When does a private podcast make sense?

When should a podcast be private? In this episode of Podcasting Q&A, we explain when a private podcast makes sense, who can benefit from it, and how it can be a great tool for your niche audience. You'll also learn when keeping your podcast public may be the better strategy and what to consider before making that decision. 

If you have questions about creating a private podcast, reach out to us on the Podcaster Success team by emailing [e-mail]. 

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Have a topic or question we should address on a future episode? Text us or email the Buzzsprout Podcaster Success Team at [e-mail].

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Episode Transcript

Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you
by the people at Buzzsprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
Each week we answer yourquestions.
So if you have a question thatyou'd like answered on a future

(00:21):
episode, send it to me using theSend Us Fan mail link in the
show notes.
Today, we're talking aboutprivate podcasts.
Our listener question says,I've heard some friends talk
about offering a private podcastto their listeners.
And now it has me wondering,when does a private podcast make
sense?
I love this question.

(00:43):
It really opens our minds tothink outside the box when it
comes to how we're using ourpodcast to connect with our
listeners.
When it comes to offering aprivate podcast, there are many
ways to approach this.
In some ways, offering acompletely private podcast is
the best way to serve youraudience.
And in other cases, it's bestto allow most of your content to

(01:04):
be available to the publicwhile only making a small
portion of your episodesprivate.
Since there are multiple waysto approach this, let's break it
down.
A fun way to offer a privatepodcast is to create something
people can't get anywhere else.
So we're thinking exclusivecontent for engaged listeners.
This is where private podcastscan provide an opportunity to

(01:26):
really connect with your alreadyengaged audience.
Your public podcast might bewhere people go to discover you,
but your private podcast iswhere listeners go to just get a
little bit more.
So what counts as exclusive?
Maybe your public episodesanswer a big question while your
private episodes give listenersa deeper dive on the subject

(01:48):
you're covering.
An example here is say you havea podcast about reality TV in
general.
You could have private or bonusepisodes that review a specific
reality series, like, you know,that really popular one,
Survivor.
For most of your engagedlisteners, these niche review
episodes would be a real treat,but they're not necessary to be

(02:10):
included in your overall publiclisting.
You could also offer privateepisodes in the form of bonus
episodes or maybe extrainterviews or a
behind-the-scenes content.
You could offer the extendedcuts of your episodes and the
bloopers.
And you could even offerexclusive question and answer
episodes.
Like I said at the beginning,this can be offered as private

(02:33):
episodes within your publicfeed, or this could be offered
as a completely private podcast.
Basically, just think of thisas any content that you want to
say to your listeners, I'vecreated this just for you.
If you find yourself creatingcontent that is not necessarily
exclusive in nature, but youknow only a certain audience

(02:56):
would benefit from it, this maybe served best as a private
podcast.
So if you have a specific nicheaudience in mind, private
podcasts work really well.
So some examples of this wouldbe maybe employee trainings.
If you are a business owner andyou have new employees that are
onboarding into your companyand you really need to get a lot

(03:17):
of information to them, butit's way too much for a
PowerPoint or an email, youcould create a private podcast.
It's information they need, butyou want them to be able to
consume it passively, maybe evenduring their commute to work.
Offering a private podcast inthis way means that you're only
sending it to the people whowould really benefit from it.

(03:37):
There's no need to list this onApple Podcasts and have new
subscribers.
You are sending the link tothose who would benefit most
from the information there.
Another way of offering aprivate podcast is if you are a
coach of some sort and you haveclients that would benefit from
the content that you'recreating.
You could actually use this tomonetize your podcast.

(03:59):
So you don't want to add theseexclusive episodes that are
recorded for your clients, butinstead you can create a private
podcast and then put it behinda paywall so that your paying
clients have access to thisprivate information in the form
of a podcast.
A private podcast can also be areally great tool if, say,

(04:21):
you're a classroom teacher andyou have students who would
really benefit from receivingthe lessons that you're teaching
over multiple podcast episodes.
So this is a great use of aprivate podcast that isn't
available to the public, butthat can be sent to the students
who need it most.
So if you know the exactaudience that you're creating
your content for, a privatepodcast or even private episodes

(04:44):
makes a lot of sense.
One thing I want to advisehere, if you are thinking about
creating a private podcast, is Iwant you to be really
intentional with why you areoffering the private podcast and
also the implementation.
Just because you've heard ofpodcasters offering private
podcasts does not mean thatthat's the best route for your
audience.
Private does not always meanbetter.

(05:05):
If your content could helpsomeone discover your podcast,
grow your audience, or answer aquestion that your ideal
listener is searching for, it'sactually better to keep it
public and accessible to anyonewho's looking.
Just like creating a publicpodcast, you really need to
spend some time identifying yourwhy.
So why are you making thispodcast private?

(05:26):
Who are you serving?
Who is the audience?
And what are the benefits ofremoving this podcast from the
public listings and onlyoffering it in a private manner?
You also need to consider yourworkload here.
So if you're already strugglingto publish your regular podcast
consistently, then adding aprivate form of your podcast may
not be the best next step.

(05:48):
If you'd like to create someexclusivity around your podcast,
consider repurposing some ofyour existing content and making
that private.
A good rule of thumb is ifcreating any more content is
going to leave you feelingoverwhelmed, then it is
completely okay to skip it.
Give yourself that permission.
So naturally, the next questionhere is okay, I've given this

(06:11):
some thought.
I have identified my why, and Ithink a private podcast would
be best for me, but how do Iactually offer one?
We're actually going to coverthat on a future podcasting QA
episode.
We're going to look atdifferent ways you can offer
your private podcast, includingmaking it completely free,
putting episodes behind asubscription or a paywall, or
even offering it as a part of aprivate community.

(06:34):
So if you're considering aprivate podcast, make sure to
subscribe to Podcasting QA soyou don't miss it.
So if you have really stronganswers to questions like who
would benefit from this privatepodcast and can I handle the
workload that comes with it,then a private podcast could be
a great addition to yourpodcasting strategy.
And if you don't, that's okaytoo.

(06:56):
You can keep creating greatpublic content and focus on
growing the audience you alreadyhave.
If you have questions aboutoffering a private podcast,
reach out to us on the podcastersuccess team by emailing
support at buzzsprout.com.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.