Episode 637 - How to Grow Your Podcast Faster by Lifting Other Podcasters and Shows
In this episode of The How-To Podcast Series, host Dave dives into one of the most powerful yet overlooked growth strategies in podcasting: helping other podcasters succeed. Drawing on the old saying “a rising tide lifts all boats,” Dave challenges the belief that other shows covering similar topics are competitors. Instead, he argues that collaboration, mutual support, and generosity propel everyone forward, including your own podcast.
Dave begins with an observation—podcasting is one of the most supportive creative communities around. Unlike radio, which thrives on cutthroat competition, podcasting works best when creators connect, share resources, and promote each other. When another podcaster recommends your show, it accelerates your growth in ways that no ad campaign can match. Cross-promotion, he explains, is not just a marketing tool but a mindset shift: when we lift others, we rise together.
Throughout the episode, Dave encourages podcasters to stop obsessing about audience overlap and start focusing on community building. Many listeners follow multiple shows about the same subject because they enjoy different styles and perspectives. Rather than guarding your listeners, expand the “table” by acknowledging, interviewing, and promoting other creators in your niche. Shouting out a fellow podcaster fosters trust with your audience and models collaboration instead of fear.
Practical steps for lifting others include cross-promoting episodes, co-hosting content, and creating joint posts or panel discussions that highlight shared expertise. Tag fellow podcasters online, share their best quotes or insights, and offer genuine shoutouts on your show. Dave emphasizes that collaboration should be generous, not transactional. When you help another host shine, you make the podcasting space better for everyone—listeners notice authenticity, and it strengthens your credibility.
He also shares advice for new podcasters: don’t overwhelm yourself with dozens of different “gurus” giving conflicting advice. Choose one mentor or show that resonates with you, learn deeply from them, and grow at your own pace. Less confusion means more clarity and consistency.
Dave closes by reminding podcasters that success in this medium rarely happens alone. Share your knowledge, swap guests or tools, and think of the podcasting landscape as a creative collective, not a crowded marketplace. When creators choose connection over competition, the entire community thrives.
Key takeaway: Podcasting isn’t a zero-sum game. When you lift others, you elevate yourself. Collaboration creates momentum, trust, and growth that no algorithm can replicate. Stop worrying about your slice of the pie—help make a bigger pie for everyone.
Hey, welcome back to the how to podcast series. It's a day with you. Hope you're doing well
We're gonna take a little ride in a boat today. Yep, we're all gonna go in a boat. I
Gotta tell you I didn't want to swim at all
So I'll be the one clutching to the side of the boat with a four-life
Preserveers on I'll be the guy who's like are we can we go back now? That's me cuz I I like fishing
But I like fishing from a dock where I can walk off the dock
But yeah, I'm not a I'm not a swimmer. There you go. Dave's admitting it on a podcast. So if you love swimming
then
What's wrong with you? Yeah, so anyways, but I just can't do it
So let's go for a ride in a boat today. We're gonna go and we're gonna realize something that rising tide lifts all boats
So it's gonna get deep around here and yeah grab your life preserver time jump in the boat. Thanks for being here
Let's go. I do believe at that top that saying is true
Definitely in podcasting that a rising tide lifts all boats
It's true and it's amazing and it's great about podcasting
It's a great community the podcasting community communities awesome
There's a few people that are like yeah, take it or leave it
But for the most part I would say 99% of the podcasting community awesome people like the best people you'll ever meet and
When other podcasters would recommend your show
It can dramatically accelerate your listener and subscriber growth
It's a great way to grow your podcast when other people are talking about your show and the beauty of
Cross promotion is that it's mutually beneficial to the person promoting you and the person being promoted, right? It's just
It's amazing when you lift others you rise together and it's the beautiful thing about podcasting in podcasting community often out performs
Competition there is competition
There are other shows like your show that talk about your topic, but
They can't do your show they can do their show, but they can't do your show
So there is competition, but there's also a lot of collaboration and podcasting which I love and it's easy to view similar shows
as your rival like they're out to get your audience and take them away from your show
But the reality is that most listeners enjoy multiple podcasts even multiple podcasts with the same topic the same subject matter
So one of my questions in my survey, which is available at how to podcast.ca and also in the show notes is what other podcasts about podcasting do you listen to and I'm seeing a
pretty robust list of some of the other podcasts about podcasting which I'm well aware of
and
It's very interesting to see people's tastes and where they're gravitating
to in addition to this show, so I want to know where my listeners are listening to and if they're listening to other shows like mine
What are they?
It helps me to know where I sit in this world of podcasting and
Context creation around podcasting right so many podcasts about podcasting why this show
Why are you here? What are you getting from the show? You're not getting somewhere else and what other shows are you listening to who else are you seeing
Besides this show I need to know so that's part of the survey love to get your thoughts
Go over and click on the survey link on out of podcast.ca. I love to hear from you
We share audiences with other shows it happens
We but we can share audiences through other shows also through collaboration. That's why I bring on other
other podcasts
Podcasters who talk about podcasting
I'm not threatened by that
Because if you resonate with them, then that's a bonus to them. It's a bonus to the listener. It's it's how we do things
Even if you leave this show to go to their show great find the voice that you resonate with and stick with them
One of the things I caution new podcasters is to not have like
35 gurus
Who talk about podcasting because you're gonna get 35 different points of view
You're gonna get lost in the information
There's gonna be contradictions this person said this this person said the opposite this person said do it this way
This person said do it that way and in that you get confused you get confused when you get fused you stop
When you get confused you lose right so
Pick I would say pick one just pick one guru
Maybe some other ones you listen to for entertainment or extra, but pick one voice
Learn everything you can from that person
To the extent of their knowledge and then when you get to the end of their knowledge
Then you can graduate to the next person, but when you have
Multiple voices sending you in different directions you get confused and you might give up
So pick one it could be this show and I'd be thrilled could be someone else's show awesome
Pick a single voice learn which you can learn everything you can from that person and
When you've got to the end of their list of what they know because we only know what we know
Even if you've been doing this for 20 years, you only know what you know and
Sometimes the people that have been in podcasting the longest haven't
Educated themselves on the newer things happening in podcasting and they're stuck in their ways
So it might be good for a fresh new
Approach and a new point of view in podcasting even if that person that's
Giving you information and coaching you is relatively new to podcasting
Don't let the length of time that they've been podcasting to be the
Only reason you work with them whether they've been in forever or they've been in it for a few weeks
Everybody's got a different approach. You need to pick the single voice that works for you
I think that's super important
As podcasters we share audiences with other shows. I share audience members for this show with other podcasts of a podcasting
I know that I see it in the survey results
Is it a focusing on who's getting the biggest slice of the pie?
We as podcasters can work together to make the pie larger
Stop fighting over the size of the slices that are there, but make the pie bigger
I like the idea of
When success comes to you in podcasting or in life
Instead of putting a fence around what you have make a bigger table
A longer table invite more people
To it to what you have in your success instead of putting up a fence to protect people from taking it from you
Stealing your ideas and stealing your audience just make a bigger table
It's a great approach
Here's how we can apply this approach. I think as podcasters and there's a few things for us to think about some practical things
And we can do right now to
Raise
All boats and raise the tide here we go first. We need to cross promote
With related podcasts
Hard to do if somebody else is insecure as a podcaster and they feel threatened by you
Your show might be bigger your show might be in more entertaining. They might be intimidated by your podcast
They might be arrogant. They might be like I don't work with people like you. I'm afraid of losing my audience
There's a multiple reasons why people might not want to work with you
But there are other people who would love to work with you. So
Cross promote with related podcasts with podcasts that talk about your topic
or adjacent to your topic
And exchange mentions in your episodes share each other's trailers or
Talk about the other podcaster and what they talked about on their show
Create co-branded social posts as well when when people see podcasters working together
What a healthy indicator of a great
Atmosphere and a great collaborative
Approach. I think people lean into that because they see and they they feel
That collaboration they see it happening in real time and it stands out as unique and different in a competitive world of social media
YouTube you don't see that there
And I think that's what make podcasting better. We're not like radio radio was so cutthroat
They want to tear down other stations just to build their own station up
podcasters were different breed
We're not radio. Thank goodness
So we can do things differently. We can do things better
So the second one is we need to collaborate
Creatively as well. Gotta be more creative
And how we work together with other people
Consider guest hosting or co-hosting episodes together. I do that here on this show
recording
Interviews together or creating a mini series that spans both shows or maybe a panel discussion
Where we have we both had the same guest on and we can get together and interview that guest at a second time together
Two shows combined into one and then let them have the content for their show as well. Don't just have it on your show
Right that's being creative as we collaborate. Don't
Don't just do the easy thing. Don't just do what everybody else is doing but be creative and collaborate in a creative way
We also we can also use social media to leverage our our social media impact when we
Work together with other podcasters like our like what we talk about tag your fellow podcasters
and and when you make a post and share clips or quotes from their podcast episodes
Amplify their work while you're subtly introducing your audience to theirs
Do a shout out jump on stories
Talk about a podcast episode from somebody else even if they talk about your topic and shout them out
I will listen to so-and-so on episode this number and they were talking about these things
Really got me thinking and I just wanted to say thanks to them
Publicly for that episode. That was really great and everyone you should go listen to this episode
And you're like Dave if I do that my audience might leave me
Yeah, they might and why are they leaving you?
Well
They might like the other person better. Yeah, they might
It's true
Build a bigger table
I think if we can be the type of people who promote others
Not at the expense of our audience. We're not trying to get rid of our audience
We want our audience to grow but our audience can see and sense that we're not
Holding on through audience with both hands
White knuckling it
Hoping and praying that nobody leaves their show
When they see a healthy respect for other podcasters and we model that I think people pick up on that
And they trust us even a little bit more than they wouldn't have if they if we didn't demonstrate
That so I know it seems weird to promote somebody else who talks about what you talk about
But I think the results show for themselves. So consider it think about it
Put it into practice
But definitely leverage social media and tag those other shows
And they'll do it for you too
try it
We can also offer those genuine shoutouts in our podcast. I don't know about you when I was a kid
If I could hear my voice on a radio show
I was like the king of the world
Right call in request a song or call in you know
Fifth caller in you win tickets to the whatever
I was the one trying to call in
And I remember there was a call in thing and it was for something
And I would if you were calling it we're asked you remember call it call number 10 or something
Whatever I was calling number one
And I'm and they're like oh sorry your number one. I'm like come on
Really I got through I'm number one. There's nothing for me. They're like no call it and bye
They hang up like dang it. So
Yeah, but offer genuine shoutouts on your show. I think people love to hear their name
It's like this cool bonus. Especially if they're listening to your show. It's like come on
Those shoutouts are really really important
Authentic recommendations go further than any kind of paid promotion
And it's it's organic. It's natural. It's in the moment. It's real. It's not forced. It's not an ad
It's just genuine appreciation for others in podcasting
Let your audience know what other shows that you listen to and why
And the other part too and this I think we could share our resources
There's no reason why we have to create in a bubble by ourselves
We can share resources we can share ideas we can
We can help each other as podcasters
We can swap with our even with our competition even with people who are in our space
We can swap production tips and guest contacts and if I have a guest on my show
I'm thinking about all the other podcasters. I know that this guest would be a great guest for
And I'm sending them and making up like email introductions between my guest and
A fellow podcaster and just to know that somebody's thinking of you
As a podcaster and sending great guests to you instead of relying on a PR agency or
You know hope and trust and luck that a good podcast guest shows up at your door
When somebody's thinking about you somebody knows you as a fellow podcaster
The I just the idea that they're thinking of you in that moment. She what a great feeling
And even if you're you're the one who initiates it and no one does it for you just keep doing it
Eventually people will catch on be a leader
Without measuring the results just be a leader and create that opportunity
Because everybody wins when we all work together. So share resources
Collaboration. I really think really builds trust
Between you and another podcaster, but also you and your audience
And it often leads to really great long-term partnerships
You're going to find in podcasting there are people that you are drawn to and then there are people that repel you
You're just like I can't even be in the room with that person
It's obvious
Could be their style it could be there since a humor it could be the how they
The language they use how they talked about people behind their back
It's a lot of people in podcasting that I would not
be seeking out at a podcast conference for
Dinner it's just no way
But there's a way more people that I would
That I'd be seeking out in the hallways looking for you because of who you are
And because of the great content you put out there
So when you shift your mindset from
It being completely competitive to more collaborative
I think you unlock a network of creative possibilities as a podcaster
And you attract not only listeners, but also allies who can help you expand your reach in this podcasting world
And success I think compounds upon success
When voices connect I think it's just this beautiful
Thing about podcasting again. It's not radio
Nobody grows alone
In podcasting sure you can build an audience sure you can build a community
Yes, you can get more listens, but to really build something of value
Doesn't happen in a vacuum
treat podcasting and the podcasting community
Like a creative collective of like-minded people
Not a crowded marketplace where you're trying to be heard over the noise
Lift others up first and you'll lift your show right along them
Instead of thinking about how can I grow my show
Start saying how can I grow your show
And I think when you do that changing that mind to your
That's when you unlock an amazing opportunity
To see what podcasting can do
Not only for you, for your audience, but for the community itself
It's time to get in the ship
The tide is rising
And you want to be there when it happens
Instead of growing your own show
What can I do to help you grow yours
It's time to get in the ship get that life preserve run because
If we go over come and help me because I can't swim thanks for being here take care
So I get asked quite often
Usually at the end of a podcast
Like right now
Dave how can we help you like how can we as a listener like support the show
Can we come rake your leaves can we cut the grass shovel the snow
Hmm what's your dog help you move what can we do clean your dishes? Oh, that'd be interesting
Um, well, if you don't if you can't do that because you know
You're in Poland
maybe
You can help us by supporting us with our by me a coffee
It's right there on our website and
You know, it just will help us to
A stay fueled because
You know, we drink a lot of coffee around here
And it helps the show so if you want to help us
It's out of the goodness of your heart
I can tell you they're listening to the podcast to this point
You've already helped us so much
But I do have people saying David. I'd love to uh to give back something small even just in the show
I mean a coffee link is on our website a hatapodcast.ca
And you can support the show that way it would mean a lot
to have you
on our team
supporting what we do here if you find value in the show
Then that's great
share the show
Tell somebody about it
And when somebody says, Dave, I want to start a podcast who should I check out? Oh, you should go check out the hotapodcast series
Because of all the great co-hosts and all the things that happen here the meetups everything
And uh, I would appreciate that and then
Fill our cup
What's in a while if you can
But again, thank you so much for being here. It's supporting the hotapodcast series take care talk soon
So you're still here? Well, that's great because I'm still here and I'm so cleaning up
He's getting ready for the next episode, but hey, let's let's chat for a second before we close off
I do this at the end of the show because I want to connect with you
And give you as much value as possible
We do set the episode people have come they've listened most people were gone
You're still here, so I'm putting a bonus thing at the end
One question that bothered me recently was somebody reached out and said Dave I
I'm just not having fun with my podcast anymore
It's no it's not fun. I'm just I'm not enjoying it the way I did when I first started
So we we chatted about it. We talked through it a little bit and
some of it came down to content some of it came down to
Overwhelmed busyness
Just doing too much
Not balancing out life and podcasting not balancing of family and podcasting
And just a general sense of dread and overwhelm I guess from this specific podcaster and if you're listening
Thank you for reaching out
When when I meet people like this what I like to do with them is kind of go through their week go through their month
And have them kind of
Brain dump what they're doing
There's the mechanics of creating a podcast
There's the mechanics of creating a video podcast
There's the promotion side of it. There's the guesting side of it. There's the
Maintenance it's like a small business. It's like a small town. You're running
You have to get your guests aligned you have to get
Air assets created you got to work on the website you kind of do a blog you got to create yours
All your information you got to post the podcast you got to promote the podcast
You're get the next episode is coming right next and your kids are looking at you like why are you never around
And they're just trying to balance your wife your partner those looks at you like do you ever come up for air like
I haven't seen you in weeks and
And
You just get to the point where you're like why am I doing this?
I've lost the fun in my podcast journey
So once we get like a dump out of all of the things they're doing
We put times to them to see how much time they're spending
And they're spending a lot of time other podcast
So part of it is they're not seeing a return on their investment of time
There's not the audiences and growing to the where they want it to be they're not making a
substantial amount of money life changing money from their show
and
They just feel like they're on a treadmill
They're on that hamster wheel just keeps going around and around and around
And they almost feel like giving up
The most feel like just walking away from this podcast thing
So once we've gone through we've mapped out the time we've mapped up
Kind of this the the flow of their show
Then we start going okay, so what can we either eliminate or reduce?
How can we simplify this?
To the point where you have time
To reinvest in yourself we invest in your family reinvest in your podcast whatever that is
But how can we go from
This many hours per week per day
and reduce it
And simplify it and by doing that we we end up start tossing things out
Like do you need to post on 10 different social platforms for every episode? No
We start pinpointing what are our best
Options where do is there was my audience show up for me Instagram is not the place for the show
Best I'm trying just not
A post to Instagram stories
Gets less than 10 people
Sometimes two people looking at that post
So Instagram that I we're not getting along for the show other podcasts that I do is doing great
So it's not it's not the the platform
Because the other shows are doing awesome with Instagram. It's interesting
Our audiences are different
So you have to find them and if you're spending
10 hours a week on Facebook and it's bringing you zero results
It's time to either reduce or cancel posting to Facebook. I know
You might love Facebook, but your audience doesn't
So don't waste your time
Talking to the wall
Spend an investor time to where your people really are
So as we kind of work through this we scale down the amount of work they're doing we give them back their time
And maybe we even just take a break from our show
Take a just take a rest
Your audience will be fine. They they'll be fine. They they care about you
We reduce the amount of time we focus on on what really matters
And we rebuild the show together
There's been times where
We've come to an agreement between well from the podcaster that it's time to let the show stop
And
I might feel weird to do that
But it might be that this season of their life is over and it's time to move on to something different
They were an author they had an author podcast, but they really want to be a speaker
They're not going to forget about their author journey, but they really want to focus on speaking
So maybe it's time to drop the author podcast and focus on the speaking podcast
That highlights their speaking skills
Maybe that's it
Maybe they were a podcaster and now they want to be a voice over actor
So instead of focusing on podcast about podcasting they want to focus on how to use your voice
It's still a podcast
But the audience is different
The focus is different and it's more and it brings them more joy
So if that's the kind of conversations you want to have and you want to walk through this together
just want to like dump
Mental dump of your podcast. I love to help you
calendars always on my website reach out anytime happy to talk
If I can help you find the joy in podcasting again and not lose you as a podcaster
For the sake of your audience
I love to help you with that. So let me know. Thanks for being here. Take care
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