Podcast Talent Coach

8 Keys to Build Your Podcast Brand – Episode 187 Building your podcast brand is a big step toward audience growth. If you want to keep listeners coming back time and again, you need to build top-of-mind awareness. Your listeners need to think of you first when they think of your niche. To build your memorable podcast brand, follow these 8 steps.   1. BENEFITS, NOT CONTENTS It's the Snap, Crackle, Pop … Not the Puffed Rice Rice. Sugar. Salt. Malt flavor. Mmmmm. I can't wait to get a bowl of that! Your listeners aren't attracted by the contents of your show. They don't care if your show discusses money or business or politics or sports. All your listener cares about is the benefits they will receive from your show. Here are a few podcast descriptions I found on iTunes. "Those people that make videos on YouTube now have their own audio podcast. Hope you will stay awhile." "(unnamed podcast) produces original stories each week for families around the world. Each week on the (unnamed podcast), we'll be sharing a f

How To Land Your First Podcast Guest – Episode 186 Interview podcasts are quite popular. Having a guest provide their knowledge is a great way to create content for your show with less work on your part. So, where can you find guests? More importantly, if you are just launching your show, how can you land your first podcast guest? What is the trick? How do you land that big guest for your podcast? Let's face it. Asking a busy, successful entrepreneurs to give up an hour of their time to give you an interview is a tough ask. Their time is money. How can your podcast be more valuable than their other options? Finding and landing guests are two different tasks. You first find the guest. Then, you work to convince them to be on your show. Let's take this in two steps.   FIND THE GUESTS Before you go fishing for guests, you need to determine what you hope to accomplish on this particular episode. You need to set a goal. If you are hoping to lay the foundation for your affiliate program, we need to find guests that

How To Draw Your Listeners Past The First 60 Seconds – Episode 185 When a listener hits play on your podcast, how can you get them to listen to the end? Or, at least past that critical first few minutes of engagement? HOW LONG DO THEY STAY? When a listener hits play on your podcast, how long do they stay? Studies show about 47% of those that consume podcasts listen to the end of the episode. Roughly 23% of listeners say they listen until they are bored. Studies also show the biggest drop off of those who do not listen to the end comes in the first five minutes of the show. This means a quarter of your listeners to any episode get out before you are five minutes into the show. Think about how you consume podcasts. Where are you and what are you doing when you listen? Put yourself in the shoes of your listeners. What are they doing? Have you asked them? When I listen to my favorite podcasts, I am typically driving. During the summer, I listen to a lot of podcasts while I am mowing the lawn. This allows me a lot

My Tools To Make Money With My Podcast – Episode 184   (These tools can be found on the resource page at PodcastTalentCoach.com. Most links on that page are affiliate links. I may receive a variable commission for any purchase made using those links.)   How do I make money with my podcast? I get asked this quite a bit. Many podcasters want to make money to at least pay for the expense of podcasting. I thought you could get some great help if we reviewed the tools I use with my podcasting and in my business. This includes the tools I use to create my podcast, website and newsletter. We will also review the resources I use to learn, create products and generate revenue. This list includes affiliate links. Please understand I would never recommend anything I didn't already use and love. I have been using most of these resources for years. That is why I feel confident recommending them to you. You can find affiliate links to and discounts for most of these in the resource section online at PodcastTalentCoach.com.

Make Friends Using Your Stories – Episode 183 Our goal with our podcast is to create meaningful relationships with our listeners. Powerful, profitable relationships. People do business with those they know, like and trust. That is the definition of a relationship. The best way to create meaningful relationships is to use engaging content. One of the best ways to create content that is engaging is to use stories. Stories reveal who we are and what we value by the pieces of ourselves we reveal within those stories. This is how your listeners get to know and like you. Your stories tell your audience why they should trust you. WHAT ARE YOU REVEALING? What did you reveal about yourself on your podcast this week? My radio coach taught me that from self-revelation comes friendship. Can you think of a true friend that you know very little about? Friendship becomes stronger the more you share with each other. How can you use the stories you tell to solidify your brand and strengthen your relationships? We have discuss

7 Steps To Push Past The 7-Episode Wall of Podfading – Episode 178 Many podcasts start only to soon fade away. I'm sure there are many reasons podcasters quit. If you are diligent, you can follow these 7 steps to push past the 7-episode wall of podfading. Seven episodes. Many podcasters fade at that mile marker. Maybe podfading kicks in because the podcaster didn't realize how much work it would take. Or they ran out of things to say. Or life got in the way and they couldn't find the time. Or the fun ran out. There are many, many reasons. Podcasting just sounded good at the time. Whether you are launching your podcast, or you are midstream in creating your content, there are steps you can take to help you fight the urge to quit. These steps will help you break through that 7-episode wall of podfading.   [DOWNLOAD THE PODFADING PREVENTION WORKSHEET HERE]   Make sure what you think is your passion is truly your passion. Niche your target, so you know exactly how to filter your content. Try to brainstorm 50 sho

Your Self Doubt Is Not So Different – Episode 177 We all fear that no one will have any interest in our art. We fear that we will be discovered as a fraud by the true professionals. We all have that little voice in our head creating that self-doubt. I want you to understand that your self-doubt and fears are not so different from everyone else. Does that happen to you? Do you get a little nervous when you get ready to publish an episode? What happens if I check my stats and it says zero? Yep, we've all been there. Fear and self doubt happens to the best of every industry and niche. THE AUTHOR'S FEAR John is an author. He wasn't always an author. He was an attorney and served in the state House of Representatives for ten years before he turned to writing full time. Reading fiction was always a big part of John's life. He discovered the classics in high school. He would eventually go on to collect first editions. As he was starting to get the hunger for being a writer, John would visit his local bookstore. He w

Learn Podcasting From The Pros – A Critique – Episode 182 We often talk abut coaching and receiving feedback about your show from somebody other than your mother. Today, I want to share with you that process and help you learn podcasting from the pros. I do a show with Dave Jackson from School of Podcasting called “The Podcast Review Show”. Dave has 20+ years of experience teaching people technical things. He has also been podcasting since 2005. I have been coaching radio hosts since 1995 and podcasters for the past 4 years. Podcasters pay us to review their show so they can improve. We cover all aspects of the show including content, show structure, style, website and business process. Once Dave and I have listened to the show and reviewed the website, the podcaster appears on an episode with us to discuss the review and promote the show. This is a great opportunity to expose the show to a new audience while getting feedback from two experienced podcast coaches. This week, I want you to get an inside look at

How To Get More Listeners For Your Podcast – PTC Episode 181 How do I get more listeners? How do I grow podcast traffic? How do I create more engagement. How do I get more people to my website? I hear those question quite often. It is a battle every marketer faces. How do I bring more customers in the door? I knew the subject was a hot topic, because I see discussions everywhere. How many product launches have you seen that promise to teach you how to get more traffic?   HOW TO FAIL In 1962, Time Magazine called David Ogilvy "the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry." David Ogilvy is quoted as saying, "Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster." Be careful what you wish for. If we use the premise that great marketing simply makes a bad product fail faster, we first must make your product great. Then we can bring people to the party. We are going to take a look at both steps to this process.   GREAT CONTENT Let’s make your content engaging and memorable before we invite your pros

How Much Work Is Podcasting? – Episode 180 Many new podcasters getting into the space do not realize the amount of work it takes to create a show on a regular basis. A 30-minute episode doesn't necessarily mean 30 minutes of work. So, how much work is podcasting? Recently, I was contacted by a podcaster for coaching. He wanted help refining his podcast process. He was spending eight hours every week producing his show. This was a podcast that was 45- to 60-min long. We started working through his work flow. We found that he was being more meticulous than he needed to be. He was spending a lot of time on things that didn't move the needed. As we talked about his process, we broke it down step-by-step. There were a few things we eliminated to streamline the process and save time. We were able to take the production time from 8 hours to 2.5 to 3 hours each week. START SLOW Podcasting takes a lot of effort. Be prepared to do a lot of work to create a powerful, consistent show. Develop a process you can follow on

9 Things To Create A Unique Podcast Brand – Episode 179   When I began in radio nearly 30 years ago, I began developing my style by copying my mentors. It wasn't long before I realized I would never stand out by being a cheap imitation. Here are 9 things you can do to create your own unique podcast brand. Standing out and being unique is critical when creating a memorable brand. Work to get your listeners to remember you. If you want them to come back episode after episode, your show must be memorable.   MY "A-HA MOMENT" One day early in my career, my program director and I were reviewing my show. During the session, my mentor stopped the tape. She said, “When are you going to stop trying to be everyone else and start being yourself?” That comment stung a bit. Then, I realized how right she was. It was that day that she challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and work to become unique. Becoming memorable was the only way I would win. It was the only way I would be a success against all of the other shows

How To Grow Your Audience By 10x – Episode 176 If you want to grow and develop, you need to push yourself. Self-development requires you to get uncomfortable. Nobody grows in their comfort zone. This is especially true if you want to grow your audience by 10x. In the online business space, you hear a lot of people talking about 10x. You hear them encourage you to grow your business by ten times its current size. Grow your audience by ten times. The gurus encourage you to not focus on growth from 200 to 300 downloads and instead focus on growing from 200 to 2,000 downloads. How do you do that? Well, you won't 10x your growth by doing the same thing you've been doing. It hasn't got you there yet. You need to take bold action. You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and do something big that will get noticed. Get uncomfortable. I have been on the radio for 30 years. But, I didn't start at the top. PUSH #1 If you look back at my start in radio, it happened by accident. When I was in college getting my

Determine Your "Why" And The "How" Will Follow – Episode 175 One of my favorite speakers is Simon Sinek. He is all about knowing your why. In episode 170, we discussed what the pros say about branding. Simon's book "Start With Why" was part of that episode. During his talks, Sinek likes to use Apple as an example. Many branding expert use Apple, because they are so successful in creating passion for their product. Sinek says, "If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them may sound like this: We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. What to buy one?" "Here's how Apple actually communicates: 'Everything we do we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. What to buy one?'" "Start with why."   Start with why. It is so critical to your success. Why do you do wh

Do You Know Where You Are Going [Goal Setting] – Episode 174   Do you know where you are going? Have you set goals? Without a road map, you will never get anywhere. LACK OF GOALS We just lost a guy from our mastermind, because his goals were not clear. He let that get in his way. The mastermind started back in February. We had intended to take it to three months and then evaluate the progress. We made it to six. When the group began, we all described where we were in our business journey and where we wanted to go. We talked about our hopes and dreams. We started holding each other accountable each week to make progress on our dreams. Each week, we would talk about our progress and accomplishments. We would help one member with their struggles. At the end, we would establish the steps we planned to take in the upcoming week to make further progress. That is how you achieve your goals. You define your dreams. You put a deadline on those dreams. Then, you take baby steps each week toward those goals. It sounds l

My Top 7 Takeaways From Podcast Movement 2017 – Episode 173   Podcast Movement 2017 is in the books. It was a fantastic week in Anaheim. Can I share with you my top seven takeaways from the conference? Podcast Movement is an opportunity for nearly 2,000 people in the podcasting world to gather and share ideas. I had the opportunity to make some great connections that should really help me to move my business forward. At the opening session, I was able to have a chat with and get to know a $400 million woman. She was amazing. Her name is Sandy Kurtzig. Find her autobiography here: [CEO: Building a $400 Million Company From The Ground Up]   CONNECTIONS Here are other great people I met: Chris Krimitsos – The Messengers Rob Walch – Libsyn Dave Jackson – School of Podcasting Daniel J. Lewis – Podcasters' Society & The Audacity To Podcast Harry Durant – Podcast Junkies Leo LaPorte – This Week In Tech Jennifer Briney – The Congressional Dish Jim Collison – TheAverageGuy.tv Mike McAllen – Meetings Podcasting Tim

From Zero To A Podcast A Week – Episode 172   When you are trying to ramp up your podcast from nothing to consistently publishing a podcast a week, you need to develop a plan. That plan should contain a few critical steps.   To be successful, develop an overview of the show. Build a structural foundation that you can use for each episode. Review your show to get the best content. Finally, create a schedule to create your content every week.   In this episode, I will help you build that plan.   PODCASTERS' SOCIETY If you would like to surround yourself with podcasters and experts to help you along the path, Daniel J. Lewis' Podcasters' Society is open again at a discount for a short time. This is a fantastic community and resource that will help you take your podcast from average to amazing. You will find tools to improve your content, presentation, production, promotion, and profit.   Save on your registration by using my affiliate link. https://podcasterssociety.com/erik/   It is much easier to succeed when

How To Get Your Guest To Share Your Interview – Episode 171   Do you want more downloads for your interview episodes? Are you actually asking your guest to share your interview episode and showing them how to share it? Your guest is a wellspring of new contacts and listeners. Use that network to your advantage.   We interview guests on our shows to add depth to the content, contribute additional ideas and add perspective we do not have.   We also interview guests to gain access to a new audience. The interview allows us to introduce our guest's audience to our show if they share the episode.   It is not the responsibility of your guest to share your interview. They are already doing you a favor by appearing on your show. That doesn't mean they will not share it. It simply means they have no obligation to spread the word.   There are four keys to get your guest to share your interview episode.   Ask them to share your interview. Make it easy for your guest to share your interview. Live in their world and

What The Pros Say About Branding – Episode 170   Branding is crucial to the success of your podcast. More importantly, it is critical for your own personal success. Have you defined your brand?   There are some major voices on the subject. I have found ideas from four of my favorite branding experts.   Interestingly, all four have a similar theme … purpose.   Gary Vaynerchuk From Inc. 8/2/2016   Focus on yourself. "My game is about me knowing myself." He only focuses on his content and his audience. He regularly reviews user comments and analyzes important distribution metrics.   Too often we pay attention to what other people are doing and we forget to play our own game. Instead of worrying about others, Vaynerchuk recommended creating more content, engaging your audience and testing your ads.   Simon Sinek From Start With Why   If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them may sound like this: "We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. What to

How To Tell Better Podcast Stories – Episode 169   Do you want to create better podcast stories? Start with the end in mind. Then, start with the end.   Start with the end? It sounds crazy, I know. Let me explain.   Stories do great things for your podcast and business.   When you tell stories, your audience gets to know details about you and your life. That's how friendships are born. Your listeners discover you have things in common. They realize you have been through similar struggles. Maybe you're from the same area or visited a common destination.   After multiple stories, listeners begin to feel like they know you. That is when the magic happens.   Stories help you build trust. And as it is with all business, people do business with those they know, like and trust. People don't do business with companies. They do business with people. Trust is the essence of relationships and business.   CHARACTER   Stories define your character   I'm not simply talking about your integrity. By character, I mean all of

Finding Your Confidence – Episode 168 Where do you start? How do you convince yourself that you have what it takes? There is a great quote from famous basketball coach Bobby Knight that says, “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.Everyone wants to win but not everyone wants to prepare to win.” Many podcasters want to win. Then the little voice in their head holds them back. Is that you? Do you have the desire to get your message out to the world, but lack the confidence to actually follow through with it? That impostor syndrome creeps in quite often. I think it is human nature. I recently sent a quick, 5-question survey to my tribe. The survey is designed to ensure I am delivering the content every week that you can use for your show. The survey helps ensure I am delivering and serving you each week. If you would like to take 3 minutes to complete the survey, you can find it here.:  - - PODCAST TALENT COACH SURVEY - - Three of the five questions are yes/no questions. It is