Prologue
What are you tolerating? What can you let go of?
Three weeks ago, as part of KCRW's Radio Race, I took 28 minutes of raw tape and chopped it up into a four-minute segment.
I'm used to doing heavy edits on interviews, but nothing like this. Yeah, maybe I'll take soundbites from a longer piece of tape sometimes, but I've never had to walk away with a complete story told in such limited time.
This ended up being a great experience. Editing like this really forces you to look at the content you must have and the content you can do without.
And I've been thinking about other places in my life where I can do this.
This article has a list of things to consider when making a decision to drop something. Among them:
- It's taking too much of your energy compared to the reward you get
- You don't feel excited
- It doesn't make you a better person
- No outside support
- Your health is suffering
"Decide" literally means to CUT OFF. It doesn't mean, "I'll put this on the back burner and think about it a little while."
But completely dropping something can be scary as hell, which is why I'm mentioning this now, rather than on January 1st, when you're going to hear it a lot.
Maybe you need to think about this for a minute. But sooner or later, if you want to move forward, you're doing to need to decide.
Two questions to ask yourself:
- What do you think you're ready to drop in the new year?
- What would giving this up allow you to do that you can't do now?
Just think about it... In the next issue of Big Podcast Insider, I'll check in to see how you're doing. Until then, if you want to run something by me to get another opinion, send me a tweet.
Also, I have a couple of things in this issue of Big Podcast Insider that you may want to add to what you're doing (or at least improve on). Anything to do with writing, whether articles on high-profile sites or a book can literally bring in new listeners for your podcast (and income) for years to come, which is why doing these things may be worth your effort.
Here's to moving forward in a big way!
Podcaster Opportunities
How to Write for Top Tier Publications
You'll want to bookmark this one – it's the step-by-step processes for getting published on top-tier sites like Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and The Huffington Post.
Having your ideas published on top-tier sites will bring you a ton of traffic and make it easy for new listeners to discover you. It's great if you can get somebody else to write about you, but it's far easier to take control of the situation and write something yourself, which is exactly what this information will allow you to do.
A funny story... My podcast was mentioned in an article in Forbes a couple of years ago. My 74-year-old mother-in-law emailed me and said, "I saw you in Forbes!"
She's not my demographic, but it did get a boost in credibility from her. And having your name in one of these publications, especially as a writer, will do the same for you.
This is an easy way to get more publicity and get more listeners. Give it a shot!
Podcast Marketing
Email is Not Dead – All Podcasters Should Considering Having a Newsletter
Are you on the fence about adding an email newsletter to your podcast marketing plan? Read this.
- There are over 4.037 billion email users. This figure is predicted to reach 4.481 billion by 2024.
- 96% of consumers check their email every day.
- 86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes.
- 83% of consumers say email is one of their preferred methods brand communication.
- Email is almost 40x better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter.
There's a reason I send out this newsletter every week. Email works.
Need a cheap way to send email newsletters? SendFox is only $49 for lifetime access!
23 Seldom-Used Ideas for How to Use Twitter Lists
When it comes to communication, I think Twitter is the best social media option. It's quick, almost everybody is on it, and your message if far more likely to be read than other social networks.
The problem is that Twitter can be overwhelming. Messages come quickly and there are a lot of them.
This is a complete list of tips and techniques that will allow you to get the most out of Twitter lists and never miss an important tweet again.
Podcast Hosting Skills
How to Become a Better Writer – 16 Expert Tips
Whether you're working on an article for a top-tier publication, writing a tweet, or organizing a podcast episode, these 16 tips will help you to improve your writing and get a better result from it.
I've written a few books, including a book on podcasting. I've never thought of myself as a "writer," but I've sold a lot of books (about 240,000) and that's all a lot of people know me for.
Podcasters, because we organize episodes, have skills that are parallel to the ones needed to successfully publish an article, newsletter, or book. When you look at these tips, I hope you realize this and it will encourage you to write in addition to your podcast work. But also look as these 16 tips of things that will make your podcast hosting better.
Podcast Production
Your Complete Guide to Curating Content like a Pro (With Examples)
Content curation is a skill that will help you to create new podcast episodes, segments within those episodes, social media threads and carousels, blog posts, articles on top-tier publications, and even books.
When you sit down to plan a new podcast episode, there's no reason to start with a blank page.
This article will guide you through the content curation process and make it easier for you to create podcast episodes that people care about.
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.