A show about fascinating people and places near and far

I'm a seasoned travel journalist who's traveled to over 90 counties and reported for publications like the New York Times, National Geographic, TIME, and more. Going Places is my storytelling and travel podcast about the fascinating people and places I meet on the road. It is an interview-based show where I share the stories that have piqued my curiosity and that I believe will interest other travelers.
 

I love podcasts! I listen to a rotating host of maybe 20-30 podcasts a week. I first started my podcast during the pandemic as a way to share my travel journalism expertise (it was originally an educational, how-to podcast). More recently, I turned it into a storytelling, narrative-driven podcast as my show has become an outlet for stories I find on the road.
 

I do weekly episodes and for most of the past three years, I had a wonderful podcast producer who did all the editing. This year, I had to let my producer go unfortunately, and I am now editing all episodes myself with the help of AI editing tools. Each episode takes about a day to get ready, including the interview prep, interview itself, editing, and preparing it for publishing.

I started having sponsors on the podcast last year, which helps a lot. Looking for more sponsorships at the moment :)
 

I had my first sponsorship last Fall (Oct 2023) when my podcast was at about the same level it is now (~190 downloads a week). I know that's not a high number, but I found that with the right relationship, you can make a compelling offer to advertisers. It helps that my podcast is travel-focused, so there are a lot of advertisers who are looking to tap into this small, but very loyal audience. I had a season-long sponsorship with the Jordan Tourism Board, where I created episodes focused on Jordan specifically. It worked great.

I love my podcast because it's a creative outlet where I have full control over the types of stories I do (as opposed to working with publications, where I don't have control). Plus it has a potential for becoming a serious revenue stream for me. I'm not there yet, with only one sponsorship under my belt, but I know that I'll get there soon.
 

Most of my guests are people I met while on assignment for publication stories, which works great and means I always have a list of people to tap for great stories. In terms of tools, I used to use Zencastr but have recently switched to Riverside.fm for their video and AI editing capabilities. I record in Riverside and use Adobe Audition to put the final file together.
 

I have a weekly newsletter where I share episode updates plus a social media following where I also market the podcast. Lately, LinkedIn has become a great source for more exposure to the podcast, I highly recommend it!
 

Spend some time thinking about what your niche and focus should be. Don't worry so much about the numbers, but commit to showing up consistently. I believe that weekly podcasts help listeners get into the habit of listening to your show, so it's important to show up. Partner with other podcasters by growing each other's audience through tactics like episode swaps and guest appearances. Great audio is important! Luckily now there are a lot of tools that can turn even a bad audio into a manageable quality (Podcastle is one I use). It's important to realize that while many of us have small podcast audiences, they are incredibly loyal to us and have developed an intimate relationship with our show because we're in their ears weekly. That is a relationship that advertisers value if they're looking for quality rather than reach.
 

You can learn more about me here: https://www.yulia-denisyuk.com/features and here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yulia-denisyuk/
You can learn more about my show here: https://www.goingplacesmedia.com/