— First500 —
A Step-By-Step Playbook to Get Your First 500 Podcast Subscribers.
First500 is an on-demand video course & step-by-step workbook that will walk you through building out your early-stage podcast growth plan. No guesswork or marketing budget required.
“Right away, Jeremy perfectly articulated the struggles and difficulties our show had been experiencing. It was incredibly validating and encouraging to know that other successful indie podcast have gone through the same growing pains.
Going through the course, it was super easy to pinpoint the exact areas where our marketing was lacking. And then, Jeremy provided the tools necessary to start addressing those exact areas IMMEDIATELY.
Prior to the first 500, it felt like we’d been in a rut, and I didn’t know why. After going through the course, I knew why! I was so excited to share what I had learned with my co-host – and the changes we made have sparked growth that we’re excited to build on.
For anyone looking for real, tangible things they can do TODAY to infuse some energy into your shows marketing, I can’t recommend this course enough! Thank you Jeremy!”
90% of Shows Never Make it To 500 Subscribers
Here are some of the most common reasons why otherwise promising shows with solid production and great ideas behind them struggle to gain traction.
Wasting Time on Misaligned Tactics
The marketing strategies that will reliably get you from 0–500 subscribers are completely different than those that will take you from 500–5k, or 5k–50k.
If you’ve been working hard at marketing your show but aren’t seeing results, there’s a good chance you’re using the wrong tactics for your growth stage.
Don’t Know Where to Find Listeners
Marketing is easy (and highly efficient) when you know exactly where to find large concentrations of people who are actively looking for content like yours…
When you don’t, you’re simply shooting in the dark, wasting a ton of time and energy in the process.
Dabbling In Multiple Strategies
Big shows tend to grow by going all in on one strategy or marketing channel, milking it for all its worth before adding on a second.
Struggling shows, on the other hand, tend to spread themselves across multiple strategies, tactics, and channels, doing none of them well enough to get results.
Lack of Feedback & Engagement
It’s hard to know whether what you’re doing is working when you don’t have any genuine interaction with listeners.
The mistake many early-stage podcasters make is waiting for feedback and engagement to come to them instead of seeking out & initiating it.
These problems cause the majority of new podcasters to spend months—or in many cases, years—spinning their tires, struggling to grow.
All the while, they continue to pour more and more time, effort, and money into their shows, with little to show for it but an increasing sense of bitterness and frustration about their show.
But there’s a glimmer of hope…
If you can overcome these challenges and claw your way to 500 subscribers milestone… it’s a sign that you stand a good chance of growing a lot further.
So how do you get there?
4 Keys For Hitting 500 Subscribers
There’s more to growth than posting your episodes on social media (in fact, that does pretty much nothing…). Instead, these are the pieces you need to have in place.
1. Podcast-Market-Creator Fit
In order to grow, a show needs to align with both existing audience demand, and the unique interests, personality, and perspective of the host(s).
When combined, these elements form the foundation for growth.
3. Develop One Simple, Repeatable Exposure Strategy
There are dozens of proven exposure strategies for growing a podcast. You don’t need to do all of them.
All you need is one—that aligns with your skills, interests, and personality—to unlock growth for your show.
2. Identify High-Density Listener Watering Holes
Your ideal listeners are already spending their time and attention somewhere.
Once you know how to find those congregation points, it’s simply a matter of showing up and engaging them.
4. Consistent Execution
When you know exactly what makes your show special, where to find your ideal listeners, and have a reliable, efficient way to reach them (that you actually enjoy and can be consistent with), all you have to do to grow is keep showing up.
This is where podcasting gets really fun.
With the right plan and the actionable steps clearly defined, you’ll be hitting the 500 subscriber milestone before you know it.
How First500 Works
First500 is designed to give you exactly what you need to gain traction and start growing quickly. Because you need subscribers, not an overly complex marketing plan.
1. Short, Actionable Video Lessons
Teaching you the fundamentals of early-stage podcast growth.
You don’t need another bloated course that will take you weeks to complete.
First500 is built around 10, focused, actionable video lessons you can complete in 2 hours.
The lessons will teach you everything you need to know to install the strategy in your show without wasting your time.
2. Step-By-Step Workbook
Walking you through the exercises to build out your marketing plan.
You’ve probably taken enough video courses to know that information alone rarely gets you the result you’re after.
The First500 workbook will walk you through the specific actions and exercises that will build out your show’s growth strategy and apply what you’re learning in real-time.
“I have a lot of experience in launching new projects and businesses, but I’m new at launching a Podcast.
I didn’t know the best practices for getting it off the ground and gaining loyal listenership. When I found Jeremy, I appreciated his candor and authenticity immediately. He seemed to know this industry very well. I invested in First500 and I’m really glad I did!
The course helped fill in a lot of blanks for me and gave me the insight I was looking for. Now I know what to do to grow my show! Thanks, Jeremy!”
What You’ll Learn (And Apply)
As you complete the lessons and workbooks, you’ll be guided through the following exercises to build out your early-stage marketing strategy and accelerate your growth.
1. Audit Your Marketing Strategy
To identify the gaps that are currently keeping you from growth.
We’ll start by exploring the 6 prerequisites all shows need to meet in order to grow.
Then, you’ll be guided through an audit of your own show to identify your strengths, weaknesses, and build out your marketing roadmap.
2. Nail Podcast-Market-Creator Fit
To validate demand for your show & map out your growth potential.
Before committing years to a show, you want to know it has the potential to achieve the results you’re after.
This lesson will walk you through how to understand the growth potential of your show… and how to tweak it if it’s not where you’d like it to be.
3. Optimize Your Podcast SEO
To maximize your organic search discovery potential in podcast apps.
In-app search is one of the primary methods listeners use to discover new shows.
Chances are, you’re just a few tweaks away from boosting your rankings for both your show as a whole as well as your individual episodes.
4. Maximize Your Marketing Efficiency
So you get more new subscribers for each hour you spend marketing your show.
All listeners are not created equal.
In order to get the highest return on your marketing efforts, you need to identify the listeners who are most receptive to (and maybe even actively looking for) shows like yours and focus all your marketing attention on them.
5. Locate Your Ideal Listeners
So you can show up and engage with them where they’re already spending time & attention.
Your ideal listeners are already directing their attention somewhere.
Once you identify these existing Attention Magnets, you can consistently show up and capture some of that attention for yourself and your show.
6. Niche Your Marketing, Not Your Show
To permeate relevant communities and grow your show surgical precision.
You’ve already heard about niching down your show or topic. But let’s be honest, some shows are inherently broad.
The good news is there’s another way to take advantage of the power of niching without narrowing or limiting your audience or content.
7. Implement The “Legwork Marketing” Strategy
That almost every now-massive show used to gain traction.
Getting your first 500 regular subscribers is a lot different than getting your next 500 and beyond.
Fortunately, there’s a predictable, foolproof strategy that works for every type of show to build an initial audience base (and attract your first real superfans).
8. Learn to Navigate the 5 Phases of Podcast Growth
To keep your momentum rolling past your first 500.
If you implement everything you learn in First500, it’s only a matter of time before you hit the 500 subscriber milestone.
This lesson gives you the roadmap to guide your marketing strategy as you continue to grow.
“Before taking First500 I was feeling overwhelmed when it came to marketing my show. I had so many ideas in my mind, but also every idea felt a risk of spending my limited time in the wrong place.
I was hoping the course would give me some ideas that I hadn’t thought of to increase listenership in organic (no bots!) ways.
The course has helped me think outside the box and connect with potential listeners. It also helped me realize that there are a lot more ways to gain listeners than just promoting the episodes.
Since completing First500, I’ve been gaining followers across the board – email, socials, podcast – by implementing Jeremy’s tactics, even just by doing the bare minimum (sometimes life gets in the way!).”
Kickstart Your Growth Flywheel
Your first 500 subscribers are the hardest. But once you have them, all kinds of opportunities open up for you.
Sponsorships & Brand Deals
You don’t need thousands (let alone tens of thousands) of listeners to secure high-ticket sponsors.
We’ve personally worked with many niche shows that have landed 4–5-figure sponsor deals with just 500–1,000 dl/ep.
Maybe you’ll be next?
Client & Customer Conversions
Podcast listeners convert to paid offerings at significantly higher rates (5%–8% based on our research) than other audiences.
With a subscriber base of 500, that adds up to 25-40 potential buyers just waiting for you to present them with the right offer.
Additional Growth Opportunities
The larger your audience, the more leverage you have in lining up collaborations & cross-promotions with larger creators.
In our experience, just one highly-aligned cross-promotion has the potential to 1.5–2x your audience.
And so the flywheel continues.
Meet Your Marketing Guide
Hi, I’m Jeremy Enns, founder of Podcast Marketing Academy.
Over the past 8 years, my team and I have worked with dozens of high-level business owners, helping them generate over 75 million podcast downloads and millions of dollars in revenue.
In working behind the scenes in a diverse group of businesses, I started to recognize the recurring patterns that separate shows that grow and convert casual listeners into raving fans, clients, and customers, and shows that plateau, falter, and fizzle.
I want to help you put those lessons to work in your show and your business.
“Jeremy is 100% qualified, and I rave about him to everyone I know.
I highly respect him and appreciate his vision. His expertise and field of knowledge is incredible. Seriously.”
– Archana Nayak
My writing on podcast growth is regularly read by creators, marketers, & executives from place like
Along with thousands of indie creators, entrepreneurs, marketers, and producers.
Some Shows I’ve Worked With
Past Customers & Students
“The stuff you taught me, no shit, changed my life. It made my podcast more fun to do and easier to maintain. In fact, I am now launching 2 additional mini-episodes a week without a lot of effort. All because of what you taught me.
“Jeremy is a natural mentor. He is genuine and trustworthy, and the information he shares has been well thought out. And you can act on it whether you are just starting out, or have many episodes under your belt. He provides a supportive learning environment and guides you along with exercises and questions to make you think objectively about your show.
I’ve taken a lot of courses and as an educator, Jeremy is very much in the top echelon and I think other people who teach classes could learn from his approach, I really do.
“Before, I was questioning myself like, ‘Do I know what I’m doing? Do I know my audience? Do I know what I’m presenting? Am I just throwing things out there? Is there a plan here?’
Now in every episode, I’m working towards this goal of getting them to be engaged, wanting to listen more and come back again and again. Of course, that’s what I wanted before, but I wasn’t doing it strategically.
PMA has brought the joy of podcasting back for me. My download numbers are increasing, which is exciting, and I have a better sense of how the show fits into my business. But also, it’s made it lighter. It’s just made it easier.”
“What stands out from Jeremy is that he’s so genuine. Quite often when I’m doing courses, I don’t get that sense from the instructor. I feel that a lot of it is about them, and their business, and what they want for themselves, rather than genuinely looking for the best for the cohort. I think that’s a big part of Jeremy’s uniqueness.”
” I feel more comfortable marketing because I’m doing it my way. I also feel relieved I have my own system and automations so my show is consistently being promoted to new targeted listeners 24/7. It takes the pressure off and lets me focus on connecting with other podcasters to ask how I can help.”
Get Your First 500
Sign up for the workshop, or upgrade to work directly on your marketing, growth, and conversion strategy with me.
First500 Course & Playbook
$249
- Instant access
- First500 on-demand video course
- First500 companion workbook
- 1:1 60 min podcast marketing consult ($500)
- Podcast Collaboration Crash Course ($99)
- Podcast Differentiation Crash Course ($49)
- Perfect Podcast Packaging workshop ($49)
- Roadmap to 5-Figure Sponsors + Podcast Sponsor Toolkit ($49)
First500 + 1:1 Consult
$499
- Instant access
- First500 on-demand video course
- First500 companion workbook
- 1:1 60 min podcast marketing consult ($500)
- Podcast Collaboration Crash Course ($99)
- Podcast Differentiation Crash Course ($49)
- Perfect Podcast Packaging workshop ($49)
- Roadmap to 5-Figure Sponsors + Podcast Sponsor Toolkit ($49)
PMA Membership
- Instant Access
- First500 on-demand video course
- First500 companion workbook
- 1:1 60 min podcast marketing consult
- Full Podcast Marketing Academy Curriculum including 60+ hours of in-depth podcast growth & conversion training
- Weekly live group coaching
- 1:1 Hot seat coaching sessions with me
- Step-by-step marketing playbooks
- Community forum
- All bonuses from previous tiers come standard with the PMA Membership
“I signed up for First500 because I was interested in learning more about how to intelligently structure the first 500 listeners for our shows. Instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall, I wanted to have a clearer path to success.
I was feeling a little uncertain about which strategies to deploy and I was hoping the course would provide a clear blueprint for how to start a new podcast off successfully.
I’m happy to say that after completing First500 I now understand exactly how to create and deploy that blueprint for my show.