.
Alban Brooke (13:35):
Well, it's great
being here.
And everyone, send Cara somemore questions, help her keep
this show going so we don't haveto relaunch it in the future.
Cara Pacetti (13:43):
It's been really
fun.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.