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21 Oct 2021 ~ 6 min read

Get Found on TuneIn


There you are.

You’ve designed a podcast, recorded your voice and produced a final *.mp3 file. You’ve decided on a podcast media host, created an account, and started a show. Once you’ve uploaded your first *.mp3 file, you finally receive the one thing that makes you a podcaster: a freshly minted RSS feed file with a single episode in it!

What comes next?

You’re going to need a base of operations that everything can be centered around. So you go about purchasing a domain name, building a website, and embedding your media’s hosts podcast player on the front page.

Now listeners can come to your website and play your podcast because that’s how this thing works, right?

Wrong.

You are ready — There is no doubt about that! You already have a website for your show, a media host to hold your content files, a first episode, and that RSS Feed. You’ve certainly come 80 percent of the way there. However, it is that last 20 percent that needs to get done before you will start to find an audience.

It’s time to go where your audience listens to podcasts and it’s time to tell the top podcast directories that your podcast exists.

Here’s how:

TuneIn

Multiple directories, multiple ways to submit, and no two are the same. This is the case with TuneIn.

Why TuneIn? For starters, you need to be everywhere so why not TuneIn? But if you need a real business case for going through the TuneIn submission process then understand that when you ask Alexa Smart speakers for a podcast, TuneIn is the director she searches using the TuneIn Skill. If your podcast is not in TuneIn, Alexa will not find it making this a great reason to be listed in TuneIn.

  1. First, you go to the super-secret TuneIn Add Podcast Contact Form here — titled “Email Us”. But unlike their generic contact form, this form asks all sorts of podcast-related questions.

  2. Fill in all your information as required and be careful to put in the right links and check your spelling. There are few warnings and no take-backs after you submit.

  3. With all your podcast information on the form, check the “I accept and agree to the Terms and Conditions” that you hopefully read. Then click the SEND EMAIL button.

  4. That is it! You should see a “Thank you for contacting TuneIn!” message on the screen but you won’t receive much else. The length of time it takes TuneIn to process your request is somewhat of a mystery too. Just know that when your podcast is ready in TuneIn you should get a welcome email from them.

  5. Roughly a week later, you should receive an email from TuneIn’s Broadcaster Support informing you that your podcast has been added to their directory and will be available within 24 hours.

  6. The weird thing is that the email doesn’t give you a link to your podcast. To find that, you need to go to TuneIn.com, click on PODCASTS, and search for your show. If it is available, you should see it appear in the search results. Click on your podcast’s title to inspect your TuneIn page. From here you can see episodes, download the embedded player, and inspect your information. But what you need is that URL at the top of your browser. That is the link you want your listeners who use TuneIn to go to from your website or show notes link.

What now?

Now you get to wait. And wait. And wait some more! If you’ve done everything above all you can do is keep checking. It will show up at some point. If it has been 2-weeks and you STILL cannot find your podcast in any of these directories, then you should investigate. Otherwise, keep waiting until you magically find your podcast listed where you think it should be.

It takes time for these directories to index your RSS Feed. Think about the other 2,000 podcasts being created each week, all asking to be indexed right alongside yours! If you have to wait, why not go find some of the other 200 other directories out there and add your podcast to them too.

A Quick Strategy to Consider While Waiting

Look, you’re going to be waiting a long time when you submit a new podcast to any directory. Facebook groups are full of new podcasters freaking out when TuneIn doesn’t list their podcast within an hour of submission. Don’t be that kind of new podcaster. Waiting for your new podcast submissions to be approved is a right of passage for ALL podcasters!

One big problem that new podcasters run into is the infamous “Launch Date”. The idea that you need to launch your podcast on a certain date because it is part of a marketing campaign or needed to mark a special anniversary, trips up too many new podcasters to ignore. They get into a big rush to get their podcast submitted to all the big directories only to be stymied by long submission delays.

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment!

If you already know you’re going to be waiting, do something early to take advantage of that delay. A sneaky way to get around this problem is by creating either a short episode #1 or a trailer. This episode is either a summary of the highlights from what is to come, an introduction to your podcast, or a quick win that early listeners can benefit from. This becomes your first episode and is already something you need to get yourself a valid RSS feed.

Once you have that episode up in all the directories THEN decide your “Launch Party” date. Why? Nobody knows you exist! Just because you have an episode out there doesn’t mean anyone has found it, heard it, or even knows it can be discovered. Use this special podcast anonymity to create Episode #2 — the real episode that will launch your podcast. That way you never have to wait for your new episodes to show up in all the directories.

You will have already paid the waiting time price and be ready on any date you choose!

Now go create something great!


Headshot of Kyle Bondo

Hi, I'm Kyle. I'm a UX Designer, Software Engineer and Podcaster based in Fort Worth, Texas. You can listen to me on War Yankee, see some of my work on GitHub, or read more about me on my website.