Podcasting for a Cause: Using Your Show for Awareness or Advocacy – PCI 463

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Hey, everyone. I am Dave Clements, customer relations

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and media specialist here at Blueberry.

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And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist at Blueberry.

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Today, we're diving into how podcasters can turn

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their passion into a purpose

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and what to keep in mind when representing

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sensitive issues or vulnerable communities. Yeah. Podcasting is

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this really personal

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thing. When you're recording an episode,

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your voice lives in the ears of your

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listener, and that is gonna build

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trust. And I think a lot

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of great podcasts that are out there are

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advocacy driven shows,

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which is what we're gonna talk about today.

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You're listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike

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Dell, Dave Clements, and Mackenzie Bennett from the

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Blueberry team, bringing you weekly insights, advice, and

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insider tips and tricks to help you start,

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grow, and thrive through podcasting with all the

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support of your team here at Blueberry Podcasting.

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Welcome.

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Let's dive in.

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It's one of those things that it's very

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easy to

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reach your niche audience.

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Advocacy

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can can really get down into the weeds

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about some stuff. It can be as broad

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or as small as you want it to

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be.

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This is really a good way to do

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that. And, also, it is still a private

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way of consuming media.

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It's definitely not like a public one that's

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shown on your TV

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or your shared laptop necessarily

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or books on the shelf

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in your house

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or in your bag. This is available directly

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on your phone. So you can listen to

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whatever it is that you want with hopefully

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or potentially no repercussions in that matter.

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So it's creating a space

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for the personal stories and that deeper

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context that you're trying to reach with listeners.

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In the years I've been doing support, we've

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had

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several

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advocacy podcasts

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that have contacted us for various reasons. And

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to me, they're always interesting people to talk

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to because these are, like, very personal

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stories that they're sharing

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with

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the audience or maybe they're interviewing people or

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things like that.

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And

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that comes across even,

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like, on a support side, just the way

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that they interact with you, the way you

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interact with them.

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And you learn a lot about

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the best way to communicate with people who

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are talking about sensitive subjects.

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We've had a lot of cancer podcasts, a

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lot of health related or mental health related

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podcasts

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contact us.

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And some of the things that I've noticed

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with the way that they speak in their

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episodes and just in person is they're really

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looking

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out for the consent of the person that

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they're talking to,

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making sure that all of the data that

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they're passing back and forth is accurate,

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and trying to avoid, like, any unintentional

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or intentional

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trauma,

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exploitation,

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or anything like that. The they're very interesting

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people to talk to. They're very mindful, much

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more mindful than I think I am.

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Yeah. It's a really great way to

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give people who might feel underrepresented

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or their cause,

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whatever that may be. It gives them a

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platform, and it also gives them what I

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would think

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in the context of media is an affordable

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one.

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Besides picking up your phone for a social

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media platform

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and doing something there or a website,

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this is something that easily goes along with

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that and can actually

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help organize and convert the listeners that you

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have into real supporters or volunteers of whatever

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it is that you're trying to do. If

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you're trying to do your your cancer five

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k or something like that as an easy

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way to call out those people and say,

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hey. We need your help. This is where

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we're gonna be. That type of stuff. But,

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also,

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there's the privacy

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is still there. You can learn about the

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demographics of who is listening to your show,

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but also listeners can rest assured that their

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listening habits are not gonna be shared with

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anyone besides the host of the show,

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besides whoever is paying for this account with

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Blueberry,

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and that all of that is private and

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that we don't share

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any of that information whatsoever.

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So I think it's just

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a great way to do whatever kind of

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show you feel needs to be out there.

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Yeah. I think that's important.

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Just conveying that with sensitive topics,

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you're in really good hands and safe hands,

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even if you are just a listener,

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that nobody's gonna take advantage of you because

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you're listening to this specific type of show.

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And I think we're being vague because there

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are so many

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different kinds of advocacy driven podcasts,

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and a lot of them can be very

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sensitive. Mhmm. Like you said, this is a

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safe space where you can put your earbuds

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in and

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work through something that you're going through, whether

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that's a health

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thing, a relationship. I think it's a very

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niche

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genre, I guess. I don't even know if

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you'd call it a genre, but I think

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it's overlooked.

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I personally don't know a lot about advocacy

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podcast, but like I said, we have talked

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to

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advocacy

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driven podcasters.

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And I'm always very interested in

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how they got

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into doing this kind of show because I've

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always looked at

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podcasting as, for me at least, it's always

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been more entertainment driven

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or even information driven, and this is even

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more niche information

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driven.

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Yeah. I think it's really when you get

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down to the weeds of whatever it is

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that you are passionate about. And like you

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said before, the

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why do they want to advocate for this?

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What happened to them in their own lives

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that is causing them to want to do

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a podcast where they can advocate for

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their chosen topic?

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Why do you wanna do a show about

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domestic violence? Why do you wanna do a

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show about

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something that is happening in the world right

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now? These are all things that are very

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personal to people, and that's something that podcasting

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has always been,

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is personal. But that does lead us into

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the next part of this is some best

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practices for responsible storytelling

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within

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podcasting in general, but specifically, it does just

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talking about advocate

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podcast. And the purpose of it comes the

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responsibility

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of what you're saying out there.

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So for telling stories ethically, we wanna encourage

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you to prioritize

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consent

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and accuracy,

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avoid trauma, exploitation,

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and sensationalism.

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There's definitely

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some true crime that I will say

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crosses that line sometimes.

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And you wanna center the people in the

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communities affected and not glorify things necessarily. And

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lastly, follow-up with real resources and actionable

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next steps. That's my biggest thing for a

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scenario such as this. Yeah. I think that

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those are really good points. And even expanding

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that into building out, like, show notes or

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downloadables and things like that for your episodes

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that have helpful links and resources that people

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can access

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securely, privately, that kind of thing. I think

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that's really good. And that kinda leads us

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into partnering,

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not just with your community, but other organizations.

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I think as podcasters,

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a lot of us are especially indie podcasters.

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That's a lot of Blueberry customers.

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We're doing a lot of things on our

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own. We're wearing multiple hats,

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and

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I think it's really easy

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to feel like you're carrying

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the entire weight. Like, this is solely your

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mission to put out this show, but that's

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not really the case. So I think

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ways that you can strengthen

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your own advocacy and not have to shoulder

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everything

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is to look for nonprofit

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organizations that match up with your topic. There

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are a lot of them out there. I'm

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sure you could do a Google search. There's

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probably a repository

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somewhere

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that you could find. And

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in doing that, you can find

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subject matter experts that you could

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interview or just flat out just have a

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conversation. You don't even have to ask them

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questions. You can just dive into their specialty

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and come up with some really good content.

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You can also, from a marketing standpoint,

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create campaigns

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that are aligned with different days or months

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that would align with your topic. Work some

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of those things into campaigns

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that should come naturally, but maybe it doesn't.

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So that's an idea.

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And then, obviously, encourage your listeners

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to

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share your episodes with people that have that

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in common. That's how you build community.

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And I think that's how you

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avoid feeling like you have to carry the

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weight by yourself.

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Yeah. Podcasting is definitely something that can start

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out as just you and then evolve from

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there.

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There's definitely a lot of listeners out there

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who don't necessarily wanna be solely a listener.

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They will be

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a supporter, whether that is just word-of-mouth

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and consistently listening to your episodes

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or if that is saying, hey. I know

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how to produce. I know how to edit.

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I can do graphic design.

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I know so and so at

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this center that does that focuses on the

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same topic or they're like, I wanna be

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a guest on this show. It can really

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build like that. It's

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your listeners are there, and you're building that

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community.

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And

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we live in a world full of comments,

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I wanna say.

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People definitely will leave a comment on a

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video

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or

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or your post or whatever it is. So

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there's definitely ways that you can build this

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out and not have it just be you.

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And I think that's also very helpful in

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sustaining your show because doing it all by

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yourself is exhausting.

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And especially if you're doing it about a

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topic that is emotional in the sense that

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not just a positive one, that can really

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take it out of you faster than you

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think sometimes. So

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this is definitely a good way to prolong

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something like that happening to you. Overall, podcasting

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is very personal, and that's, I think, what

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makes it most powerful.

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We've seen a variety of shows over the

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years, and it's never gonna stop shows that

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are advocating for something, whether that is the

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most tragic thing you've ever heard of or

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the most exciting, joyful thing that has happened

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in the last year.

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I think podcasting is a great way to

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celebrate and support. Yeah. For sure. Build a

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community while you're doing it. It's not fun

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to do a lot of these things alone,

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so get out there and build something. Thanks

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for joining us. We can't wait to hear

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about the incredible advocacy and awareness that you

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do with your own voice.

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Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.

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And in the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com

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for more information,

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to subscribe,

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share, and read our show notes.

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To check out our latest suite of services

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and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage

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your podcast,

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visit blueberry.com.

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That's Blueberry without the e's. We couldn't afford

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the e's.