I used to be a pastor. I still am, technically… I’m just not working as a pastor right now. I was a pastor to children and though there are things about ministry I don’t miss, there is quite a bit that I do. You want a list? I’ll give you a list.
Things I miss:
While there is no “best” way to get people to subscribe to your podcast from your website there are things you can do to make the option to do so more obvious.
Here are the things I’ve done to help site visitors to subscribe to my podcast, offering subscription options, not pop-ups and other guerrilla tactics.
I don’t know where I heard this, but someone at Amazon once said something to the effect of, “They should be able to buy something on every page.” It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not… it’s good advice. I apply it to my site by saying, “They should be able to subscribe to my podcast from every page.” Here are some places I put subscribe options:
I added a tab above the navigation but below the header. It puts a call to action right at the top of the main page (only). You’ll also notice a line of subscription icons along the top of the sidebar. The key icons are iTunes, RSS and Email. The Email links to a MailChimp subscription form.
I have a Subscribe link in my main navigation bar. This is what it links to. I added a brief description of what subscribing is, then a text version of the sidebar icons. Here I also directed folks to the option of listening on the website by directing them to the podcast archives.
I added links to the various podcast listening apps that I have available as well.
Lastly I list out three alternative feeds. My main feed only holds the last 100 episodes. So we have a feed for episodes 1-100, 101-200, and 201-300 (that gets a new addition each week).
Using a great plug-in called Shortcode Exec PHP I can add a short bit of code and have all of the text shown above automatically added. This is great because if this information ever changes, I edit it one time, in the settings of the plugin, and every page using the short code is updated.
You’ll see that I have repeated much of the content on the Subscribe page… but tightened it up for space reasons.
Between the main page header, sidebar, the subscribe page and the text added under every episode post I feel like I’ve got everything covered. You can literally subscribe to Nobody’s Listening from any page on the site.
I tend to obsess about my website… but from what I have gathered in 7 years of podcasting most of my subscriptions come directly from iTunes (to the tune of 98%) and most of my audience have experienced the show without ever coming to the website. So any stress you might feel about not having your website setup to attract new subscribers… get your house in order… but don’t lose any sleep over it.
Thought I’ve done a clean comedy podcast called Nobody’s Listening and a marriage and family podcast called Geek Loves Nerd and finally this here children’s ministry podcast called Children’s Ministry Monthly… I’ve always wanted to do a show for kids.
Jenna and I have been doing little shows here and there over the past couple of years called JennaCasts… but they were just bonus shows added to the Geek Loves Nerd podcast feed. Recently we’ve decided to split off and combine my daughter’s love of talking with my desire to produce a podcast for children.
Podcast Kid is a podcast for kids that focuses on topics that matter to kids ages 3-8. It’s a weekly half-hour show that features conversations, advice, silly songs and stories from Jenna, her Dad and Mom and a silly clown called JoJo.
Go check out Podcast Kid and if you like it, share it with some kids you know!
I have a Marriage & Family podcast/blog/webcomic over at GeekLovesNerd.com. I do (almost) daily writings on issues that matter to married couples, parents and to those hoping to be in a marriage some day. It’s fun.
I wanted to share a series I’m doing on Proper Discipline. It’s basically the same stuff you can get from the Proper Discipline Audio Series I did here on CMMonthly a while back… but in print format… and for parents rather than the classroom.
I’d love your input and feedback!
10. Hosts who read their iTunes reviews as a segment… or even better, to start off their whole show.
9. Jokes that only the hosts get… not even regular listeners.
8. Um… (dead air) um… ah. Ummmm.
7. Hosts talking about technical glitches forever.
6. Hosts that talk like they’re bored out of their mind. Why should I care if you don’t?
5. Shows with no discernable format between episodes.
4. Shows that go on for over an hour, but have the content of a 15-30 minute show.
3. Hosts that talk to people off mic that aren’t in the show. It’s so fun hearing one side of a conversation!
2. When the host sounds like he’s recording in the middle of a echo chamber standing about 10 feet from the mic.
1. Heavy breathing and mouth noises… like smacking. *shiver*
I was recently interviewed by Josh from The Broken Mug podcast. They asked me a lot of questions about the day-to-day of children’s ministry and I feel it would be a benefit to our listeners.