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Hey Reader,

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I get some of my best clients through pitching. But on this occasion, I set out to pitch and client and ended up paying THEM.

It taught me a great lesson about podcast membership though, which is the third one I'll share with you in the mini-series about growing your podcast membership:

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Podcast: Terrible, Thanks For Asking/Thank For Asking

Membership fee: $100 USD/year

What’s included: Access to new podcast feed (Thanks For Asking)

Member since: January 2025

How I discovered the podcast: Podcast charts

What I appreciate about the membership: Nora’s emails. Seriously, they’re that good

Will I keep my membership? Too early to say but I’m thinking yes

Would I upgrade my membership: No, I’m happy as is

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My journey to membership:

Part of the way I get my clients is to cold pitch to them, i.e. to contact them out of the blue to offer them my services.

Some people have strong (negative) feelings about cold pitching. If you’re one of those people, you’re either wrong or you’re the unfortunate victim of a bad experience, in which case, I’m sorry.

I take time to assess a potential client before pitching to them which means downloading some podcast episodes, following them on social media and signing up to their email list.

I found Terrible, Thanks For Asking on Chartable’s list of the top 100 most downloaded podcasts in the United States. The title immediately made me laugh and the artwork was cute.

When I researched the podcast, I liked the concept. It sounds depressing but isn’t - it’s a podcast talking about the hard things in life but never from a depressing or ghoulish angle. It just is what it is, and what it is is a well written, beautifully produced podcast. It’s an audio emotional support system with the host Nora McInerny as the non-judgemental interviewer, therapist and friend.

And with it comes funny, touching, expertly crafted emails written weekly by Nora (no need for me, then).

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I dipped in and out of the podcast enough to notice that it was going through a rebranding and an evolution. There’s now a whole new show and format called Thanks For Asking and Terrible, Thanks For Asking lives on online but with no new episodes.

With the rebranding came a platform switch from Patreon to Substack and a push from Nora for member recruitment.

But while the new Thanks For Asking podcast is for subscribers only, the rest of the TTFA content is open to everyone. That’s more than 500 episodes across TTFA and another separate podcast, plus a YouTube channel with 2 other videos a month, plus weekly emails. These are some highly productive content creators!

It’s a ballsy move to put your popular content out there for free and to gate an entirely new, untested podcast. And that ballsy move paid off.

The free content was valuable enough to me that I wanted to pay for it because I realised how much I had learnt from it. So I reached into my pocket and got out my card.

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Lesson: Member-able, If You’re Asking

There are many roads to building a podcast membership base and this one isn’t for everyone. It relies on having a deep connection with your listeners, which, in the case of Terrible, Thanks For Asking, comes from the total honesty and vulnerability of the podcast, which you might not have if you’re podcasting about B2B email marketing. But if you do, then your audience might be ready to give you even more than their ears and hearts.

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How you can be like Nora McInerny: Underpromise and over-deliver. Create truly quality content and tell your listeners what you’re offering them through your podcast. Then ask them to pay for it retroactively.

Maybe you could throw in an extra incentive (emails, videos, exclusive episodes) but focus the greater part of your effort on creating quality content that’s free for all. Then choose a secure payment platform and give your fans the option to support you.

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Could you do this with your podcast membership?

Let me know if you try it!

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~Sarah at CopyHop~

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Like this email? Then hop on over to my ​website​! I've got ​blog posts about podcasting​, plus a list of my services​ and a handy get in touch with me​ page.

If you want to hear more from me, then connect with me on LinkedIn​.

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