Behind the scenes at a large media network

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity, and for more than a decade, they have been one of my favorite ways to consume content.  There are all kinds of shows that I listen to regularly, and many of the practical ideas that I’ve implemented in my life and business over the past decade were inspired by what I heard on the podcasts I listen to.

Soon after I started listening to podcasts, I got the bug to begin creating content myself.  My first show was about the principles of healthy leadership.  I really enjoyed creating that content and eventually published the book “Intentional Leadership” based on the content I shared in those episodes.

After several months of producing that show, I started recording the first of several faith-based podcasts.  Those shows caught on in a major way and continue to be an area of focus for me at present.  In 2023, I was invited to join the LifeAudio podcasting network, a popular network run by the Salem Media Group.  They are actively partnering together with me to increase the reach of those shows and serve a broader audience than ever before.

Several times a year, I have meetings with the leaders at Salem.  We talk about how the shows are doing and discuss ideas and plans for their ongoing growth.  If you’re in the process of building an online platform, even if podcasting isn’t part of your plan, I thought you might be interested in learning more about what was discussed at our most recent meeting.  I think you’ll find it particularly insightful.

One of the things I appreciate about working with Salem is that they have a big vision.  They aren’t trying to do just one thing.  They understand that in the world of media, it’s helpful to offer content in multiple ways.  That’s something I emphasize in Platform Launchers as well.  That’s why we talk about releasing content in written form, audio form, and video form at the same time.  Salem is doing the exact same thing which is one of the reasons I enjoy working with them.

As they laid out a strategy for the growth of my shows, that strategy involved making sure my shows were connected to their different websites and other forms of content they were producing.  

For instance, several months ago, I noticed a huge spike in downloads of the “Dwell On These Things” podcast.  On a daily basis, I was hitting new download records, and that growth seemed to come out of the blue.  I soon learned that Salem decided to embed one of my episodes on a highly visited page of one of their popular websites.  That decision to embed the show contributed to roughly 70,000 downloads in the next 7-10 days.  In light of that successful experiment, Salem plans to do more of that.

Here are a few other aspects of their approach.  As I share these, tell me if some of them sound familiar to you.  These are the types of things we recommend around here all the time.  If you aren’t implementing ideas like these, I’d encourage you to give some of them a try.

1.  They updated my bio on Christianity.com to include an embedded player that links to my “Chapter-A-Day Audio Bible” podcast.

2.  Each week, they are taking the blog post I share at my site, BibleStudyHeadquarters.com, and importing it over to their website with a few minor formatting edits.  At the end of their post, they are creating a backlink back to my website, which helps with domain authority and increased traffic.  They are also sharing an embedded player that features the most recent episode of “Dwell On These Things.”

3.  Their newsletter reaches millions of people each week.  On occasion, they will be dedicating space to highlight one of my shows or one of my blog posts.

4.  On the front page of Christianity.com, they are featuring me as a contributor.  They are also placing the cover art to one of my shows across the bottom of the page.  They are doing this at Crosswalk.com as well.

5.  They asked me to record a brief ad for my book “Walking in Wisdom.”  I’m giving digital copies of the book away at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com, and the ad I recorded is going to be played on their network to encourage people to head to my website to grab a free copy of the book.  When readers grab a free copy, they’ll also begin receiving my weekly online devotion in their inbox which gives me the opportunity to build long-term connections with people who download the book.

As we discussed all these things, I mentioned to them that I was pleased and impressed with how they run their media enterprise.  They follow the approach that I’m convinced works best.  They make the effort to provide valuable content in various ways, through regularly updated websites and online portals.  Their content is relevant, fresh, easy to access, and delivered consistently without fail.  That’s the approach that I’m convinced will work for just about anyone who decides to build an online platform.

I also expressed my appreciation for the fact that they ethically monetize what they do.  It’s costly to do what they do.  There are all kinds of expenses involved, but those expenses can be paid through the funds they’re raising through advertising and business partnerships.  That also frees them up to be able to hire people to manage much of what they do.

So that’s a little “behind the scenes” of what it’s been like to work with a large media company.  Please notice their patterns and approach.  This is the kind of approach we should all consider if we’re trying to build message-based online platforms that reach people in multiple ways.

© John Stange, 2024