In less than a month it will be 2025. ARE YOU READY? Sarah Burke here, writing my last newsletter of the year on what I assume is the last full work week for most. I should have sent this yesterday but the day got away from me. How are you doing out there? I'm wrapping up a few projects and getting ready to launch some new podcasts! While I am exhausted and ready for a little break, I also get really excited about a fresh start, so don't log out just yet. December is always a great time to reflect and take stock on how the year went. I actually want to invite you to kick off the new year with some network initiatives that will either help you hit RESET on your podcast, figure out how to start one, OR help you amp up your podcast social media channels. I need some accountability partners and I'm looking at you…let's do this together. I've got a lot to cover so stay with me.

I think these exercises will be much more effective if we do them in community. Goal setting hits differently when you work for yourself because there really is only one person to hold your accountable, and spoiler alert, she eats and sleeps here too. This doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming. In fact, it's designed to bring us back to the basics. Our “Why." The reason we show up to the mic and hit publish week after week, even if we're barely breaking even to make the show. If you're taking the time to make a show in this challenging, ever-evolving podcast landscape, it has to matter. Your voice matters.

While it's easy to get caught up with vanity metrics and charts to measure our growth, I prefer to take a listener-by-listener approach and think about progress day by day, month by month, and year over year. Here's what I do know: I feel like the Women in Media Podcast needs some recalibration as I approach episode #100 (HOLY SMOKES). I've been a bi-weekly show since March 2021 with only a few months off and it's time to hit the reset button. We can abandon things that aren't working and high five ourselves for trying. We can be honest with ourselves if our message has changed and figure out how to pivot. We can look at what's missing. We can identify new directions, guests, topics, and connections. Hell, we can get corporate af and even do a podcast SWOT analysis! Do I miss media corporate life? That was weird. Anyway, I furiously wrote down 31 simple things that ANY podcaster can do to hit reset in 2025, and yes January is 31 days long, cold and dark. Let's conquer this list together. It'll be cozy. Click the link below for access when the list drops.

OH, you thought I was done. I'm not. 

Looking directly at the camera on the network Instagram this week, I declared: I am going to send out a newsletter today.  Better late than never, but I also declared: I do not have a social media strategy. And yes, both of those statements were to hold myself accountable, but, I also wanted to open a door if you've been feeling the same way. I've been experiencing so much resistance to posting on social media unless it has anything to do with my dog Stevie, and can you blame me? I'd love to work through the feels with you with a January social media challenge which I've designed specifically for podcasters. Let's get reacquainted with our pod purposes, re-introduce ourselves to our audiences, and connect with our communities. Amplifying our voices, if you will. I hate posting just because I know I have to. I want to get excited about social media again, and all of the content we're making for 2025. 

 

Hey, a reward might help…anyone who joins the RSS Reset or the Amplify Your Voice social media challenge will get access to the templates I'm going to use, and a contest to power up your current podcast, or launch a new one with the help of the Women in Media Network. Want in?

And one more announcement for the year, I'd like to officially welcome television personality and spicy senior Mary Jo Eustace to the network with the Senior Bitches podcast. Follow on your favourite app and watch for a new episode with Caroline Baudino this week! Stay tuned for more new podcast announcements in early 2025.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my 2024 creators and collaborators; it's been an incredible first year of the Women in Media Network and I'm grateful for their trust in me and all the stories they have shared. I just giggled thinking about how we built this with some wifi, a digital studio, and varying degrees of what you'd call a microphone. Please stop buying pretty microphones. Buy pretty-sounding microphones. 

 

From Tuscany to Saskatoon, I'm lucky to be building this network with some very creative people. Discover a whole catalogue of wonderful conversations on the website when you get some downtime this holiday season. And thank YOU for following along this year, your support means so much to me. I'm going to produce my last episode of 2024 now with Carly Meyers who is far too talented to be without a radio show right now. We'll get into it.

Here's to looking back at 2024 with so much pride! Happy Holidays. Stay tuned for a beginner's workshop announcement and brand new podcasts coming in January.

 

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Thanks so much for reading,

Sarah Burke
Founder & CEO

 

Visit www.womeninmedia.network for more information.