SPECIAL EDITION: Something new for serious podcast producers
A new mastermind group for independent podcast production company owners/freelancers.
Today’s email is a little different.
For the past year (almost!) writing The Podcast Tech Stack, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with podcast producers, hosts, and operators trying to answer the same question:
How do you actually grow a podcast right now?
Not theoretically. Not “post clips on TikTok.” Real, repeatable audience growth.
I’ve built some lists and stacks around it - from my comprehensive growth toolbook to smaller individual tools like how to better grow your podcast during conference season.
What I’ve noticed though, is the people running serious podcasts or small solopreneur producers rarely have a room where they can compare notes.
EVERYONE is experimenting with growth… newsletter funnels, cross-promo, paid acquisition, search, Apple features, guest strategies, monetization… but most of those lessons stay siloed inside individual shows.
So I’m building something to fix that.
I’m launching a small, curated community for independent podcast producers called:
Pretty sick logo, right? Just kidding.
Anyhow, the idea is simple.
A private room for people actually responsible for growing podcasts to share tactics, experiments, and lessons learned.
Inside we’ll focus on things like:
• audience growth strategies
• newsletter funnels for podcasts
• cross-promotion between shows
• monetization and sponsorship strategies
• tools and workflows
• growth experiments and breakdowns
I’ll also host regular office hours and growth critiques where members can submit their show for feedback.
The goal is to make this the place where serious podcast operators compare notes.
To start, I’m keeping the first group intentionally small… about 10-20 producers.
Not because of scarcity marketing but because communities only work when the room is right.
If you run, produce, or are responsible for growing a podcast and want to be part of the first group, you can apply here by sending me an email at cody@troutstreamstudios.com
A few things about the community:
• It’s curated (not everyone will get in)
• It’s focused on operators, not beginners
• It’s designed to be highly engaged, not massive
If it works the way I hope it will, this becomes a place where producers can learn faster, experiment smarter and grow shows together.
More soon.