How to Turn Your Email Newsletter into a Podcast

Aloudable integrates with your existing email newsletter tool and produces a podcast version of each email you send out. Podcast episodes can be tweaked to be a word-for-word audio version of your newsletter, an automatically generated conversation between two AI voices, or a version of the newsletter performed by an AI agent.

Aloudable is suitable for individuals or teams with a small to medium budget who want an automatic solution that doesn’t require manual episode recording. There are monetization options built into the platform.

Costs

For teams with only one podcast and one team member, Aloudable is $48 per month per episode. That means if you have one podcast per week, then it's $192 per month. Music for the introduction and end of the episode is $100 as a one off charge.

Aloudable will happily produce a sample episode for you and your team - just get in touch. 

Other Features

Podcast episodes are automatically pulled from your email feed and made available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and your own RSS feed. Episode notes are automatically generated as well.

Requirements

Your email newsletter needs to be mostly text-based, and you’ll need to add Aloudable as a subscriber. Other than that, there are no additional requirements, and the software runs in the background. Episodes can be daily, weekly, or monthly.

Home Production

If you’re already writing a newsletter, you have the option of using either an inbuilt recording tool or generating your own podcasts. Substack has an inbuilt tool called Voiceover, or you can record your own newsletter voiceover and publish it using podcasting tools. A third option is to use off-the-shelf text-to-speech services to convert the text into audio and upload that manually.

Costs 

The costs of home production vary but typically include the following:

• Episode hosting (~$20 per month)

• One or two microphones ($100+ each)

• Podcast recording software (optional)

• Editing software (~$40 per month)

Other Features

With a home production setup, you’ll have more control over your content and can bring more of your personality to the episodes. You can also choose which editions of your newsletter you want to publish while easily leaving out others. Additionally, you’ll have the option to interview guests on episodes and add a variety of music and sound effects.

Professional Production Tools

There are several ways to have your newsletter professionally produced, from paying a voice actor to hiring your own studio. The main advantage of this method is that you’ll get extremely high-quality content that rivals some of the best podcasts out there. However, many successful podcasts use a more scaled-back and simple approach, especially if they aren't using video.

Costs 

• Studio Hire (~$300+ per day)

• Lighting (can be included in studio hire) 

• Post production (~$500 per day)

• Voice actor (optional)(~$50+ per session)

Other Features

The major advantage here is that you can expand the scope of your podcast. With high-end production quality, you can easily move into video and start posting YouTube videos or short-form clips. Additionally, it may be easier to get guests onto episodes if you’re seen as more professional.

Requirements

Many people and companies produce insightful email newsletters for their business, hobby, or side project. But, how can you turn that email newsletter into an engaging podcast and what tools might you need?

The time required to produce each episode will be higher with professional production, as many series will have a dedicated or shared producer to manage studio booking, guests, taping, and editing.

In addition, if you’re thinking about video production alongside your audio episodes then you’ll need to consider lighting, what you’ll wear, continuity, and video editing. 

Outsourcing and Agencies

Another option is to use a podcasting agency to handle the process for you. This is the most expensive option but eliminates the need to spend time managing production. Countless dedicated podcasting agencies have been set up globally, and they will handle the entire process for a fee.

Costs 

Agency costs vary widely, with many charging upwards of $50,000 for a series of podcasts. The cost per episode will naturally be lower with a higher volume of episodes.

Other Features

Agencies will organize and format your episodes to your preferences, whether that means hiring a voice actor to read out your newsletter or bringing in a journalist to interview you on the subject you’ve written about. They often help with marketing and provide advice on promoting your episodes.

Requirements

When working with an external agency, the only limiting factor is budget. A professional team will handle the entire process, but it comes at a significant cost. However, a good agency will meet with you to understand your requirements and deliver a finished product.