Tuesday Nov 08, 2022

The Quest for Free Beer: How to Build a Regional Podcasting Community with Experience Milwaukee

In today's episode of Podcasting Smarter, Steve Glynn and Adam Derus from Experience Milwaukee give helpful tips on how to create a podcast for your local community.

"The fact that Steve had the foresight to start a podcast, I don't know, how many years ago was it? 5 years ago in 2018 that focused on a city, we thought we were crazy..."

In this episode, you will learn the following:
1. How Experience Milwaukee got started as a regional podcast for Milwaukee and how the show has evolved over time
2. The importance of community in terms of content and audience development
3. The benefits of podcasting for a local community, including the impact it can have for local businesses

Resources:
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Chapter Summaries:
[00:00:01] - Podcasting Smarter is the official podcast from Podbean. In today's episode Norma Jean Belenky Podbean's Head of Events speaks with Steve Glynn and Adam Derus from Experience Milwaukee. They talk about podcasting for your local community, building a regional podcast audience, monetizing and more.

[00:01:19] - Experience Milwaukee is a podcast that tells the stories of the people, places and events that make Milwaukee amazing. Adam and Steve have been producing the show for almost five years. They have listeners in 30 countries and 40 states. Steve wanted to give back to the city and create community and Adam joined when he offered to help produce the podcast.  

[00:04:25] - They've created a playbook for how to create a podcast for a specific place and community. It's important for them to stay regionally focused on Milwaukee and the surrounding areas. Small businesses, local tourism bureau, business improvement districts and elected officials are key features within their playbook.

[00:09:13] - Steve and Adam also started the podcast as a quest for free beer. It has grown from $10,000 a few years ago to about $40,000 this year. 

[00:14:03] - Experience Milwaukee has applied for grants and is looking for specific grant opportunities to collaborate with others within the community. 

[00:16:23] - Steve and Adam have been have recorded 200 podcast episodes so far. Steve started the podcast named after Milwaukee and Adam and Steve feel lucky to be able to highlight some of Milwaukee's amazing small business owners, some medium business owners and some large business owners.

[00:18:10] - Experience Milwaukee is about becoming a connector. Last year they had an event on April 14, 4-1-4 day, which is Milwaukee Day (named after their area code!) They also brought in some local bands and had it at a brewery that sponsors the podcast. They are also elevating the businesses that they have on as guests. 

[00:20:14] - During the pandemic, Steve and his team team worked with Rally On to create a virtual podcast recording guests remotely. They were able to change their podcasting to virtual podcasting and help small businesses adapt to the pandemic that were closed.  

[00:22:16] - Steve shares his best tips for creating a regionally specific podcast. He recommends working with small businesses, business improvement districts, travel and tourism organizations, and elected officials in the area. Steve is happy to share his blueprint with anyone who wants to create a regional podcast.

[00:24:18] - Adam and Steve are promoting awesome people doing awesome things in Milwaukee. On their podcast, Adam recommends Steve and Steve to other content creators who want to make a podcast about their town. Adam asks everybody at the end of each episode to answer a couple of questions.

[00:26:31] - Steve believes the podcasting industry is going to get better in the future. Steve has been to some of the industry conferences and met other podcasters who are in this because it's in their heart and they love it. Steve thinks organizations like Podbean will continue to evolve and create tools that make it easier for podcasters to make this a business and a real job.

[00:28:04] - Adam has a list of his favorite podcasts. He listens to "Conan Needs a Friend", “Experience Milwaukee” and true crime podcasts. Adam creates outtake episodes once a year with Adam's voice as a wild card episode! 

About us:

Podcast Smarter is the official in-house podcast by Podbean. 

Podbean is a podcast publishing and monetization service, hosting almost 620,000 podcasts.  If you’re looking to start your own podcast, monetize your podcast and livestream directly to your listeners, you can set up an account at podbean.com 

 

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