Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kathy Barron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kathy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The idea for Women Who Podcast magazine came about when I attended PodFest Expo in March 2020. A new podcasting magazine was being distributed among attendees. I was intrigued about how the magazine would represent independent women podcasters. With each issue, I realized that the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine had no intention of giving independent women podcasters the spotlight they deserved and that (once again) celebrities were getting on the cover of the issues. Seven months later, after talking to a friend and fellow podcaster, Sandy Lowres, who had just started her own magazine in Australia, I decided to create Women Who Podcast magazine. I knew nothing about starting/publishing a magazine but did have some experience with InDesign. As a self-published author, I had some experience with writing. I was excited, nervous, and overwhelmed with the decision but knew it was something that needed to be created. There wasn’t another magazine like it out there and it was time that women podcasters received the accolades they so deserved. One good thing about the podcast community is the networking opportunities and the amazing people that you meet. I reached out to my network of women podcasters, found many who contributed as writers, copy editors, and those that were ecstatic about being featured. Sandy Lowres, was the cover girl for the first issue (published in April 2021) because she was kind enough to push me off the cliff and encourage me to get the magazine started. Since April 2021, we have featured over 100 podcasts and women podcasters from all over the world (India, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Spain, Canada, United States, and Finland). These podcasters cover topics such as compulsive hoarding disorder, stuttering, mental health, menopause, women’s health, global health matters, diversity & inclusivity, aging, journaling, and more. They aren’t afraid to have difficult conversations and invite guests on their shows to inform and educate their listeners. It has been such an honor to interview these amazing women and share their stories with others. The magazine is more than just a publication – it’s a safe and nonjudgmental community where women can come together to create, collaborate and support each other. Creating the magazine has greatly enhanced my life and created so many wonderful relationships.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Like many artists/creatives, I have a day job that financially supports my creative endeavors. I’ve always been doing something creative whether it’s photography, videography, or writing. My soul needs some sort of creative outlet at all times. I want people to know that I knew nothing about publishing a magazine but the desire to create it was so strong that I went for it (with the help/support of others). I didn’t know what would come of the magazine and I’m so glad that I took the risk. So if people are getting that nudge to do something they aren’t sure about or know nothing about, they owe it to themselves to at least give it a go. You never know what will come of it, the people you meet on the journey, or what you’re absolutely capable of until you do it. Reaching out to your community of supporters is a key element of being successful in any endeavor. It’s what helped me get through the rough patches of creating the magazine and many of those people are still here.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media has become the new yellow pages (in the phone book) and it’s always changing (with the algorithms). Social media is a double edged sword; it’s a great way to find customers/podcasters and create relationships and it’s also hard to control who sees your posts/reels/stories. It’s a full-time job and it’s the way we communicate these days.
One way that I’ve built a social media presence is by engaging with followers. It’s so important to welcome people as soon as they start following you. I send them a message with a graphic that includes my photograph and a short message about me and the magazine. Some people respond with an emoji, or a full on reply, or they just “heart” the graphic. If they send a full on reply, I respond right away and let them know that I’m here if they need any support. Podcasting can be very lonely and it’s essential that women know they have a supportive community. I also have IG Lives with featured podcasters and writers so that people can learn more about them and their podcast. I post graphics a few times a week that includes information about the magazine or tips on podcasting. I do my best to come up with new ideas so that the posts don’t get stale (I recently started creating videos of myself talking about the Podcasting PSA for the day). Engaging with followers is key in building relationships which can turn into collaborating opportunities.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Along with engaging followers on social media, I also send out newsletters twice a month to an email distribution list. People sign up for the newsletter on our website. The newsletters announce new issues, featured podcasters, and topic articles in the issue. They also offer information about podcasting (i.e. ways to refresh your podcast, how to create sales funnels, what to do if you cohost quits, etc.). And to make it fun, we sometimes have podcasting BINGO or podcasting word search for people to win prizes (these are also in our magazine issues). Keeping an eye on social media and seeing what your consumers/followers are posting/talking about helps in deciding what to include in our newsletters. We want to be a resource for women podcasters whether it’s on social media, on our website, or through our newsletters.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.womenwhopodcastmag.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenwhopodcastmagazine/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-barron-7b2640294/