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 I talked to Lisa along with Leo Laporte, the husband-and-wife team behind the podcasting company TWiT, about how to build a community so engaged in your brand that they actually would like to listen to your commercials.

"When we began we were aiming for an elitist group of people that were real technology enthusiasts. Now there's a resounding question: Where isn't tech? !" smiles Lisa Laporte the chief executive officer of TWiT. "It's completely evolved." The social aspect of podcasting meant that this industry was seen as a "logical expansion" of the Chief TWiT Leo's purpose in life. It was also the main reason Lisa fell in love with emerging media.

The couple had been working on their empire of podcasts for the past more than 16 years prior to the outbreak that began to spread in the year 2020. "Those few years were isolated," Lisa explains. "We were all stuck in tiny Zoom boxes, but we have a technical audience that loves and wants the community." TWiT needed to come up with a better means of connecting with its fans during this isolating time.

Lisa talked with one of the sponsors for TWiT, tech training platform ITPro.TV regarding ways to give something back to the fans. "Simply sufficient, ITPro.TV permitted its customers to come in and hang out online for about an hour after dark. There were times when they played games, sometimes they would just chat," Lisa continues. "I was thinking to myself"That's what I'd like to achieve.' I wanted for our customers to have a place to come and hang out.

Lisa affirms that having the option to include the Discord server to their membership offering formally was "a richer experience" that just establishing a new online community. "It was time to offer our community that additional benefit; members had grown tired of locking themselves in their homes." Club TWiT was ready to launch.

From content to cruising: The arrival of Club TWiT

Lisa clarifies that Lisa explains that the TWiT group encourages members to participate in the club in the most effective way. They solicit feedback from their shows as well as host regular Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions, and they have an area where supporters can just come in and meet up. This is particularly important when it came to online communities when the virus was circulating, but it's translating well to real-world experiences.

"We are hosting a photography exhibit, so I think it'd be fun to say, 'Hey, we're going to be at this event. We invite you to join us on a photography stroll in the park!'" continues Lisa. They plan to host many more in-person experiences and, indeed, TWiT has recently hosted a cruise with 100 members. Leo and Lisa agree that, almost counterintuitively, it's in-person events such as these that form the "fundamental element of what podcasting is about" and what distinguishes it from other media.

Lisa and Leo are also using Club TWiT to premiere and try out new shows; once shows begin to gain traction, it may be included in their premium Club TWiT offering or become an ad-supported program. If this occurs, Lisa will approach the show's host and encourage the host to begin practicing their ads, then include the show in their toolbox to begin contacting sponsors. Every ad needs to be read out by the host of the show so that it appears as an organic and integrated element of the program.

Selling your sponsors better than they sell themselves

Creating an advertising approach that will benefit sponsors as well as the listeners is essential to TWiT's achievement: "Our advertising works because our audience trusts us. We have the ability to suggest products and services to them as well, and they're willing to help us so they will purchase these. We sign up advertisers when we do We thoroughly vet them as a company We also look over their reviews." Lisa says. Lisa.

The woman explains: "We do such a great job on our advertising-supported side that our Club members tell us, 'Hey, you need to put in advertisements. In fact, we've got Discord for the ads on our shows! Discord channel exclusively for ads on our shows!" She adds that viewers ask them to share an ad at least once per month for each and every show since the listeners want to know where to buy the advertised products: "They trust us so they tell us, 'You have to provide us with a feed so that we can listen to ads once in every once in a while.'"

As of now I need to confirm my perception of what I'm hearing. Lisa confirms: members actually compose their own scripts for the show in order to request the TWiT's advertisements to be linked. "Isn't that hysterical? !" she smiles. She adds: "Our Club TWiT members receive the shows without ads, but they write in to say, "Hey, we miss the ads - we want to listen to these!' We regularly drop in courtesy commercials for active sponsors as well as when we've got an exciting new sponsor. They're so compelling."

"Our sponsors ask"Can you please send us a courtesy commercial for each advertisement that you read? Sales trainees are required to watch them because you sell our business better than half of our staff members who are junior I thought it was pretty cute."

Start small is essential.

What can you do to create a membership business that people like and trust so much they're willing to watch your advertisements? "Really have a look at what's out there and consider the things that other businesses are doing," Lisa suggests. "Look at those who's like you, and look at what they're up to before you leap into it. Talk to me: or contact anyone who's done it before."

She advises "just taking your time" to think about different strategies and designs. "Don't chew more than you're able to chew. If you plan to accomplish 50 things, you'll find that you're not able to do them effectively. Begin small, like we did. "We started with AMAs."

Leo and Lisa explain that they explain that TWiT team has been slowly but surely working the issue out as they go further down the road. Once they're comfortable of the process it's time to start adding the value of their service with additional content. "I don't want to over-promise to deliver only for them to disappoint," Lisa continues.

Lisa urges creators to take a close look at the features they provide with their membership packages. "See the features that are relevant in the context of what you're trying accomplish and then shop around to find the right product: because we are audio and video and video, we've got a few quirks that are unusual as a podcasting network."

Supporting the community

"If you're looking for a career in technology, check out our network. We have a show for everyone!" she smiles. "We offer shows for beginners like The Tech Guy; we have iOS Today, which is enjoyable if you own either an iPad or iPhone and would like to learn more about how to use them; we have 'geeky shows, like Security Now if you're into security. If you like the show, you can join Club TWiT and download the podcast! It is important to remember that we must support fellow members of this community."

Supporting the podcasting community and its wonderfully egalitarian nature is something that's always been important to the TWiT team "We will continue to provide gratis content, however it's an excellent opportunity to provide this additional benefit for the superfans. I enjoy having both since anyone with an internet connection can download our shows, and there's no need to shell out money for these shows. This is very democratic." Lisa adds. Lisa.

She concludes: "We have fans in third world countries that have written to say, 'I heard your podcast. I used to hang out at a local electronics store for your show and learn a few things. And now I have an opportunity in the field of technology!'"

Maybe Lisa, Leo, and the rest of the staff at TWiT are not the only ones to witness tech's evolution from a subject only for the ardent enthusiast to its ubiquitous status now. Maybe they've helped make the transition.