Making Bonus Content For Your Podcast

Hello! My name is Deanna and I help people create great podcasts. Every Sunday I'm sharing one tactical tip to make a killer podcast. So let’s get into it!

As a freelancer, I’ve noticed that sometimes it takes shows a bit to get back into the swing of things in January, so I figured it may be best to broadly cover some topics this month and then dive deeper into them as we move forward.

So today, I want to give you a few ideas for bonus content that you can create for your podcast. The go-to option when you have your show on Patreon is to do an ad-free/early version of the podcast, which is great! It’s a good way for people to support you and get something in return.

When I was running my Patreon, which I admittedly did poorly because I could never get it on a schedule. This was mostly because I picked things that were maybe a bit too hard to get. I was covering the Stephen King comics and random TV show episodes, which were mostly in shows that don’t tend to be streaming. So I kind of shot myself in the foot with my own idea.

However! We can all learn from my mistakes. You want to make your bonus content something that is easy, at least at first.

My friends over at GenreVision do a great job of this. They record bonus episodes of what they discuss before they hit record on their actual episodes, they releases an extended currently consuming episode monthly, and you get a behind-the-scenes look at how they come up with their themes and schedule. There’s probably plenty of extra content you can have, especially for entertainment based shows, if you just hit record on the things you’re already doing.

And here’s a quick look at what Blank Check offers on their $3/month tier.

• Monthly grab-bag bonus episode

• Bi-monthly episodes of franchise commentary

For shows that are less entertainment based, that maybe lean a little more into a narrative structure, if you have parts of your interviews that were cut out, you could release the full interviews to your supporters.

That said, you could also create all-new content for supporters if you have both the ideas and the time for it. Just don’t feel like you have to do that. Again, I thought that would be easy and turns out it wasn’t. I’m generally just good at making things way harder on myself than I need to so please do learn from my mistakes!

This is just a quick look at some of the options you have, but if there are any you’d like me to dive into more specifically with more detailed examples, please hit reply and let me know!

If you enjoyed this newsletter and really want to level up your podcast, I’m bringing you tips from the smartest people in the podcast industry. I’m always looking for the best ways to help you grow your podcast. So be sure to subscribe and share this with a friend! And if there’s something you’d like to see covered, reply to this email.