Plink

Haven’t updated IH in a while, but I’m very happy to share that Plink (plinkhq.com) is continuing to grow and as of today has processed 4,169,453 smart linking requests over the past 30 days (April-May, 2020).

(2,193,373 monthly requests on the freemium domain, 1,976,080 on the custom short link domain)

Thanks for all of the individual podcasters, networks, and media companies who choose Plink as their universal smart linking service.

Stoked for this milestone!

Shared the news over on @plinkhq twitter account last week that Plink's smart linking tech is now processing over 1 million requests monthly (some 1.3M requests now per 30 days).

Very exciting, great milestone to hit this early on!

Plink automatically creates episode-specific smart podcast links that can be shared on social, in email — anywhere.

Solving pain points that podcasters have and making podcasts more accessible to all is of utmost important to us. With that, we’re excited to share that Plink has made it’s podcast smart linking solution even smarter, now with direct episode links.

Episodic-level smart linking has been one of the most-requested features from our loyal customers and smart linkers out there. Development started some time ago and every single Plink link - free and paid - now has episode linking functionality.

Plink links work on both the show- and episode-level, with links supporting all clients - iOS, Android, desktop/laptops, smart watches, tablets, and on. Episode links support rich media sharing with audio players directly in social feeds...

Read more and learn how: https://plinkhq.com/blog/2019/10/13/smart-link-direct-to-podcast-episodes-apple-google-spotify/

I've created this service with the goal of solving pain-points that podcasters have. I developed and launched this months ago now and have been sharing milestones on Indie Hackers here, yet am so stoked to finally share on Product Hunt today!

Plink makes smart links for podcasts. Auto-open installed podcast apps native to listener's iOS, Android, and other mobile and smart watch devices. Each smart link also has a Show Page that desktop users will see with links to pod apps. Plink supports 10 major podcast apps - Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Breaker, Castbox, and more. Confidently share one, smart link across any social platform, in Slack, email - anywhere.

This is v. 1.0 so not everything I'll eventually have in the product is here yet. But I'm stoked about the adoption of Plink, so many loyal customers and those who continue to champion this smart linking service. Thank you all so much, honestly!

Check Plink out on PH 🎉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/plink-6

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Podnews gave us another shout, thanks! Follow the twitter thread on launch day here.

Plink podcast smart links now supports the Big 4 podcast apps - Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. 🎉Shows that are available on all platforms that Plink supports will now display app links to 10 different podcast apps on their Show Pages.

Adding support for Stitcher proved to be quite difficult. Without going too deep into the nitty-gritty, the fact that Stitcher doesn't have an API to source data from forced me to restart at the very beginning (whereas iTunes and Spotify's APIs give a bit of a head start). After a lot of coding, conversations with Stitcher's CEO, and much more this release feels monumental! Phew 😅

Podnews caught wind of this new release and shouted Plink out once again in their daily newsletter and podcast episode:

"Plink, a podcast linking service, has now added Stitcher to its list. (We link to an example of Lore https://plnk.to/lore?to=page). Stitcher is in all paid pages, and will be rolled out shortly to free pages."
https://podnews.net/update/valence-funding#byline

Plink was written about, explained, and shouted-out by Beetle Moment Marketing, an Alexa and voice first marketing studio by Emily Binder.

"Plink is offering something similar to universal music sharing link service Songwhip, but for podcasts.

Podcast hosts have to tweet out multiple links to cover the bases of all the major podcast apps. If you tweet out an Apple Podcasts link, you could miss your whole Android audience. It’s cumbersome for all involved.

Bottom line: Plink links make marketing podcasts easier. Hosts and producers can promote a show with one, smart link."

Check out the blog post: https://beetlemoment.com/voicefirst-today/2019/8/9/sharing-your-podcast-universal-smart-link-opens-native-player

Lowerstreet, a podcast production company, released a thorough article: How to grow your podcast audience: a complete guide

The guide covers how to increase your show's listeners once you've made your podcast. Article covers podcast promotion, distribution, sharing, and growth ideas.

"But now thanks to services like Plink, you can make one link that will open the show straight up in the user’s preferred podcast app. Awesome."

Check out the guide: https://lowerstreet.co/podcasting-guide/grow-your-podcast

Plink recently started weekly TopPlinks posts series, highlighting the podcast smart links and Show Pages with the most shares, listens, and/or visitors for the past week. 🎧 TopPlinks Week 2 List for end of May, 2019 - check out the podcasts!

"Plink is sharing top 10s of most shared podcasts using its smart-links service. The #1 this week is Masters in Business [https://plnk.to/MIB?to=page]." - https://podnews.net/update/podcast-categories-changed#byline

Took to Reddit - infamously the land of shutting down self-promotion (I get it, I understand why). Plink is all about supporting open podcasting and giving creators and listeners alike multiple, platform-agnostic podcast listening app options - a link anyone can open and play! To boot, every podcast has a free Plink link!

The community at /r/podcasts really enjoyed learning about Plink podcast smart linking and app links page service. Someone even cross-posted into other podcasting subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/bjnodc/no_more_posting_several_links_for_all_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)

Post on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/bjk7wl/plink_makes_smart_links_for_podcasters_every_show/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x