Create a Successful Podcast Community on Facebook

online business

April 29, 2025

Peach background, Sarah Beisel and Kristen Chadwick photos, create a successful podcast community, bottom link sarahbeisel.com

Hey Friend!

Podcasting gives you highly searchable SEO, evergreen content, and builds the trust-and-like factor with your listeners. But there is one big thing your podcast can’t do by itself: build a successful podcast community.

What if you could build that dedicated community, a group of jazzed podcast listeners who are in direct touch with you and each other, and who spread the word about how good you are?

Podcast Expert Kristen Chadwick Talks Community with Sarah Beisel

I sat down with podcast expert Kristen Fields Chadwick for an exclusive interview where we dove deep into the power of using Facebook groups to enhance your podcast. Kristin is an expert podcast host, and a sought-after coach and manager for Christian clients. Her own podcasts, Wholistic Hearts Podcast and Podcast Coaching for Kingdom Entrepreneurs, together boast over 1,000 episodes — a testament to her expertise and Kingdom mission.

Kristen and I shared strategies to create meaningful engagement in your podcast community, how to revive dead-or-dying Facebook groups, and how to integrate the group and podcast to grow your business.

Facebook Challenges and Lessons Learned

Kristen: Sarah, you are such a gift to all of us cultivating communities around our podcasts. How did you start and what did your journey look like?

Sarah: I started thinking about creating a Facebook Group for copywriters way back in 2021. I took the plunge but didn’t know what I was doing. I experienced a lot of trial and error, mostly error! That’s how we learn and grow, but even though I enjoyed my group I was not finding any clients. I looked for help from Facebook coaches but that didn’t work out either. So I decided to dump the group. I turned it over to a new owner and walked away.

But God did not want me to abandon the group, no matter how hard I tried. After five months I wondered if I had made a mistake. I reached out to the new owner, and to my shock she wanted to give it back to me! It was pretty clear to me that God told me to take it back, so I did. But now I was stuck with a dying Facebook group that didn’t know what it was anymore.

Either did I, but God wanted me to start over with an existing group, so I knew how to pivot as my business model changed. During the process of bringing people through a pivot and transition, I learned so much. And I’m able to help other entrepreneurs who are trying to build Facebook groups from scratch or pivot them to a new direction.

The Importance of Building Your Podcast Community

Kristen: One of these key new directions was podcasting. What did that have to do with rebuilding your Facebook group?

Sarah: The podcasters I work with have a deep heart’s desire to connect with their listeners. Emailing your list is another form of connection between you and your listeners, but it’s not a podcast community. And even Facebook Pages only allows readers to post comments on your posts.

Real podcast community can only happen in the Facebook Group. Group members experience camaraderie, community, and shared goals. You’re still the authority, but they can share ideas and celebrate each other’s wins.

Grow a Podcast Community on Your Facebook Group

Kristen: When you’ve created your Facebook Group, how do you get your podcast listeners to join your podcast community?

Sarah: Reach out to them on your podcast. Mention your Group and how it serves as a community, and add a CTA with link to your show notes. Listeners can’t always click a link or jot down a note, but if you’re consistent in mentioning the group and its benefits, they will.

Make the idea of your podcast community engaging and exciting. When listeners have questions, they can go to the Facebook group and ask or share. Announce fun things like events, giveaways, or bonus episodes for group members only. These activities can really grow a group and create the kind of podcast community you want for your people. And it can happen faster than you think it can as you add dozens, hundreds, even thousands of members into your group.

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The Podcast Community Building Mindset

Kristen: This is great, deliberately creating content your podcast community wants to engage in. And consistency is so important when you’re providing content and community-building. But this also sounds like a lot of work. When you’re already producing your podcast, how do you find time to run the Facebook group too?

Sarah: First, and this is important, “Life Happens”. Please don’t judge yourself by impossibly high standards. Consistency matters but so does the rest of your life. Stay consistent in your group but don’t be angry with yourself or frustrated because you’re not perfect.

It’s also important to remember that things aren’t going to magically change because you start doing the right things. Growing a Facebook group isn’t an overnight blip, it’s a journey. It will take time to grow the community in the direction you want, but you don’t have to sacrifice the rest of your business and life to do it.

Model the Behavior You Want to See in Your Group

Kristen: This mindset is so important. Give yourself grace when Life Happens, and remember that growing a group takes time and consistent attention. The destination of a thriving podcast community is worth the trip. When you’re bringing your group back to life, how do you step into your position of authority and leadership? How do you show and be a model for the community?

Sarah: Consistently participating in your own group is the key to bringing a group back to life and keeping it healthy and growing. The single most important thing in any group is just showing up.

At the very start of creating or reviving a group, make a big splash! Plan on paying special attention to the group for at least 2 weeks or a month. If you have the time and energy, two to three months will have an even bigger outcome.

To do this, plan the consistent daily and weekly activities that you’ll normally do for the group. Estimate the time they’ll take. Then, just for the splash, double the time. Remember that doubling your group management time is temporary! But the more time you can spend on the reborn group at the start, the stronger your growth foundation will be.

Don’t forget the fun things. Host events, workshops, lives, and giveaways. This is fun for you and fun for your audience and will increase your engagement. In fact, the more people learn and interact, and have fun doing it, the faster your group will grow.

Manage Your Time for Maximum Impact

Kristen: I remember an old quote, “Where your attention goes, it grows.” That definitely applies to launching a group! But making that kind of splash takes time and energy. Following the launch, how do you fit your Facebook group action time into your normal schedule?

Sarah: That’s a great question and vital for growing your group over time. Review the time estimates you made for your launch and reduce the time to fit your normal ongoing schedule. (By the way, breathe. You can do this. Systems are the key.)

Think about both time and effective action. For example, you might want to create seven to ten pieces of content each week. That sounds like a lot, so break it down into manageable pieces. Consider batch-creating the seven pieces in one day each week, and simply post one each day. Repurpose and share your seven pieces of weekly content across multiple platforms like social media, podcast, YouTube, email, or courses. You can even go to ten when repurpose.

Know that you’re going to repurpose that longer content as soon as you create it. Because you’re not just producing pieces of content. Your content is a living and breathing thing. Keep saying the same thing in different ways, so people will catch on to what you’re offering, and their lives will change!

Think High Level Sharing

Think high level in terms of repurposing content creation and sharing between platforms. If you have a newsletter, use group post content to feed the newsletter. Or vice versa: create newsletter content and add it as a post or two.

Take your podcast episode and think up some questions people might have, then post your answers and ask for more questions. Consider using questions to challenge perceptions by saying something a bit triggering or controversial.

Another idea is to turn episode content into a bulleted or numbered list for the group—which is perfect for repurposing into a blog, show notes, or newsletters.

Grow Community Engagement with Your Facebook Group

Kristen: What if you try to engage with your group and get no response? You spend your time crafting posts and asking questions, and all you hear is crickets.

Sarah: That happens to all of us. But you can get the interaction flowing, and as you build that momentum, you’ll increase engagement. Questions are a great way to do that as long as you’re using them strategically. The simplest thing is to answer your own question in the comments. When you interact the way you want your people to interact, they’ll know how to participate.

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Post strong questions that will encourage strong responses. Instead of posting, “Do you think Facebook groups help your business?” instead post, “Have you heard that Facebook groups are dead, and what do you think?” This will encourage answers for engagement, and is also market research for you.

And make it clear to them that they can post things too, so your members are inviting their own conversations. When you’re the authority, they may be reluctant to post their own ideas. But when you want to build a community, remind them often that you want them to post.

Build Your Podcast Community’s Trust with Lives

Kristen: Facebook Lives are another popular way to post in your group. But now that Facebook is taking down Live videos after 30 days, are Lives still viable?

Sarah: The move makes total sense for Facebook, and I’m not bothered at all. After 30 days, hardly anyone looks at them anymore. Instead of making Lives your primary media, spend your time and energy on your podcast! Episodes are easily available for listeners, and automatic episode listings create a content database for your speaking. Use your show notes to build your email list.

But don’t abandon Facebook Lives, they have lots of advantages for a podcast community people fall in love with. People can comment to you and each other in real time, or that same day when the Live is on top of the group. I build excitement around my Lives so more people view and interact.

Facebook Lives Support Your Podcast

Lives also support your podcast. I repurpose longer Live audio into full podcast episodes. Shorter, more specific Lives might be bonus episodes to longer podcasts on the same topic. You can offer the Live as a separate bonus episode, or edit the Live into a regular episode.

These viewers will see your face and hear your voice, which is incredibly valuable for group engagement and future clients. Before your members become clients, they need to like and trust you. Facebook Lives are the way to do that.

Monetizing Your Podcast Community

Kristen: It’s so important that Facebook Lives show people who you are, and lead members along a buyer’s journey. But we all have to create smart boundaries between free content and paid work. What are the best ways to monetize your podcast and Facebook group?

Sarah: I put high value on helping others whether they’re clients or not. But the purpose of content creation is to direct people towards working with me. Nurturing is part of that process. Group members who don’t work with me still get help. My educational content helps people reframe their knowledge base or challenge their perspective. When they learn and apply that knowledge, that’s great.

But the people who really need my help are the ones who are stuck somewhere. They don’t know how to break out by themselves. They do know they have a problem that matters to them, and they need to know how to fix it. This is where I come in. I help them recognize that they’re stuck, where they’re stuck, why they’re stuck. And I help them get unstuck, so they can have the kind of abundant impact and life that they want–and that God wants them to have.

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Working Together for a Thriving Community

As Christian podcasters and community owners, we’re not in this by ourselves. Check out Kristen’s wonderful teaching on growing your podcast through the power of transformative content.

If you’re a podcaster and you’re ready to turn your Facebook group into a powerful tool for business growth, join me in the Profitable Facebook Group Program. You’ll learn how to create your successful podcast community by expanding and engaging your Facebook group.

Chat soon!

Sarah

P.S. Listen to the full podcast episode “Enhance Your Podcast Listener’s Experience with a Facebook Group. A Conversation with Kristin Fields Chadwick” for all the extra tips. And check out Kristen’s Instagram and website for even more great content on podcasts.