🎤 The "Superstar" Opportunity (Issue 129) May 19th 2023

Prologue

"Unknown" or Superstar? Maybe both ...

I used to take guitar lessons from the dude in Kool & the Gang. If you don't know that name, you'll know this song.

These guys were a HUGE act in the 80s, but by the 90s, they'd been around for 30 years and weren't touring like they did in the early days.

However ... they were (and still are) considered legends in Africa – they'd play stadiums of 30,000 people. I'd come in for a lesson ... "We just got back from Africa."

This was a huge lesson for me, more than anything I learned on guitar – the world is a big place and there's a lot of opportunity. And even if you're "unknown" in one place, you can be a superstar elsewhere.

Today, we have even more opportunities to do well in niche and certain geographic markets. And also different social media platforms, using specialized marketing for each.

More details on how to make that happen below ...

But before you get started, make sure you sign up for Podcast Jumpstart. It's FREE and it starts in a couple of weeks.

Podcaster Opportunities

Podcasting Is Witnessing A Marked Surge In Popularity Globally

Somebody recently referred to me as being in the "Podcasting Class of 2005."

I hear comments like this a lot. Many of them something like, "I wish I would have started earlier in podcasting." Mostly because people think, because there was less competition, that it was easier to become established back then.

Yes and no. Yeah, it was easier to stand out with fewer podcasts to choose from. But there were also fewer listeners.

This is a similar opportunity ...

Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a chat with Shrikant Joshi, a radio jock turned podcast producer based in India, about this very thing. India, even with its massive mobile phone network, is still behind other countries when it comes to the popularity of podcasting.

But that's changing ...

That is the opportunity – people in non-US markets are looking for great content. And not the same content we enjoy in the United States.

People want representation. They want podcasts that talk about their lives and podcast hosts whom they can relate to.

So if you have a "connection" to one of these new and emerging podcast markets, the opportunity to jump in on the ground level is there for you.

Need to get connected? Start with Shrikant.

Podcast Marketing

8 Traffic Generation Strategies from the World’s Top Social Media Accounts

Different social media platforms require different approaches (and different content) for you to be successful. The biggest mistake people make on social media is treating each platform the same.

This especially happens when a platform is new. For example, right now, we're seeing a lot of people treat Bluesky and Mastodon like Twitter. And that's a mistake ...

Some big ideas for you to make the most of the social networks you use:

Take the time to truly understand each network, your target audience, and the kind of content they like on each network.
Curate only content that directly appeals to this target audience and is easily shareable.
Image updates stand out on text-heavy platforms.
Associate your podcast with trending topics and events that have emotional significance to listeners.
Change your social media account design to fully match the brand guidelines for your podcast
Show that you're friendly and approachable by responding to comments and questions - Juphy makes this easy via a unified inbox
"Useful" content (not just entertaining content) will help you grow and maintain an audience.
Upload video/audio content directly, rather than just linking to it – platforms want to keep people there, not send them elsewhere.
Partner with others to expand your reach

Get more examples here.

7 Essential Ingredients to Ensure Your Niche Offer Will Sell

This is a helpful thread from a guy who analyzed 51 popular courses that has some very helpful info that you can apply to your podcast.

Here's a "big idea" for business, health, and how-to podcasts that will immediately help you to attract more listeners.

Here are the three elements you need:

Clear transformation
Clear timeframe
Clear qualifier

As an example, let's analyze the Podcast Jumpstart program that starts next week.

You'll grow your podcast audience.
The entire program lasts only 28 days – you'll be completely done by July.
It's for people who already have a podcast, not people who haven't started one yet.

If you've got a podcast and want more listeners, you can see how appealing this offer is. That's what you get when you follow this formula – a compelling offer that attracts just the right people.

The Podcast Jumpstart is free, by the way. Sign up now.

Podcasting Tools

Mackie DLZ Creator Adaptive Digital Mixer

Here's a "trick" all recording studio owners know ...

"People pay more for studio time when you have equipment with lots of knobs and blinking lights."

If you're charging people to record podcasts, the Mackie DLZ Creator Adaptive Digital Mixer may be worth a look, because it has both of these things. And lots of pretty colors, too!

Get it here.

What do you think of the design? Join the discussion here.

Podcast Humor

"You're so good at podcasting!"

This is a reminder that's just as important for podcasters as it is for the people who listen to podcasters.

Nobody starts great. And nobody gets great on their own.

Yeah, there's a lot of time when it's just you and the mic, or you and the editing software, or you and your pre-episode research. But even if you never read a book on podcasting or swapped info with another podcaster, you've still benefited from people, like Tom Lininger, the man who invented the Electro-Voice RE20.

Sometimes it's fun (and helpful) for an audience to think a person was "born great." Because of this, I can't fault anybody for leaning into that image. But in general, I think it's more helpful to society to show that you've worked hard to get where you are (in podcasting or elsewhere) and you're working hard to stay there.

Don't feel like you need to keep your hard work a secret. And don't be afraid to mention you had help along the way. Both of these things will benefit your audience.

Classifieds

Swell AI

Use Swell AI to automate your podcast episode summaries, time-stamped episode highlights, and long form articles based on the content of your episodes.

Missinglettr

Missinglettr is an all-in-one promotion platform that turns podcasts into engaging social media posts and helps you solve distribution by finding the best influencers in your niche.

Riverside - Remote Recording Studio

Riverside records high-quality audio (and video) directly from your browser. No special equipment is needed and connecting with your guest is as simple as sending a web link!

You can try Riverside free (no credit card is needed) and, if you like it, save 15% on any paid plan by using the coupon code BIGPODCAST.

The Wrap Up

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