The Exact Steps I Took to Launch a Top 3 Podcast as a Busy Mom (MMM3)

Mom Mentor MomentMom's Guide to Finding Herself
Written By Mom Identity Project

Have you ever dreamed about starting a podcast but felt totally overwhelmed by where to even begin? That was me. I had the vision, the passion—but the logistics? Intimidating. Still, I took the leap. And when my podcast debuted, it ranked number three in the parenting category and number eight in kids and family. That didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of clear intention, deep connection to my “why,” and a launch strategy that actually worked.

Laying the Foundation: Purpose First, Always

Before I ever hit record, I had to get crystal clear on who I was speaking to and what they needed. I wrote pages and pages about the moms I wanted to serve—moms like me who sometimes feel like they’ve lost themselves in the thick of motherhood.

Doing that work grounded everything else. Choosing a name, writing the description, designing the cover art—it all became so much easier because I knew exactly who I was talking to and what I wanted them to feel. I also defined what I call my “golden thread”—that one core message that ties every single episode back to the mission: helping moms rediscover themselves.

The Launch Plan: Why I Dropped 11 Episodes at Once

When I launched, I didn’t release just one episode—I launched with eleven. It gave new listeners something to really dig into and helped trigger the podcast algorithm, which favors higher download numbers in a short period of time.

By offering a binge-worthy lineup right out of the gate, I gave my audience more opportunities to connect with the show—and that made a huge difference in visibility.

Warming Up My Audience: Building Buzz Before Launch

About a month before launch day, I rallied a group of close friends, family, and early supporters to be part of my “launch team.” Their role? Help spread the word, cheer me on, and show up for the big day.

At the same time, I started posting behind-the-scenes content and teasers on Instagram to warm up my audience. I wanted them to be waiting for it. And when launch day came, I made sure it was easy for people to support—clear links to download, follow, and share.

Making It Personal: A Local Launch Party (with a Mom-Friendly Twist)

Because community matters so much to me, I planned a local launch party at a play place—somewhere moms could bring their kids and still be part of the celebration. I partnered with local vendors, ran giveaways (entries required a follow, download, and review!), and brought people together in a way that felt aligned with the heart of the podcast.

That day wasn’t just about celebrating the show—it was about celebrating the community that inspired it.

Keeping the Momentum: Instagram, Giveaways, and Real-Time Hype

After launch day, I kept the energy going with an Instagram giveaway to reach new listeners and daily updates as I climbed the charts. I even got into some friendly, playful competition with other podcasters to keep the vibe high.

I shared wins in real-time, and every time someone messaged me about the show or left a review, I responded personally. That connection? It matters.

More Than a Podcast: Building Real Relationships

What surprised me most was how launching a podcast helped me build even deeper relationships—with listeners and with my local community. I wasn’t just a voice in someone’s earbuds; I became someone they knew. Someone they rooted for. Someone who reminded them of themselves.

Final Takeaways

If you’re thinking about starting your own podcast, here’s what I want you to know:

  • Start with the deep work. Know exactly who you’re helping and what you’re helping them with.

  • Don’t be afraid to go big with your launch—give your people something to dive into.

  • Lean on your community. Get them involved, and make it fun.

  • Let your real self shine. People connect with you, not just your content.

Looking back, I’m still in awe of how it all came together. It wasn’t luck—it was intention, clarity, and a whole lot of love.

If you’re ready to start your own podcast but feel stuck, I’ve created a step-by-step workbook called “Mom’s Guide to Starting a Podcast”—designed specifically for busy moms like you. And if you’re craving more hands-on support, you can schedule a free 15-minute coffee chat with me through my website. I’d love to hear your vision and help you take the first step.

You've got a voice. It’s time to share it.

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For Your Binging Enjoyment…

The Exact Steps I Took to Launch a Top 3 Podcast as a Busy Mom

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[00:00:00] Have you ever dreamed of launching a podcast but felt overwhelmed by all of the moving parts?

Maybe you've wondered how some shows seem to skyrocket in the charts while others struggle to get noticed. When I launched my podcast, I debuted at number three in the parenting category, and number eight in the broader kids and family category. But that didn't happen by accident. It took intentional planning, a deep understanding of my audience, and a launch strategy that made the algorithm take notice.

In today's episode, I'm breaking down exactly how I did it. The foundational work that I put in before ever hitting record, how I structured my launch and the key steps that helped me stand out right from day one.

I had always joked about starting a [00:01:00] podcast, but I never had a clear enough idea of what I wanted to do with it. I knew I didn't just wanna talk.

I wanted to create something that was truly impactful for other moms. Today I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing exactly how I launched my podcast and landed in the top three in the parenting category, and number eight in the entire kids and family category.

It is unbelievable, but it wasn't luck and it definitely wasn't an accident. So if you are thinking of launching a podcast or just love the behind the scenes stories of how things come together, because you know I do this episode is for you.

I'm going to share with you the most important thing that I did before I ever hit record. The strategy behind launching with the 11 episodes that I launched with and how I got the algorithm to work in my favor, as well as the exact steps that I took to build momentum that landed me in the top three.

The first thing I did. Was laying the foundation, doing that deep work before [00:02:00] everything else. Before I ever recorded a single episode, I spent a lot of time writing about my audience and the problems that they face. And honestly, it was really therapeutic because I'm part of it.

I'm part of the audience. I am a mom who at one point didn't know who I was outside of being mom, and I still don't, most of the time I'm still trying to figure it out right along with you, but that's why this podcast exists.

It's here to support moms who feel like they've lost themselves. But before I could start creating episodes for them, I had to be absolutely crystal clear on two things. One, who I'm helping, and two, what problem I'm solving for them. And once I had that nailed down pretty much everything else, choosing the name, creating cover art, writing, my description became so much easier.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was still a lot of work, but because I knew my mission so well, I could [00:03:00] confidently make decisions that aligned with it. Another huge part of that was having a golden thread, this overarching theme that ties every episode back to the mission. This has been so important because it keeps the show cohesive. There have been plenty of episode ideas that I've come up with and completely scrapped because they didn't align with that bigger purpose. They were good ideas. They would be great episodes, but they're not part of this overarching theme of finding who you are as a person.

So if you're thinking about launching a podcast, my biggest piece of advice is do this foundational work first and spend much, much longer on it than you think that you need. Get super specific and think about what the real problems are and how they're affecting your listener, not just how they feel.

Because feelings are really subjective. Saying you're talking to somebody who's overwhelmed means many different things to many different people. So what does [00:04:00] overwhelmed actually mean? How does that present itself in their day-to-day lives? once you know those concrete problems that your listeners are facing, it makes every decision after that so much easier.

I mean. Not everything went perfectly right. There were moments that I doubted myself. I've had hiccups, and sometimes I wonder, even still if anyone even cares. Podcasting is so isolating against my audience. I don't see you. We don't have a conversation. I'm not getting a lot of. Feedback. I mean, if you are loving these episodes, leave rating and reviews.

Leave written reviews as much as you can, or comments in the comments section of the podcast you listen to, because that is one of the best ways to communicate that you are like a podcast that you're listening to, to the person who's creating the podcast, but to also people who are listening. So there's a tip for you for supporting podcasters without spending a dime.

But sticking to my mission has kept me going, and that led me up to my [00:05:00] launch, the launch strategy. So I decided to start with 11 episodes. I knew that in order to gain traction right away, I needed to give my audience enough content to really dive into from the start. So instead of just launching with one or two episodes, I started with 11.

Okay, and here's how I structured it. I did one introduction episode, something that introduced me and my story. So that's episode 19, if you wanted to get into that. I did two guest interviews split into two parts because that's how I like to structure my interviews. One episode that's a bite-sized piece of getting to know the guest as a person, and then one that goes into their expertise or their own unique story. And then I did six solo episodes that were all diving into different core pieces of this overarching theme.

Now, why 11? Because the way the podcast algorithm works is that it doesn't just look at how many people follow your podcast. It looks at how many episodes those followers are downloading, Now they could [00:06:00] be downloading them or listening to them. Those are two different things. But for this purpose, downloads and listens are the same.

So a download is basically telling the algorithm, I plan to listen to this in the future. So they check it off that this is important to you, that this show is something you care about. So by having more episodes available, my audience could download multiple episodes at once and tell the algorithm, Hey, this is a podcast people are really interested in, and that gave me a huge boost in visibility, which meant more potential

listeners found the show right from the start. Okay, so let's talk about the algorithm for a second because understanding this was a game changer for my launch. The algorithm prioritizes podcasts that have a high number of followers on launch day. A high number of downloads per follower, consistent engagement.

Ratings, reviews, shares, things like that. So my strategy was stacking the deck in my favor by making sure my supporters were [00:07:00] ready to go on launch day. And this is what I did. Four weeks before the launch, I started to gather a launch team of my diehard friends and family and fans, people who've been following me and really enjoying my content and interacting with me.

And these were the people who were committed to following, downloading and reviewing the podcast on day one. And then two weeks from my launch, I started posting teasers on my Instagram stories to warm up my audience, to let them know this is coming and this is what it's going to look like. But most of the work that I did for spreading the word about the podcast itself was on launch day.

I posted to my wider network on launch day, including my personal Facebook page, local Facebook groups, mom communities I was part of, and this is why I waited until the day of, and here's a little bit into the marketing psychology of it. I didn't post about my launch too early on my main flat platforms because.

If someone saw the post that I made ahead of time, if I posted, Hey [00:08:00] guys, I'm starting a podcast. It's launching February 27th. I would love for you to listen and let's say I have a distant cousin that saw this post and it's somebody that I don't talk to all the time. They might think when they see the next post that, Hey, my podcast is launched, this is how you can support it right now.

They might think in their head that they already supported it because that first time that they saw my post about the podcast, something in their brain clicked that, oh wow, this is really cool. That's great. And they think they already did the steps, the excitement, the encouragement, the pieces in them that want to support me.

I. Already happened. They already fired. So the likelihood that they're going to take the steps to follow and download everything then. Are much, much lower than if the very first time they hear about it, the very first time they see it, they're able to take those steps right [00:09:00] away. So I made sure that when I posted, people could immediately take action the following, the downloading, the reviewing.

All of that could be done right in that moment. Now we've covered my immediate network. We've covered my friends and family, people that I have met, people that I know, people that connected with me on Instagram, but the real power of my launch came through the power of my community.

One of the best things that I did was plan a local launch party at a PlayPlace, because of course, that's where my audience is. I partnered with the owner who is now a really great friend and some local vendors to create a free play and shop event. Vendors were there selling their products. We had small businesses there selling things like sensory kits, cake pops. They were sharing information about travel or photography services. They were sharing their tea party services. Really, really cute things. And then I had some community organizations there, like a parenting playgroup and our [00:10:00] local United Way.

Early childhood chapter, so people were there all celebrating and sharing their goods with the community, their services with the community, but also they donated to a giveaway.

And in order to enter the giveaway, because this was a launch party, guests were asked to follow the podcast, download the episodes, leave a rating and review, and it was a huge hit. This gave me an opportunity not just to have people support my podcast, but for me to talk to them and share the purpose of the podcast and why I was doing this.

And they got to know me and I got to know them. And this. Was such an amazing piece of it that often gets lost in this technological age. It was so great to put a name to faces. I'm still talking to people from the launch party. I still see them around and, and we communicate and share our experiences as moms with each other because at the end of the day, I'm not just this podcast host who is creating this podcast.

I'm a mom in this community that's also struggling just as much as everybody else. So it [00:11:00] was really great to make these connections.

And not only did I get to connect with the listeners and the guests of the party, but I also got to connect with the small business owners and the community organizations. We created a really fun experience around this launch. outside of that launch party giveaway.

I also ran an Instagram giveaway, and this boosted my reach to more people. I boosted the post so that way it would go out a little bit more. I paid like 20 bucks and Instagram pushed it out to more people, and that helped me get exposure right away to the people who might be interested. I mean, who isn't interested in a giveaway, first of all, and then that kind of just grabs you and pulls you in so you can read it.

I kept that giveaway running for about a week after the launch, just to keep the momentum going. And that paid off because here's the thing, I watched the charts like a hawk The second my podcast hit the top 200, I started posting updates and making reels. And listen, I posted a lot.

I [00:12:00] recognize that, and I'm sure there are people who got sick of seeing my face, but guess what? The energy was contagious. I kept the excitement high by posting real time updates on my Facebook and Instagram. I texted literally. Everyone I knew or had ever met with updates and kept that going by telling them that it was climbing the charts.

Here's we're at 54, we're at 52, can we get into the top 50? I just kept it going and telling people what was going on and how excited I was. And then I started tagging other podcasters who I was close to in the rankings. And what was really cool is they started interacting back with me and sending me messages of congratulations.

So. That way my energy stayed high because during a launch you need to have a high level of energy to keep it going. And it was so much fun. When I got close to the Sesame Street podcast, I made a reel or a story, something like that, was like, can we be bigger [00:13:00] than Big Bird? And people loved it. It was really cute to, have this like pseudo competition with characters or, or.

People that we know and love, and it was really cool to see my face getting higher and higher and higher than theirs on the charts. And my friends, my family, my followers, they rallied, they shared, they helped push the show even higher. I had friends who were then motivated to start sharing with their friends at work.

Who might be interested or I had friends sharing with their parents or their neighbors, people that they might not have connected with before. But because of this momentum and because we were part of something together, we were part of this movement, people were motivated to share and. Uh, it's just incredible to see your community come together behind it.

So build a community, build relationships with Facebook administrators before the launch so that way on launch day you can start posting in their Facebook groups. Because here's a tip, if you start talking to the administrators [00:14:00] ahead of time and showing them that you are not there for a profit, you are there to support, Which I hope that truly is your number one motivator here, is to support the community. And if you start making that known, if you start making that clear, putting behind you that I am not just here to try to make a quick buck, I am here to share free information with people that will better their lives, and you start making those connections ahead of time, you're more likely to be able to post in a Facebook group.

Of people who will actually be interested in your content, because otherwise they might just see you as another spammer, as somebody that's just trying to sell something to their community, which I mean, rightfully so, they don't want. So make those connections, build those bridges, start sharing how you are helping people, helping solve that.

Problem. Remember back to the beginning how we talked about figuring out the problems that you're trying to solve, share how you are solving those specific problems, and people are much more likely to help you.

So here's my final thoughts and advice. [00:15:00] If you are thinking about launching a podcast, here's what I want you to take away. Do the deep work first, get crystal clear on your audience and your mission. Launch with a strategy. Give your audience multiple episodes to dive into, leverage your community. Build hype, create excitement, get people involved.

Keep the energy high because excitement is contagious and people love to be a part of something that's growing. But above all of it, have fun with it, because when you genuinely love what you're creating, people can feel that energy. Looking back, I can't believe how it all came together. I remember refreshing the charts.

My heart was pounding thinking, did we really just hit number three? But the biggest lesson, success didn't come from luck. It came from knowing my audience. Building real connections and being so intentional with every step.

If today's episode has you fired [00:16:00] up to start your own podcast, but you're wondering, okay, but where do I even start? I've got you covered. I created a step-by-step workbook just for moms like you called Moms Guide to Starting a podcast. It walks you through everything from finding your podcast purpose to all the technical nitty gritty details that I didn't give you today.

And if you want even more hands-on support, let's make it happen together. You can schedule a free 15 minute coffee chat with me anytime so we can talk about how I can help you bring your podcast to life. You can go to the show notes or my website, mom identity project.com to grab that workbook or book a call with me.

I cannot wait to cheer you on.

Mom Identity Project https://momidentityproject.com
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