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The Difference Between A Pitch And Service With True Help – Episode 190
Making money with your podcast doesn’t need to be seen as a bad thing. You shouldn’t feel guilty trying to generate revenue with your podcasting efforts. If you are offering something of value for your listeners while serving them well, selling something of greater value should be the next logical progression.
[Registration for The Powerful Podcast Interview Workshop is now open, but closes Sunday night (4/15/18). Enrollment is limited to 24 attendees. Learn more HERE.]
MAKING MONEY
The key to making money with your podcast is serving. You must serve your listener well first and foremost before you can every offer to sell.
If you haven’t built trust with your audience, any offer will simply be seen as a pitch. If I don’t know you, how do I know you have my best interest at heart with this product or service?
A sales pitch is defined as a talk or way of talking that is intended to persuade you to buy something.
Service is defined as the help provided to a customer by someone. It could also be the work done or help provided, especially for the public, the person or an organization.
Service doesn’t say anything about being free.
The difference is persuasion. If I have to convince you to buy something, I am making a sales pitch. If I am offering something you want and need that will help you, I’m offering service.
Serve first, many times over. Then and only then can you effectively sell.
Shows like the “Dave Ramsey Show”, “48 Days To The Work You Love” and “The Audacity To Podcast” are all designed to help their listeners first. Sure, they all have products to sell as the end result. However, they never begin with their product. The discussions on these shows always begin with the listener’s needs in mind first.
WHY IS SELLING BAD?
Why is it bad to sell? Why must podcasting be only altruistic? If I have something that might help you solve your problems, why would it be wrong to recommend it to you while making a few dollars at the same time?
If you loved mowing grass, would it be right to expect you to mow my grass for free? You love to do it. Why should I pay you? If it is acceptable to charge you for mowing your yard, why isn’t acceptable to earn some money for helping you with your business?
As you prepare for your show, find great ways to help.
SELLING IS EASY, RIGHT?
I was listening to an interview with Founder and President of Piranha Marketing, Inc. Joe Polish. During that interview, Joe said great marketing makes selling easy and unnecessary.
Marketing is simply the process of providing your audience useful information.
Marketing is defined as the business activity that involves finding out what customers want, using that information to design products and services, and selling them effectively.
The process of marketing, by definition, is three steps. Find out what your customers want. Design products and services for that audience. Then, sell them effectively.
How do you find out what your customers want? You create a relationship with them. You offer information they can use. You test things. You give them the “what” for free. Eventually, you can sell them the “how: after you have designed the product around those wants.
Polish’s statement was bold. As he went on to explain himself, Polish made perfect sense. In fact, his comments were very similar to the marketing and branding information we’ve been discussing with regard to your podcast.
Polish said great marketing gets people properly positioned, so they are pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you. Great marketing therefore makes selling easy and unnecessarily.
Consider any long form sales letter you’ve read or watched. Or, platform presentation you have seen where the speaker gives you great information for about 75 minutes and then pitches his product for the last 15. The majority of the information in that content is information you can use.
If you choose to not buy, you have still received information you can use. You have been helped. You have been served. You are also pre-interested and pre-motivated for the product.
Toward the end of the content, the pre-qualification takes place. If you are a podcaster who does interviews, and you seek to get better, create unique conversations and be seen as a pro, then my Powerful Podcast Interviews course could be exactly what you need.
This is a pre-qualification. “If … then”.
My audience is saying to themselves, “Yeah, I want to have interviews that are different from all the other people in my niche. I want to be seen as a podcaster who belongs with the big guys. I want guests to tell me this is the best interview they’ve done. Tell me more.”
If you have used your free content to truly engage your listener and create that strong relationship we’ve been discussing, the selling should take care of itself. Making money with your podcast should take care of itself.
Selling becomes difficult when you are trying to get your listener interested without the relationship. Selling before your listener is motivated is a challenge. Trying to sell to a listener that isn’t qualified is hard work. If your listener isn’t predisposed to taking action, you will need to sell hard.
When you have taken the time to build the relationship, your listener will be pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed to do business with you. They will be ready to buy. Selling, in terms of convincing your listener to buy, will be unnecessary. Your marketing and engaging relationship will have them ready for your call-to-action.
The key to making money with your podcast is serving first and serving well.
Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.
You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com.
Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.