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 I spoke to Lisa as well as Leo Laporte, the husband-and-wife team behind TWiT's podcasting empire and how they can create a community so engaged in the brand they would like to listen to your commercials.

"When we began, it was for a certain niche of people that were real technophiles. Today, there's a resounding question: Where isn't technology? !" smiles Lisa Laporte the CEO of TWiT. "It's fully developed." The social aspect of podcasting was the reason the industry felt like to be a "logical extension" of Chief TWiT's purpose in life. It was also the reason Lisa fell in love with new media.

The couple had built their podcasting empire for sixteen years before the pandemic hit in 2020. "Those few years were very lonely," Lisa explains. "We were all in small Zoom boxes, but there is a tech community that is awed by and seeks to be part of a community." TWiT needed to discover a way to connect with its fans during this isolating time.

Lisa spoke with one of the sponsors for TWiT Tech training company ITPro.TV on how they could offer something back to TWiT's fans. "Simply sufficient, ITPro.TV let its users stay in the building and chat online for up to an about an hour after dark. Sometimes they would play games. Other times, they'd just chat," Lisa continues. "I kept thinking, 'That's what I want to do. I was hoping for our customers to find a spot to go to hang out and have fun.

Lisa affirms that having the option to incorporate a Discord server into the membership offerings officially was "a richer experience" rather than simply launching an online club. "It was the right time to give our community that little additional benefit; members wanted to get out of the confines of locked inside their home." Club TWiT was all set to launch.

From content to cruise: The launch of Club TWiT

Lisa says that the TWiT team encourages its members to get involved in the organization whenever they can. They ask for show feedback; they host regular Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions; and also host spaces where the members can come to socialize. This is particularly important for the internet in the midst of the epidemic, but it is being translated into real-world situations.

"We will be exhibiting our photography and I'm thinking it would be fun to tell people, 'Hey we're coming to be at this event. Come join us for a photo stroll!'" continues Lisa. The team envisions doing many more in-person experiences and, indeed, TWiT held a recent cruise with 100 members. Leo and Lisa have agreed that, nearly counterintuitively, it's in-person events such as these that form the "fundamental element of what podcasting is all about" and is what sets it apart from other media.

Lisa and Leo as well use Club TWiT to premiere and test new content; if shows begin getting noticed and is popular, it could be added to the premium Club TWiT offering or become an ad-supported program. In this case, Lisa will approach the host of the show, and advise the hosts to practice ads, then join the show into their arsenal to get started with advertisers. All ads need to be read by the host to ensure that they feel like an authentic and integral element of the show.

Selling your sponsors better than selling them

Creating an advertising approach that benefits both sponsors and listeners is paramount to TWiT's achievement: "Our advertising works because the community trusts us. We can recommend products and services to them and they are willing to support us, so they buy them. If we contract advertisers to sign, we thoroughly review them as a company We also check their reviews," Lisa says. Lisa.

She explains: "We do such a good job on our ad-supported aspect that Club members say"Hey, we need to put in ads.' We actually have Discord for the ads on our shows! Discord channel exclusively for ads on our shows!" She adds that their audience asks them to share an ad each month on every single show, because they would like to know where to purchase the advertised items: "They trust us so they tell us, 'You have to share a feed with us so that we can watch ads every once in the course of time.'"

At this point, I have to double-check my perception of what I'm hearing. Lisa says that TWiT members do make entries into the shows in order to request links to TWiT's adverts. "Isn't it hilarious? !" she smiles. She adds: "Our Club TWiT members are getting the shows ad-free However, they email us to say, "Hey, we don't like the advertisements - we'd like to hear these!' We regularly drop in commercials to thank our sponsors for their support as well as when we've got an exciting new patron. They're so compelling."

"Our sponsors ask, 'Can you send us a courtesy commercial for every ad seen? Sales trainees are required to take a look because you've made them watchable since you've helped sell our brand better than half of our staff members who are junior I thought that was quite adorable."

Start small is essential.

What can you do to create an organization that members like and trust so much they want to listen to your ads? "Really examine what's out there and consider what everyone else is doing," Lisa suggests. "Look at those who's like you, and look at what they're up to before you jump into the fray. Have conversations: call me or talk to someone who has been through this."

She advises "just take your time" to think about different strategies and structures. "Don't take more than you can chew. If you plan to accomplish 50 different things, you'll discover that you're not able to do them effectively. Begin small, like we did: we began with AMAs."

Leo and Lisa discuss how the TWiT team is slowly but steadily figuring the issue out as they go down the road. Now that they're getting grips on the whole thing and are beginning to add the value of their service with additional content. "I never want to over-promise to deliver only for them to disappoint," Lisa continues.

Lisa urges creators to look closely at all their services that are included in their membership package. "See what is appropriate in the context of what you're trying do and shop around for an appropriate product. Since we're both audio and video-based and video, we've got a few oddities as a podcasting network."

Supporting the community

"If you're looking for a career in technology then check out our website. We have a show for everyone!" she smiles. "We have entry-level shows like the Tech Guy; we have iOS Today, which is fun if you have either an iPad or iPhone and are interested in learning more about how to use them; we have 'geeky shows such as Security Now if you're into security. If you enjoy something, join Club TWiT and download the podcast! We must remember to support fellow members of this community."

Supporting the podcasting community and the incredibly inclusive nature of it is something that's always been a priority for the TWiT team "We remain committed to providing the content for free, but it's a nice opportunity to offer this added benefit for those who are super fans. I love having both options because anybody with an internet connection can access our content and don't need to purchase these shows. It's very democratic," says Lisa.

She concludes: "We have fans in third-world countries who've written in to say that they heard your podcast. I used to go hangout at the local electronics store to listen to your podcast and get some skills. Now I've got a job in tech""

Perhaps Lisa, Leo, and the team at TWiT have witnessed tech's evolution from a subject that was reserved for enthusiasts, but also an ubiquitous issue nowadays. Perhaps they've been helping to make the transition.