ProloguePrologue

Like, Know, Trust = 75%

Like. Know. Trust.

Chances are, you've heard these three words used together a lot. And this combination may be why you're doing your podcast.

What people rarely mention is a fourth item, which is a quality you'll also need to have to be successful with listeners and possibly the main reason people listen to your podcast in the first place.

People forget "agree with" and how important this is.

Consider the highest-paid radio personality of all time, Rush Limbaugh. When he died, 15.5 million people listened to him weekly.

That's a lot of people, but it didn't have the impact you would think, at least when it came to changing the minds of people. Rush was speaking in an echo chamber – aside from a few people who liked to "hate listen" (you know who you are), everybody in his audience was there because they agreed with him.

I'm not a Limbaugh fan – I think he was on the wrong side of just about every issue he discussed. But the dude knew radio and how to use it to connect to people.

He didn't connect with everybody, just some people. But that was enough to make him one of the top radio hosts ever.

Consider this when you record your next episode ...

The most successful hosts aren't trying to convince people; they're flying a flag and inviting people to come along.

Nobody wants a milquetoast podcaster who tries to play both sides and keep everybody happy. Listeners want somebody with authority (that's you, simply because you have a podcast) to say, "I feel this way and it's OK for you to feel this way too."

Of course, there are downsides of this – I talked about them recently on Build a Big Podcast. You don't want to be on the wrong side of history.

I get it, it's complicated. But don't let that keep you from speaking your truth, even when it's difficult to do that and there is pushback from some people. If you reach enough people, there will always be pushback on what you say, which is great, because pushback is how we learn and get better.

Keep flying your flag!

NOTE: I'm finishing out the manuscript for my upcoming "podcast launch" book and am looking for very specific podcaster examples. YOU may be a match. Follow me on Twitter to get up-to-the-minute requests on what I need. I'm on a tight deadline, so if you see something you're a match for, please respond ASAP.

David @ Big Podcast

Podcaster Opportunities

Podcast Marketing

Podcast Production

Podcast Humor

Podcast Monetization

The Wrap Up