Many countries have dedicated annual celebration of thankfulness for all their blessings. How are you expressing gratefulness in your podcasting?
Gratefulness is bigger than thankfulness
Being thankful is merely feeling or expressing gratitude. You're thankful when the waitress refills your drink. You're thankful when the store associate helps you find an item.
Gratefulness is much deeper. Being grateful ascribes more worth to what you received. It's a deeper appreciation.
Think about it like this. Being thankful is saying thanks. Being grateful is going to greater lengths to show your appreciation.
Grateful for your audience
Does your audience truly feel appreciated? You can respect them by not wasting their time, by giving them your best, and by consistently delivering on your promises.
But how often do you show your appreciation in words or actions?
I like to start and end every podcast episode with an expression of thanks. Then, I express gratefulness by genuinely thanking people when they connect with me. Whenever you interact with your audience, show your gratefulness by treating them with respect.
Grateful for your guests and cohosts
If you're not podcasting alone, someone else is putting out effort to participate with you. Regardless of how much of the burden you carry, ensure your fellow participants know how much you value their contributions.
Grateful for your mentors
No one can reach success without learning from others. This education could be direct or indirect, but it is vital.
Your mentors could be someone you hired to help you, someone you benefit from for free, or someone who inspired you.
Tell them how much you appreciate their help, even if you've already paid them! Give them a testimonial, send them a note of thanks, or send others their way.
Grateful for your subscriptions
Have you taken the time to express gratefulness to the podcasts you enjoy? The simplest thing to do is write a review for their podcast. But make a greater impact! Tell others about the podcasts you like—blog about it, tweet it, share the latest episodes, recommend when relevant, and so on.
Think about everything you wish your audience would do for you, and “pay it forward” to the podcasts you subscribe to.
Grateful for your supporters
It's easy to thank the people who give you money. But you receive support from many other places. You might have helpers for parts of your podcast, or people who consistently tweet everything you publish.
Grateful for your cheerleaders
Look outside your podcast. Who is cheering you on? Who is enabling or equipping you to do what you love? Do they know how much that means to you?
Consider, for example, your spouse, who sacrifices quality time with you to let you pursue your passions. Have you told them how grateful you are? Does your audience know how grateful you are for the cheerleading of your spouse?
Grateful for your tools
Do you use podcasting tools you like? Put that thankfulness into active gratefulness!
Write a review, donate to free software, pay for upgrades, promote the product or service, and more.
Grateful for your critics
It's hard to be grateful for the people who don't like us or something we do. But it's a great sign of maturity when you get look your critic in the eye (sometimes metaphorically) and express genuine gratitude for the criticism.
This can often even be disarming, but that shouldn't be your focus.
Yes, criticism can hurt. I see the iTunes reviews full of hate, jealousy, disgust, and more. Sometimes, the gratefulness will be behind tears.
Building a heart of gratefulness not only helps others, but it also helps you!
What are you grateful for in podcasting?
Thank you for the podcast reviews!
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- Tim from KY (USA) said, “… This podcaster really cares about his listeners and wants them to have success. …” Read the full review.
- Bengarcia9 from USA said, “… Your personality is very sincere and you come across as someone who genuinely wants to add value to others without trying to make a fortune off of your subscribers (unlike others out there). I'm in the process of starting my own podcast and you have given me some of the guts to do that! …” Read the full review.
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Disclosure
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship and may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
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Thank you very much, Daniel, for the shout-out. I appreciate that you consistently bring content worthy to be shared, both automatically (IFTTT) and manually. You were one of the virtual mentors I had when I got started in podcasting three years ago, and you continue to be a great help as I grow in my podcasting journey.
You’re very welcome!
Hi Daniel. Unlike the rest of the world, here in brazil we do not celebrate the thanksgiving, which in my opinion is a shame. I’ve tried with my friends inciting them to share for what they are grateful, i even send a message to my ex-girlfriend thanking her for still being in my life. I’m grateful for basketball be in my life, because along with podcast, basketball is the only sport who can take the pressure of the life off my shoulders. And i’m grateful to you as well for being so receptive with your listeners 🙂
Thank YOU for sharing!
Yes, “Thanksgiving” isn’t in every country, but I think our lives would all be better if we lived lives of gratefulness—not saving it for only a holiday.