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An IMDb walk-through created by Ben Currier from the Failure Guy podcast with
much support from Vinnie Potestivo from I Have a Podcast and LinkedIn Expert Judi Fox.

PODCASTERS!
Don't sleep on this advice ➡️

Check out this LinkedIn post that Vinnie put up over 11 months before I showed him THIS how-to guide, and then his podcast was up on IMDb within the DAY!?!?!  Now, Vinnie is a pro when it comes to the IMDb backend, but I am not. However, since I made this how-to guide (basically so I didn’t forget), I thought I would share it with you.  It started as a PDF that I directly sent the link to, but now I’ve put it for everyone to enjoy.

P.S. If you need tips & tricks on LinkedIn stuff, check out Judi Fox at the top of the page. 

P.P.S. Listen to this whole video, Vinnie talks about podcasts in the last 1/3rd or so.

P.P.P.S. OK now I’m honestly just writing a bit more text because I can see that his LinkedIn embedded thing is a bit tall, but this is the last moment I will waste your time, everything below and to the right is unbelievable content! GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT (and a pat on the back once you’re done, you can even message me your ‘IMDb contribution’ email after so you have someone to cheer you on).  Also, share this with your fellow podcasters!! ❤❤❤

– Thanks!
Ben Currier

Why should I include my podcast on IMDb?

In case you weren’t already aware, IMDb.com now allows podcasts (as well as many other forms of entertainment like video games, music videos, and commercials) to be included in what was previously only an internet movie database. If you frequently have guests appear on your podcast, including your podcast on IMDb is something I would highly recommend. Any time someone looks at the filmography listing of one of your guests, your podcast will show up!

As an example, I recently interviewed Carole Baskin from Tiger King on my show. If you look her up on IMDb.com, you’ll find that under the ‘Self’ category, my podcast is listed there.

Carole Baskin's IMDb Filmography Listing

Why should I include my podcast on IMDb?

If you’d prefer to follow along with the official documentation on IMDb.com, here’s how they recommend submitting your podcast. Both the submission process and updating new episodes aren’t always intuitive, so I will try to make it a bit easier to follow. I’ll warn you about some of the issues and complexities that I ran into so you know what to look out for.  Sometimes your contributions can be rejected if you don’t follow along with the specific formatting and other rules that are in their custom submission system. 

How-to Part 1: Submitting Your Podcast

Step 1

Click here to go to IMDb’s ‘New title submission form’.

TIP: You do NOT need IMDb Pro in order to submit your podcast but you do need to make an IMDb.com account using an email or signing in using one of your social media accounts

Step 2

On the form, choose the ‘Podcast Series’ option under ‘Type’.

Step 3

Select the ‘Status’ of your podcast, depending on where you’re at in the process.

Step 4

Let IMDb know your role in relation to the podcast.

In my case, I selected ‘I am Producer/Director/Writer’.

Other options to choose from include ‘a member of the cast/crew’, ‘a publicist/agent/official source’, and ‘none of the above’.

TIP: All submissions are manually reviewed by an actual human, so do your best to follow any guidance IMDb gives to ensure your podcast is accepted.

Below is additional guidance from IMDb on completing the form.

Step 5

Once you’ve filled out the title form, click ‘Check these updates’.

IMDb will inform you of any issues to correct.

You’ll now be able to choose the ‘Year’ the podcast is released, and click the ‘on-going’ checkbox if it’s still active.

After you submit, IMDb will email you contribution tracking info.

Looking for some inspiration for what to include?
Check out the IMDb pages for Ben's podcast
Failure Guy and Vinnie's podcast I Have a Podcast.®

Looking for some inspiration for what to include? Check out the IMDb pages for Ben's podcast Failure Guy and Vinnie's podcast I Have a Podcast.®

How-to Part 2: Adding Episodes

You'll be able to add episode information after your podcast is approved.

Step 1

Go to your Podcast series IMDb page and click on the ‘Episodes’ section.

Step 2

At the bottom of the ‘Episodes’ page, click ‘Add Episode’ under the ‘Contribute to this Page’ section.

Step 3

IMDb will pre-populate the ‘Series’ name.

Enter the correct information for ‘Episode Title’, ‘Original Air Date’, ‘Country’, ‘Episode Number’ and then choose your role from the dropdown box.

TIP: Formatting is important!
It must be written as season # followed by a period then the episode #.
For example, season 1 episode 48 should be written as "1.48"

Click the 'Check these updates' button.

Below is a screenshot of my episode submission for my interview with Vinnie Potestivo.

Step 4

IMDb will evaluate again for any issues.
You will now have the option to choose other items like ‘Writers’, ‘Directors’, ‘Producers’, ‘Cast’, ‘Plot Outlines’, and ‘Plot Summaries’, that are needing a change.

For example, if you have a guest on the episode you are adding, you’ll pick ‘Add 2 credits’ under ‘Cast’ (1 credit for your guest and 1 credit for you).

Click ‘Re-check these updates’.

TIP: Get familiar with the ‘Re-check these updates’ button! It will catch any issues with the information you’ve added. IMDb with color any areas that you need to change red and areas that they recommend you change will be yellow.

Below is a screenshot of my submission form. I am credited as the director, producer, and cast. Vinnie is credited as cast, which is why 'Cast' has 'Add 2 credits' selected. I also like to add the plot summary so I selected 'Add 1 item'.

Step 5

Add the information for the credits you selected to add. As you add your credits, if they’re already on IMDb, make sure you select them from the dropdown list.

TIP: My advice would be to have this filled out as completely as possible! Providing more detail will allow anyone looking at your IMDb page the get the most information possible.

Click ‘Re-check these updates'.

Below is a screenshot of my submission form. I am credited as the director, producer, and cast. Vinnie is credited as cast, which is why 'Cast' has 'Add 2 credits' selected. I also like to add the plot summary so I selected 'Add 1 item'.

In my example below, you can see below that IMDb doesn't like that I wrote 'this episode' in the plot summary. That section was colored yellow and it is recommended that I make a change. Remember that red areas are problems that you should not submit.

Step 6

Click ‘Submit my new episode’. The IMDb team will review the submission and hopefully approve it!

Once it’s approved, you can add additional information like an image, or more information about the episode, but I’d recommend adding that later:

TIP: If you’re partially done filling out your submission form but aren't ready to submit it, you can click ‘Save for later’ and come back to it another time.

Way to go, your podcast is officially on IMDb!

Adding your Podcast will Increase your IMDb
STARmeter and MOVIEmeter Rankings!

What is the IMDb STARmeter and MOVIEmeter?
Here's a comprehensive overview from IMDb, but here's the TL;DR of it...

"STARmeter, MOVIEmeter, and COMPANYmeter are rankings of every person, title and company in IMDb and... provide industry professionals with insights into the popularity of film and television productions as well as the people and companies that make them.

Plain and simple, they represent what people are interested in, based not on small statistical samplings, but on the actual behavior of millions of IMDb users. Unlike the AFI 100 or Academy Awards, high rankings on STARmeter, MOVIEmeter, and COMPANYmeter do not necessarily mean that something is "good." They do mean that there is a high level of public awareness and/or interest in the title, person or company."

You can see in the screenshots above that we have gotten a substantial uptick in our STARmeter's since publishing our podcasts to IMDb.

At first, this may not seem all that important, but there are many professionals in the entertainment industry who use IMDb Pro to reach out to talent and having a higher star meter can only help your discoverability and credibility!

Since Vinnie's I Have a Podcast is newly submitted, it doesn't have a MOVIEmeter graph yet. You can reference the Failure Guy MOVIEmeter graph below.

I hope this step-by-step explanation was helpful to you!

If you’d like to support what I’m doing, be sure to check out the Failure Guy podcast, where I interview guests about their experiences with failure and how those experiences helped shape them into who they are today!


Feel free to reach out if you need someone to help you with your IMDb submission, I can refer you to a paid service.


Also, if you know anyone who could benefit from leveling up their Microsoft Excel skills, I also created both free and premium online training at ExcelExposure.com. After working for 15 years in corporate finance, I learned countless tips and tricks to avoid common failures and to help make my job easier. I created the training so you can benefit from my mistakes and avoid having to learn the hard way while (hopefully) having fun in the process!


You can use the coupon code FAILURE to get 20% off the lifetime access to the premium training!

As I like to say on my podcast, you've got to...
Fail It Till You Nail It!

Ben Currier

Self-Proclaimed "World's #1 Failure"

IMDb, IMDbPro, STARmeter and all related logos are trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates.