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 I spoke with Lisa and Leo Laporte, the husband-and-wife team behind podcasting empire TWiT on how you can build the kind of community that is so enthused by the brand they are eager to hear commercials from you.

"When we began, it was for only a small group of real tech enthusiasts; now it's like, 'Where isn't tech? !" smiles Lisa Laporte who is CEO of TWiT. "It's fully developed." The communal aspect of podcasting made it was a "logical extension" of Chief TWiT's goals in life and the main reason Lisa was captivated by the new medium.

The couple had been building their podcasting empire for more than 16 years prior to the outbreak that came to the forefront in 2020. "Those two years of isolation were isolated," Lisa explains. "We were all in little Zoom boxes. However, there is a tech audience that loves and wants community." TWiT needed to discover a means of connecting to its followers during the time of isolation.

Lisa spoke to one of TWiT's sponsors Tech training company ITPro.TV regarding ways to give something back to the fans. "Simply sufficient, ITPro.TV allowed its members to stay in the building to hang out on the internet for an one hour in the evening. There were times when they played games, and sometimes simply chat" Lisa continues. "I kept thinking"That's exactly what I'd like to do. I wanted to allow our fans to have a place to come and hang out.

Lisa confirms that the ability to include the Discord server to their membership offering formally made it "a better experience" that just establishing a new online community. "It was the right time to give our members that extra something; people wanted to get out of the confines of locked in their homes." Club TWiT was ready to launch.

From content to cruise: The debut of Club TWiT

Lisa says that she explains that TWiT team members are encouraged to participate in the club whenever they can. They seek feedback on their show and they hold regularly scheduled Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions; they host an area where members can come to meet up. This is particularly important in the online space when the virus was circulating, but it's translating well to real-world experiences.

"We have a photography show and I'm thinking it would be fun to say"Hey We'll take part in this event. Come join us for a photo stroll in the park!'" continues Lisa. They plan to host several more experiences in-person; indeed, TWiT held a recent cruise for its 100 members. Leo and Lisa are both of the opinion that, perhaps contrary to popular belief, it's events in person such as these that form the "fundamental heart of what podcasting is about" and is what sets it apart from traditional media.

Lisa and Leo are also using Club TWiT to premiere and try out new shows; once shows begin to gain traction and is popular, it could be included in the top Club TWiT offering or become an ad-supported program. In this case, Lisa will approach the host of the show, and advise them to start practicing the reading of ads and then add the show to their arsenal to get started with advertisers. Every ad needs to be read by the host to ensure that they feel like an integral and natural part of the show.

Promoting your sponsors is more effective than selling them

The creation of an approach to advertising that benefits both sponsors and listeners is paramount to TWiT's achievement: "Our advertising works because our audience trusts our brand. We have the ability to suggest items and services to them as well, and they're willing to be a part of our team, which is why they purchase them. When we sign advertisers, we heavily vet their credibility as a business, and we check their reviews," Lisa says. Lisa.

She explains: "We do such a good job on our ad-supported aspect that Club members say"Hey, I need you to drop in the ads.' We actually have an entire Discord channel just for the ads on our shows!" She adds that their audience asks them to share an ad each month on every single show, because viewers want to know where to buy the advertised products: "They trust us so they say, 'You need to give us a feed so that we can hear ads every once a while.'"

In the moment I must double-check what I'm hearing. Lisa affirms that the members write into the shows for hyperlinks to the ads of TWiT. "Isn't that hysterical? !" she smiles. She adds: "Our Club TWiT members receive the shows without ads However, they email us to say, 'Hey, we're not getting the ads, we'd love to hear the ads!' Therefore, we regularly drop in commercials to thank our sponsors for their support or whenever we get an exciting new patron. That's how compelling they are."

"Our sponsors say"Can you please send us a courtesy commercial for each advertisement read? Our sales trainers watch them because you sell our brand better than half of our employees who aren't junior!' I thought that was quite cute."

Start small is essential.

What can you do to create a membership business that people are so fond of and trust that they want to listen to your ads? "Really take a look at what's available and take a look at the way others are operating," Lisa suggests. "Look at others who are like you, and look at the things they're doing prior to you leap into it. Talk to me: or contact anyone who's done it before."

She advises "just taking your time" to look at different ways and structures. "Don't bite off more than you're able to chew. If you decide to do 50 different things, you'll discover you can't do those effectively. Begin small, like we did. "We started by introducing AMAs."

Leo and Lisa describe how the TWiT team has been slowly but surely working the issue out as they go down the road. Now that they're getting grips with it all it's time to start adding to their offering with bonus content. "I don't want to over-promise to deliver only for them to disappoint," Lisa continues.

Lisa advises producers to look closely at all the services they offer with their membership package. "See what makes sense specifically for what you're trying to achieve and look around for an appropriate product. Since we are video and audio and video, we've got a few oddities as a podcasting network."

Contributing to the community

"If you're interested in the field of technology take a look at our channel. We've got a show to suit everyone!" she smiles. "We have entry-level shows like the Tech Guy; we have iOS Today, which is fun if you have either an iPad or iPhone and are interested in learning how to utilize them; we have 'geeky shows such as Security Now if you're into security. If you're interested in something, join Club TWiT and download the podcast! We must remember to support one another in this group."

The support of the community of podcasters and the incredibly inclusive nature of it has always been a priority for the TWiT team "We continue to offer gratis content, however it's nice to provide this additional benefit to the fans who are super. I like having both because anybody with an internet connection can access our content and don't need to shell out money for the content. This is very democratic." says Lisa.

Then she says: "We have fans in third world countries that have written to say, 'I heard your podcast. I was a regular at a local electronics store and listen to your podcast and pick up some new skills. Then I got a job in tech""

Maybe Lisa, Leo, and the rest of the staff at TWiT are not the only ones to witness technological advancements from an area that was reserved for enthusiasts, but also the ubiquitous phenomenon it is nowadays. Perhaps they've been helping to make the transition.