Prologue
Podcasters have two big opportunities...
If you want to change the world (or just a few opinions) with your podcast, you need to do two things:
- Have a podcast people trust.
- Let people know who you are and where you stand.
This issue of Big Podcast Insider is about how to do both.
I hope you're finishing out a great week and starting off a great new month!
Podcaster Opportunities
How podcasters can avoid amplifying misinformation in their stories
This is important if you want to be a trusted authority and you want a podcast that gets respect.
If you're like me, you're not only spreading messages via podcasting, but also through other mediums – social media, books, speaking, video, etc.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation online and this has caused a couple of problems:
- People are much more skeptical of "media" – this includes podcasters
- Incorrect information is easily spread, which results in more misinformation and misinformed people
This is a great article that shows you good options for making sure the information you discuss on your podcast and elsewhere is accurate and understood by your audience.
Americans Remain Distrustful of Mass Media
This is related to the story above... A steady 40% of Americans say they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust in the mass media when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
This is sad, but also an opportunity for you.
People are coming to podcasts for what they perceive to be "the real story," but you still have to maintain trust with your listeners by vetting information and being very clear in your messaging.
If you want a successful podcast, you need to do the work necessary to make sure the information you're sharing with listeners is accurate. Once you lose trust with people, it's very difficult and often impossible to get it back.
Podcast Marketing
Fly Your Flag! – Yelp Sets Pride Month Initiatives
Yelp is adding an optional attribute for LGBTQ-owned businesses, including rainbow-colored map pins.
Regardless of whether your podcast is part of the LGBTQ community, you have a "flag" you can fly. So fly it!
People want to feel understood and support businesses that "get" them. And the same is true for podcasts.
You don't have to be over-the-top with your messaging, or even overt, but if something comes up that identifies you as part of a group, don't hold back simply because some people listening to you will feel uncomfortable.
For example, I recently did an interview with a lesbian. She talked about her wife, not her "partner" or anything else that would confuse that she's in a relationship with a woman. She didn't hold back when describing her relationship, but we also didn't make a big deal of it either – we treated her marriage to a woman just the same as we would have had she been married to a man.
Let me be clear – nobody was trying to hide or downplay anything – we just didn't spend any time making a big deal out of who she was married to.
Why? "Not a big deal" is how we would have discussed a heterosexual marriage. Also, because we weren't trying to convince people to change their minds on gay relationships.
You are not in the convincing business. Your job is to share a message and let people decide for themselves whether it's appropriate for them.
What podcasters can learn from "Zoom"
People often come to me with the question, "What should I name my podcast?"
Sometimes, they'll make up a word and say something like, "It worked for Google!"
Yeah, once you get to a certain point, like when people use the name of your company as a verb for what your company does, you're good. But you need either a ton of money or something like a pandemic to make that happen.
This article tells the story of how "Zoom" became synonymous with video calling and why it's the #1 way remote podcast interviews are done right now. But it also tells the story of why the name was used in the first place, which is something you should consider when naming your podcast. Google did the same thing, the way.
The right name makes podcast marketing so much easier. Don't shortcut this.
Podcasting Tools
Conversation Topic Generator
This free tool is a great way to practice thinking on your feet and can also be used to create a fun, "random question" segment on your podcast. Or maybe just a warm-up to do a soundcheck...
Seriously, you'll want to bookmark this one.
The Wrap Up
Like this newsletter? Tell a friend!
My goal is to better empower podcasters to be more successful spreading their messages and make more money with their podcasts.
I'd love it if you'll help me spread the word about this newsletter by sending your podcasting friends to bigpodcast.com/newsletter.