How Canada's Freelance Podcast Producers get work.
Vol. 50 - 5 Freelance producers talk finding work, Comedian Ben Stager's new podcast, last chance to contribute to the Podcasts of the Year!
Hello there!! Happy Pod the North Tuesday!
In this issue:
Your last chance to contribute to the Podcasts of the Year!
How 5 of Canada's Freelance Podcast Producers got started and find work.
Canadian Indie: The Canadian Entertainment Podcast Hosted by Ben Stager
True North Podcast Feature: The Auntie Is In.
There are currently 31 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 29 First Nations communities across Canada.The last lifted advisory was June 28 2024, the most recent added advisory was two days ago, July 21 2024.
CALLS FOR CONTRIBUTORS CLOSES AUGUST 3rd.
Has a Canadian podcast found a special place in your heart this year? You can still enter to be a contributor for Pod the North’s Canadian Podcasts of the Year!
There are just two weeks left to enter to be randomly selected as one of nine contributors, and I’m specifically looking for more entries from “Podcast Influencers”; AKA current or aspiring Podcast Critics, Culture Writers, industry thought leaders, you get the gist. Entries are also open to indie podcasters and podcast companies!
Find more information and enter the draw here.
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Thoughts from the ecosystem:
How 5 of Canada's Freelance Podcast Producers got started and find work.
I started working as a Freelance Producer in 2019. It was sparked by a sort of inner frustation and stubbornness around job hunting in the Canadian podcast industry. The spark turned into a flame after I saw a panel discussion in 2018, where Vocal Fry Studios Principal, Katie Jensen, spoke a brutally-honest-yet-somehow-deeply-inspiring truth about working in the world of freelance production.
In that moment I had an awakening: all the things I knew I had the skills to do and was waiting to be hired for, I could just do them all on my own — and people would even pay me to do it!
All this time I had been yapping my friends and familys ears off about how badly I just wanted to make podcasts for a living, and eventually it manifested into a friend of mine sending me screenshot from a Bunz Facebook group in 2019 [remember Bunz?]. The client of a Freelance Web Designer was looking for a podcast producer. That’s how I found my first client.
Once I got started on that show, I decided I’d try to keep working my full-time job at a startup and keeping taking clients until I had enough of them to constitute “part-time work”. Then, I’d quit my job, freelance part-time, and maybe work at the LCBO the rest of the time (I heard they had benefits). Hopefully — eventually — it would turn into full-time work.
By January 2020 work had come, and it had come fast! I landed a number of early clients through a since-disbanded podcast Freelancer marketplace run by Quill Inc, and those clients started to refer me to friends of theirs. I quit the start up and suddenly the world was in lockdown — and everyone was starting a podcast!
In April 2020, I contacted Katie Jensen to ask for guidance on maintaining projects and she was one of the coolest people I’d ever met. I fear I annoyed her into working with me. By the end of the summer she offered me a test project, freelance producing for a charitable client. This project ultimately kicked off a 3+ year working relationship with Vocal Fry Studios, working with some of the best and smartest people I know in Canadian podcast production — and all of them fellow Freelancers.
Every Canadian Freelance Podcaster I’ve met seemingly understands the value in keeping community. Freelancing has almost never felt like a competition here.
Having a network of freelancing peers meant I had people to take over my work so I could take time off. It meant we could organize, and hold clients accountable to pay a fair and standardized wage. It meant I had people to commiserate with, learn from, and to confidently recommend for a project I wasn’t a great fit for.
But it wasn’t just Freelancers sharing work that earned me a living — it was our shared interest in building genuine relationships with clients. Ones with a foundation of trust. That work almost always lead to more even work.
When I eventually decided to stop freelancing, the majority of my work was coming from referrals and website inquiries [thanks to a Freelance Digital-Marketing-Maven friend of mine SEO’ing the absolute heck out of my website]. And even though that’s just my experience, the way many Freelancers in Canada get work follows a similar path.
The foundation of Freelance Podcast Producers and Editors in Canada is a true example of the word “ecosystem” — and you’re about to see that in spades.
I reached out to some of Canada’s Freelance Producers to hear how they’ve made it happen, so you can too!
Emma Krebs
Freelance Producer and Editor of 3 years; The Minimalists Podcast, The Calgary Sessions, Gym Girls Locker Room, REROOT with Eamon and Bec
Relationships, relationships, relationships!
Most of my freelance gigs have come through networking and building connections. I constantly expand my network by attending events when possible and regularly reaching out online, especially since I currently live in a remote area.
Another key method I've used is cold pitching, which has led to some of my most enjoyable projects. Cold pitching not only demonstrates initiative and creativity but also fills a gap for clients who want to start projects, like podcasts, but lack the bandwidth. This combination of networking and proactive outreach has been crucial in my freelancing journey.
Lindsay Curtis
Freelance Podcast Producer and Digital marketer of 4 years; Small But Mighty Agency, The Navigating Disruption Podcast, Stronger Bones Lifestyle, Health nonProfit Digital Marketing
I have gotten my podcasting freelancing gigs mostly from Facebook groups (there are some podcasting focused ones out there but mine came from my local GG group (formally Girl Gang).
I have also had okay success with Upwork - there is a lot of competition out there and it can be challenging to find something long term as it is a platform focused more on one time gigs - but I think the main success I have had is from client and network referrals. Maybe not super helpful for people starting out but clients passing your name onto someone else they know who needs an editor usually works out great for everyone involved.
Jess Schmidt
Freelance Producer of 5 years; Rooked: The Cheaters' Gambit, Cities 1.5, Your Complex Brain
I started freelancing while I was still finishing my MA in Media Production at TMU - one of my instructors put me in touch with a professor in the history department who was looking for a producer to take over an existing show, which I still work on today.
From there, most of my work has come from word of mouth: referrals from existing clients, or fellow producers who were looking to offload clients, or who had a shared client in need of another producer. A handful of my work has come my way through cold calls that have found me through my website - being a Calgary-based and woman-owned business helps me stand out for clients who want a local producer and/or different perspectives. My most unique and random client connection came when I was getting my hair done a couple years ago... I was chatting with my hairdresser about podcasts (one of my favourite topics, of course) and the woman in the chair next to us overhead. Turned out she was looking for a new producer for her show, and I ended up doing a season with her.
I always assumed eventually I'd be able to land a gig working for a network and would say goodbye to the freelancer life, but 5 years in I love the shows I work on and have found that my most reliable employer is myself!
Kevin Sexton
Freelance Producer of 3.5 years; The Paul Wells Show, CANADALAND, Millennial Money, The Atlas Obscura Podcast.
I left a staff job in podcasting to have more control over the projects that I work on. I kept working with that company as a freelancer, as well as picking up some ongoing work from another former employer.
When those gigs started to dry up, I had to figure out how to drum up new business. A lot of that work has come through finding out who has hiring power, then reaching out to them to introduce myself, share some past work, and see if they have any upcoming needs. I also make an effort to respond to open pitch calls and publicly-posted gigs, which has connected me with new people, even when that particular show or gig hasn’t panned out. After a few years of this, I have relationships with a diverse list of clients who I check in with somewhat regularly.
Though I probably say yes to too many things, I avoid work that I won’t be engaged in; so much of the freelance process is about doing a good job, hitting deadlines, and not being an asshole, so that people will want to work with you again!
Michal Stein
Freelance Producer of 4 years; The Decibel, It's Political with Althia Raj, Policy Speaking, Follow-Up with Althia Raj, Well Said, The David Suzuki Podcast, Healing Comes in Waves, Wider Lens
I have almost always gotten freelance clients by being referred — I think there was only one gig that I applied to without knowing someone first, and that one I found out about by being on the New York Public Radio Listserv.
My very first freelance gig was with HuffPost Canada, editing their show, Follow-Up with Althia Raj. I got that gig by literally running into someone in the halls as I turned a corner at TMU (so literally I think I nearly knocked her over) who needed someone to take over for her while she went on vacation. Other gigs came through people I had interned for, or met at some point in even a vaguely professional capacity, who would pass along jobs when they couldn't take them or pass my name along when they were asked about freelance audio producers.
Cultivating genuine and reciprocal relationships was always the most important part of freelancing for me — I made sure to try to pass work along to others when I wasn't the right fit for it, too.
I freelanced for almost exactly four years — I hit the ground running in the very chill month of August, 2020, and was freelance right up until this past month, when I started a contract as a podcast producer at the Globe.
Check out this Canadian Indie: The Canadian Entertainment Podcast Hosted by Ben Stager
This is an incredible opportunity.
Comedian and Canada’s Got Talent icon, Ben Stager takes you on an inside look into the Canadian Entertainment Industry through the lens of his experience as a Canadian Entertainer.
True North Podcast Feature: The Auntie Is In.
Dr. Paulina Johnson, an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Alberta, shares realities and stories from her home First Nation and people, the Nehiyawak (Four Spirit), as she tackles what it’s like to be Indigenous in Settler Canada.
Pod the North’s flagship podcast, Canardian, was recently named one of Apple Podcasts favourite shows of 2024 (so far)! Each episode dives into the juiciest stories from the hometowns of various Canadian podcast personalities.
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
New Releases:
May 2024 — Bittersweet Infamy releases its 100th episode. The twice-monthly podcast celebrates infamous subjects in all their misunderstood glory, from TV psychic Miss Cleo to musical iconoclast Sinéad O'Connor.
You should know…
Amazon Music Canada took over Times Square in honour of Canada Day, feating two Canadian Podcasts: Front Burner and Island Crime.
AIR’s digital training platform for all audio makers, SoundPath, is hosting three courses starting September 9th. The course line up includes: ‘Managing People to Managing Productions: A How to Guide for Editors and Producers’, ‘How to Pitch Podcast Executives and Get Your Show Made’ and ‘From Idea to Launch: How to Create a Sustainable Podcast.’ These are always really informative workshops!
Happy Birthday to award-winning podcast growth and discovery company, Tink Media, who is celebrating 5 years running this month! The team has put together some special treats to celebrate the occasion, offering a $50 discount on Podcast Therapy sessions for those who sign up before August 19th, and hosting a free webinar on July 30th about one of their favorite podcast marketing strategies - making podcast friends! Attendees of the free webinar who then sign up for Podcast Therapy will receive an extra $50 off, totaling $100 off their session!
Looking for a good read? This recent piece from the Soundbite newsletter has plenty of interesting takes on the podcast industry including this one:
”’We’ve seen YouTube really emerge as the platform that saved podcasting from itself,’ said Glenn Rubenstein, founder at Adopter Media, a podcast ad agency. ‘YouTube forced the industry to go back to its old school roots’.
Soundbite by Ashley Carman, July 18, 2024
For your pod:
Just Joe (sporting his new summer haircut ahead of our big, upcoming canoe trip)…
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Kattie
@Podkatt on Twitter and TikTok | @PodtheNorth on Instagram
