Greetings, everyone! It’s time for the July edition of the Smart Bitches Business Update, my monthly nerd-energy fueled deep dive into some of the behind the scenes details of the Hot Pink Palace of Bitchery.
My goal is to share information about how the site and the community function, with some fun details that I notice each month.
In this round, we have a few things to talk about!
Starting with…the podcast!
Hey, we have a podcast and, oh my gosh, do I love doing it.
I always wanted my own radio show. Now I sorta have one, and the popularity and number of downloads continues to grow each week. THANK YOU! That is SO COOL!
And I have a few pieces of super neat-o news to share, too.
- Smart Podcast, Trashy Books has surpassed 1,000,000 downloads. SERIOUSLY HOLY SMOKEY CRAP. A million downloads? Lookit!
So, uh, technically that’s over a million downloads for the show.
GOOD GOLLY. And THANK YOU!I really can’t pretend it’s a handful of people listening, huh? (Elyse, you should absolutely not be reading this entry or you’ll never agree to be a guest again.)That’s a milestone that has me staring at my screen somewhat vacantly, to be honest.I’ve been told that I should end each episode with a “call to action.” At least, this is what podcast experts have told me. The reasoning given is that if listeners subscribe, tell a friend, or leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or wherever they get their fine podcasts, it’s a massive help to other folks who are searching for new content and helps boost the show in those mysterious algorithms.
So clearly many of you have done so, because that is a LOT of downloads. THANK YOU! I’m overwhelmingly honored you listen to the show and read the transcripts.
Thank you for listening and being part of the show!
- And are you curious which episodes are the most popular? I am, or was, so I looked it up. Our top three podcast episodes in terms of number of downloads:
Podcast Episode 206. Proving Love: An Interview with Dr. Chuck Tingle, August 5, 2016
Podcast Episode 198. Alpha Women, Heroine Friendships, and Paranormal Romance: An Interview with Shelly Laurenston, June 10, 2016 Podcast Episode 200. The Books That Made Us Romance Readers, June 24, 2016
How cool is that? Those are some of my favorite episodes, too. - The Patreon goal to begin transcription of archived episodes is SO CLOSE to being fulfilled!
So many of you have made a monthly pledge to help support the show and help me commission transcripts for the 70+ episodes which don’t have one, and we are so close to the monthly goal to begin full-speed-ahead transcription. HOORAY!Well, somewhere, Garlic Knitter might be a little worried. Nah, she’s totally excited to get started.And! Since we were so close (and since I needed to figure out the best way to get the older files over to her so she can use her nifty transcription equipment because there is a foot pedal involved, how cool is that?) we now have a transcript for the first full episode: Podcast Episode 2. eBooks, the Economy, with guest Malle Vallick, January 12, 2009 has a transcript now. Woo hoo!
That’s very rad – thank you, Garlic Knitter! - And speaking of transcripts! If you are a podcast, or you know one, and they’re thinking they might like to have transcripts done for their shows, please, by all means, email me!
I’ve got transcriptionist contact information from professionals who are eager to break further into the podcast transcript market.
While I’m on the subject, providing a transcript for the episodes is something I am very proud of doing. Why?
First, it makes the content more accessible to those who cannot or do not wish to listen to it.
Second, it’s really nifty for search engine discovery, which for websites is kinda important.
And third, the transcriptionists I work with and have corresponded with are all women operating their own businesses, which is way cool. (I’m a fan, anyway.)
If you’re thinking of having a transcript for your audio content, or you know a podcaster who might be, please get in touch with me so I can connect you!
So that’s all the podcast news for this month. And now, our geographic top twelve!
- US
- Canada (Happy belated Canada Day, eh?)
- United Kingdom
- Australia (FUN FACT: My son used to sing, “Washing Matilda,” because to a 6 year old, “waltzing” made NO sense, so please know that Matilda is and has been very clean.)
- India
- Germany
- Philippines
- New Zealand
- Sweden
- Finland
- South Africa
- Ireland
And, whoa, Norway is down in the 20s! Norway, what did we do?! Was it because we hung out with Swedish podcasters?
Thank you once again for being part of Smart Bitches. I’m honored and glad you hang out with us!
1 miiiiiiiiiiillion downloads!!! YOU ROCK Ms. Wendell, CONGRATULATIONS
Wow! I can remember when it was just a fun blog with a snarky title! You glasses wearing lasses have come far!
Congrats and thank you for all you do! This podcast is the highlight of my Friday commute!
I really love that you’re committed to transcribing the podcasts. Go SBTB!
Thank you, y’all! I am, like I said, really proud of the transcripts, and am so honored at how many of you listen or read each week. A million downloads is not something I even thought was possible. Thank you!!!!
Being able to read the podcasts via transcript is what led me to eventually download and listen to them. Yours was the first podcast I ever listened to (I came very, very late to the world of podcasts) and is still my favorite!
Congratulations on over 1 million downloads. That’s huge!
What can I say but MAZEL TOV!!!
Congrats! This is the first podcast I ever listened to, and one of the only ones I’ve been committed enough to listen to all the archives and keep up with new ones. I’m so happy for its success!
Curious: I always listen using the embedded website link, is that counted as a download or not?
Congratulations on your million airs! 😉 A well-deserved milestone!
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to two million ….
I am seriously tickled that the podcast was one of the first you listened to – I’m grinning like a doofus now. Thank you for all the congrats!!
Congratulations!!! I LOVE the podcast and I’m not at all surprised by its success! It’s the only podcast I follow religiously. I started with the first episode a few years ago and am finally close to catching up!
Congratulations!!!! Keep going with the awesome work, ladies – it’ll be two million in no time 🙂
Congratulations!
Wasn’t there a poll that you ran a few weeks back for which we haven’t had the results compiled yet? Or did I miss the results post?
Hey Diana! I did a results post in June – is that the one you were looking for?
Yes! This was it! I completely missed it!
Thank you!
I am curious what sub-genres can there be, too. I’d love to see the rare ones like historical were-hedgehog erotica 🙂
Congratulations!!! LOVE your podcast and recommend it to everyone! and yeah, that’s the only podcast that I’ve committed to listen to every episode, new and archived. Because they are fantastic! Bestest of luck in reaching 2 million!