Your podcast needs you - help us build Running Tales
Content is King... or so they say - but only if it gets shared, talked about and paid for. We think we have great content, but you can help us make it shine!
It was way back on Friday, March 13, 2020 when we published the first episode of the Running Tales Podcast.
Since then, we have produced more than 100 pods, each telling the incredible stories of a vast array of runners - from Olympians and world champions to parkrunners and those who have raised many thousands of pounds for charity.
Almost a year ago we launched this Substack page, bringing you the tale of Tony Collier who has achieved incredible feats in the world of running - both before and after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
And we’ve attempted to build social media platforms to boost our work and encourage further conversations, whether that be on Twitter, Facebook, Substack’s Chat community or YouTube.
But in all honesty, Running Tales is at something of a crossroads. Earlier this week, I put out a rather negative post across social media. A use it or lose it plea, which didn’t offer anything new, exciting or brave from our side of things.
Today, I want to do that while also striking a note of realism in the message - basically, we will still need your help!
First of all, I want to say that I believe whole-heartedly in the quality of the stories we bring you on Running Tales.
That’s not meant to sound big-headed. What I’m talking about is not my interviewing or writing prowess - I’ll leave you to make your own minds up about those! - but the absolute brilliance of the people we speak to.
I am incredibly passionate about telling these people’s stories. Let’s just take a very quick look at our last four podcast guests:
Joe Thomas, who despite his previous race being a 5k five years ago decided to run 100 miles to raise money after his dad was diagnosed with cancer
Kim Levinsky, who set a new fastest known time by running 358 miles across the mountains, rivers and forests of New York State’s Long Path
Martinus Evans, the 300-pound running so convinced everyone should be able to run in the body they have that he formed a running club to promote that view - and watched it become one of the most popular on the planet
Georgia Francis, who’s granddad William McKim ran in the 1964 Olympics, broke the four-minute mile barrier and climbed Everest
I’ve not cherry-picked those stories. They are simply the last four interviews we’ve done out of scores of similarly mind-blowing stories.
What we want to do with Running Tales is to bring those stories to more and more people. We want to have tens of thousands of podcast hits, Substack subscribers coming out of our ears, people across the running community talking about our brilliant guests.
We want to do more of these stories, we want to celebrate people, we want to create a community that talks about the side of running that everyday people embrace rather than simply worthy articles about the best trainers or the elite field, we want to tell you about the best races around and uncover interesting news that others don’t.
And we want to do it on everything from audio to the written word, on video and through social media. We want to be informative, entertaining and interesting - and to make your running experience even better.
Why? Well, there are two reasons, but the main one is that we really do think these stories are worth it.
And, yes, time to come to the nub of things: the second reason is that we would like Running Tales to become profitable so we can continue to make it bigger and better.
And this is where you come in, because if we can’t make these things happen we will, sadly and with huge regret, have to bring Running Tales to a close.
That’s because it has become increasingly hard to get traction for everything we do, across all the platforms we are on - from growing the podcast, garnering reviews, or sparking conversations around people’s stories to increasing subscription numbers or getting reactions on social media sites.
Without meaning to be crass or belittle those who have paid for subscriptions or bought merchandise, this all becomes ten times harder when it comes to monetising the product.
Two quick examples:
Since launching the podcast, we have earned the grand total of $0.73 in advertising revenue.
On our Buy Me A Coffee page, we have been donated… NOTHING. Not a single penny.
Yes, we’ve made a little bit of money off subscriptions from here, but not much I’m afraid. Certainly not enough to have covered the $10 a month we pay to host the podcast.
I hope these negative sounding noises don’t put you all off the content - I absolutely think it is good enough and worth paying for. Others having not done so is a mystery to me… but if you anyone in this community has any ideas!
So, what am I asking for…
If you can afford it, please consider becoming a paid Substack subscriber by visiting https://runningtales.substack.com/subscribe
Or you recommend this newsletter to your friends and family - or even gift them a subscription: https://runningtales.substack.com/subscribe?&gift=true
Shout about the podcast, share it on your socials and tell people about it - even better, give us a review or five star rating wherever you listen
If you don’t already please follow us on Twitter @RunningTalesPod or on Facebook - we’d also love you to join our Talking Running Tales Facebook group
Subscribe on YouTube to view and listen to all our latest videos and podcasts
Consider buying us a coffee to help us do what we do: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward
If you like what we do, but want to see more or something different then let us know. Comment below, contact us on our socials or email craig@runningtales.co.uk
As ever, I’d love for our community to weigh in on this so if you have any thoughts please do let us know.