Influential Voices of Authority

The Six Essentials Of A Lead Magnet – Episode 197 Many of my clients and those that join Dave Jackson and me on the Podcast Review Show want to grow their e-mail list. Rather than offering a powerful lead magnet, many of them simply have a "subscribe to my newsletter" button. How often are you … Continue reading The Six Essentials Of A Lead Magnet – Episode 197 → The post The Six Essentials Of A Lead Magnet – Episode 197 appeared first on ErikKJohnson.com.

How Much Prep Is Too Much? Podcast Struggles – Episode 196 I recently asked my tribe about the one thing they are struggling with most. This week, we are going to answer the questions and help you get over a few hurdles. RELAUNCH What giving me the most headache is relaunching my podcast after a long time not producing because life took a turn. My gear has been in storage after some life changing events and I'm starting from scratch. Have a great day! - Dan The Coffee Couch EKJ: What part of starting is giving you a headache, Dan? If we got together in a coaching session, this is where we would start. If we can determine where the aggravation lies, we could work our way around that piece. Podcasting is a lot of work. You need to create your subject and notes. You need to record the show. Edit the show and create the show notes. Post the episode to your media host. Create the post on your website. Then, you need to attract the audience. Each step comes with its own unique headaches. You are also starting at ground zero, which looks like a true uphill battle. Let's assume you enjoy the process of creating a podcast, but dread the fact that you have no audience. Starting from scratch and building it up again feels like a lot of work. The first thing we need to do is accept the fact that it doesn't just seem like it is a lot of work. It is a lot of work. It isn't the destination, it is the journey. You don't want to be the dog that catches the car. Enjoy the run. Remember when you launched the first time around? Remember the excitement when you got your first few downloads? Do you remember how it felt with you hit the 100 download mark? How about when you received your first e-mail from a listener or comment on an episode? Here is your chance to experience that excitement all over again. But this time, you have experience from the first time around. You won't experience the frustration trying to figure things out for the first time. More joy. Less frustration. Get started and enjoy the journey. IMPOSTER SYNDROME I think my biggest concern is Imposter Syndrome and then closing the deal on scheduling an interview. I took so much time in planning and pod-crastination that potential guests (50) may have forgotten that they agreed to a chat. I took too much time to learn the technology. You and I chatted on your show about my beginning process MORE THAN A YEAR AGO! MY QUESTION: How much Show Prep is TOO MUCH PREP? Being totally nervous about asking for interviews, I wanted to answer EVERY POSSIBLE question and objection, upfront. I prepared a SUPER-detailed show prep sheet to send to potential guests. - David Freeman EKJ: 50 guests!?! David, let's get rolling. Start recording. I completely understand the Impostor Syndrome. The unknown of getting started is the scariest part. "What if I mess up the interview?" "What if I come off as an amateur?" "What if people find out I don't know what I'm doing?" You know more than you realize. Your interview is simply going to be a conversation. Walk into the interview being curious and you'll be just fine. When he interviewed authors, Larry King said that he would not read their book in advance, so that he would not know more about the book than his audience. He was simply curious and asked great questions. It is just like a cocktail party. Know enough about the person to start a conversation and go from there. What is the goal of the interview? You want the person on your show for some reason. How will your audience benefit from this conversation? Once you know that, you will understand which questions are important. You will use your target listener as a filter for your questions and let it roll. Get over your fear of starting by taking the first step. Make it a small, easy step. Get a mic and a computer. Install Skype. Once you have that done, schedule and record an interview. Make this someone lower on the list. This will be a test run to make sure all goes well. Knowing this will take the pressure off of you to make it a home run. We are just looking for a little success. When show prep is becoming an excuse for not launching, it is too much prep. When you are asking for an interview, what is the worst that could happen. They might say, "Sorry, David. I don't have time right now." If that happens, move on to the next. A decline is never a judgement on you or your character. The interview just doesn't make sense for them right now. If you position your request from your guest's point of view and explain how it benefits them, that is about all you can do. They either say yes or no. Don't be embarrassed about asking. Some will be flattered that you asked. If you have done your homework and know what is important to your potential guest, very few will be offended if you ask. If they are offended, that individual is probably not somebody you want on your show anyway. Move on. With regard to the show prep sheet you send your guest, make it easy. Nobody wants to volunteer to be on your show and then spend 2 hours filling out forms and doing homework before the interview begins. Cover the important subjects, like time, room noise, profanity and expectations. Then, get rolling. You cannot possibly predict every scenario that might happen during the interview. So, stop trying. You won't know how warm the water is until you jump in. Give it a try. RELATIONSHIP SUCCESS You had a longer segment on sharing content or teaming up with other podcasts on a previous episode. I focused a lot of effort on that, and like you advised, I didn't fear losing my listeners to these other friendly shows. The plan didn't work at first, but then we found the right partner. They engage on our Facebook and share our content and we do the same for them. Not only did our average downloads jump 25% overnight, but we made some great friends at the same time. We are currently planning a joint episode and we are both hoping it will be a success. This is a great strategy to gather new listeners. And if you are fun, engaging and creative, these new listeners will stick around. - Andy Gonzales EKJ: I love when a plan comes together. In Episode 176, we talked about various ways to grow your audience by 10x. One of the suggestions is connection. You need to reach out to others in your space. You need to increase your circle of influence. You need to take some chances and make some noise. So many podcasters see the pie as limited. If you get more pie, I must get less. They act like there is only so much pie to go around. Podcasting is more like fire or ideas. If I have fire and I give you some of that fire, you gain and I lose nothing. If I have knowledge and I share that with you, it is the same situation. You gain and I lose nothing. Just because someone listens to your podcast, that doesn't mean they cannot enjoy another. There are 168 hours in the week. You are probably awake for 112 of those hours. If you release on 60-minute podcast a week, there are 111 more hours to enjoy other shows. Find great partners and help each other. As Andy says, you need to find the right partner. If partnering with someone in your direct niche still makes you a bit uncomfortable, find someone who might make a great compliment to your content. Look for a podcaster who offers something that goes hand-in-hand with your stuff. Dave Jackson and I are a good example. We are both podcast coaches and consultants. However, Dave's expertise is teaching the technical side of podcasting. My expertise is content and personality. We overlap here and there. But, we also compliment the strengths of each other as well. If you do a podcast on coaching baseball, find a podcaster who has a show on playing baseball. If you do a business-to-business podcast, find someone who is business-to-consumer. If you are small business marketing, find someone who is small business accounting. There are a million possibilities. Help each other. Here are some tips to grow your audience. TEN TIPS TO GROW Reach out to super-fans and begin the interaction. Help people meet and create community. Host events to create community. Get interviewed on other shows. Make it easy for hosts to find you. Give. Leave feedback for other shows. Ask great questions on other shows. Promotion is the exploitation of great opportunities. Find great opportunities. Buy a contest insurance policy. Collect birthdates in your database and call listeners on their birthday. Create a lead magnet for every episode. Find people who can help you and invest in yourself. Mastermind, coach, peers. You can get my entire list of 52 ways to create engagement with your show here: [GET THE LIST OF 52 TRAFFIC TIPS FOR FREE] Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Help With Getting Booked As A Guest and Choosing Content – Episode 195 I recently asked my tribe about the one thing they are struggling with most. This week, we are going to answer the questions and help you get over a few hurdles. AFFILIATE MARKETING One issue that is giving me trouble is the technical side of affiliate marketing. There were many times when I wanted to give up my production and your show and enthusiasm kept me going! You are such a valuable resource for podcasting, thanks for giving meaningful and worthwhile content to make my podcasts better! You're awesome! Elikqitie "E" Travel Gluten Free Podcast EKJ: I have found the key to affiliate marketing is the help you provide your audience with your content before the pitch. Pat Flynn does this best. He will provide 50 minutes of great content you can use on your show. Then, he will spend 10 minutes pitching you on a program that will help you do just that. When Pat was rolling out his affiliate training program, he spent most of his time on the podcast episode teaching his listeners where to share affiliate links. At the end of the show, he rolled out the details of the course. This style feels natural. It doesn't drip of a sales job. Pat offers great help. Then if you would like more, check out the program. If not, no problem. Listeners could use the info on sharing affiliate links without ever taking the course. As a listener, I felt I received value from the episode, even though there was a pitch at the end. A little give and take. Had the episode been nothing but what the program can do for you, people would feel like they were listening to a time share hard sell. I am sure you have heard those programs that say, "If you want the details, buy the program." This is the opposite. Help before you pitch. With regard to the technical side, make sure you are selecting products you love. Find products that use an affiliate service you understand. Pat says, "You can serve and sell." If you find many of the products or services in your niche use JVZoo or ClickBank or Amazon or Commission Junction, learn all you can about that one service. Study a few to determine which one you understand. Then, become a pro at that one. Most affiliate programs give you a unique link to the program or service. When a person clicks on the link on your site, the affiliate site tracks the visitor back to you. That is how you get credit for the sale. You simply put this link on your website. If you are using Wordpress, this would go within a post. You can add a button, graphic or URL link. The affiliate site will give you the choice. You want to find products or programs you love first. Never become an affiliate for something you haven't used or are not passionate about. Then, set up the funnel. Sign up for the affiliate program. Get your custom link. Create a blog post on your website about it. Hyperlink it with your custom link. Now, promote it. Don't make it harder than it is. Pat Flynn's information about affiliate marketing is a great place to start. Check out his free resource "Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way". GETTING BOOKED My biggest challenge is getting booked on other shows (radio and podcast) as a guest expert. What is best way to do this? Dr. Mike Lorence CEO & Founder Path For Growth EKJ: There are two ways to become a guest on a show. One is leg work. The other is an interview service. If you want to do the work on your own, you need to create the relationship first. You cannot show up on a blind date and ask to get married. You need to build familiarity and trust first. You can do this by commenting on their social media posts. You can answer questions in the comments on those posts. You might consider sending them information they might find interesting or useful. As Gary Vaynerchuk says, "Jab, jab, jab, right hook." Give, give, give and then ask. Find topics and subject matter that will interest your prospective host. What are they talking about on their show? What topics interest them? Where might there be gaps in their knowledge that you might fill? When you find these interests, send them articles and content from others first. Give them resources they can use. After you have started the conversation, work toward asking for the interview. Explain how you might help their audience with a topic within your expertise. How might you elaborate on a topic they have recently discussed or something in the news that fits their genre. When you reach out, make it easy for the guest to say yes. Demonstrate knowledge of their podcast. Mention your area of expertise. List some sample questions they might ask that you can answer. Show benefit to the host and audience. Then, direct them to some of the shows you have appeared on in the past for social proof. The biggest mistake I see people make when they are requesting to be a guest for interviews is the lack of knowledge about the podcast. I get many e-mails saying, "Hey, Erik. I would love to be an interview on your show. Here is my content." It is obvious that this person has never listened to my show, because they would realize I have never interviewed anyone. The other, much easier way is to hire a service. There are a few that do this sort of thing. It is their job to get you on podcasts. Check out: www.PodcastGuests.com www.InterviewValet.com www.InterviewConnections.com You can also search "podcast interview booking service". You will see many results. If you go this way, check their references regardless of who you select. I am not an affiliate for any of these sites. These are just sites that show up in my inbox every now and then. You can spend time or money. You might choose a bit of both to see which works best for your niche. CHOOSE YOUR CONTENT I am struggling with knowing which content to put out. - Richard Chelson EKJ: This could be taken two ways. Either you are having trouble coming up with topics, or you are having trouble deciding which topics would be desirable for your audience. Let's take each one separately. If you are having trouble finding topics to discuss, your passion may not be your passion. Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this in his book "Crush It". Gary suggests you come up with 50 blog post ideas before you start. This should take you about 10 minutes. If it takes longer, maybe your passion isn't what you think it is. You should have a topic that you can discuss for days. Don't let the curse of knowledge get in your way. You may be thinking, "Everyone knows that." Think back when you were just started. What didn't you know? What is the first thing your listener needs to know to get started? Start there with your topics. Brainstorm and let them flow. Now, if you have topics, but are not sure if your audience cares, I would first suggest you are approaching it in the wrong direction. You need to care first. If you are only looking for topics your audience enjoys, there is a good chance you could become bored. You need to be interested in order to be interesting. If you have topics that you love, but aren't sure about your audience, look for discussions around that topic. Search groups and forums for questions. What is your audience already asking elsewhere? What do people ask you? If one person has the question, there is a good chance others have it as well. Do you have a question regarding your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

How To Create An Effective Call-To-Action – Episode 194 How many actions do you have in your call-to-action? Dave Jackson and I do a show together called "The Podcast Review Show". On each episode, a podcaster joins us to have his or her podcast reviewed. Pretty self-explanatory. In nearly every episode we review, we need to get the host to focus their call-to-action. Podcasters tend to give their listeners a laundry list of things to do at the end of the show. Little do they realize, this list is actually hurting more than it is helping. THE TO DO LIST Let me give you an example. In a recent interview, we reached the end of this particular podcast. The host closed with these requests: E-mail us your events Take our survey Call the comment line Join us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram Check out our Forum Get our free app Use our Amazon affiliate link Give us interview guest suggestions Visit our blog Get voiceovers using our affiliate link Check out the YouTube show Follow us on Twitter (again) Check out the website of our favorite non-profit Did you count? Twelve … if you only count the double Twitter once. Of those twelve, how many can you remember? How many will you actually do? You can probably name a few of the easy ones. You will probably do zero. The list is just overwhelming. There are too many. Where do you start? Here is the most important thing to realize. Their goal was to get people to come back and listen again. That is the one thing they told us they wanted their listener to do. Listen again. Of the twelve, how many said "listen again"? Zero. They didn't even tell us to subscribe or come back next week for some great piece of content. Instead, they are asking us to use their affiliate link for voiceovers and visit the non-profit website. This isn't even a podcast about podcasting. It is a podcast about outdoor activities. Why do I need a voiceover talent? THE DECISION PROBLEM Studies show when people are offered too many choices they will tend to make no choice rather than risk being wrong. You are already asking your listener to make a decision to take action. By loading up the list with options, you are now asking your listener to make another choice of which action. More options mean more opportunities to choose to do nothing. Have you ever been driving and you notice a pothole coming up. It is right there in your lane even with your driver's side front tire. A slight shift to the left or right will cause you to completely miss hitting it. All you need to do to miss the pothole is move the steering wheel one direction or the other. Pick one. Either one will work. Just move the wheel. Suddenly, bam. You hit the pothole straight on. You froze and didn't make a decision either way. Why is that? Either direction would have worked. But, your brain froze. You were too concerned about picking the best solution. Rather, you were more concerned about not picking the wrong solution. Your fear of being wrong delayed your action to being no action at all. Why risk this with your listener? Don't give them a choice. Pick the one thing you want them to do and make that your call-to-action. Don't make them risk being wrong. To create an effective call-to-action within your show, you need to stay focused on the task at hand. What is the one thing you want your listener to do at the end of your show? MEASURE SUCCESS How do we measure success? Measure what counts. If we are trying to get our audience to do something by using a call-to-action (listen again, buy our product, visit our website, support our cause), measuring our call-to-action determines our success. Measure what counts. When you create your podcast, you should measure your success not by the number of listeners or downloads, but by conversions to whatever you want them to do. Let's say your goal is to get people to visit the store on your website. If you have 1,000 people listening to your show, but you only get 2 of them to act and actually visit the site, you really haven't been successful. However, if you only have 200 listeners, but 100 love everything you do and visit your site regularly, I would consider that a success. Having 1,000 listeners may sound better than 200. By closer evaluation, I would much rather have 100 fans than 2. STUDY THE JAM WASHINGTON STUDY In this study, shoppers of an upscale grocery store were given a choice to sample high quality jams. One group was offered 24 kinds. The second group was offered 6. Of the customers who passed the table with an extensive selection of 24 jams, 60% stopped. Of the customers who passed the limited selection of 6 jams, only 40% stopped. On the surface, it would seem more options equals more success. As you dig into the numbers you see that of those who stopped, those at the extensive selection sampled on average 1.5 jams and those at the limited selection sampled 1.38 jams. Not much variation there. The big difference comes in buying. Of those who stopped at the extensive selection, only 3% made a purchase. In contrast, 30% of those at the limited selection made a purchase. That is a difference of 4 buyers compared to 31. Consumers exposed to a limited number of choices proved considerably more likely to make a purchase than those initially exposed to a larger set of options. Now, which should you be measuring? The number of people who stop at your store, or the number of people who actually make a purchase? Do you want to count the number of downloads your podcast is receiving or the conversion into action? Here is a hint … just because people download your episode doesn't mean they are listening. Don't get fooled by measuring the incorrect statistic. Measure what counts. Measure your call to action. Do you want to know how to create an effective call-to-action and then measure it? LET THEM BUY You need to remember that people love to buy. They hate to be sold to. How many times have you said, "Let's go get a used car salesman to sell me a car"? Probably not many. "Let's go see if the shoe salesman can sell me a pair of shoes.". That probably doesn't happen either. You want to buy stuff you enjoy. Therefore, you need to create some desire with your call-to-action. Your first step is to provide value. Give your listener something they can use. Make your content valuable. Then, make your call-to-action connect with the valuable content you just delivered. Next, before you make your call-to-action, start with the "why". Why is this content important? What will your call-to-action do for your listener? What is in it for them? Then, intrigue your listener. Create some anticipation and curiosity. Make it exciting for them. Finally, make sure you only have one measurable call-to-action. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Struggles With Stats, Difficult Guests and Lost Audio – Episode 193 Resources mentioned in this episode: Podcast Talent Coach Interviewing Facebook Group Kindle book: Game Changer: How To Get 10,000 New Real Fans In 72 Hours And Turn Them Into Your Next Cash-Paying Customers (Without A Marketing Budget) 17 Ultimate Podcast Interview Questions Podcast Talent Coach coaching program Episode 188 "Leverage Your Audience To Grow" Episode 176 "How To Grow Your Audience By 10x" I recently asked my tribe about the one thing they are struggling with most with their podcast. This week, we answer the questions and help you get over a few hurdles. On this episode, we answer questions about dealing with lost audio, boosting your stats and dealing with stiff and difficult guests. FORGETTING I do a show called The Cinema Guys (WeAreTheCinemaGuys.com) and I do all of the show. My co-hosts show up record and leave. I do all the tech, recording, editing, posting and so on. Well tonight we recorded and I didn't realize until we were done that I had the recorder set wrong and it only recorded one of the 3 mics and to top that off I forgot to set up the back up recorder. So long answer to your question I think the biggest headache sometimes is the technical side mostly the set up and hoping everything works. Love your show. Yours and Dave Jackson's are my top weekly listens. Thanks, Brad WeAreTheCinemaGuys.com EKJ: Ugh! I feel your pain, Brad. Two things can help you prevent losing a show like this. The backup recorder is a great idea. However, it only works if you remember to hit record. First, create a preflight checklist. What are the things you need to do before you record? This probably includes show notes, audio levels, water to drink, mute your phone and a few other things. Create this list and use it EVERY time you record your show. This is the only way you will remember everything necessary. Bad things happen when you fail to prepare. Next, test your gear and levels. Make sure the gain isn't up too high creating distortion. Garbage in equals garbage out. If the levels aren't right to start, there is nothing you can do to save it. Make sure every sound source is feeding the recording. This includes mics, sound effects, calls, software and any other sound source you will use. If you use these two steps before every show, you will be much more likely to avoid losing a show. SOCIAL MEDIA I struggle most with learning how to effectively use social media to grow audience. Thank you, Joel A Band of Gamers Podcast ABOGpodcast.com My listener stats have plateaued. I have only been at it for about 6 months and we have grown to listener ship of between 150 and 200 downloads per show. The listeners we do have are loyal and engaged. Similar and more established podcasts are getting 20 and 30 times that download number though. Maybe its my content or maybe we are not marketing correctly or enough to grow our listeners. Andrew Gonzales EKJ: Social media is a great way to promote the show. However, it isn't the only method you should be using. When using social media, get involved with others. Offer help in communities similar to your community. Join Facebook groups and communicate. Share, repost and retweet other content. Be seen on social platforms. You don't need to create all of the content. Be a resource. Make sure your social media profile includes your podcast prominently. Make it easy to find you. The more people see you, the better the chances are that they will come check out the show. Find other ways to promote the show. Check out episode 188 "Leverage Your Audience To Grow". Asking your audience to share your show and help you grow is very powerful. If they love you, they will tell others. Don't wait for them to think of it. Ask them to share it. In episode 176 "How To Grow Your Audience By 10x", we talk about many other ways to grow. You could host events for your community. Guest blog and appear on other podcasts. Create a lead magnet for every episode that also contains the podcast information. Then, encourage listeners to share it with their friends. Growing your audience is an ongoing mission. Drip, drip, drip. Eventually, you'll have a nice, little puddle. Over time, it will grow. I don't think you will ever get to a point where you think, "Ok, I have enough listeners." Make this part of your regular daily routine. STIFF GUESTS Some of my guests become stiff or experience stage fright during the first 10 min of the cast, also how do you keep more Domineering guests from taking over the discussion? Thanks Ken Morris EKJ: If your guest is inexperienced, it is critical that you define the expectations right up front. People are usually nervous, because of the unknown. They aren't sure. They don't know what to expect. Lay things out for your guest right up front. Do what you can to put them at ease. If you want answers that are around 30 seconds long, let them know. If you need answers that are full sentences, let them know. If you want short stories, tell them before the recording begins. It is important to let them know you will do your best to make them sound great. Tell them you will edit out any answers they don't like. If they want to start an answer a second time, you will be happy to edit that as well. This will usually help them relax. Stiff guests are usually solved with creative questions. Ask open-ended questions that get your guest to tell you stories. "Tell me about a time when you ____." "What did it feel like the first time you ___." "When did you realize you were ____." "Tell me about the person who gave you the best piece of advice you ever received." This will help your guest give you more than one or two word answers. With domineering guests, you need to be very clear with your guest right up front that you want this to be a conversation without their agenda. It helps when you can assure the guest you will give them plenty of time to plug their stuff. You can also ask if there are particular points they would like to cover. Assure them you will offer questions that allow them to cover those points. Let your guest know that when the interview is over, you will ask them if there is anything you didn't cover. This will allow them to touch on points that may have been left out. You can then edit that question into the show. This rarely happens. However, it does help your guest get comfortable and drop the script. Finally, tell your guest you will edit the show. It is perfectly acceptable if they feel the need to stop and begin an answer again. You can edit that out to make them sound great. You guests will sometimes follow a script, because they are nervous and inexperienced giving interviews. Set their mind at ease by letting them know you will make them sound great. In the end, it is your show. There will be times when you need to stop the interview and be demanding. If you find your guest is following a script and doing nothing but pitching, stop the interview and explain your goals for the show. Use something like this. "Rick, I can appreciate you have a new book and would really like to plug it. Believe me, we will get to that. If we make this conversation nothing but a prolonged infomercial, people will tune out. They will take no action, and it will be ineffective. Please allow this to become a conversation. After we engage our audience with a great discussion and get them to trust your authority, we can get to the book with a strong call-to-action. However, we need to make it a conversation first. Do me a favor and set the talking points aside. Let it flow. Trust me. You'll sound great." If you need to stop a second time and get more demanding, use something like, "Rick, I'm losing confidence that this interview will be something I can use for the show. My listeners will benefit more by natural answers from the heart. I need to ask you to set aside the talking points and simply have a discussion. Otherwise, we need to cut this interview short. Can you help me there?" If that doesn't work, move on to the next interview. Do you need help with your podcast? I can answer your question on a future show. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Struggles With Editing, Structure and the Perfect Sound? – Episode 192 I recently asked my tribe about the one thing they are struggling with most. This week, we are going to answer the questions about editing time, the structure of your show and how to get the perfect sound. This will help you get over a few hurdles. EDITING I struggle with the production details. Would love to job it out. Jon Fugler, CEO Recruit-Me Athletic Scholarship www.recruit-me.com I struggle with the time it takes to Edit! Christopher Lewis www.DadOfDivas.com Thanks Erik. Enjoying your podcasts. Heard about you via Dave Jackson. Keep up the good work. For me, it's a tie between editing my podcasts, nailing down interview appointments, and over-the-internet issues during interviews. -Shawn Host of the Stories of Starters Podcast Helping you build your brand at Washburn Writer Teaching you Excel at Your Excel Tutor EKJ: Look for ways to make your editing easier. What can you do to eliminate repetition? Create a shell for your podcast. This is a session in your software that includes your show open, show close and any other recorded elements you use to produce the show each week. This will save you time searching for and inserting the parts. Make editing easy. If you or your guest messes up, and you know you will need to take it out, pause for ten seconds. I learned this trick from Dave Jackson at the School of Podcasting. When you go back to edit, the long silence will be easy to locate making it easy to remove. Finally, don't be so worried about removing every "um" and "uh". A few of those help you sound natural. Simply work over time to remove them completely from your speech pattern. This will take time. Be aware of it. If you aren't afraid of the silence, your "ums" will eventually go away. If all else fails, find someone like Steve Stewart to do your show editing for you. Eliminate one of your memberships to pay for it. STRUCTURE We did our first recording the other day and there were a few issues we are having to work out. Sound quality isn't bad. Small issue with mic technique but the one thing that I can tell we are struggling with is the content. Having a single topic? Three segments? Just the interview? If we just do the interview the user just doesn't get to know us. We can talk but containing it to say 15 minutes or less seems to be a challenge. Keeping it focused is the thing that seems to be something we are working on. We are going to be doing interviews and two other segments. No such thing as too long, just too boring right? Just want to make sure we do the latter. Thanks. Jeremy Cox Humble Pig Studios @40 Podcast EKJ: Which part do you enjoy most? Your show should be content that sparks your passion. If you love interviewing people, interviews should be the biggest part of your show. It will be the best content you deliver, because you are passionate about it. You will continue to push yourself to be better. With regard to the number of segments and the length of the show, let's go back to your ideal listener. If you have completed the Target Listener Worksheet from PodcastTalentCoach.com, you have your ideal listener well-defined. If we know how and why your listener is consuming your content, and what that individual likes most, we can begin to learn how to shape our content. As you mentioned, never too long – only too boring. The structure of your show may ebb and flow at the beginning. As you get feedback from your audience and watch your download numbers, you will start to learn what they like and dislike. The day you don't do the "random thoughts" segment and your e-mail inbox fills with feedback, you'll know whether or not to add it back in. When an episode gets twice as many downloads as your typical show, you know you may have hit on a hot topic or guest. The podcast doesn't need to be perfect right from the start. Launch and adjust as time goes on. PERFECT SOUND I struggle with getting the recording space right to sound professional (I reluctantly ended up having to move into my bedroom as it was the only room in my house with a low ceiling) I had to put rugs on the floor and mattresses up against all the walls. Even still it is hot in my little room – I live in Queensland Australia and I am uncomfortable. Annie Holden Getting the levels exactly matched. Even though I know my way around VU meters and send the whole show through a cloud-based leveling service, sometimes my guest, appearing by phone, is not at the same level as me. Scott Orr Producer / Host, "Code 3" - The Firefighters' Podcast I struggle with getting started due to recording equipment. Kyle Congleton EKJ: Don't let the equipment be the excuse for not launching. If you can use Microsoft Word and post to Facebook, chances are you can launch a podcast. YouTube can be a great source for learning the equipment. Start simple. A USB mic like the Audiotechnica ATR-2100 connected straight into your computer will get you up and running. Get a crash course on your recording software, like Audacity or Hindenburg. Then, launch. The audio doesn't need to sound perfect. My buddy Kraig Mathias did a show from the park. He would go walking and record the show. It was about online business and money. The content was great. Who cares that there are birds in the background? Have you ever listened to the Marketing Secrets podcast with Russell Brunson? It was formerly called Marketing In Your Car, because he would just hit record before he started driving and record the whole podcast on the way to the office. People will listen to great content with average audio. Great audio will never save poor content. Here are a few tips. To minimize the background noise, make sure you are using a cardioid or directional microphone. This will do a great job picking up the audio source right in front of the mic without allowing much ambient noise to get through. Omnidirectional mics pick up sound from all directions. You can also minimize background noise by being closer to the mic, even touching it. This will allow you to turn down your gain. The entire room doesn't necessarily need to be muffled by soundproofing. If you build some soundproofing right behind and close to your mic, the sound waves from you voice will be greatly absorbed without bouncing around the room. To balance you and your guest, you can use some software like Skype Call Recorder that will allow you to record each person on a separate track. This setting is also available in some other conference software. You can accomplish separate tracks by using multiple tracks through a sound board as well. This takes a little more set up and mix minus. This is higher level than beginners need to tackle. Remember, most people are not listening to your podcast in ideal conditions. They are not in a perfectly quiet room wearing enclosed headphones. They are typically at the gym or in the car or mowing the lawn. Ideal sound quality isn't critical in most situations. Spend more time worrying about your content and having fun. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

What Are You Struggling With Most? – Episode 191 I recently asked my tribe about the one thing they are struggling with most. This week, we are going to answer the questions and help you get over a few hurdles. First, thanks to Andre Lewis for having me on his "Start To Finish Podcasting" Episode 16. We talked about interviewing. Find Andre at www.StartToFinishPodcasting.com. Dave Jackson recently had me on an episode of the "The School of Podcasting" to discuss ego. Check it out at SchoolOfPodcasting.com. Let's answer a few questions this week. What are you struggling with most? PERFECTION I have problems stumbling with wording when recording and keep going back, deleting and re-recording. - Tim Man On The Seat Podcast www.manontheseat.com EKJ: I was discussing this with a coaching client the other day. Use enough notes to help you remember the important points. Don't use so many notes that you are reading them. Avoid striving for perfection. Get 80% of the way there and call it good. It will never be perfect. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect. Get it close and move on. SHOW NOTES The most headache has to be writing out detailed show notes. By the way, THANK YOU for the podcasts, the episode on Imposter Syndrome was VERY helpful! - Jonathan Bloom WeeklyAwesome.com Weekly Podcasts To Make Your Week BETTER! Show notes and social media marketing. The show is finally done (I do a lot of research and planning before recording, and a good amount of time in post production). Ugh … now I have to do show notes, and promote it too? My least favorite part. I'm attempting to spread the work over several days, as you suggested recently on your show. Thanks for the great talk on the phone recently and for your great podcast. Thanks & Cheers! - Brian Vincent Weber www.bartenderjourney.net EKJ: Great chat, Brian. I hope the bartender podcast and business ideas we discussed take off for you. Producing the podcast is 20% of the work. Promoting the show is the other 80%. If a tree falls in the forrest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? If a podcast is released and no one is there to hear it, is it really released? You eat an elephant one bite at a time. So, yes. As we discussed in episode 166 "My Podcast Workflow", break your big task into little parts and spread it out. If you can afford it, hire someone to do your show notes. There are great virtual assistants and show note specialists that can help you. How many people are actually coming to your website for show notes? You might consider simply posting the highlights of the show in a paragraph or two along with the links and resources you mention. After that, call it good. Give your listeners what they need without the overkill. Find ways to promote the show that you enjoy. Are you on Facebook? Promote it there. Find some taste makers who enjoy the show and get them to help spread the word. Check out episode 176 "How To Grow Your Audience by 10x" and episode 181 "How To Get More Podcast Listeners". Those should help a bit. MOTIVATION What's giving me the most headache is relaunching my podcast after a long time not producing because life took a turn. My gear has been in storage after some life changing events and I'm starting from scratch. - Dan The Coffee Couch Danhansen.com I struggle with knowing which content to put out. - Richard Chelson EKJ: Both of these struggles have to do with passion. I know if doesn't seem like it on the surface. But, look at the two hurdles. "The most headache is relaunching my podcast." "Knowing which content to put out." If you are truly following your passion, starting your podcast, continuing your podcast and coming up with topics should be no problem at all. If you don't have a passion about podcasting in general, you need to find another vehicle for your content. Do you enjoy writing more? How about video? Do you enjoy short, live video clips on Facebook? There are many ways to get your content to your fans. If you don't enjoy the process of creating a podcast, it will be very difficult to find the motivation to get on the mic every week. On the other hand, if it is the topic that lacks passion, find a new topic. Again, if you are not extremely passionate about your topic, it will be very difficult to find the motivation to get on the mic every week. Stop searching for topic that you think your audience will enjoy and chase the topics you love. When you are interested, you become interesting. It will be much more enjoyable to listen to your podcast if we can hear your passion come through the speakers. That only happens when you are talking about your passion. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

The Difference Between A Pitch And Service With True Help – Episode 190 Making money with your podcast doesn't need to be seen as a bad thing. You shouldn't feel guilty trying to generate revenue with your podcasting efforts. If you are offering something of value for your listeners while serving them well, selling something of greater value should be the next logical progression. [The Powerful Podcast Interview Workshop is now open, but closes Sunday night. Enrollment is limited to 24 attendees. Learn more HERE.] MAKING MONEY The key to making money with your podcast is serving. You must serve your listener well first and foremost before you can every offer to sell. If you haven't built trust with your audience, any offer will simply be seen as a pitch. If I don't know you, how do I know you have my best interest at heart with this product or service? A sales pitch is defined as a talk or way of talking that is intended to persuade you to buy something. Service is defined as the help provided to a customer by someone. It could also be the work done or help provided, especially for the public, the person or an organization. Service doesn't say anything about being free. The difference is persuasion. If I have to convince you to buy something, I am making a sales pitch. If I am offering something you want and need that will help you, I'm offering service. Serve first, many times over. Then and only then can you effectively sell. Shows like the "Dave Ramsey Show", "48 Days To The Work You Love" and "The Audacity To Podcast" are all designed to help their listeners first. Sure, they all have products to sell as the end result. However, they never begin with their product. The discussions on these shows always begin with the listener's needs in mind first. WHY IS SELLING BAD? Why is it bad to sell? Why must podcasting be only altruistic? If I have something that might help you solve your problems, why would it be wrong to recommend it to you while making a few dollars at the same time? If you loved mowing grass, would it be right to expect you to mow my grass for free? You love to do it. Why should I pay you? If it is acceptable to charge you for mowing your yard, why isn't acceptable to earn some money for helping you with your business? As you prepare for your show, find great ways to help. SELLING IS EASY, RIGHT? I was listening to an interview with Founder and President of Piranha Marketing, Inc. Joe Polish. During that interview, Joe said great marketing makes selling easy and unnecessary. Marketing is simply the process of providing your audience useful information. Marketing is defined as the business activity that involves finding out what customers want, using that information to design products and services, and selling them effectively. The process of marketing, by definition, is three steps. Find out what your customers want. Design products and services for that audience. Then, sell them effectively. How do you find out what your customers want? You create a relationship with them. You offer information they can use. You test things. You give them the "what" for free. Eventually, you can sell them the "how: after you have designed the product around those wants. Polish's statement was bold. As he went on to explain himself, Polish made perfect sense. In fact, his comments were very similar to the marketing and branding information we've been discussing with regard to your podcast. Polish said great marketing gets people properly positioned, so they are pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you. Great marketing therefore makes selling easy and unnecessarily. Consider any long form sales letter you've read or watched. Or, platform presentation you have seen where the speaker gives you great information for about 75 minutes and then pitches his product for the last 15. The majority of the information in that content is information you can use. If you choose to not buy, you have still received information you can use. You have been helped. You have been served. You are also pre-interested and pre-motivated for the product. Toward the end of the content, the pre-qualification takes place. If you are a podcaster who does interviews, and you seek to get better, create unique conversations and be seen as a pro, then my Powerful Podcast Interviews course could be exactly what you need. This is a pre-qualification. "If … then". My audience is saying to themselves, "Yeah, I want to have interviews that are different from all the other people in my niche. I want to be seen as a podcaster who belongs with the big guys. I want guests to tell me this is the best interview they've done. Tell me more." If you have used your free content to truly engage your listener and create that strong relationship we've been discussing, the selling should take care of itself. Selling becomes difficult when you are trying to get your listener interested without the relationship. Selling before your listener is motivated is a challenge. Trying to sell to a listener that isn't qualified is hard work. If your listener isn't predisposed to taking action, you will need to sell hard. When you have taken the time to build the relationship, your listener will be pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you. They will be ready to buy. Selling, in terms of convincing your listener to buy, will be unnecessary. Your marketing and engaging relationship will have them ready for your call-to-action. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

7 of the Most Powerful Interview Questions Ever – Episode 189 [DOWNLOAD: 17 of the Most Powerful Interview Questions Ever] How do you make your podcast unique when every interview asks the same questions and sounds the same? Use storytelling. Storytelling can transform your podcast. People do business with those they know, like and trust. Stories let people get to know you through the things you reveal in your stories. Listeners learn what you like, value and believe. Your stories help develop that likability and trust. Stories help you connect, motivate and inspire. They do the same for your guests. If you would like to get unique answers from your guests and create powerful podcast interviews, download my 17 of the Most Powerful Interview Questions Ever. They are free for you at PodcastTalentCoach.com. AVOID THESE There are a few questions you should avoid. "Tell me a little bit about yourself." This questions is a time waster. It also tells the audience and your guest you didn't do your homework. You should know your guest and provide the important background information necessary for this episode. "Did you enjoy (blank)?" Yes/no questions receive yes/no answers. Find ways to turn yes/no questions into open-ended questions. "Was it A or B?" Questions that require one word answers do the same as yes/no questions. There is nowhere for the guest to go with the answer. POWERFUL QUESTIONS Here are 7 of the Most Powerful Interview Questions ever from that list. Use these to generate fantastic stories. 1. Tell me about a time you _______. This question generates great stories. It is also personal and helps your guest reveal things about themselves. 2. How did all of this get started? This question generates great stories. It is also personal. This question can provide inspiration to your audience. 3. What is the craziest thing you've seen in this business? This story creates some amazement. 4. When did you realize you had a passion for ______? This questions makes a personal connection between your guest and listener. It also provides inspiration for your listeners. 5. What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome to ______? This questions provides inspiration for your listener. It also gives them advice to tackle their own problems. 6. What did it feel like when you ______? This question allows your guest to connect emotionally with your audience. 7. If you could do it over again, what is the first thing you would do? This is a great question to help your audience learn where to start. This question also helps your audience take action. SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY If you interview guests on your podcast, I want to help you transform those interviews into powerful conversations. I want to help you create unique content that will stand out from all other podcasts in your niche. I am putting together a workshop for a small group of podcasters. This workshop will teach you the intricacies, tips and tricks to create powerful podcast interviews. This process was developed over my 30 years of radio. Whether you are brand new to podcasting or have been creating podcast interviews for years, this workshop will be the place to be. It will be the place to gain confidence in yourself, defeat the impostor syndrome, look smarter by surrounding yourself with smart people, and avoid making a fool of yourself by developing powerful podcast interviews. You will learn how to create amazing content using powerful podcast interviews. This isn't just theory. I have been in radio for 30 years and teaching broadcasters and podcasters for over 20 years. I have interviewed some of the biggest artists in music, including Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Church, Mariah Carey, the Samples, Big & Rich, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Dave Mustane of Megadeth, Nelly and others. Stations I have programmed have dominated the market. My own show has been top of the ratings for years straight. Podcasters I have coached have used my training to drive their shows to new heights. I am now combining all of that interviewing knowledge into a workshop. This will be a small group of a couple dozen dedicated podcasters who want to learn what took me 30 years to perfect. I'm really excited to get it started. The workshop will be ready in a couple weeks. In the meantime, download my 17 of the Most Powerful Interview Questions Ever. They are free for you at PodcastTalentCoach.com. Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Leverage Your Audience To Grow Your Podcast Downloads – Episode 188 The most common challenge I hear podcasters facing is growing their audience. We all want to drive our podcast downloads and grow our audience. This week, I have 9 things you can do this week to steadily gain more podcast downloads. There was a presentation at Podcast Movement 2017 called "How People Really Listen To Podcasts". This study showed two primary ways people find new podcasts. Most respondents in the study (60%) said they find new podcasts from social media. Friends was the next biggest way (57%) people discover new shows to try. Both of these traffic sources come from word-of-mouth. What are you doing to get others to talk about your podcast? If you want to grow your podcast downloads, you need to get in front of other people and then get those people to talk about your show. 1. Grow your Facebook following. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, Facebook had 2.2 billion monthly active users. As of September 2017, Instagram had reached 800 million monthly active users. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the Twitter averaged at 330 million monthly active users. Facebook is currently by far the largest social media platform. Find ways to be present on Facebook and grow your following. 2. Comment on other social posts to be seen. This is the Law of Reciprocity. Give to others and they will feel compelled to give in return. I am in 19 Facebook groups for podcasting and business. I am frequently in those groups looking for ways to help other people. Find groups you can join where you can offer help and answer questions. 3. Ask your friends to share. You never know who might know somebody. Dave Jackson and I do the Podcast Review Show. We are joined on the show by a podcaster who receives joint coaching from us. On the episode we recorded the other night, Lionel from A Modelers Life podcast. It is a show for and about model railroaders. Dave wondered how big the niche could be. Lionel told him that you would be surprised who could be model railroaders. That's when I told Dave that I was into model railroading back in the day. My dad got me into it when I was a kid. You never know who might be interested in your niche. 4. Ask your guests to share. Guests are your most powerful resource. Using the circle of influence of your guest has the potential to grow your audience exponentially. Make it easy for your guest to share your podcast. Write the Facebook post for the episode on which they appear. Do most of the work for them and allow them to make edits if they wish. 5. Be a guest on other shows. Make an invitation easy. Are you willing to be on other podcasts? Have you told anyone? Make it easy to find you and invite you to appear. Put a link on your site. This could be on the contact page or a stand-alone invite page. See my contact page at PodcastTalentCoach.com for an example. 6. Write guest columns in publications or on websites. My relationship with Dave Jackson at School of Podcasting began after he discovered a few articles I wrote for the New Media Expo site back when that event was still happening. 7. Ask your audience. Your audience loves you. Let them help you. You never know who is listening to your show. A small ask could gain huge growth in your podcast downloads. One of my favorite shows we would do each year on the radio was during Christmas. We would ask listeners to call in with gifts they were having difficulty finding. Then, we would ask other listeners to call in if they could help. We just served as the liaison between those that needed and those that had the knowledge. Everybody felt good after that show. Most people want to help. 8. Ask others in your niche to recommend your show. Make it worth their while. Help each other. Again, this is the law of reciprocity. What do your counterparts need? How can you help them? If you are helping others, karma will bring it around to you eventually. 9. Host meet-ups and have your listeners bring friends. If ten people attend the first one, and you have each of them bring a friend next time, you double your group. Texas country artist Aaron Watson came to town to perform. He is an artist that can attract large crowds in Texas. However, he was quite unknown in our city. When he was on stage, Aaron said he completely understood that the audience wouldn't be nearly the size here as it was in Texas. But, he would continue to come as long as the audience continued to bring their friends. Aaron told the audience if there were 100 people in the crowd that night, and he gave a great show so each person would bring a friend next time, he would eventually have large crowds here as well. He understood the power of leveraging his audience. BASICS Use these 9 ways to grow your podcast downloads this week. When you distill it down, it is basically three basic concepts. 1. Help people. 2. Make it easy to share your stuff. 3. Make it worth their while – what is in it for them? Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's see what we can do. You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let's turn your information into engaging entertainment.