This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
How do I launch a successful educational podcast for kids? Welcome to Cytosool School, it's Chris Guillebeau, your host, and that's not my goal. I don't actually have the time or capacity or the skill, probably that goes first actually, to launch a successful educational podcast for kids. But in today's episode, we're gonna talk about this idea, a goal of a listener. I always hear from people with all kinds of different side hustle ideas, and they want to know, you know, how does this work in business terms?
Can it work? What's the best way to do it? How do I blend entertainment with learning and find the best ways to reach and engage an audience? So in a world where learning and entertainment increasingly intersect, we're gonna look at that in the context of educational storytelling. For a podcast that captivates young minds, nurtures their curiosity, and hopefully also works for the creator.
You know, I am creator focused, I am focused on the individual out there who's starting projects. How can they be successful? And so if that's you, if you want to be a successful creator, make or start or grow your income generating project, that's what we're all about. Today's question comes to us from Derek. You'll hear that question and my detailed answer after this quick shout out to our sponsor.
[Music]
Hey there, I'm Derek, an elementary school teacher from Rhode Island with a love for storytelling. I've been playing with the idea of starting a podcast that tells educational stories for kids, blending entertainment with learning about science, history, and literature. What are the key steps in launching a successful educational podcast? And how can I reach parents and educators to grow my listener base? [Music]
Derek, huge respect for your passion for storytelling and education.
I hope it makes for an impactful podcast. Remember, the most important thing about a creative project like this is that you are happy with it, and hopefully it makes somebody else happy as well. So of course, we're gonna talk about money stuff because that's what we do here, but I just wanna mention that, you know, first and foremost, life is short. Do what matters to you. Hopefully it can make other people happy.
But let's talk about the business stuff. So you've got two different things. You've got the creation of the project. We're gonna talk about this a little bit tomorrow as well with somebody doing a writing workshop. You've got two sides to it.
You have the content, and then you have the marketing and distribution. So, you know, content of the podcast is, how are you gonna structure those episodes and such? I'm gonna assume that Derek knows more or less what he wants to do with that. So let's talk about the second part. How can he reach parents and educators to grow the listener base?
Well, let's see, some good quality equipment goes a long way. Doesn't have to cost a lot. We had an episode about that recently. Some kind of partnership always helps. Collaboration with educational bloggers, teachers, kid-friendly websites.
I would spend 30 minutes a day making a list of different people to contact and reach out to, build relationships with over time. I would encourage listeners wherever possible to share the episodes, because especially for a kids podcast, it can be difficult to do some marketing. You're like, am I marketing to kids? Am I marketing to adults? You know, how do kids find podcasts?
Probably be good to be familiar with the top 20 kids podcasts, let's say, and try to get to know, I don't know, maybe a third of those people. And if they can include a shout out, you know, a recommendation for your podcast, that goes a long, long way. I try to do that from time to time. Other people have done it for me. I really, really appreciate it.
Those are a few quick thoughts. Excited to hear what happens. Derek, best of luck. Listeners, cheering you on as always. Thanks for being out there, new episodes every day, always free, sidehustleschool.com for some resources.
And I'm out for now. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from The Onward Project.
