I've been designing online educational content since the early two-thousands. Not much makes me happier than when something is easy to launch.
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Back in my day, (cue my walking uphill both ways to work in an actual office deep in the heart of DC) if something was wrong with the code on a CD-ROM, we had to re-burn it and overnight it to the distributor.

Now I usually just have to simply re-upload a file to fix something (or alternatively, curse a few choice words and refresh Chrome approx 20 times).
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I kept thinking how much easier things are now this week as I helped Elena Brower re-launch her private podcast, The Matter of Menopause.
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Private podcasts are a fantastic lead generation tool - and can be an easy way to get (and stay) in your listener's ear. ​
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Plus they can help you stand out in a sea of freebies that may never get read (anyone else have a pdf graveyard littering their inbox?)

Best of all, private podcasts are surprisingly easy to set-up - and it's easy for listeners to use.
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No new logins to keep track of - just a simple link to click and add the podcast to their phone.
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​Here's what went into making this free podcast series.

1. Elena recorded a series of audio calls with friends, colleagues and experts (using Zencastr). Riverside is another great alternative service.
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2. I used my favorite free audio editing tool Audacity to do basic edits like noise reduction (to remove ambient noise), cut any coughs or sneezes and trim for timing. I then handed the files off to my husband to fix the levels and do additional refinement tweaks (I'm lucky to live with guy who has mad audio editing skills). Keep in mind that every person you chat with has a different audio setup and noise environment, so you'll often get varying levels of audio quality.
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3. I then uploaded the edited .mp3 files to Hello Audio.* This is an incredibly easy-to-use drag-and-drop service that creates a private audio feed you can share with others. I chose to have all of the new podcast episodes launch at once so listeners could binge the content (you can also choose to release episodes by date or drip out by timed intervals).
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4. I gave a fresh new look to the landing page on Elena's site where users sign up to get access.

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​A few more notes for the tech nerds like me:
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​Why use Hello Audio and not Kajabi?
​If you've been a reader for a while, you may wonder why I chose Hello Audio* over using Kajabi's private podcast tool. I've written a post here on how to sell audio based courses on Kajabi. Since this is a free offering, I didn't need it to "live" with all of her other paid courses.
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​What about the customer support?​
Over the course of the podcast, we've had thousands of subscribers and tens of thousands of downloads. And just a few customer support emails. It doesn't matter how clear the tech is, there's always going to be someone that will have some sort of issue. The most common issues I run into: they signed up with the wrong email address and didn't get the confirmation email or they didn't realize they had to click a button to complete the process.
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All in all, a pretty good result - make sure to check out the menopause series for yourself here.

you've got this,
Michelle
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p.s. I don't know why I fought naps so hard as a little kid. I love sneaking away from my desk and grabbing a mid-day shut-eye (benefit of working from home along with my favorite snacks and that built-in audio editor husband).
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Could you use a bit of a rest yourself? My friend Marc Holzman has just released a brand new 20 minute yoga nidra - this guided rest is perfect for a midday break. I'd love to help him get to 500 subscribers on his YouTube channel and celebrate his alive day (the anniversary of his open-heart surgery). Do him a solid and subscribe to his YouTube Channel here.