Influential Voices of Authority

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 in town. I have worked on my brand for over 25 years. Day in and day out, I work to refine what I do and become memorable for my listeners. My brand has helped me stay on top for over a decade. Here are nine important steps you can take this week to begin the journey of creating your unique podcast brand. 9 BRANDING STEPS Find your unique selling proposition. Be yourself. You are the best you, and you are unique. Create a style. Don't try to be somebody else. You are best at being you. Create you own show structure. There are enough knockoffs. Highlight your sense of humor. Tell stories that define your character. Discuss topics that interest you. Be interesting by being interested. Tell stories. Your history is unique. Incorporate your experience. Your experience is unique. Ask questions others fail to ask. Use a format others don't use. Develop a different show format. Incorporate production values into your show. Provide great customer service. Make people feel special. NEED HELP? 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.

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 degree in architecture, I picked up a part-time job at a roller skating rink. My job was to skate around and make sure kids followed the rules. My younger brother was the DJ. After moving up the roller rink food chain, I eventually became a DJ at the rink. The job requirement to get the gig was simply to be the guy with most tenure. If you were the one who had been there the longest, you got to play the tunes. Dan was another guy who worked at the rink. He also happened to run a really small AM radio station. The station played paid, long-form programming. He hired my brother to work part-time at the station. One day, he called the house to see if my brother could cover a shift he had open. My brother wasn't home. However, that call turned into a part-time offer for me at the station. That weekend, I was at the radio station running the board for the programs. I still wasn't on the air, but I was running a radio station. My envelope wasn't being pushed quite yet. Over the summer, I began thinking of a career change. The next semester of school, I picked up broadcasting for the non-major as an elective. One night in class, the program director of the campus radio station visited. The program director is the guy who runs the entire content operations of a radio station. Music, imaging, contests, commercials, and talent. The PD is in charge of anything you hear on the air. When the program director was wrapping up, he told us he was looking for a music director for the station. The music director works for the program director and handles everything related to the music. This was the first time I pushed the envelope. After class, I went up to him and explained I wasn't a broadcasting major but was interested in the position. He explained that I didn't need to be a broadcasting major. He said I just needed to be interested and willing to do the work. Here I was … an architecture major with limited radio experience being put in charge of the music on the radio station and responsible for communication with the record labels. I had no idea what I was doing. I simply learned on the fly. Though those years, I met a ton of great people. I was exposed to a lot of great music I had never hear. Most importantly, my on-air ability grew at least by ten times. In fact, it grew enough to land me a full time gig at a local commercial radio station. PUSH #2 Jump forward 5 years. I was working as an audio producer for an interactive phone company. Radio had been my career until I joined this company 8 months earlier. The station I left 2 years earlier called me. The station was for sale and the program director was leaving. They asked me to come back to the station to be the new program director until they could find a suitable buyer. At this point in time, I had never been a program director. In fact, the college station was the only time I had ever been a music director. There was no experience managing a staff on my resume. I wasn't even in radio at the time. Now, I had the opportunity to run a radio station. I could let the little voice in my head tell me all the reasons why I wasn't qualified to do it. Or, I could jump at the chance to prove I had what it took. Time to push the envelope a second time. I took the chance and leaned all I could. This was the first time I started coaching on-air talent. I was building shows and shaping content. It was a great ride. We never reached the top, but we learned a ton and had a blast. The station eventually sold and I left the station. PUSH #3 The third chance to push the envelope came 2-and-a-half years later. This time, I had a chance to launch a station. I was offered the opportunity to be the program director of a station that was flipping format to Top 40. I was given one on-air talent and one promotions director. My first guy didn't last very long. My second guy took the challenge and ran with it. We took that station to number one in 12 months. It was huge. We were on a small signal with a small staff. We just did what others wouldn't. The staff grew. I helped my team develop shows that were the buzz of the town. It was an amazing ride. That station was number one for a long time. DO YOU HAVE THE DESIRE? Every time I made huge leaps in my career it involved pushing the envelope. My growth came from getting out of my comfort zone and stretching myself. Do you want to grow by leaps and bounds or do you want to slowly creep toward your goal? Are you ready to increase your downloads ten times what they are now? Then you need to do a few things that are going to make you a bit uncomfortable. 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. 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: Click here to the List Get to work. Move out of your comfort zone. Grow your audience by 10x by pushing yourself. 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.

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 what you do? Your motivation will begin there. WITHOUT MY WHY I began coaching hockey in 2004 after growing up playing hockey. I love the game and really wanted to stay involved. An opportunity to coach a high school team came along and I jumped at it. For the first few years, I coached for me. I wanted to create a winning team. The players were decent. The league was decent. I wanted to feel the exhilaration of winning a championship. For five years, it didn't happen. We were an ok, middle-of-the-pack team. Years six required I switch teams when there were not enough kids coming out to form a team. The league called and asked if I would coach a team for a private, Catholic school. I told them sure, I had no allegiance to any particular school. I just wanted to coach. They said, "Good, because we have a guy who wants to coach the team. However, he has been suspended from coaching for coming on the ice after an official." This was a great group of players I had never coached. Many were better than my previous team. I instituted my philosophy, systems and practice plans. We had good talent and played well. Again, we finished in the middle of the standings. The following year, the suspended guy was ready to come back and the league asked if I would pick up yet another team. I explained that I was just getting started with this team and would really like to continue with them. League officials told me they would need to conduct interviews to select the coach. At this point, I figured I was in a no-win situation if I went through with the interview. I would either get the job and have to deal with this guy and his kids all season. Or, I would not get the job and be out of coaching. I called the league and told them I would take the new team. They said, "Good, because we have a guy who wants to coach the team. However, he has been suspended from coaching for forging his kid's birth certificate." I thought, "Here we go again." When the suspended guy found out I was coaching the team, he took the four best players to another league. Season seven was the pivot point of my coaching career. That team was made up of a bunch of new and inexperienced players. I had 2 or 3 decent players. By that, I mean middle of the road. The rest needed a lot of work. As the season started, I instituted my philosophy, systems and practice plans. I quickly realized I needed to go back to fundamentals with these guys. Systems were way above their heads. We needed to practice the basics. In our final game of the playoffs, we were tied 0-0 at the end of regulation. We went into a 3-man shootout. After 3 round, neither team had scored. It took 5 rounds before we finally lost 1-0 in a 5-round shootout. That loss was our 24th of the season. 24th consecutive loss. We didn't win a single game. So much for my philosophy. So much for my systems. We were the worst team in the league by a long shot. We were losing games 14-1. It was painful. That summer, I seriously considered giving up coaching hockey. I wasn't sure I had what it took. FINDING MY WHY As the summer went on, the league called to tell me the team was no longer. Many of the kids weren't coming back. Those that were returning would be spread amongst the other teams in the league. That's when my "why" hit me. Kids shouldn't be leaving the sport. Kids should learn to love the game. And they surely would not be taught to love the sport by coaching who get suspended for inappropriate actions. The sport needed coaches who could teach not only a love of the game of hockey, but how to have fun and how to become respectable, young adults. They need role models who can guide them through the obstacles of high school. The league knew my ultimate goal was to coach Millard West hockey. My son will eventually attend the school. That's where I wanted to end up. The opportunity was open. So, I decided to return the following season to coach the Wildcats. My coaching philosophy changed that year. It began with my why. Show respect and have fun. That's where it all starts. Show respect for your opponent, your parents, the officials, your teammates and yourself. If you can do that day in and day out, you will win in life. Just have fun while you're doing it. Respect threads through all aspects of the game. You'll find it in the locker room, on the ice at practice, on the bench during a game, in the handshake line after the game, at school the next day, respect is everywhere. Respect makes the game much more fun. That first season with Millard West was a buy-in season. I was inheriting a few players from the previous coach. I had a little different approach. It took a while for the players to get on board. At the end of that season, we finished 5th out of 12 teams in the league. Sure, it was middle-of-the-pack. But, internally it was much better than previous seasons. The team had fun and came together as a tight-knit group. We had something. The following season, everything clicked. We had a blast. The respect came from everyone on the team. At the end of the season, we were state champions. It was a great year. It never would have happened without my why. Since that first year when we finished 5th, we have been in the championship game 4 of the last 5 seasons. I learned I was trying to implement my "how" before I knew my "why". My philosophy, systems and practice plans meant nothing, because I hadn't developed my "why". Once I created that foundation of respect and fun, the "how" came naturally. The "how" wrote itself. I knew exactly where we needed to go and what we needed to do. Players have come and gone on this team. Some have already graduated college. Yet, we continue the tradition of respect and fun. The winning is a byproduct. It is simply the result of our "why". WHY I COACH PODCASTERS The same is true with my talent coaching. I have been coaching radio talent for 25 years. It wasn't until I put the needs of the talent in front of my desires to win that I began winning. I had been coaching on-air talent for 5 years at the time. I was giving them all of the knowledge I had learned over the past 10 years to be a better air talent. We weren't winning. We had launched a new radio station. There was only one other talent on the air with me at the time. I focused all of my attention on that one individual. In our coaching sessions, I would ask questions and learn what they needed to grow. Week after week, he would get a little better. I learned to stop focusing on the problems and begin to work on his strengths. We would talk about the show. I would help him find the things he was doing really well, so he could do more of that. I encouraged him to take chances. Some worked, some didn't. Drip by drip we made improvements. Suddenly, we were number one. Top of the market. My "why" of helping talent improve by focusing on their strengths came before my "how" of winning. Winning was a byproduct. Focusing on other made all the difference. FIND YOUR WHY What is your why? Why do you do what you do? Once you determine your "why", the rest will fall into place. You need to find the meaning in what you do. If you would like help defining your "why" and finding the things you do really well, let's talk about some coaching for you. You can get a complimentary strategy session online a www.PodcastTalentCoach.com under the coaching tab. I'd love to spend 30 minutes with you to determine your "why" and develop a plan. 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.

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 like an easy process. It is simple, but far from easy. When we began, our guy talked about his dreams just like the rest of us. He had great goals of launching a business creating masterminds. He had been in quite a few over the last six years and was great at running them. Our guy joined the group to have someone hold him accountable. He is a self-described "shiny object person". Masterminds would be his side hustle, because he has a full-time job. By the second meeting, we had helped our guy flush out his desires, strengths and path. He pivoted a little from group masterminds to a personal accountability coach. On the third call, he reported he had launched a coaching website, but also had a few people interested in a paid mastermind. I thought, "At least he is making progress toward revenue." The next week he reported that he made no progress. He was working on a video for his coaching and still trying to launch the in-person mastermind. By June, our guy had a few free mastermind meetings with friends, but was struggling to convert it to revenue. He was looking to pivot. He just wasn't sure he was headed down the right path. When July rolled around, he was exploring new aspects for his business and possibly a new niche. This is when he decided to start a blog for his content. The very next week he was interviewing people for a podcast he was planning to launch. As we neared the end of July, our guy was back talking about the mastermind niche and how he could create a live workshop to help businesses launch a mastermind. His distractions finally got the best of him. As we rolled into August, our guy decided he needed to get out of the group. After six months, he really spent most of the time battling the impostor syndrome. He let it prevent him from taking meaningful steps toward his goal. LITTLE, CONSISTENT STEPS If you want to reach your goals, you need to find ways to take little steps each week. Determine the next logical step in your journey and take it. Don't worry about six months down the road. Worry about today. What can you do today to simply make progress? This is one of the benefits of having a coach. If you find the right person to coach you, they can hold you accountable to your progress. Then can give you a little push when you need it. Maybe help you create deadlines. I do this quite often with my coaching clients. Sure, I help my clients shape their contents to be more engaging. They learn to be better interviewers. We work together to create a workflow that is more efficient. But most importantly, I help podcasters stay accountable. Each week, we set little baby goals for the week that build on each other to reach the big goal. Could you use a coach to help you stay accountable to your goals? Do you need that little nudge every once in awhile? I can do that for you. Check out the coaching tab online at PodcastTalentCoach.com. The first session is free. We use that to set some goals and get to know each other. We see if we work well together. If we are both comfortable with it, we go from there. I would love to help you reach your goals. GOALS IN 7 AREAS AND 5 YEARS So, let's talk about goal setting. What can you do this week. Grab a sheet of paper. Spend 5 minutes writing down your dreams. What do you hope to accomplish over the next five years. Big goals. Big things won't happen unless you dream big. Over the next five years, what does your podcast look like? What does your life look like? Break these big dreams into seven areas of your life. Your long-term goals should include career, money, self-improvement, family, social, spiritual, and health. Define your career. How are you employed? How many hours a week do you work? What does your work life look like five years from now? With regard to money, how much do you have? How much are you earning per year in five years? What are you doing with your money? As you begin to describe your self-improvement five years from now, consider things like your education, knowledge and the overall person you have become. What do you need to be a better person five years from today? Family is a piece many people forget when they are goal setting. Money and career are easy. What about your family? What does your family look like in five years? How much time are you spending with them? What are you doing with that time? Your social goals should include your friends and acquaintences. It is often said that you will become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Who are those people five years from now? Be intentional with your friendships. Set specific goals in this area. How is your spiritual life? How would you like that to look in five years? If you feel it could be stronger, let's set some goals to make that happen. Your health doesn't improve because you hope it will. Goals will help you become healthier if you make it a priority. Set big goals in health that you can work toward five years from today. GOALS FOR THIS YEAR Now that you have big goals set, let's figure out what you can do in the next year to work toward those goals. Sure, you have five years to accomplish them. That means we need to make progress each year over the next five to get there. Big goals won't happen overnight. It takes consistent effort. Break your five-year goals into smaller steps that you can accomplish over the years. How far along will you be toward each goal twelve months from now? MONTHLY GOALS After you have determined your one-year goals, break those into twelve steps. This will be one step for each month. What do you need to accomplish each month in order to hit your annual goal? Be realistic with your progress. This will be a snowball. It will get much bigger each time it rolls over. Very similar to compound interest. It doesn't grow in a straight line. The line curves upward. Your progress will do the same. Think of revenue for a business. Revenue doesn't typically grow in a straight line, like 100 this year, 200 in year 2, 300 in year 3, and 400 in year 4. Revenue growth is typically 100 in year 1, 150 in year 2, 300 in year 3, 550 in year 4. The amount of growth increases each year. You build momentum. WEEKLY GOALS Now that you have monthly goals, break those into weekly goals. These are your baby steps. Little steps each week will help you reach your monthly goals. Stack your monthly goals on top of each other and before you know it, you'll reach your yearly goals. Your five-year goals are reach by taking little steps each week. Eat that elephant one bit at a time. MAKE UP WEEK I would suggest you build in a "make up" week every six to eight weeks. These are the weeks that will help you catch up. When you miss the goal, because it was a bit out of reach, these make up weeks will help you get on track. It would be very easy to give up after you miss a couple weeks of goals. A make up week could be very beneficial to keeping you energized. Keep your success front and center. You may not hit the goal exactly, but you will still be making progress. If your goal was 200 and you only hit 175, you are still better off than where you started. Keep your eye on the prize. ACCOUNTABILITY Would you like me to help you structure your goals and hold you accountable? Let's talk about my coaching. I'd love to give you a hand. I work with my clients on a weekly basis. We do a 30 to 45 minute call each week to review your goals, intentions and progress. I also listen to an episode before each call to help you improve. We discuss any struggles you are facing and how you can overcome those issues. After our call, I send you a written recap of the podcast review and our call. That allows you to listen and ask questions rather than taking notes the entire time. I want the call to be packed full of information for you. I'm also available to you via e-mail anytime you would like. Get my coaching info under the coaching tab online at podcasttalentcoach.com. This week, take time to set goals. You cannot reach your destination until you have defined where you are going and how you plan to get there. 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.

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 Downs – The Communications Guys Alex Loomis & Adam Leidhecker – Otto Radio Timothy McGowen – Your Podcast Fan I met so many others, plus experienced the great sessions. In those sessions, I learned a few nuggets, was reminded of some great concepts and heard a few common themes. Here are my top seven takeaways from Podcast Movement 2017. TAKEAWAYS 1. Batching Amy Porterfield does 6 episodes at a time. Pat Flynn did everything himself for the first 5 years. Then he added the "Ask Pat" podcast and began to farm it out. Now, Pat records 10 episodes of "Ask Pat" every 2 weeks. It takes about 1.5 hours to record. John Lee Dumas did it all himself at first as well. He now records 2 days/month. John uses a recording checklist for each session to review for Skype settings, etc. Find a scheduling software that works for you, like Calendly. Don't start with batching – work up to it 2. Leverage Your Facebook Group Use the power of video. Let your audience put a face with the brand. A Facebook group is a powerful marketing tool. 3. Start Strong The biggest drop off is in the first 5 minutes – you can't catch up to a bad opening. First minute of the episode is critical. Don't let listeners fall off. Tell them what you do at the beginning of the episode. This means every episode and every show. Who are you, and why are you there? Why should they listen to you? Make the opening provocative. 4. Artwork and Titles Matter Use them to catch the attention of your listeners. 5. People Have Their Favorite Podcasts People use the terms "listen to" and "commit to" a podcast differently. 75% of podcast listeners listen to 2-6 podcasts per week. 56% subscribe to 2-6 per week. Phone space is an issue for podcast listeners. 6. Friends Are Critical How do they find new podcasts? Social 60% Friends 57% Podcast apps 49% Other podcasts mention 45% 7. Nurture Community Nurture not only your listener community, but your peer community as well. Surround yourself with other winners who do what you do. It is critical to your success. Leave your top takeaways in our FB group: [Podcast Talent Coach Facebook Group] 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.

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 you surround yourself with people who support you. Then, be consistent as you publish. I am in a mastermind with 3 other guys. We support and help each other along our business journey. We also keep each other accountable. Facebook groups and memberships are another great way to learn and be held accountable. I am an affiliate of Daniel J. Lewis' Podcasters' Society. It is a great membership site to help you develop your podcast and solve problems you encounter. Podcasters' Society has an amazing community of podcasters and experts to help you along. I am one of the experts participating in the group quite often. In this episode, I am going to walk you through planning your entire podcasts from show development to review. This will help you create that consistency. Then, I will tell you all about Podcasters' Society and how that can help you as well. Just know, right now you can get a special rate using my discount code to save a ton. Podcasters' Society is typically $49/month, which would be $588/year if you paid monthly. Let me help you knock $159 off of that. Daniel has already discounted the annual rate to $479/year. That is a savings of $109 over paying monthly. I have convinced him to give my listeners an additional discount of $50. That saves you $159 off the first year for a rate of $429 for the first year. On top of that, you get to keep the $479/year rate after your first year. This discount is only available until the end of August. To get the $429 annual rate for your first year subscription, visit https://podcasterssociety.com/erik/. If you choose the monthly option to try it out, you can save $15 off your first month. Instead of $49 for the first month, you will only pay $34. However, that rate returns to $49 in the second month. You will save much more using the annual savings. Either way, find the savings here: https://podcasterssociety.com/erik/. DEVELOPING YOUR PLAN So, let's develop your show and take you from zero to a podcast a week. You must have a plan. Your podcast won't happen unless you schedule your work. Nothing gets done until it is scheduled. We will develop an overview of the show. We will lay a structural foundation for each episode. I will teach you how to review your show to get the best content. Then, we will lay out a schedule to create your content every week. Each of these steps comes straight out of my Podcast Talent Coach Worksheet library. You can access these worksheets for free by clicking here: PODCAST TALENT COACH WORKSHEET LIBRARY Show Focus Development Worksheet What are you passionate about? What are your unique qualities? What topics occupy your conversations? What do you like to do in your spare time? Use these topics to define your show. Develop a list of 50 episode topics to start. Listener Development Worksheet Who is your ideal listener? What is his/her gender, age, marital status, employment status? What does his/her family look like? How about their schooling, income, and vehicle? How do they occupy their time – magazines, tv, websites, podcasts? Who are their heroes? What are their wants, fears and needs? What problem do they need solved – do they know? Show Clock Worksheet Used by radio shows Develops consistency Develop an outline for the show Keeps you on track and on time Show Prep Planning Worksheet What interesting topics will you cover on this episode? What do you hope to accomplish? How will you treat each topic? Create an outline using your clock. Gather supporting information. Show Review Worksheet What did you hope to accomplish and did you succeed? How did you make the audience care? Where were the "oh wow" moments? Where were the surprises? What powerful words jumped out of the episode? What was memorable? What could have been better? How did you include the listener? What stories did you tell? What did you reveal about yourself? Where were the vivid details? What crutches need to be removed? What will make the next episode better? Develop a Schedule What days of the week do you have available to devote to the project? Break it into parts. Brainstorm show topics. Complete to 60-second blog plan. (Get it here.) Write show outline. Record and edit the show. Publish. Market. Surround Yourself With Support Connect with other podcasters. Find a group. Find a coach. Become a member of Podcasters' Society. Resource Library Webinars – Promo Strategy, Podcast Reviews, Audio Mastering, Podcast Profit Q&A – 64 now and adding nearly every week. Tutorials – Music, Photos, Opt-Ins, Mails – 32 as of now Courses – Zoom H6 for Podcasters, Simple Guide to Recording Interviews and Conversations on Skype, plus many more Tools & Discounts Forums You can requests resources you'd like to see developed Slack community and real-time chat Learn and be part of the community If you would like to join me in Podcasters' Society, do it before the end of August. Your membership is typically $49/month, which would be $588/year if you paid monthly. Let me help you knock $159 off of that. JOIN PODCASTERS' SOCIETY HERE Daniel has already discounted the annual rate to $479/year. That is a savings of $109. I have convinced him to give my listeners an additional discount of $50. That saves you $159 off the first year for a rate of $429 for the first year. On top of that, you get to keep the $479/year rate after your first year. To get the $429 annual rate for your first year subscription, visit https://podcasterssociety.com/erik/. This offer ends on Aug. 31, 2017. Even if you do not take me up on the Podcasters' Society offer, download the FREE worksheet library and begin developing your content plan this week. By developing the foundation for consistency, you will go from zero to a podcast a week in no time. 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.

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 help them share it on their favorite platform. Show them how to share your interview. Over my 30 years in radio, I have worked in nearly every format. I have had the amazing opportunity to interview artists from all walks of life. There have been artists in my studio that you have never heard of as well as household names. I have had the privilege of interviewing Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey and more. It has been amazing. Interviewing these world famous artists has taught me many lessons on interviewing. Part of that education has included how to get them to share your interview. ASK Keep in mind that a guest will not typically share your interview out of the kindness of their heart. Sharing usually will not happen unless you ask for it. Don't be shy about asking. Simply approach the request to share your interview from a place of gratitude. Be thankful that your guest has agreed to appear on your show. Then, be gracious in your request. MAKE IT EASY To encourage your guest to share your interview, make it easy for them. There are a few ways to accomplish this. Create a social media post for them that shares the interview. Write the e-mail copy for them to promote the interview. Gently remind them if they have already agreed to share your interview. Thank them for being on the show and sharing your episode. Elicit the theory of reciprocity by doing something for them first (but don't expect anything in return – it just may be more likely). LIVE IN THEIR WORLD Help your guest share your interview in the space in which they already operate. If your guest is big on Facebook, create a Facebook post. If your guest is an e-mail specialist, help them by creating an e-mail. Find the path of least resistance by starting where they already operate. SHOW THEM HOW Be specific in your ask. If your guest agrees to share your interview, tell them exactly what you would like them to do. Tell your guest when the show is live. Provide the exact show link you would like them to use. Send them any graphics you would like them to include. Show them how you have shared it, so they may simply share your info. Follow these 4 steps and you should have much more success trying to get your guest to share your interview. 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 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 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. Seth Godin From Seth's blog The brand is a story. But, it's a story about you, not about the brand. Every brand has a story. That's how it goes from being a logo and a name to a brand. The story includes expectations and history and promises and social cues and emotions. The story makes us say we "love Google" or "love Harley" … but what do we really love? We love ourselves. We love the memory we have of how that brand made us feel once. More than ever, we express ourselves with what we buy and how we use what we buy. Extensions of our personality, totems of our selves, reminders of who we are or would like to be. Great marketers don't make stuff. They make meaning. B.J. Bueno From The Power of Cult Branding – 7 Golden Rules of Cult Branding Apple is the embodiment of a Cult Brand: a company that commands fanatical loyalty from its customers. Apple's loyal customers—a group we'll call Brand Lovers— overwhelmingly tend to choose Apple products exclusively. Apple's appeal is certainly not attributable to low prices; that's not it at all. Instead, Apple is offering their customers something else, something so compelling and irresistible that makes their customers overlook sporadically uneven performance and higher prices. That's the power of Cult Branding. And Apple's not the only one using the power of Cult Branding. Simply put, Cult Brands always give back. They never forget that the relationship needs to be mutually beneficial. Brand Lovers need to get just as much (or even more) out of the relationship than the Cult Brand does. With this in mind, the leaders of Cult Brands are adamant about continually finding new ways to show love and appreciation for the passion and devotion of their customers. Unlike faceless corporations, Cult Brands are humble and personable. They never take their customers for granted. They look for tangible ways to say thank you. The Books These are four of my favorite authors on the subject of branding. If you have a chance, grab any of these books. I think you'll enjoy the read and find them useful. Gary Vaynerchuk – Crush It Simon Sinek – Start With Why Seth Godin – Purple Cow Seth Godin – Tribes B.J. Bueno – The Power of Cult Branding 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.

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 the attributes that create you, as in character in a play. The purpose of your show is to attract an audience. Whether you want to monetize that relationship, encourage a call-to-action, or simply create an following for your ideas, creating the audience is where you begin. The stories you choose to tell reveal how open you are to others. Your openness is a sign of trust. Trust is a big piece of a relationship. Reveal things about yourself through your stories, and you'll begin to build trust with your listener. The details you include tell your listener what you value. If the listener feels you value things they too value, you solidify the relationship. People like to hang out with similar people. If your values are opposite of your listener, you may also attract them. It is like a love/hate relationship. They may dislike it, but they continue to listen. This often happens when talking politics. What you find entertaining will be evident by the stories you tell. Since people like other people who have similar tastes, revealing those things you find entertaining will also build the relationship. Stories also have the power to demonstrate your vulnerability. Stories can show that you are a real person. Your listener will see you as approachable. They also may begin to see you as a friend. That is when true relationships begin to form. Next time you watch a late night talk show, notice how the great, memorable interviews contain great stories. Interviews that focus on facts and information rarely cut through. Those guests come off more as a lecturer than as a friend. The guests that tell stories appear more personal, warm and friendly. Their stories reveal things and help you feel like you know them personally. Take note next time you watch. Foster a relationship with your listener by revealing things about yourself through stories. Stories will define your character. MY STORIES WERE HORRIBLE In the past, my stories were horrible. I struggled to hold the attention of people while I was telling a story. I couldn't figure out why they would fade half way through the tale. One day, in a coaching session with my radio coach, it hit me. The person listening had no idea where I was going. The stories I was telling sounded like ramblings with no real purpose or destination. My coach basically told me to open with the punchline. I thought he was crazy. If people knew the punchline, why listen to the story. That made no sense. He explained that opening with the point of the story was similar to telling your passenger where you are going on your journey. Nobody wants to sit next to you in a car wondering where they are going to end up and when they are going to get there. They want to enjoy the journey. I began opening my tales with the point of the story. Right up front, I revealed the whole purpose of the story. My opening began serving as a bit of a headline. "I can't figure out why people can't signal their turn before they are actually in the turn lane." "My dog got sick and had my up 4 times last night." "If you want more traffic, you need to be more traffic for others first." Opening with an intriguing introduction will also provide a framework for the story. You will know exactly where you are going and what details are necessary to get there. This helps shorten your story while including only the important parts. In addition to the intriguing introduction, there are three other elements to great stories. After you open with the intriguing introduction, provide wonderful, vivid details while telling the story. Close with a powerful conclusion. Ask yourself, "What's next?" THEATER OF THE MIND Create theater of the mind by using vivid details. The use of active language will stir the imagination of your listener and help you connect to your audience. Put the listener in the moment. Make the listener see the action you are describing. "I'm walking in the bustling restaurant and shaking off the cold without even watching where I'm walking." That is active language. In your mind, you can see me walking in. Sure, your restaurant may be different from my restaurant. That difference is what makes theater of the mind great. You see it the way you think it fits best for you. Your scene doesn't need to match my scene in order for the story to make sense. It is your theater. Active language connects each listener to the story in his or her own way. It will create strong audience engagement. Active language during storytelling is a powerful tool you can use while you're building your podcast. Create a great podcast brand. Create theater of the mind. THE FIRST EXIT Take the first exit. When you are discussing a topic, take the first opportunity to get out of the bit or interview question. You will keep your audience engaged. You will maintain the momentum of the show. You will also avoid repeating yourself and becoming boring. Take the first exit. There are clues in your show that let you know you've missed the opportunity to end the bit. When you find yourself saying things like "as I said", "like I was saying", or "as we've discussed", you have missed your exit. Those phrases are simply additional ways to say, "let me repeat this again". Once you have reached that point, you are stating your introduction point again. This should be your conclusion. Move on to the next discussion. If you miss the exit, you begin retracing your steps. You begin offering information you've already provided. You listener then begins thinking of other things, because they have heard this part before. I got it. Let's move on. Only you will know when you've offered enough information to make your point. Once you hit that point, keep the show moving. Get to the next topic. Keep your audience engaged. Take the first exit. Conclude your story by simply reframing your intriguing introduction. ASK "WHAT'S NEXT?" Include a call to action. If you want to make money with your podcast, you must include a call to action. It seems logical. However, many podcasters believe, "If I build it, they will come." It simply doesn't happen that way. Odd as it may sound, your podcast probably isn't your product. Unless you are charging for your podcast, your show is only the marketing vehicle for some other product. Most podcasts are free. The show itself isn't generating revenue. You need to create another product you can sell. In his book "Free: The Future of a Radical Price", Chris Anderson lists many ways to create revenue using the power of free. Many of these can be used to generate revenue from your podcast. [EPISODE 167 – HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH A PODCAST THAT IS FREE] Some think access to the audience can be sold to advertisers as if it were traditional broadcasting. Unfortunately, audiences are not typically large enough for this model. Listeners also do not expect the traditional twelve minutes of commercials within their favorite podcast hour. Advertising is a very difficult path to revenue. To generate revenue with your podcast, you need to create something else to sell. You could make money by making your podcast a small portion of a larger show, which is available to paid members only. The free podcast becomes marketing for the member content. You could turn your knowledge of some "how to" subject into a book, e-book, study course or other product. Your podcast could be the "why" behind your philosophy. The show would then promote the "how" that your listener will learn when they purchase the product. There are many other ideas described in Anderson's book. You could give away the product while charging for the service, such as consulting or coaching. Give away the content while making money referring people to retailers. Rather than traditional advertising, you could give away the content while charging advertisers to be featured in it, similar to The Home Shopping Network. You could even take a cut of sales. You could podcast generic advice while selling specific, customized advice. There are fifty ideas in the book. To make money with your podcast, I suggest you give the book (or at least that section) a read. Free: The Future of a Radical Price If you build it, they may come. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you will become instantly wealthy. You need to create something to sell. You need to tell your listener to buy. Then, you need to show them the way. If you desire to make money with your podcast, make sure your podcast includes the call to action. Build trust with your audience by telling great stories. Start at the end. Create great theater of the mind. Use a powerful conclusion. Then, give them something to do when it is over. Implement a strong 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.

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 truly a 3-minute survey. And, it is completely anonymous. The first question on the survey is, "With regard to your podcast, what are you struggling with most?" The answers to that question spanned the podcasting spectrum from traffic to monetization to workflow and everything in between. One of the answer really struck me. The respondent said, "Confidence - do I REALLY have anything valuable to share?" Wow, what an answer. There is obviously some passion there. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the desire to launch a podcast in the first place. I want you to remember this. You can learn technique. You can't learn passion. If you have the passion, you can learn how to produce and promote a podcast to gain an audience. If you have a passion for something, there is a great chance others have the same passion. Dave Jackson just interviewed a podcaster on the School of Podcasting who has a podcast designed to put you to sleep. The guy intentionally rambles so you can fall asleep to his show. It is reported that he gets about 2.3 MILLION downloads per month. If he can produce a podcast designed to put you sleep, you can surely share your passion. I can teach you the nuts and bolts. It is up to you to bring the passion. On PodcastTalentCoach.com, I offer coaching services. To ensure you and I are a fit to work together, I offer a free strategy and planning review first. This helps us determine that you see the benefit of my coaching and I know you are willing to learn. We put a plan in place and then decide if we want to move forward. Find the link in the coaching section of PodcastTalentCoach.com. The final question on the survey is, "If you have yet to take advantage of the free, no obligation review of your show with Podcast Talent Coach, what is holding you back from the opportunity?" To that question, somebody replied, "The show is hopeless – I don't want to spend money because I really have n0 talent." There is another example of the impostor syndrome creeping in. The talent to produce a podcast can usually be taught. You don't need a big voice and huge sense of humor. You simply need the passion to share your love of your niche. PODCAST ABOUT YOUR PASSION I know that sounds like logical, common sense. I know you probably think only a crazy person would ever put the time and effort into a podcast on a topic about which they do not care. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Podcasters and broadcasters alike will often discuss topics they think interests their audience. These may be topics in which the podcaster may have a slight interest, but not a passion. They tell themselves, "I must discuss this. It is what the audience expects." It creates a problem when you are only generally interested in a topic and you're only discussing it because you think the audience will be interested. As you discuss, you will sound generally interested. It is tough to fake interest for any length of time. Your listeners will notice. When you aren't interested, they aren't interested. Find that topic that stirs your passion. When you are passionate, your audience will hear your enthusiasm come through the speakers. Your enthusiasm will be contagious. Your passion will stir their interest. I'm sure you've seen a professor who had the ability to make a dry subject interesting. Maybe it was your trigonometry teacher. They were passionate about the subject and created an interest with you. There may not have been a passion in you for trig. But, there was some interest. Interest works from speaker to audience. It won't work from audience to speaker. For true audience engagement, podcast about your passion. BATTLE THE IMPOSTOR If you have ever fought the impostor syndrome, being more prepared will help you win that battle. Being prepared for your show will give you focus, make your show more entertaining, and create stronger relationships with your listeners. Most importantly, it will give you confidence to overcome impostor syndrome. You will be able to build that belief in yourself. The impostor syndrome, or impostor phenomenon, is the psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence that proves they are deserving and successful, those that suffer from impostor syndrome do not feel they deserve the success. These people believe their success came about not because of skill or expertise, but more because of luck or manipulation. Students sometimes face this phenomenon in college when they tell themselves they really don't belong in such an esteemed university and others may soon discover the fraud. It is common for us all to experience the impostor syndrome to some extent. The phenomenon is roughly the opposite of your ego. Your ego is telling you that you are the best around and people should admire everything you've done. Your internal impostor is then telling you that you have no authority to be doing this. You are a fake and a fraud with no credibility. The only reason you are in this position according to your internal impostor is because nobody has yet discovered the truth. Both your ego and impostor exist within you. Learning how to manage both is a challenge. Take steps to build confidence within yourself. Understand that others fight the same battle. You are not alone. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF You have every right to create a great podcast. You have just as much right as the next podcaster. There is only one expert at your opinion. That expert is you. Nobody knows more about your beliefs and opinion than you do. Develop confidence in yourself. You have great content and a unique opinion. Believe in yourself. You'll be great. Prepare for it. Being well prepared for your show and having the confidence to stick to the plan will help you win that battle against you internal impostor. Do you need help with your podcast? Check out my coaching services. Let's see what we can do. - - COACHING SERVICES - - 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.