What the Barbie Movie Teaches About Podcasting

About this episode

I’m Andi Smiley, your friendly podcast guide. I help you create, launch, and grow a podcast that’s fun and fulfilling (and doesn’t burn you out). In this solo episode, I pull lessons from Barbie’s box office buzz and show you how to apply them to your own show—no pink heels required.

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Unedited transcript of the episode:

Do you remember the first time you heard about the Barbie movie? I do. I saw pictures of people in life-sized Barbie doll boxes in Los Angeles, at least I think it was Los Angeles. And this was way before the movie premiered, like months before it premiered the summer the Barbie movie came out.

It felt like we couldn’t do anything without running into some sort of promotion for the movie. And don’t get me wrong. I loved the movie. It was delightful. It made me laugh. It made me cry. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And not only was it a great movie, but it was hugely successful. According to NPR. It’s one of the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time. In my opinion, a lot of that had to do with the buildup for the movie. Now you might be wondering what this has to do with podcasting. Don’t worry.

I promise to explain what I learned about podcasting from the Barbie movie. In this episode.

Hi, I’m 📍 Andy smiley, your friendly podcast guide. I help you create launch and grow a podcast that is fun and fulfilling, whether you’re just starting or a few years in. I share tips stories from my own journey and insights from podcasters.

I admire. And this episode, I’m talking about one of the best things you can do to set your podcast up for success. And that is launching your podcast. And just as a reminder, at the end of the episode, if you only have the capacity to implement one thing that you learned, I’ll tell you what that one thing should be.

So you don’t have to feel overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start. So I’m going to start by telling you what it means to launch your podcast. If you’ve never heard of that before. I want to make sure that I cover that. So you don’t feel like Andy, what the heck are you talking about? So launching your podcast just means hyping it up before your first episode drops.

You are talking about your podcast. You’re giving behind the scenes looks and just helping people to get excited about your podcast before your first episode drops. So that when your first episode drops, people are already excited.

You’re not just starting to tell them about your podcast. They already know about it and they are ready and like chomping at the bit. To listen to your podcast. And the Barbie movie is a great example of why launching your podcast is such a good idea. Like I said in the intro. We all knew that the Barbie movie was coming and we knew months before it premiered that it was on its way. And that wasn’t just because of the trailer.

That was because of all of the other little things that they were doing too. Like all of the collaborations they were doing.

All of the interviews that the stars were doing, all of that was helping us to know that the Barbie movie was coming and that we should be excited to go and see it.

And you can do the same thing with your podcast. When you take the time to talk about your podcast before it comes out and hype it up and get people excited and show that you are excited about your podcast.

It will help more people learn about your podcast, know that it exists and be excited to experience it when it does finally come out.

And I know that this might sound a little crazy, but. I highly recommend taking at least a month to launch your podcast. And to take a month to launch each season after that. Cause you know, I am a huge fan of a seasonal format for your podcast. Give yourself intentional breaks. I won’t get on my soapbox right now, but. I love a seasonal podcast. When you give yourself an entire month to hype up your podcast, then people have an entire month to get excited about it and to be like waiting for it and anticipating it.

And when people are anticipating your podcast and excited about your podcast, they’re way more likely to listen to it and to enjoy it and then to tell their friends about it, and then your podcast will grow and you will get to help so many people with your podcasts. And that’s the goal, right.

Is to help as many people as possible with your podcast.

So I have a couple of tools to help you as you are launching your podcast. But before I tell you about those, I want to take a quick break to talk about my podcast, jumpstart sessions. Have you been thinking about starting a podcast for a while? Like maybe for a year or more? But you keep putting it off because it feels super overwhelming. I hear you.

And I’ve been there. It actually took me five years before I started my podcast. And I would love to help you so that you don’t take five years to start your podcast.

We can do a free 30 minute podcast jumpstart session where I will help you answer all of your podcasting questions and we’ll talk through any blocks that are getting in the way of starting your show. Then after the call, I’ll send you a list of my favorite microphones and my favorite podcast hosting platforms, along with the next two steps you need to take to start your podcast.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, click the link in the show notes to sign up for a free podcast jumpstart session. Now. Okay. Now, I’m going to tell you about my launch calendar.

My launch calendar is the thing that I use to plan my launch so that I don’t have to every day be like, okay, so what am I going to do to talk about my podcast, to hype it up, to get people ready for it.

That’s a lot of work. And honestly, I don’t have the brain capacity for that every day. I have a free principle podcast launch calendar that you can have. I’ll put a link to it in the show notes. Um, this is what it looks like. I have one in my planner too,

because I use them for launching every season of my podcast. Um, I hope you can see that. If you can’t. Click on the link in the show notes and you can grab your own. Um, but this just walks you through how to launch your podcast. So the first week you’re just going to tease that something is coming.

You’re not going to talk about it yet. You’re not going to say, Hey, I have a podcast. You’re just going to say. I am so excited for this thing that’s coming and just like, have a picture of you with a microphone or maybe just like writing in your journal or maybe it’s just a picture of clouds when you’re on a walk. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy.

Don’t overthink it. Just say you’ve got something exciting coming. And then maybe the next day you’re like, Hey, secret project coming next week. I’m so excited to finally tell you about it. Whatever. Just kind of tease it, get people excited, get people like wondering, curious about what it is. And then the next week you announced that your podcast is coming.

You announce the name you announce when the first episode drops, and this is when you can start talking about the behind the scenes of like, why you decided to start your podcast. Who you decided your podcast is for and why you chose to. Make it for the, that certain ideal listener. And just kind of giving people a little bit more insight into what your podcast is about. And then week three. Is when you release your podcast trailer. , truly, I like to use. Clips from my podcast trailer, in my content for social media that week.

And then week four, you just keep talking about it. , giving little like behind the scenes glimpses and. Talking about the things that you’re excited about for, this first season, maybe, guests that you’re interviewing or subjects that you’re covering, stuff like that. I know at this point, It’s going to feel like.

You’re talking about your podcast ad nauseum. I get it. I’ve been there. Um, I am just wrapping up the launch of season three, so I get it. And I definitely got to that point, but I also know that.

People need to hear about something a lot of times before they remember, and before they get excited about it, which is why we take an entire month to talk about your podcast.

So in that week, four, Um, maybe you revisit some stuff that you talked about in week two, but just say it in a different way. Or instead of doing like a talking head video, maybe you just have a pretty B roll with words over the top of it in social media, whatever you think is going to be best.

And whatever you can do to keep talking about your podcast.

And then week five is when your first episode releases, . Very exciting. And the nice thing about week five is you’ve got an entire episode to pull clips from, or like at least you have all of your ideas. And you can just translate those into social media posts.

And that just kind of makes your life easier and on the content creation side, for sure.

And I will say what I was just going over with the launch calendar. First of all, I hope I pray that you are not furiously writing down all of the things that I said, because you can just download your own free principle. Launch calendar. It’s all there for you.

Also, I will say that

the way that I just explained how to launch your podcast.

Is centered around social media, but you do not have to do social media if you don’t want to. Um,

That is one of the beauties of podcasting is that social media doesn’t have to be. Um, the main part of it, you can do that through email marketing. You can do that on YouTube. I guess YouTube is technically social media, but. I don’t know for me, it’s just different.

It doesn’t feel the same. It doesn’t feel like as, um, Like addicting. I guess I feel like I can hop off of YouTube much easier than I can hop off of Instagram. Most of the time.

So just know that the way that I just explained doing a launch, um, with the launch calendar. Was with social media, like Instagram and Tik TOK in mind. But you don’t have to do it that way. You can do it. Like I said, through email. Um, or even just talking about it with people and just. Hyping it up in your friend group at PTA or in your church or whatever, like there are plenty of ways to do it.

Um, social media is kind of the. Easiest way, in my opinion. But social media is not for everyone. And I completely understand that and I respect that. The last thing that I want to talk about before I wrap up this episode

is to give you some ideas. On stories that you can tell while you are launching your podcast. So the first story that I like to hear, I kind of already mentioned it a little bit is why you decided to start a podcast. People are always interested in why you are doing something. Why you decided to try something new? Create something.

The post on social media. When I talk about Why I’m doing something, usually get some of the highest, Interactions people just really like to know they’re a little bit nosy and honestly I’m a little bit nosy too, so I get it. And, and it’s fun. It’s fun to share that with, people and help them understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

So that is the first story that I would recommend telling during your launch, the second one is

why you chose to serve your ideal listener. So when you create your podcast, you should have an ideal listener. Somebody that is very specific that you are talking to, like for me, My ideal listener is a busy mom who also wants to start a podcast.

But isn’t quite sure if they can fit it into their busy schedule.

That’s where I come in is to help you create a podcast that. Is fun and fulfilling, but does not burn you out. That’s me. That’s why I’m here. And so you can talk about why you chose to serve your ideal listener, whoever that is. And that will help people to feel connected to you and realize that your podcast is for them. That’s what we want.

Right. We want to make sure that we are helping the people that we are trying to help. So we got to tell them. That it’s for them. Right. Right.

The last story that I recommend telling while you’re launching your podcast is.

Some behind the scenes stories. Of the actual creation process of your podcast. The perfect example from the Barbie movie that I thought of when I was writing the outline for this episode is the paparazzi pictures of Margot Robbie. And.

Oh, my goodness.

I just forgot his name.

Ken. Whatever his name is, I’m sure that you’re like yelling. At your phone right now, or if you’re in the car, you’re like yelling at the speakers. His name, but I cannot remember right now, whatever his name is. Ken Margot, Robbie and Ken. Um, the paparazzi pictures of them, like in Western, we were Do you remember those pictures?

I remember those pictures and being like, what is going on or like their neon spandex outfits. Like, I feel like those were some of the behind the scenes of the making of the Barbie movie that really sparked my curiosity and I was like, I have got to figure out what’s going on here. So having something like that for your podcast is another great storytelling opportunity and no, you do not have to wear spandex. For that, one of my favorite stories to tell when I was launching season three, was that I got to interview

one of the hosts of my very favorite podcast, the podcast with Knox and Jamie, I think I told that story about a bajillion times, both in real life and on social media, because I am so excited for the episode.

It comes out this month, so you don’t have to wait that much longer. I’m so excited, but that was one of the main, like behind the scenes stories that I told in a bunch of different ways, mostly because I’m super proud of it. And I just wanted to keep telling that story and also to help people get excited about it too, and see my excitement and get excited.

So those are three different, um, stories that you can tell. While you’re launching your podcast because sometimes it gets hard to keep talking about your podcast for a month straight. So those are some stories you can tell in a bunch of different ways to help it. Feel a little easier for you.

As I’m wrapping up this episode, here’s the one thing you should implement in your podcast if you’re feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start. When you are launching your podcast or launching the next season of your podcast, make sure to start talking about it a month before your episode drops. This gives you plenty of time to hype it up and talk about it.

And it gives your people, your listeners plenty of time to hear about it and to get excited about it with you. When you have an entire month to talk about it. If you miss a day, it’s not the end of the world, but if you wait until the week before your episode drops, then you have to talk about it. A lot for that week. So giving yourself a month gives you some grace periods and sometimes to forget, or if you have something else that you need to talk about that day on stories or whatever in your posts. You can, and it doesn’t derail your launch.

So give yourself that month, please, please, please. 📍 Will you share this episode with your friend who keeps saying that they’re going to start a podcast, but they keep finding excuses to put it off. This episode is going to help her learn how to launch her podcast and just set her podcast up for success.

In next week’s episode, I’m sharing my interview. Like I was talking about earlier in this episode. With Jamie B golden, one of the hosts of my very favorite podcast, the podcast with Knox and Jamie. She’ll help you see all of the possibilities your podcast opens up for you. Like seriously,

you’re going to fall in love with her. If you’re not already in love with Jamie. You will be in love with her by the end of this episode. I’m so excited. Thanks for being here and I’ll see you next week.