Prologue
What happened last night is a lesson in how to improve your podcast ...
Today, everybody is talking about the January 6th Commission that met last night.
Here's what they did and what you can do when organizing your podcast episodes, so you can get your audience talking in a similar way ...
- Don't release anything until you're ready. Do your research and be prepared to deliver your content in a compelling way.
- Organize your presentation in a way that most people will be able to understand (you'll never get everybody) – simplify your message and walk your audience through the details, step by step.
- Before you release your episode, build the hype – let people know something is coming ... Specifically, sell the "mystery" – will they or won't they play testimony from certain witnesses, for example.
- During the presentation, deliver on what you promised and be prepared to back it up after the presentation.
- Know that, regardless of how clear or accurate your message is, not everybody is going to understand or agree with you. People see and hear what they want to.
It takes work to put it together and it takes brass balls to deliver it. But this pre-episode work pays off big time for those who are willing to do it.
Three days ago, I released my latest book, 101 Podcast Episode Templates – Powerful, Done-for-You Episode Templates to Grow Your Podcast Audience. It's just $.99 on Kindle right now and the paperback is only $6.99.
This book will help you to come up with good episode ideas and organize them in a way that is engaging to your audience. If you want more people listening to (and talking about) your podcast, this is the book you want.
In this issue of Big Podcast Insider, I've got even more thoughts on how you can come up with great episode ideas and create a podcast people care about.
A final note ...
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SPEAKING AT A PODCASTING CONFERENCE?
I'm working with the guys at RocknPod to put together a great (and in-person) podcasting conference in July. We've just expanded the event to accommodate more people and I've got a few slots for people who want to speak about podcasting, YouTube, and social media. If you're able to make it to Nashville at the end of July and want to do this, keep an eye out for Big Podcast Insider next week, because I'll have more details in the next issue.
Podcast Marketing
Kevin MacLeod – The Most Famous Musician You've Never Heard Of
In 2015, I donated to a project on Kickstarter to help produce a documentary movie about Kevin MacLoed, the top music composer on YouTube and a guy with 3804 credits on IMDB.
If you make videos on YouTube, there's a good chance you've used Kevin's music. Podcasters use it also. I used it for a segment in RED Podcast.
How does he do it?
Seven years later, Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod has finally been released and we can find out.
Kevin has an interesting business model and is doing a lot of things that you may also benefit from doing. In this documentary, you'll learn:
- How Kevin MacLeod and Creative Commons affects you as a podcaster
- How Kevin makes a living by giving his music away for free
- How Kevin became the go-to composer for YouTubers and podcasters
It's an interesting documentary and will make you think about how you're getting your podcast (and other creative work) out to the world.
Podcasting News
Clubhouse isn't Dead, but...
Remember just a couple of years ago, when Clubhouse was the hottest thing going? People were paying as much as $1000 just to get an invite.
Today, if there were invites, you couldn't give them away ...
Such is the nature of "apps" and other technology. It's also the nature of online distribution for podcasts and other creative works.
But that doesn't mean an app or distribution method that isn't "hot" at the moment doesn't have value. Podcasting itself has had various ups and downs since its beginning.
Still, it's important that you do what you can so that you are in control of your message. This means:
- Control your domain – never send people to a hosting company or something other than your site to listen to or subscribe to your podcast. See this example of a podcast subscribe page and feel free to copy it for your podcast.
- Control your feed domain - your feed needs to be something like feed.bigpodcast.com, not the domain of your media hosting company
- Have a mailing list, so you can reach out to people via email (or postal mail) when needed
Podcast Production
Lies, Fake News, and Alternative Facts – What you can do ...
Tired of living in a culture of lies, fake news, and alternative facts? The Pro-Truth Pledge reverses the tide of lies by calling on politicians - and everyone else - to commit to truth-oriented behaviors.
Worth a look ... Doing this will make listeners trust you more and help you grow your podcast.
How Do You Find New Episode Ideas?
Between daily tweets on podcasting, podcast episodes, and this newsletter, I'm putting out dozens of different pieces of content per week.
Sound familiar? It's common for people like us.
Like me, you may have also gotten a lot of questions that are basically, "Where do you get your ideas?"
For me, ideas come from being present and noticing things around me. Like Anna Wintour said, "Always look out the window."
If you connect to this philosophy, I think you'll enjoy this piece about how the world is a museum. It's a fun way of looking at things and, using this strategy, I know you'll come up with a lot of great ideas for your podcast and other creative endeavors.
RELATED: This is book will also help you come up with new episode ideas.
Podcast Humor
A funny way to handle guest pitches ...
Ruth Carter wrote a book called The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed. And if you send Ruth an unsolicited message asking to do a guest post or pitching an infographic, this is what you'll get back.
A bit harsh? Maybe. But not nearly as harsh as the 31 "you've been rejected" emails that I wrote about in last week's issue. And certainly a more humorous approach.
How do you handle unsolicited pitches for your podcast? Personally, I don't mind people reaching out, but if they don't do their research or the pitch is part of a mass email, they may just end up in the Podcast Pitch Hall of Shame.
The Wrap Up
Like this Newsletter? Tell a Friend ...
My goal is to better empower podcasters to be more successful in 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.