Lauren Conlin of the Red Carpet Rendezvous Podcast: How Being an Entertainment Expert Creates a Bingeable Podcast Show
By: Tracy Hazzard
Tags: Business, Influencers, Podcasting Tips, Women Podcasters, Podcast

Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

In college, I majored in Communication Arts and Musical Theatre- I’ve always loved both fields! I decided to play it ‘safe’ post-college and went into the field of digital advertising for close to 10 years. After I had my kids, I decided that life is too short not to do what you love. I helped my brother launch a video production company where I was able to host Broadway Show opening nights and press days; then eventually became a producer, working red carpet events for a well-known news personality. I then ventured into the world of entertainment journalism and developed a podcast.

Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?

It’s been pretty amazing to be deemed an ‘entertainment expert’ and be invited on different radio and TV outlets to discuss pop culture and current entertainment events & award shows. After I started the ‘Hollywood Crime Series,” being invited on the Law & Crime Network has been another highlight for me!

Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?

Ugh, one of my first few episodes, I completely messed up the editing and published the episode prematurely — there was about 3 minutes of straight silence. I learned to not speed through anything and I gave myself a proper editing tutorial!

How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?

Since October 2019, with over 70 episodes!

What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?

My show was (is) very much a ‘commuter’ show — funny describing it that way even though not many people commute anymore! Episodes generally range from 15–45 minutes. I want to entertain people by interviewing a celebrity or public figure they love, or by reviewing a new show or film coming out. Recently, I’ve added a ‘Hollywood Crime Series’ to the podcast as I was getting messages and requests to cover more true crime involving public figures.

In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?

I think I’m pretty relatable — I make fun of myself and my interviews often. When I interviewed one of my favorite actors, Alexander Skarsgard, I made sure to point out to the listeners how high pitched my voice got, and how my laugh became SO ANNOYING. I work hard to get quality celebrities that I hope excite and inspire people.

Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?

I would recommend setting achievable weekly goals for yourself. I would also recommend getting ahead of schedule; if you’re a weekly show, record 2 episodes in one week if it’s available to you. That way you can feel good about being covered for the next 2 weeks and can work even harder on the next episode.

What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?

I like to follow different PR and film companies on Twitter and Instagram to see what’s coming up for them. That way I can see who and what is relevant and create an episode around that.

Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?

For me, Rob Shuter’s podcast is fantastic (Naughty but Nice) — they are short and sweet, informative, relatable, and fun with a guest host for most episodes.

What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?

I would say consistency, having a clear category, good advertising and teasing of episodes (it can be as simple as an Instagram post), quality sound and quality content, and guests.

Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast?

Anyone can podcast — having a successful one can be difficult — try to choose a podcast category that isn’t supersaturated. There are so many ‘Mommy’ and ‘True Crime’ podcasts, it might be difficult to get into an algorithm on a podcast app with those categories. Make sure you are consistent — weekly podcasts are best- if you know you are going to skip a week, be sure to tell your listeners ahead of time. Commit to quality — sound quality, guest quality, editing quality, and content quality. You have to advertise it! On social media, or as a guest on another podcast — always plug your podcast! When advertising, create engaging teasers with video or graphics.

Lauren Conlin of the Red Carpet Rendezvous Podcast shares the best ways to:

1) Book Great Guests. Booking guests can be difficult depending on what you’re going for — since I’m trying to book celebrities, it’s extremely difficult! I usually get 1–2 ‘YES’ answers, and about 20 ‘NO’ answers. You can’t get discouraged — you have to literally send 30 emails to get 1 yes. It’s funny because sometimes, I’ll get turned down by a C or D lister and get down on myself…then the next week I’ll interview an A-lister! You never know, you have to be patient. 2) Increase Listeners. Increasing your listener base can be tough, but I would recommend changing your category every few months as Apple only uses the 1st one you select. That way, your show can be found across different categories and get into the algorithm. 3) Produce it in a Professional Way. This requires great editing and sound — even if your content is great, but your sound isn’t the best — people most likely won’t finish listening. If you can invest in a great mic, or even rent a podcast studio, that would majorly help. Editing is fairly easy — I’m not very tech-savvy and I taught myself how to use the ‘Garageband’ software! 4) Encourage Engagement. I think Social Media is a big part of engagement, and also being a guest on other podcasts and plugging your own while you’re on! Plug your social media on your episodes- anything that you use! 5) Monetize. There are quite a few Affiliate sites looking to do podcast advertising- make an account on Share-A-Sale or Allswell to start. From there, if you know any small business owners that would appreciate risk free advertising (they only pay you a commission if they get a sale directly from your ad).

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Anything to bring resources and attention to underprivileged children would be ideal. Also getting kids back in school full time- I believe when the school puts in the work, it can be one of the safest places for kids and teachers during the pandemic.

How can our readers follow you online?

Facebook: @LaurenInterviews

Instagram: @lauren_interviews

Twitter: @conlin_lauren