I am super excited about a new option that’s recently been added to my WordPress blog site and I want to share!
It started with an email from WordPress that I left sitting in my Inbox for days before opening. After all, what could WordPress have to tell me that is anything I don’t already know?
Wrong!
You may have received the same email. But it went like this:
We’re excited to announce a new feature that automatically converts the text of any page or post into a podcast on Anchor, the world’s largest podcast platform.
If you’re already blogging on WordPress.com, there’s a good chance it’s podcast-ready—because our new integration with Anchor means you can now turn your words into audio in a few steps. The blog-to-podcast process is simple, and it opens up your work to new possibilities and listeners.
As I read further, I got excited. So, I followed the prompts over to Anchor and lo and behold, in under ten minutes, I had a Podcast!
For my trial, I converted my last post about how to handle critical reviews and it worked like a charm.
I don’t know about you guys, but this simplistic idea got me excited! All of you guys at Story Empire, this would be a great way to expand your listening audience. And, for all other active bloggers as well.
Once you get an account set up on Anchor (by the way, it’s free), you can convert to your first podcast. You get to choose the voice you want to use, or you can opt to record the podcast in your own voice. That’s something I will try as I get more comfortable with the process.
Here was what the remainder of the email said:
Grow your audience with audio
Introduce existing readers to your blog in audio form—and reach a whole new audience by bringing your content to a platform with millions of listeners.
You already have the content!
Blogging with WordPress means you’re not starting from scratch. In fact, you’ve already done the hard part: produced content.
From blog to podcast in minutes
Use text-to-speech to easily convert your blog to audio. Or go more hands-on to build a robust podcast that leverages your podcast as a foundation. The structure is entirely up to you—we’ll even import your existing posts as episode drafts to give you a head start!
Let your audience listen on their terms
Converting your blog to a podcast enables listeners to enjoy your content whenever they want, including times when they’re unable to look at a screen. Anyone can now follow along while doing things like walking, cooking, driving, and more.
Ready to podcast? Start by creating an Anchor account
There are so many different options available once you get your Podcast set up. You can choose sponsors for it and you can monetize it.
What do you think? Is this something that you feel will enhance your blog posts and open you up to a whole new audience?
Here’s the link to my first converted podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/79JTaHRcsIoCt62gzFauvq
that is such a cool feature; I must have skipped over that email. thanks for letting us know about it. I may have to give this a try!
Wonderful, Jim! I hope you have much success!
Thanks, Jan!
You’ve convinced me to give it a go, Jan. I wasn’t very willing as I dislike the sound of my own voice, but now I know I can choose a voice to do the reading for me. I’m excited about the idea.
I listened to one of your podcasts, and it sounds great.
Fingers crossed that turning posts into podcasts will bring in more traffic and followers.
I love learning new things, so this will be right up my street.
Thank you for stopping by, Hugh, and for your enthusiastic response! I look forward to following your podcasts and this is a reminder that I need to get some more up! Good luck with something new!
I decided to convert my flash fiction, and blogging tips post from this year to podcast posts. Not too many to do, but I’ll be adding more as I publish them.
Thanks again, Jan.
Hi Jan…I did get the email and every time I log in I get a reminder of the podcasts on my first page…I did click it the other week and then didn’t take it any further but maybe this is the push I need …Great post 🙂 x
Lol, Carol. Here’s your push, and for me, it’s a reminder to get some more up! Thanks for stopping by!
Look forward to listening to them , Jan 🙂
This sounds like a great feature! I will definitley look into it. Thanks for sharing, Jan. 🙂
Wonderful, Mark! I’m glad you found it interesting. Let me know if you put up any podcasts so I can follow you on Spotify!
I did get that email, Jan. And it’s still sitting in my inbox! LOL. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m going to go over and listen to your podcast. Like some other bloggers commented, the artificial voice would be a concern for me, but I like the idea of recording our own blog posts. Yeesh, more to do though! 😀
I just went over and listened, Jan, and it was good! The voice actually sounded fairly natural to me. Nicely done.
Thanks, Diana. I thought the voice was okay, but I do intend to experiment by using my own voice to create them when I find the time. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!
I received the same message from WordPress. I’ll be interested to see if the blog to podcast option catches on.
Me too, Liz, and it’s kind of exciting to get on the ground floor of something new! Thanks for stopping by!
You’re welcome, Jan!
Thank you for the great news! I also had not got the notice! Will head over to your first podcast. Have a beautiful day! Michael
Hi, Michael! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy exploring!
Always a great pleasure, Jan! Thank you for the great tip. Will try to use it for bringing book news more into the world. Have a beautiful day! Michael
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Wow! Jan, I must have trashed that email so thank you for bringing this to our attention! This looks very exciting and podcasts are becoming ever more popular. I’ve never heard of Anchor but look forward to exploring more. I am intrigued how it will work as some posts are very photo/picture dependent but words are still at the core of our work so this is brilliant. You might see me over there! btw. Wishing you a wonderful break with your grandchildren, oh, it sounds heavenly with a lake side cottage. Enjoy, my friend! xx
I’m so glad you took the plunge, Annika! I have followed you on Spotify! I love your first podcast about the girl that lost her voice!
Awww … thank you so much! Off to check I’m following you too! It was exciting to compile this and I imagine there are many more features to explore! Thank you again for sharing with us. 🙏
That’s so cool! I use Blogger, so I’m not sure if it’s an option. If it isn’t now, I’m sure it will be at some point because all these sites have to stay competitive. Lol! I’m happy for you, Jan. 😊
Hi, Yvette. As far as I know, it only works on WordPress sites, but as you say, Blogger will be staying up with the competition, so may be available to you soon. Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs!
Sounds (pun) interesting. I note that what is produced is an AI voice (at least it doesn’t sound like that of a singer like yourself). That would certainly save time and might be better for some folks–like me, if I really wanted to go there. 🙂
Does the Anchor/Spotify link work for self-hosted sites and not just WordPress.com sites?
Hi, John. I intend to experiment with my own voice at some point with this, but for a quick trial, I used the AI voice. As far as I know, it is only connected to WordPress sites. Thanks for stopping by!
Jan, as usual you offered a super helpful post. I’m just getting my feet wet in the blogosphere, but this is sure worth some thought. Thanks, Jan!
Thanks, Maura Beth! So happy you stopped by and glad you found the post helpful! Have a great day!
Jan, thanks for sharing this. I think it’s a fabulous idea! So Anchor is obviously linked with Spotify? Or can this podcast, once set up, be used on any podcast platform? Thanks again! I’m going to add this gem of a post to my next Writer’s Tips edition. <3
My pleasure, Debby. So, apparently, when you publish your podcast, Anchor places it on Spotify and Apple iTunes. At least that’s my understanding. I’d be honored for you to share this on your Writer’s Tips blog!
Already in draft! Thanks Jan xx
Wow. Great feature, Jan. I might give this a try. Thanks for sharing the news. I don’t remember seeing the email 🙂
You are most welcome, Harmony. It was a cool discovery! Please let me know if you do it so that I can follow you on Spotify!
I might give this a try, Jan. I used to read the newspaper for an organization over the radio that brought the news to the visually handicapped. I’ve been told that I have a good radio voice. You answered my question that someone else had about using your own voice. I’d be more likely to go that route instead of using the computer-generated one.
Hi, Pete. I definitely like the idea of using your own voice over the computer-generated one. And I will definitely be trying that in the future. Please let me know when you are set up so I can follow you on Spotify! Thanks for your comment!
How exciting, Jan! Enjoyed listening to your posts. Sadly, I gave up on WordPress a few years ago. After multiple crashes of my site and other issues, I moved to another platform. All the best!
Thanks, Mary. I’m happy you stopped by. So sorry to hear of the WP issues. Technology can be such a huge challenge.
Thanks for the information, Jan.😁
My pleasure, John!
I have to admit I’m not a fan of podcasts, but I’m not a fan of videos either. I guess I’m a fossil, LOL.
That said, this was so soothing to listen to. You may just convert me yet!
Lol, Mae! I totally understand. Moving into the world of fast-advancing technology is not easy for me at all. But this one was so easy, I was truly shocked! I’m glad you stopped by!
Awesome! Checked out your podcast. Thanks for sharing, Jan.
Thanks, Bette! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
What an exciting possibility, Jan. I don’t use WordPress, but gosh, it makes me wish I did. 😊 BTW, I listened to your podcast and it sounded great. 💗
Awesome, Gwen. I do want to experiment with using my own voice instead of the robot, but today that was as far as I got. Thanks for stopping by!
I didn’t get the email, Jan. Certainly something to consider. And thanks for tagging Story Empire!
I just immediately thought of you guys at SE and your great posts. And I see it as a way of expanding an audience. Thanks for stopping by!
Very interesting Jan and I have signed up for an account… I am not a paid for account with WordPress but I was thinking of doing that anyway to keep the classic editor… will work on it..hugsx
I thought about you, Sally, when I saw this. It really was super easy. Thanks for stopping by!
I got the same email, but didn’t do anything about it.
I really think you should check it out, Craig. It was so super easy and I think it opens up a whole new world of possibilities! Thanks for stopping by!
Most exciting news I’ve read in a while. Thanks, Jan. I’d prefer a human voice to the robot’s, but that would defeat the time saving aspect, possibly. Something to try though.
I’m glad you found it interesting, Linda. I hope you give it a try. If nothing else, it’s new fun. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, Will. You can choose the robot voice (man or woman) or you have the option of recording in your own voice, which I will do when I get more comfortable with it. I also discovered there is a way to add sounds to the podcast and I’ll also experiment with that. It is an exciting new feature. Yes, the synthetically created blog post automatically gets distributed to Spotify and to Apple iTunes. I’m glad you are excited about this too!
Very cool! I’m signing up now (and I followed you :))
I agree, Jacquie! It’s super cool! I’ll follow you back. Did you follow on Spotify? I’m glad you are going to give it a try!
Yes, on Spotify. I ended up down the rabbit hole, lol, but it’s fun!
I didn’t see this email, Jan 🙂 I’m going to have to try this. It would be really fun for poetry blogs, and all if them. Thanks for sharing this!
It would be excellent for poetry blogs, Denise! I think it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve run across in a long time! Let me know if you try it and I’ll follow you!
I got the same email but haven’t done anything with it. I’ll have to dig deeper as this looks very cool! Thanks, Jan!
This would be SUCH a great tool for you and for what you do, John. I think it would expand your audience greatly. Let me know if you decide to give it a try!
Jan, I created an account and downloaded three segments and will pursue more. Still have to figure out the audio editing and adding photos to the podcast. Thanks for the push…!
I did receive this email, Jan. I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t as brave as you to give it a try. You made it seem so easy. I like the idea because I listen to a lot of podcasts, but I’d rather hear the author’s voice. The robot’s voice seems a little creepy to me for some reason. Thanks for sharing this!
It was SO super easy, Jill. And believe me, I am no expert at any of these things. I agree that I’d rather hear the author’s voice and I will experiment with that later when I have more time to play. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow. I am listening to the robot woman’s voice reading your blog post. It both exciting and a bit creepy (because the prosody of the robot woman’s voice is a bit erratic/non-human…) Does this synthetically created blog post automatically get distributed to Spotify, which is where I heard it? Or did you get to choose which digital distributors received it? THANK YOU for giving me a taste of this new podcast feature on WordPress!