Sponsored by
This issue is sponsored by NaPodPoMo, National Podcast Post Month.
Want a way to organize all those sponsorship leads? This is the one, hon.
A CRM so smart, it updates itself.
HubSpot's CRM is so smart, it now updates itself. Calls get logged and summarized the moment they end. New leads get researched and a first outreach drafted, automatically. Deals move forward on their own, with next steps flagged before you have to ask.
Even the one repetitive task you've been meaning to fix can now run itself, no code required. Customers using it are already seeing the difference.
This isn't the CRM you have to work hard to figure out. It's the one already working before you log in.
THIS WEEK'S LESSON
Thirty episodes. Thirty days. Starting Sunday.
I have been podcasting since 2013. I co-founded a podcasting community with now 20,000 members. I've been a guest on more shows than I can keep track of.
And I have never done NaPodPoMo. Not once.
NaPodPoMo is National Podcast Post Month. Jennifer Navarrete started it in 2007 with one question: what happens if podcasters publish 30 episodes in 30 days? This is year 19. It's free, and it runs November 1 through 30.
The rules are generous. Publish every day, batch record on weekends, or release all 30 at 11:58pm on November 30. Hit 30 by the end of the month and you did it. (I appreciate a challenge with a built-in procrastinator clause.)
This year I'm going to attempt 30 posts in 30 days. Where and how? No idea yet. (Very on-brand for a challenge that lets you release everything on the last day.) I'll post the link in next week's issue so you can watch me sweat. I’m calling the series I Am Ungrateful, and I’m going to be sharing thoughts on all kinds of things - toxic positivity, unpopular opinions, and things that are broken that can’t wait too long to be fixed - in my life, and possibly yours.
Full disclosure, NaPodPoMo is sponsoring this issue (and has sponsored this last month). If you've been reading along, that's exactly the kind of sponsor I keep telling you to go find: specific, a perfect fit for the people reading, and something I'd be recommending anyway.
Most podcasters I know spend more time deciding things than making things. Which host. Which day. How long. Whether the intro music is too long. I've done this myself for the last two years. None of that matters. Like, at all. Thirty episodes in thirty days doesn't leave room to agonize. You make one, you put it out, you make the next. By episode 12 you'll know more about your show than six months of planning would have told you.
And because this is the Podcast Moneymaker, I'm not letting you make 30 episodes for free.
This week's sponsor: National Podcast Post Month
NaPodPoMo starts Sunday, November 1. Thirty episodes by November 30, any way you get there: daily, batched, or all at once on the last day. It's free, it's in its 19th year, and it welcomes brand-new podcasters and old hands alike. Start a new show, revive an old feed, or try a mini-series that complements the show you already have.
I'm doing it too. Join me!
GET PAID FOR YOUR 30
Five ways to make November pay
None of them involve download numbers.
Sell the whole month. A daily show makes a great sponsor package: one presenting sponsor, 30 mentions, and one flat fee. Pitch someone who already knows you, like a local shop, a colleague's course, or the coach you always refer people to. When I had Lady Business Radio, my sponsors were women business owners I already knew, and I had about 2,000 downloads.
Interview your sponsor wish list. Need 30 episodes of material? Book quick 15-minute interviews with the companies and people you'd love to have as sponsors later. You get content, they get exposure, and in December your pitch is a follow-up with someone who's already been on your show.
Free in November, paid in December. If your 30 episodes teach one thing step by step, you just recorded a course. Leave it free during the challenge, then move it to a private feed or bundle it with the transcripts and sell it.
One call to action, 30 times. Pick ONE thing: your newsletter, your freebie, or your offer. Mention it in every episode. That's 30 chances for someone to hear it on the day they're finally ready.
Turn the transcripts into a product. Thirty transcripts is a workbook, an e-book, or a tip-a-day email course waiting to happen. Run them through AI, clean them up, and sell it for $12. Ask me how I know.
THE PLAYBOOK
How to finish without hating your microphone:
Pick your container. A mini-series, a new show, a bonus feed, or an old feed you're reviving. If your main show has loyal listeners, think twice before dropping 30 episodes into their app in one month. A separate series or season keeps everybody happy. (I’ll be using Substack but repurposing on other channels)
Keep them short. Five to ten minutes counts. Nobody said 30 hour-long interviews.
Write 30 titles before Sunday. Just the titles, no scripts yet. The prompt below does it in about a minute.
Batch when you can. Record three on a good day so a bad day doesn't sink you.
Choose one money idea from the list above. Just one. You can try another in December.
Tell people. Use #NaPodPoMo, join the Facebook group, and post your progress. Accountability is half the point.
Hit reply with the word IN and tell me what you're making. I'll be cheering for you all month, and you'll see mine next week.
AI PROMPT OF THE WEEK
ASK AI:
"I'm doing NaPodPoMo: 30 podcast episodes in 30 days during November. My show is about ______ for ______. Each episode will be about ___ minutes. I want the series to lead listeners toward [my newsletter / my freebie / my offer]. Give me 30 episode titles in a logical order, one sentence on what each covers, and mark the 3 episodes that would make the most natural lead-in to my call to action. Keep the titles short and specific, nothing that sounds like a textbook."
YOUR NOVEMBER SIDEKICK
The Podcaster's AI Playbook
Thirty episodes means 30 sets of show notes, 30 titles, and 30 social posts. That's a lot of blank pages.
The Podcaster's AI Playbook has 28 copy-and-paste prompts for every stage of your show, from episode ideas to show notes to sponsor pitches. It's built in Canva, so it's yours to edit and keep. $12.
See you on the feed.
Until next week,
Jess
P.S. Want to hear what NaPodPoMo sounds like before you commit? There's a MEGA Feed of episodes from past participants at NaPodPoMo.org. Fun fact: the very first year had about 50 podcasters. Nineteen years later, people are still proving you don't need a perfect plan to start.