Tag Archives: growth

Your Podcast Strategy – PTC 360

November 6, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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How is your podcast strategy? Do you even have one?

Lots of podcasters struggle with finding constructive, intentional ways to get the word out about their show. The marketing stuff can get tricky.

Many podcasters I talk with would be happy to have enough downloads to get 2 or 4 coaching clients paying a fee. How do you bring a few listeners through the funnel?

Let’s look at your whole strategy today on this episode.

BOOTCAMP

Before we jump into it, I want to invite you to a powerful event I am holding where I will help you build your podcast monetization strategy. We actually get stuff done in this day-long bootcamp.

So many times, we go to webinars hoping to learn something only to find out it is full of fluff. We might walk away with one or two ideas after an hour. But we are really only there for the sales pitch.

You now have a chance to join me for a 6-hour Podcast Profits Bootcamp where I will walk you through the entire process to build your podcast monetization strategy. It’s actually 7 hours, but you get an hour for lunch.

During this event, we will build a few ways to monetize your show that are perfect for you. This isn’t one size fits all. It is specific to your podcast.

You can enroll at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bootcamp.

You will get a workbook that will help you stay on track as we develop your strategy. During the bootcamp, we walk through the workbook step-by-step.

HOW IT WORKS

We will start with your foundation to ensure you are building on solid ground. Then, we will develop your purpose. I’ll show you why most podcasts don’t make money, so you can avoid those pitfalls.

Many people think ads and sponsorships are the way to make money with your show. That is a myth. It is the worst way. Sponsorships require a very large audience and a lot of sales time. Ads also have a revenue ceiling.

I’ll show you a better way during the Podcast Profits Bootcamp. I won’t just show you, we will build it together. We will discuss the various ways you can monetize your show, and we will pick the strategy that is right for you.

Finally, you will have plenty of time to ask me questions to refine your strategy.

This is so much more than a webinar or workshop. It is a bootcamp where we will actually get things done.

Where most webinars last an hour, this is an all day event.

REGISTER

Registration for the Podcast Profits Bootcamp is $197 for this 6-hour bootcamp and your workbook. More importantly, you walk away with your monetization strategy for your show.

Right now, you can enroll for $197. Enroll now and secure your spot.

You can enroll at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bootcamp.

If you are ready to build your podcast monetization strategy, the Podcast Profits Bootcamp is for you. You’ve spent enough time attending empty webinars and trying to find sponsors. Now is the time to build a real strategy.

Let’s sweeten the deal for you a little more. If you enroll in the Podcast Profits Bootcamp, you will also get a bonus prep call to get you ready for the event. This is where we help you gather all of the information and ideas you’ll need before the bootcamp begins.

Let’s get you registered for the Podcast Profits Bootcamp. Jump in right now at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bootcamp.

BEGIN YOUR STRATEGY

As you build relationships with your content, start with the end in mind. This is where your strategy begins.

What do you want your listener to take away from this episode?

Decide what emotions do you want to stir?

What do you want your listener to do when the episode is over?

When you know those goals, your content will be easy to create.

On your podcast, stir emotion by talking about the “why” to your solution. Agitate the hopes, needs, fears and dreams of your listener.

Then, give your listener a little of your “what”. Let them engage with your coaching, courses or other offerings for the “how”.

MONETIZATION STRATEGY

Then, you need to determine your revenue goal.

You make money with your podcast, not from your podcast.

The podcast doesn’t generate any income. Ads are a lot of work with very little return.

To monetize your show, leverage the attention you have built to drive your business. How does the podcast fit into your overall marketing plan?

Start with the goal.

Your podcast is the top of your funnel. This is where you build the relationship with your prospective client.

So, what do you want them to do when the show is over?

Have one clear, concise call-to-action. Get them started on their journey with you.

This could be a free download, strategy call, webinar, or ask me anything session. Give them something in return for their name and email address.

Nurture the relationship, serve them well and move them through the sales journey.

MARKETING STRATEGY

When it comes to marketing, begin again with the end goal in mind. Intentionally build the marketing plan for your business.

I was looking at the calendar the other day and realized we are 8 weeks from New Year’s Eve.

The new year always brings new goal and a renewed energy to what we are doing.

Unfortunately, studies show that 60%-80% of people give up on their resolutions by the middle of February.

You’re probably saying, “Erik, we just finished Halloween! What’s all this resolution stuff?”

Well, I believe most people give up on their resolutions, because they don’t have a clear plan to achieve their goals.

Lose weight. Start my own business. Grow my podcast audience. Spend more time with my kids.

Those are all great. But, they are not specific and are not connected to a plan.

Now is the time to start planning. Create your strategy to reach those goals.

Spend the next 2 months getting things in place to execute your plan when the resolution kicks in.

A plan is something like go to the gym 3 times a week, appear on 2 other podcasts a week or have one-on-one time with each kid once a week.

That’s a plan.

If you build your strategy now, you will have a much better chance of reaching your goals.

On top of that, who says it needs to be January 1st to start working on a new goal?

Get after it.

AUDIENCE STRATEGY

In radio, we had a saying. Frequency to the target.

The first time a prospect hears your marketing message, it goes in one ear and out the other.

The second time, the message might start to sink in.

The third time, it might ring a bell in their memory.

When your prospect hears your message the fourth, fifth and sixth time, he might begin to remember it.

Therefore, you need to deliver your message to your prospect six or eight times prior to the moment he is making a buying decision.

You cannot try a marketing tactic once and decide if it works. It requires frequency to the target.

Don’t expect your audience to grow overnight. Your prospective listeners need to hear about your show multiple times before they will push play.

How many times have you said, “Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to listen to that podcast.”

It’s like snowfall. Mother Nature doesn’t make it snow for 3 minutes and then think, “Well, that didn’t work.”

It takes millions of little flakes over time to create a 5 foot drift.

As you work to grow your audience, be consistent.

Pick three marketing strategies. This could be other podcasts, appearing on summits and stages, social media, YouTube, partners, guest blogging or various other ways.

Select three that you enjoy and can do consistently.

Then, spend 30 minutes each day taking action on those vehicles to get in front of new potential listenes.

Over time, your audience grows.

YOUR PLAN

Are you frustrated because your podcast makes no money?

So many podcasters come to me struggling to find a path to riches.

It is possible to monetize your podcast. However, you need to understand that it takes three things to make that happen.

Something to sell
A strategy to sell it using your podcast
Patience

If you have those three things, you have a much better chance to use your podcast to build and grow a business.

If you are willing to put in the time and effort, good things will happen.

GET SPECIFIC

One of the most common questions from podcasters is, “How do I monetize my podcast?”

I’ve tried it all.

When I first started, I put everything I knew about building great shows into a comprehensive course. It was a masterpiece.

Then reality cracked me upside the head.

Nobody wants a comprehensive course. They want a focused solution to their problem.

To monetize your show, you must …

Have something to sell
Ask for the sale
Serve first
Find your listener’s true pain
Explain their transformation with your solution
Build rappport

As you develop something to sell, find what works for you. It should be something that …

You enjoy
People want (different than need)
You can deliver
Can scale

TAKE ACTION

Those are the steps. If you would like my help crafting your monetization strategy, join me for the Podcast Profits Bootcamp.

Join me for a 6-hour Podcast Profits Bootcamp where I will walk you through the entire process to build your podcast monetization strategy. It’s actually 7 hours, but you get an hour for lunch.

During this event, we will build a few ways to monetize your show that are perfect for you. This isn’t one size fits all. It is specific to your podcast.

You can enroll at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bootcamp.

You will get a workbook that will help you stay on track as we develop your strategy. During the bootcamp, we walk through the workbook step-by-step.

If you enroll in the Podcast Profits Bootcamp, You will also get a bonus prep call to get you ready for the event. This is where we help you gather all of the information and ideas you’ll need before the bootcamp begins.

Let’s get you registered for the Podcast Profits Bootcamp. Jump in right now at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bootcamp.

Podcast

Your Step-By-Step Audience Growth Strategy – PTC 348

August 7, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Whether you are brand new, or you’ve been publishing for years, we are all looking for audience growth. Unfortunately, few of us have a strategy. We are just trying random things and gaining no traction.

CLEANING

I was cleaning the basement the other day. After hours of work, it looked like I had done nothing.

We collect everything down there. The basement is where everything goes when we don’t have a place to put it.

We have a pool table down there that doubles as a ping pong table. The table came from some friends that just wanted it out of their basement. I quickly learned why.

The table has now become the place where my son does his school work … and sorts his baseball cards … and leaves his spare hockey gear.

My office space is down there. We have book shelves and storage shelves and a couch where we go when tornado warnings fire up.

One day, I decided to clean the basement. I started putting a stack of books on the book shelves. That’s when I realized some of my hockey coaching material was on one of the shelves. That belonged in binders in my office space.

While I was putting the hockey stuff away, I noticed I had some podcast notes in a stack on my desk. I started getting that squared away. On my desk was a shoebox I was using when I was recording a video.

I took the shoebox over to the baseball cards where it belonged. Next thing I know, I am arranging the baseball cards on the pool table. My son had a few jerseys on the table that got taken to the laundry room.

This went on for hours. When I finally stepped back to admire my work, it didn’t even look like I had been there. There was no change.

Why? I had no plan. My work wasn’t focused. I needed to work on one area until it was done.

INTENTIONAL AUDIENCE GROWTH

Be intentional to grow your audience and get people to listen.

Create a plan and stick to it. What activities will bring in new listeners if you do those activities on a consistent, regular basis?

About a year ago, I joined JV Insider Circle and my podcast took off.

JVIC connects you with people who run podcasts, radio shows, tele-summits and live events. Members of this community have large lists in your target market.

You can find details on JVIC at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/JVIC.

By attending the bi-weekly calls and various virtual events they hold, I met a variety of influencers who were talking to my potential audience. I started participating on their summits and in their giveaways. They had me on their podcasts and you’ve heard a few of them here.

Next thing I know, my audience was growing by leaps and bounds. I simply focused on this strategy and took regular action.

Instead of trying everything, find two or three things that you enjoy doing, will get you in front of new listeners and you can and will do on a regular basis.

Then, focus on those actions for a month. See where it takes you.

CONTENT

Before you invite people to your party, make sure you’ve cleaned the house.

The first thing you need to do is make sure your content is solid and entertaining. Ask yourself if you would listen to your show if it wasn’t your show.

Oscar spent the first year of his podcast interviewing other people. His show wasn’t growing or driving his business. He came to me for some help.

We restructured his show to highlight his expertise. The show still included other experts. However, we created space specifically for Oscar to talk about what he did and the service he provide.

After we got the show working, we started inviting people to the party. That’s when his audience began to grow.

Tighten up your content before you bring more listeners to the show. You only get one shot at a great first impression.

NEW AUDIENCE

Once your content it tight, go get in front of new people. You can’t grow your audience until you find people who are not yet aware of you and your show.

As we discussed, JVs are a great way to find new listeners. You can also be present in social groups. You can appear on podcast interviews. People can discover you on summits.

There are many ways you can get in front of people. Find the activities you love and will commit to doing consistently.

Again, you can check out www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jvic to learn about finding joint venture partners.

INVITATION

Once you get in front of a new pool of potential listeners, invite them to listen.

So many people get interviewed or get on a stage in front of an audience and forget to tell people to listen.

If your goal is audience growth, ask people to listen to your show. Tell them where to find you and why they will love the show.

REASONS

Telling people to listen isn’t enough. You need to give them a specific reason to listen. Why will they love it?

When you ask people to listen, give them a specific episode that they will love. If you have interviewed someone special or taugh something really cool, send them to that episode.

Asking people to check out a generic show will give you a few listeners, but not great growth. Telling them why they will love your episode that was downloaded more than any other episode will bring people in.

Remember, they are asking, “What’s in it for me?” Give them a reason.

REMIND THEM

Getting them to listen isn’t enough for audience growth. You need to bring them back episode after episode.

Remind your listeners to come back using your e-mail list and social media.

Stay top of mind so the new listeners add to your current listeners. If your current listeners are leaving, you do not achieve audience growth. You maintain. New listeners are just replacing old listeners.

Give your current listeners a reason to come back next week by teasing effectively. Create some fear of missing out.

YOUR AUDIENCE GROWTH PLAN

This week, get to working on your audience growth plan. Start small with a plan that you can stick with. Do the work consistently and watch your audience grow.

Next week, we will talk about ways to use events to create audience growth. Events are coming back. Let’s be strategic to use these events in the best way. You’ll get a bunch of ideas for your plan next week.

If you don’t have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

Podcast

Podcast Content Strategy – PTC 343

July 3, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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If you hope to use your podcast to grow your business, you need a podcast content strategy. Randomly creating shows will get you random results. Define your goal. Develop the plan to get there. Then focus.

TRAINING

I will be holding a free training called “How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships.” This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast.

You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth

On this training you are going to discover:

How to create a successful podcast using your personality
Why some podcasts don’t make money and how to avoid those pitfalls
How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast
How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode
And more!

NO STRATEGY

When I first started coaching podcasters, I developed the Powerful Profitable Podcasts system. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

This was system and process designed to get podcasters from idea to monetization. It was built with seven sections and a few dozen modules.

Powerful Profitable Podcasts started with the magic of audio. This covered theater of the mind and your why.

The system helped podcasters design their foundation. This included your strategy, solution and structure.

It was program that covered everything. The system taught show prep, reviewing your show to get better and monetizing your efforts.

Powerful Profitable Podcasts went from A to Z, soup to nuts. It was everything you need to do to create a profitable show.

So, why did it fail? Nobody wanted everything. Podcasters don’t want to solve every problem. They only want to solve their problem.

That is when I started to do some market research and focus on specific problem. I took the system and broke it into parts. Instead of teaching the whole system, I now teach individual parts of the system within a podcast content strategy.

YOUR STRATEGY

There are three steps to designing your strategy.

First, determine your process. How do you help your listeners?

Next, brainstorm frequent questions for each step that your listeners might be asking.

Finally, identify a lead magnet or additional help for each question.

This assumes you have built a follow-up system that gets to your offer. This could be your e-mail follow-up sequence or one-on-one discovery call. You have the contact info of your listener. Now, follow up and offer more help.

This process also works with interviews. Who can you interview as a case study or as a compliment to each question?

With an interview podcast, start by working backwards. When you land a guest for your show, work backward to determine how the interview fits within your podcast content strategy.

If the interview won’t fit in the strategy, you shouldn’t be doing the interview. Interviews must benefit the listener, the guest and you. If it isn’t win-win-win, you should politely decline.

MY STRATEGY

Let me show you how this would work with my show.

My Audience Explosion Blueprint process is three steps. Your programming, promotion and personality. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

That process consists of six steps. Those steps are your podcast platform, content creation, popularity factor, influence roadmap, money plan and raving fans.

I now want to create episodes around each of those steps.

QUESTIONS

What questions would my ideal listener ask regarding those steps?

Podcast platform – What is the best way to structure my show?

Content creation – How can I create content that gets my listeners to engage?

Popularity factor (discovery) – How can I grow my audience?

Influence roadmap (personality) – How can I make my show different from everyone else? Why would anyone listen to me?

Money plan – How can I make money with a free podcast?

Raving fans (story) – How do I get people to keep listening?

LEAD MAGNETS

Podcast Platform – Podcast Show Clock Worksheet – Episode 288 How To Structure Your Podcast.

Content creation – 17 Of The Most Powerful Podcast Interview Questions Ever – Episode 331 Interviewing Secrets – 75 Ways To Drive Engagement With Your Podcast – Episode 341 Get Your Listeners To Engage.

Popularity factor – Collaborate – Episode 334 Double Your Audience.

Influence roadmap – Podcast Review Show and Personality Development Worksheet – Episode 310 How To Develop Your Podcast Personality.

Money plan – 6 Ways To Make Money With A Free Podcast – Episode 281 The Podcast Profit Roadmap.

Raving Fans – Story Development Worksheet – Episode 130 Can You Tell Stories Like Walt Disney?

CONTENT CREATION STRATEGY

Now, my podcast episodes offer my listeners help with a specific problem.

Each episode directs you to a lead magnet that will give you additional help with that problem.

The e-mail sequence will then offer you additional help. I will then give you a chance to get even more help by working with me.

It is all part of a strategy.

This week, look at your process. Begin developing your strategy to take your listener from content to client.

JOIN US

Come join my on my new training called “How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships.” This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast.

This is the process I use. I will teach it to you in this training. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.

On this training you are going to discover:

How to create a successful podcast using your personality
Why some podcasts don’t make money and how to avoid those pitfalls
How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast
How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode
And more!

Podcast

Grow Your Podcast Downloads – PTC 342

June 26, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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There are three important steps to growing your podcast downloads. The three steps are awareness, attraction and retention. I like to call it promotion, programming and personality. Today, I want to help you grow your downloads by focusing on promotion.

TRAINING

You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.

On this free training you are going to discover:

How to create a successful podcast using your personality
Why some podcasts don’t make money and how to avoid those pitfalls
How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast
How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode
And more!

DOWNLOADS

Before you can make money with your podcast, you need to grow your podcast downloads. You don’t necessarily need a big audience. To drive your business, you need the right audience.

Less than 7% of all podcasts have an audience large enough to attract big sponsors and advertisers. There are much better ways to monetize your podcast.

Many people believe sponsorships and advertising are the only ways to make money with a podcast. Untrue.

In fact, you shouldn’t clutter up your show with ads. Instead, use your podcast as a powerful marketing tool for your business.

Podcasting is huge. You have incredible power in front of you. Let me show you some numbers.

There are just under 2 million podcasts today. On the other hand, there are over 600 Million blogs and more than 1.3 billion YouTube videos. Where do you want to compete?

Podcast search engine Listen Notes reports there were 246,782 podcast debuts in 2019 alone. Today, more than 90 million people in the U.S.— approximately 32% of the U.S. population over the age of 12 — have listened to a podcast in the past month according to Edison Research.

According to The Nielsen Company, the total podcast audience is growing at a compound average growth rate of 20%. And that could mean the overall audience for the medium could double within the next five years. Now is the time to stake your claim in your niche. Get noticed and build your audience.

Let’s talk about why many podcasts don’t make money. There are a 6 reasons podcasts don’t make money or attract clients. Let me give you the big two.

You already know that ads and sponsorships are a tough sell, especially if you are not in the top 7%. If you are part of the other 93%, how can you make money?

It’s all about the right audience.

WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?

The first issue most podcasters face is you don’t have anything to sell.

When podcasters contact me for coaching, our first step is a podcast strategy session. During that call, we define goals and the strategy to achieve those goals.

Though the questions vary, one seems to consistently come up. “How can I make money with my podcast?” I ask, “What are you selling?”

Can your listeners currently give you money for anything?

As coaches and content creators, you probably have something to sell. You just need more people to buy it.

ARE YOU ASKING?

The second problem is you are not asking for the sale

Podcasters say, “Yeah, Erik. I have a course for sale. Nobody is buying it.”

Have you told anyone about it?

One of my buddies has a great course available. I had known him for six months before I knew anything about it.

Once you build your rapport through your podcast, the “yes” should become a formality if you actually ask for the sale and help your listener succeed.

THE RIGHT PODCAST DOWNLOADS

The big challenge is the audience. You need to find an audience full of your ideal clients.

When I started building my e-mail list, I developed multiple lead magnets that would help my podcast audience. I then offered those on my show.

My list grew nicely. My podcast downloads grew as well.

Before too long, I had about 500 people on my e-mail list. My show was getting about 200 downloads an episode.

Then it happened. I hit that plateau. Has that happened to you?

My podcast downloads stopped growing.

What I discovered was what worked yesterday doesn’t necessarily work today. That doesn’t mean you need to chase the next big thing. It simply means you need multiple streams of traffic.

That’s when I discovered my ability to diversify my traffic.

I participated in a few gift giveaways. My list doubled. My podcast downloads grew as well.

Then I gave a few presentations on summits and did a few podcast interviews. My downloads ended up doubling in a few months.

If you want to grow your downloads, find ways to get in front of your ideal audience.

MULTIPLE STREAMS

You should not try everything at once. Pick 3 that you enjoy and can do well.

My former coach Marc Mawhinney calls this his three pillars. What three traffic sources are you going to use to reach your ideal clients and potential listeners?

You could use stages. By stages I don’t only mean physical stages. The term stage refers to any platform where you can speak in front of a group of people.

Stages could include real stages. It also includes podcasts, radio shows, summits, webinars, Facebook lives and other speaking opportunities.

You could also use social media as a strategy. Be active in groups.

Gift giveaways are a great way to reach new people. This is where a group of similar experts team up to provide a bunch of valuable free gifts to their e-mail lists.

In a gift giveaway, each expert contributes a gift. All experts typically e-mail their list a few times and post on social media inviting people to get the gifts. When people opt in for your gift, they are added to your e-mail list.

Gift giveaways are a great way to build your list and reach a new audience.

YOUR LIST

Building your e-mail list is a great way to start the relationship with your listener. By e-mailing your list with valuable resources and information, you build your credibility and trust.

You need to serve when you e-mail. Send information your listeners can use.

When I send my daily e-mail, it always contains a tip or piece of information my listeners can use. This varies from content to growth to monetization. Every e-mail begins with something my listeners can use.

The tip is typically followed by an opportunity to go deeper and get even more help. Sometimes this is from me. Other times it is from one of my partners.

My e-mails are rarely 100% focused on sales. There is always value. If I only send sales e-mail or only send when I have a pitch, people stop opening my e-mails.

I understand your inbox is valuable. Therefore, I deliver value.

MONETIZATION

If you want to monetize your podcast, it all begins with building the right audience.

You need to find ways to promote yourself to new listeners. Continuing to market to the same pool will not help you grow. Find new fans.

Once you find listeners, find ways to help them. Then, keep them coming back again and again.

Those are the three steps to grow your podcast downloads. Promotion, programming and personality.

JOIN US

This is the process I use. I will teach it to you in this training. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.

On this training you are going to discover:

How to create a successful podcast using your personality
Why some podcasts don’t make money and how to avoid those pitfalls
How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast
How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode
And more!

Podcast

Ways To Grow Your Podcast Engagement – PTC 341

June 19, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Many podcasters ask me how to get more listener interaction with their show. How can you get more listener feedback and comments? They are looking for ways to grow their podcast engagement.

We need to transform your information into engaging entertainment. When your content is engaging, people take notice and take action. If you want your listeners to interact more with your show, make your content engaging.

You can download the list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage.

The one struggle that I hear most often is the desire to gain more engagement. How do we get more listeners? How do I increase my download numbers? What do you do to create more engagement? The problem may be worded differently, but the struggle is the same.

Are you making the problem more difficult than it needs to be?

The solution is easy to understand, yet difficult to execute properly.

Through all of my research and years of experience in both radio and podcasting, I’ve discovered a few key steps to create interaction. This week, let’s cover 7 steps to create more podcast engagement with your listeners.

Some of these steps may sound a little too simplistic. Just remember … don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Step back and ask yourself if you are truly executing on each step to the fullest.

ASK

1. Ask Them To Engage

How do you expect them to know you want them to be part of your show if you don’t ask?

Be sure to make your request specific. Tell your listener exactly what you want her to do.

If you want your listener to e-mail you or leave a voice message, tell them how to do that. Tell them where to go and what to do. When you want more podcast engagement, you need to ask for it.

EASY

2. Make It Easy To Engage

You may use social media, your website, an e-mail address, voicemail, or a number of other methods to reach you. Simplify it.

Create one contact page on your website containing the info to avoid the need for a laundry list during your show. Then, always provide that one contact source.

By using that one source, you also prevent your listener from getting caught in the decision paradox. If someone must decide which options to choose, they will choose to do neither.

It is much safer to make no choice than to make the wrong choice. Don’t put them in that situation.

Make the questions specific, so they don’t have to think. Give your listener a question to answer or specific piece of information to provide.

If he isn’t forced to be creative and “work” to create content for your show, you will have more success creating podcast engagement.

DEMONSTRATE

3. Show Them How To Engage

Give examples of podcast engagement. Show your listeners what you want them to do.

If you want people to leave you voice messages, play some examples on the show. When your listener hears others asking questions or giving opinions, they will know exactly what to do.

On the radio, we always had trouble getting the first call. Nobody wants to be first. We would set up the first call with someone who called about something completely different.

If we wanted to get into a conversation about best movie theater, we would set it up. When someone called to request a song, we would ask them the question. Then, we would play that call to demonstrate to others what we wanted.

Prime the pump to get more podcast engagement.

REWARD PODCAST ENGAGEMENT

4. Reward Podcast Engagement

What do your listeners get by engaging? What is it in for them?

Reward listeners who engage. This doesn’t need to be a gift or physical reward. You could acknowledge them on the show or highlight their journey.

Rewarding your active listeners can take many forms.

SUPERFANS

5. Use Superfans

Reach out to your superfans to begin the podcast engagement. They are more likely to engage than others. Use this to your advantage.

Connect with three or four to start the engagement. When your superfans start the conversation, others will follow.

NAMES

6. Use Their Name

Know your frequent listeners by name and use their name often.

Like Dale Carnegie says in “How To Win Friends And Influence People“, there is no sweeter sound than the sound of one’s name.

Jon and Dave and Regina listen to my show each week. They support my show and all I do. Find those frequent listeners for your show and mention them.

HIGHLIGHT

7. Highlight Members

Highlight a member of your community or audience on each show.

If you want more members and more engagement, highlight a member each week. Rather than simply acknowledging them, do a full feature on them. You might even invite them on the show and coach them.

Really shine the spotlight on a member and it will pay off when they share it.

Here are two bonus ideas …

8. Share Tips

Have listeners share a tip of the week. Creating a crowd sourced show is a powerful way to create podcast engagement.

Dave Jackson at School of Podcasting does this as the final episode each month. He has a question of the month. He then tells people exactly how to leave their answer.

For the final episode of the month, he combines all of the answers into a show.

TEXT

9. Text

Let listeners text to make it easier. When podcast engagement is easy, engagement goes up.

We would often be told to get more callers on the radio during our show. Unfortunately, people would rather text than call. It’s a way of life today.

If your listeners are in the habit of texting, find a way to allow them to text you. Make it easy.

TIP SHEET

Would you like 75 ways to drive podcast engagement and grow your audience? You can get my list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage.

You will get ideas to engage your audience with your content. There are tips to increase your podcast downloads. There are also ways to encourage your listener to visit your website.

You can download the list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage.

Podcast

Overcoming 3 Podcast Growth Challenges – PTC 332

April 17, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Podcast growth isn’t some secret, but it comes with challenges. I realize many podcast gurus tell you they have the magic formula. It isn’t magic. Growth is a method.

There are two ways to grow your downloads. Get more people to listen. Or, get people to listen more.

There are three challenges podcasters face when developing podcast growth. Today, I want to help you overcome those challenges.

MAKE IT EASY

The first of the challenges most podcasters face is making podcast growth too complicated. The process is simple to understand. It is difficult to implement.

Let’s reverse engineer this process by starting with our goal of podcast growth.

To grow your podcast, you need to get more people to listen to your podcast. That is pretty obvious. More people to listen is the easy part to understand.

In order to get more people to listen, we need to get in front of potential listeners and invite them to the party. We need to tell them why our show is exactly what they are looking for and give them a real benefit to listening.

If we want to get in front of those potential listeners, we need to figure out where they are. Who is talking to your ideal listener right now. Which experts already have your ideal listeners in their audience? Let’s partner with those people.

Where do we find those experts? We need to define our ideal listener first. Once we know everything there is to know about our ideal listener, we can then figure out who they follow, trust and admire. Those will be our partners.

We start by defining our ideal target listener and follow the path.

On the other side of the coin, we need to keep our current listeners coming back for more. Entertain your listeners. Give them a real reason to come back next week for the next episode by creating a powerful tease. Generate a real sense of intrigue.

STRATEGY

The next of the three challenges podcasters face is a lack of a solid growth strategy to follow.

We just talked about the process. Now we need to develop the strategy to execute.

After we develop our ideal target listener and determine who they follow, we can begin creating partnerships. Those partnerships will help us grow.

Reach out to those influencers and ask for a conversation. Tell them you would like to discuss how you can help each other grow. Partners help each other.

When you get on the call with your potential partners, start with them. Ask them what they are working on and how you might support those efforts. Find ways to help them. This should take about twenty minutes.

Next, explain what you are trying to accomplish. Let them offer ways they might support you. In this step, you are simply looking for ways to invite people to your show.

You are looking for stages to speak on. This could be podcast interviews, summit appearances, presentation opportunities or a variety of other stages.

Once you develop your strategy, work on it everyday. Find one influencer each day and make a connection. Not every connection will become a partner. However, your network will definitely grow in a big way.

MENTOR

The final and most important of the challenges podcasters have is not having a mentor. They are not learning from someone who has done it.

When you find someone who can show you the way, you can ease so much pain. The time you spend trying to figure it out will be cut way back. You will have fewer headaches and a lot more fun.

A mentor who is ahead of you on the path can give you the map. Rather than trying to figure out the next step, you can instead enjoy the journey. You can also get to your goal much quicker.

Have you ever got tired of trying to figure out something and finally asked for help. Someone shows you how to do it and you say, “Ugh, why didn’t I think of that!?!”

There are times when you don’t know what you don’t know and that’s ok. Let someone show you and move to the next step. Progress over pride. If you want to fast-track your success, find someone to teach you. You will be happy that you did.

LASER COACHING

If you’re looking to grow your podcast audience, I’ve got a 3-step system that will help you overcome the challenges and get you there:

Step One: Define your ideal target listener so you can …

Step Two: determine which experts already speak to them in order to …

Take Step Three: create partnerships and get in front of those potential listeners which allows you to …

Grow your audience and drive your business.

This system works really well, and if you’d like some help growing your podcast audience, I’ve got great news!

You see, normally I charge $997 per month to coach clients to get these results. We typically meet for one to two hours per week which can take a lot of your time … and mine.

And you know, those marathon coaching sessions take a lot out of me.

So I’m opening up an opportunity for you.

You can now get UNLIMITED Podcast Growth Laser Coaching!

This is a coaching model that is ideal for growing your audience with my 3-step system. I ran a beta opportunity for four podcasters a few months ago, and it is going very well. So, I’ve opened 6 more spots for this opportunity.

For less than 84 bucks a month, you can get a full year of UNLIMITED 15-Minute Laser Coaching sessions with me.

Yep. Unlimited. You can have as many coaching sessions with me as you like for a full year for less than 84 bucks a month.

HOW IT WORKS

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply and apply to have a chat with me to see if you are a good fit for Podcast Growth Laser Coaching. Remember, there are only 6 spots available. I need to pace myself to ensure each client gets the attention they deserve.

2. If this makes sense, you’ll get an email from me with a link to my calendar so we can have our first coaching session.

3. Your first call is 30 minutes to make sure the coaching is perfect for you and we come up with a custom plan to help you grow your audience.

4. At the end of our call, and each call thereafter, we’ll agree on “homework” that will move you forward and keep you accountable.

5. After each call, I’ll send you a recording of the call, confirmation of your homework, and a link to schedule your next call.

6. Once your homework is complete, you can schedule your next 15-minute call.

For example, you have your coaching session on a Wednesday, do your homework right after the call, and you can schedule your next call that very same day. It is truly Unlimited Coaching!

And don’t worry, if you get stuck on the homework or need support between calls, I’m just an email away.

APPLY NOW

Go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply and apply to have a chat with me to see if you are a good fit for Podcast Growth Laser Coaching. I’ll select six to participate and get the coaching, and I’d love for you to be one of them.

There is a guarantee. We both need to be comfortable with each other for this to work and get your results. If, during our first 30-minute call, either of us feels like this is not a perfect solution to help you grow your audience, I’ll refund your money immediately. No Risk!

If you would like to be one of the six, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply and apply. You and I can have a chat to see if you are a good fit for Podcast Growth Laser Coaching.

Let’s make it less complicated, develop your strategy to grow, and see how I can take your hand, show you the way, and help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

Podcast

How A Meathead Podcast Makes Money – PTC 328

March 20, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Podcasters often think you need to be a business coach or teach people how to make money online in order to make money with your podcast. That isn’t the case. To make money with your podcast, you simply need a passionate, thirsty audience.

Then, you need to be willing to take some smart chances until you find what works.

Today, I want to show you a podcast that is less than a year old and well on their way to generating income with their podcast. Grab a pen and paper. You’ll definitely want to take notes.

FREE TRAINING

Before we jump into it. Let me give you a great resource to help you make money with your podcast.

If you don’t have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way to grow your audience and make money with your podcast, please go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth and join us for a free training to see if we can help you get some clarity, build a plan and reach your goals.

Come join us as I present “6 Ways To Use Your Content To Attract Your Ideal Clients”.

On this free training you are going to discover:

How to develop your personality to attract your ideal clients
Why sponsorships and ads are NOT the ideal way to generate revenue
How to grow your network with your podcast
And more!

It happens on Saturday, March 27^th at 11a ET, 8a PT. Sign up for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.

If you are looking for a mentor who can help you shortcut the process of making money with your podcast and avoid all of the pain of trial and error, this free training is for you. Let’s grow your community and start making money with your show.

MEATHEADS

Let me give a case study today of how this works. Sadie took my training, followed my program and launched her podcast with her cohost Sausha.

Their podcast is called Meathead Test Kitchen. The world of fitness and nutrition can be intimidating, but they are here to help make it a whole lot less scary. That’s what the podcast is all about.

They launched Meathead Test Kitchen in August. Their first episode was released on August 16th.

BE UNIQUE

The first thing you will notice about Meathead Test Kitchen is that it isn’t your middle-of-the-road podcast. These two have a definite style, swagger and personality. This isn’t your mom’s fitness and nutrition podcast.

If you want to stand out and get noticed, develop a brand and stand for something. You don’t have to be brash or in your face. You do need to pick a side and defend it. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one.

The reviews of Meathead Test Kitchen shows how they cut through. Here are some of their reviews.

“Dieting and fitness doesn’t have to be boring or tedious. Sadie and Sausha are here to prove it! Fun hosts and honest, easy to understand advice.”

“These ladies don’t beat around the bush, they are honest and easy to relate to. If swear words offend you, find another podcast.”

Pick a side and get noticed.

CONNECTION

Next, make powerful connections. If you want to grow and make money with your show, you need to connect with the right people.

Sadie and Sausha are growing their audience by connecting with the right influencers.

They are 31 episodes in. Just over six months of episodes and they have interviewed local business owners, a Titan games athlete and current Mrs. America contestant. They have interviewed a Bellator MMA fighter, CrossFit Games competitors, coaches, and a world record holding power lifter.

Sadie and Sausha use these guests to help get their show noticed. When influencers talk about your show, people take notice. Give them a reason to talk by interviewing them on your podcast.

If you want to make money with your podcast, you need to have the right people listening. These people should be your ideal clients. Interview guests who are already talking to this audience.

THIRSTY AUDIENCE

Gaining an audience isn’t enough. It needs to be the right audience.

The one thing you need to make money with your show is a thirsty audience. If you were selling water in the desert, you wouldn’t need much of a pitch to sell it at a great price. You just need a thirsty audience.

Don’t try to sell something without asking your ideal listener what they need. I know you feel like you already know. Believe me, you don’t. I thought I knew as well until I built 4 different offers that nobody wanted.

When I finally started doing market research before I built the course, people started buying before the course was even complete. Do your homework. If you want to know how to do that, let’s connect.

BE WHERE THEY ARE

Once you know who your ideal listers are, go play where they are already playing.

Sadie and Sausha recently started releasing the podcast with a full video component on their YouTube channel. They discovered their listeners were also big consumers of exercise videos.

They also have their podcast distributed through all major streaming platforms. Give your listeners plenty of options.

GIVE ‘EM WHAT THEY WANT

Now that they have built the audience, they can start offering the listeners solutions to their problems to make money with their show. They can also begin building a tribe of raving fans.

Sadie and Sausha recently started selling Meathead Test Kitchen merchandise, and have partnered with a local athleisure company to boost both brands. Again, leveraging more powerful influencers.

FIND OPTIONS

Sadie and Sausha will be releasing the first of many cookbook projects in the next few months. On their website you will find a “Shop” page with Amazon affiliate links to things their audience is already purchasing along with things the two mention on the show.

It is all about multiple streams of income selling things your listeners want to buy. They also have some other cool stuff up their sleeves for when the pandemic is over.

THE MAKE MONEY PLAN

Here is your plan. Build your brand. Stand for something. Find a thirsty audience. Figure out what they want. Build it and sell it to them. Then, build solutions to their other problems for multiple streams of income.

Everyone wins. Your listeners solve their problems. You make money with your show. Don’t overcomplicate it.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Are you really serious about building your audience and making money with your show? Have you been talking about it long enough and really ready to take action?

A hope and a wish isn’t going to make it happen. You need to get serious and take action. Take that first step.

Come join us as I present “6 Ways To Use Your Content To Attract Your Ideal Clients”.

On this free training you are going to discover:

How to develop your personality to attract your ideal clients
Why sponsorships and ads are NOT the ideal way to generate revenue
How to grow your network with your podcast
And more!

It happens on Saturday, March 27^th at 11a ET, 8a PT. Sign up for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.

Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Podcast

5 Ways To Grow Your Podcast This Week – PTC 325

February 27, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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If you want to grow your audience, you need to find ways to reach new listeners. Promoting to your current listeners over and over again won’t do much to bring in new listeners. Find ways to get in front of people who are unaware of your show and invite them to listen.

On the show today, I am going to show you five ways you can find those new listeners over the next few days. You simply need to take action.

Before we jump into the five ideas, I have a little housekeeping.

PODCAST EDITING

First, if you want to free up time in your week that you spend editing your show, I can give you some help. I offer editing services for your show. This includes everything from basic show editing to full production and show notes.

Imagine what you could do to promote your show and grow your business if you had that time back every week. You can start with the basic package which will give you four shows a month. Or, you can check out the premium package with comes with one-on-one coaching, SEO-optimized show notes, images and thumbnails and more.

Visit www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/edit. Click on the “show me what is in each package” to see the full details of each. I would liove to give you back some time in your week.

Next, let me turn you on to a fantastic opportunity.

FIND PARTNERS

There is an event coming up March 3^rd through the 5^th. It is called Collaborate. This is an incredible way to find true partners who can help you grow.

During this virtual event, you are placed in small breakout rooms of around 8 people just like you. These are online experts in various niches such as online business, mindset, health and more.

Attendees are coaches, authors, speakers, program leaders, producers of podcasts, radio shows and events. Every attendee is looking to connect and partner with others to help each other grow their businesses, impact and income.

When you are placed in the breakout room, each person in the room has 2 minutes to tell others who they are, what they do, what support they can offer other attendees and what support they need.

If you find someone who might make a good partner and fits your niche, you agree to connect in the next few days to determine how you might help each other.

You will literally meet over 100 people. Not all will fit your niche. That will depend on your target.

Let’s say you help small businesses set up their accounting books. In a breakout room you meet a coach who helps small business leaders with their sales process. The two of you have the same target audience but offer different services. That is where the collaboration comes in.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

You can reserve your spot for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/collaborate.

However, there is an upgrade VIP option for only $47. I would highly recommend going VIP. You will find so much more value. You also get a directory of everyone who attends to help you find even more partners.

Get signed up. It will be the best three days you can invest to explode your next year.

I have attended Collaborate three times now. I’ve always gone VIP. This event has done more for my show and business than anything I’ve done. There were 40 people in my niche alone that I met at just one event. I meet more and more each time I attend.

Join Collaborate at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/collaborate.

Let’s talk about other things you can do over the next week to grow your show.

GET INTERVIEWED

First, get interviewed on another show. We talk about this a ton. Finding complimentary shows in your niche is a great way to grow.

Reach out to a podcaster in your niche to begin the discussion. I’m sure you listen to a few shows who target the same audience you target. Let’s chat with those podcasters first.

Send the podcaster a note. Start with something specific you liked about an episode. “Hey, Erik! Great episode on growing your show. I’ve just sent three e-mails to other podcasters to see if we can swap interviews. Love the idea.” Keep it short.

Next, tell the podcaster that it appears you target the same audience in complimentary ways. “As I was listening to your show, it hit me. It sounds like you help coaches refine their funnel so they can get more clients. I help coaches transform their information into entertainment on their podcast to get more clients.”

Finally, ask for an opportunity to talk. You are NOT asking for an interview. Ask for a chat. “Would you have time over the next week to jump on a call to see how we might partner and help each other grow?”

Get the call booked. Spend the first 20 minutes finding out what they do. Then, spend the next 20 minutes telling them what you do. Spend the last 20 minutes brainstorming ways you can support each other.

A podcast interview on both sides might come of this. However, bigger opportunities might show up that you didn’t even consider.

This is the way Collaborate works. Rather then sending a cold e-mail, you are in a room for people looking for connections just like you. Again, find details at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/collaborate.

YOUR GUESTS

Your guests are a great resource to help you promote your show. Though you cannot expect it of them, it sure is nice when they share your interview with their audience.

Reach out to the person you interviewed or mentioned in the podcast. Tell them the episode is live. Then, tell them you would greatly appreciate it if they would mention it to their following.

Make it easy for them. Write the copy. Create the social media graphic. The easier you can make it for your guest to share the episode, the more likely it will be that they actually share it.

The same is true when you answer questions on your show. If you receive an e-mail and you include that question on the show, reply to the e-mail and let them know you answered their question on the episode. Give them a link. Ask them to share it the same way you would ask your guest.

SWAP

To promote your show, you could swap mentions with another podcaster. So many podcasters think the only way to partner with another show is to get interviewed on the show. There are many other ways.

One great way to get your show promoted is to swap mentions in your newsletter. Connect with another podcaster in your niche who has a decent e-mail list. You will know they do if they have frequent lead magnets are mailing often.

Connect just like we talked about. Reach out to let them know you appreciate what they do. Be specific. Tell them you have similar audiences. Ask if they would like to partner to grow. If you connect, simply mention each other’s show in your e-mails to your audience.

You could say something like, “Hey, I found a really cool podcast I thought you might enjoy. As you are trying to grow your audience and make money with your show, you need to be sure your process is solid. Check out the Yadda Yadda show. They help you build your process from lead magnet to shopping cart.”

You can find partners just like this at Collaborate. Check it out at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/colllaborate.

SUPERFANS

The fourth way to promote your show is by leveraging your superfans. These people will be evangelists for your show, because they love it. If anyone will promote your show, it will be these people. You simply need to empower them.

First, create a list of superfans. Find the people that comment on your episodes, send you e-mail about the show and interact with you on Facebook. You know who they are. You might have 3 or 37. Write them down.

Next, create a post on Facebook and tag your superfans. Be sure to ask a question, so the post starts getting some interaction and gets seen by others.

This could be something like, “Just want to thank a bunch of the listeners to Podcast Talent Coach. Thanks to Bruce, Elaine, Greg, Josh, TaVona, Oscar, Laura, Chris, Rick, Prasha, Andy, Cat, Tony, Kim, Christine and so many others. I really appreciate you listening to the show. What is one idea you’ve picked up from the show that has helped your podcast?”

Be sure to respond to everyone who comments. Interact. If you can get some traction with the post, friends of your superfans will start to see the interaction. Mention your show by name so others can find it.

ADD A LINK

My final idea today is to add a link to your show in your e-mail signature. Make it easy to find your show.

Next, add some valuable content in the email with a call-to-action. This could be a free download or checklist or top 5 ideas. Make it something your audience can use. Make sure it is valuable.

Finally, invite your subscribers to share it with a friend. Say something like, “If you know someone who could use this information as well, please forward this e-mail to them. They can have this free resource as well.”

TAKE ACTION

There you go. Five ideas to grow your audience this week. Now, these ideas will do nothing to grow your audience unless you actually take action and do something.

Pick one of these ideas and take action. If you can get one done, select another and take more action. I would rather see you complete one than start all five and complete none of them.

If you want to start making powerful connections with others who can help you grow, I really encourage you to attend Collaborate. It is an amazing event that can help you skyrocket your growth. Get all of the details for Collaborate at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/collaborate.

Have a great week.

Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Podcast

Audience GROWTH With Lead Generation – PTC 319

January 18, 2021 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Growing your audience begins with lead generation. These are people who share your interest in your niche. Where do you find those people who can become subscribers?

Audience growth is a process. To increase your downloads, you need to generate more leads. Then, you need to convert those leads into subscribers just like a sales funnel.

LINKS

Links mentioned in this episode:

Joe Sayles Jr. summit –

www.FlipYourMarketingFlops.com

Podcast production with Podcast Talent Coach –

www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/editing

Podcast hosting with Libsyn –

www.Libsyn.com

Podcast Profits Mentorship application –

www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/mentor

Ultimate Course Formula with Iman Aghay –

www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/UCF

Before we get into the process, let me tell you about a few opportunities for you and your podcast.

PRODUCTION

First, I have started offering podcast production. If you are spending too much time each week editing, posting and promoting your show, I can help. I have a team that can handle these tasks, so you can spend more of your time finding clients and building your brand and business.

There are three different levels ranging from simple editing to a full service done-for-you package. You can see your options and find a package that is right for you at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/editing.

HOSTING

Second, if you do not have a hosting service for your podcast, I am now an affiliate for Libsyn. I have been hosting my podcast with Libsyn since I started the show in 2013. Some of the biggest shows are hosted by Libsyn. They also have amazing support.

If you would like your first month free, visit www.Libsyn.com and use the coupon code PTC for Podcast Talent Coach.

MENTORSHIP

The final opportunity is very limited.

This is a special no-risk opportunity for a very limited number of podcasters.

You won’t have to pay thousands or even a few dollars to join this exclusive group. However, you will need to be a great fit.

In this group, I will help you grow your podcast and make money with your show. It comes with no risk to you.

I am looking for 6 podcasters to join Podcast Profits Mentorship.

In this exclusive group, you will …

Grow your audience and influence
Develop a product or service to sell
Build a framework to make money with your show
Participate in a small mastermind to help you reach your goals

Membership in this group comes with no risk. You pay me nothing up front. I only get paid a commission of 20% when you make money with your show, similar to most affiliate programs.

To keep the group small, 6 podcasters will be selected from all applications. I want to be sure I have time to give each member the attention they need to succeed.

To qualify for the group, you must …

Have published 25 episodes
Be willing to attend a 90-minute call every week
Be willing to spend 30 minutes a day to grow your audience and business
Share with me your download and revenue data during the program
Allow me to use your success as a case study

The program begins February 2, 2021. Application deadline is Sunday, January 24, 2021.

If you fit and you’re hungry to grow and win, click here to apply:

www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/mentor

WHO DO YOU FOLLOW?

Let’s talk about leads and who you follow.

I have found my greatest success when I pick one expert and follow that person until I’ve gone as far as possible. Chances are good that your followers are the same.

Have you ever binged content? It happens all the time with podcasts.

There will be those days when you see a bit spike in your downloads. This isn’t a big influx of listeners. This is most likely one or two listeners getting all they can.

Over the past four days, I drove 2,000 miles taking my daughter back to college. Dropping her off doesn’t look like it is going to get any easier anytime soon.

On our drive, we spent 12 hours consuming TEDx talks from an event put on by Sarah Lawrence. It was all about positive change.

I discovered Sarah through Iman Aghay with Success Road Academy. I have been following Iman for about a year now, consuming all I can from him.

Iman has a program called Ultimate Course Formula. It helps you build your program in 6 weeks. This leads into his higher level coaching programs. My personal coach teaches in these programs. That is how I discovered Iman.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve been watching all of the videos in the courses. I have watched most of Iman’s YouTube videos. He has a member call every week that I attend. There isn’t anything I haven’t consumed. I want it all.

More importantly, I tell people like you about Iman. This is how his audience and influence grows. Word-of-mouth is powerful. It is how you find leads for your podcast and business.

Lead generation is a key step in growing your tribe.

LEADS

Leads are people you want to pursue to see if they qualify to be a listener, client or customer. This could simply be an audience or list of names.

Once you determine they have an interest in your subject or niche, they become a qualified lead. They are now a name with an interest.

As they become aware of your content, material or offerings, you determine they are a fit for what you do. Now they are a qualified prospect.

From here, you build rapport. You grow the know, like and trust. Foster the relationship.

When the relationship becomes strong, they become a subscriber, customer or client.

This is the customer journey, more often called the funnel these days.

So, if you want more listeners, you need to get more leads. Don’t let the term lead only represent clients. Leads could also become subscribers and grow your audience. You still need to find people who share your interest.

LEAD GENERATION

Joe Sayles Jr. is a Lead Generation Funnel Efficiency Coach, Strategist, and Speaker who has served in various digital marketing channel positions.

Joe has an amazing background. He has owned a martial arts studio, a company that created blogs and websites, and a digital marketing company.

Today, using Joe’s proprietary Lead Generation Domination System™ that was developed over the past decade, he has helped generate more than $15 million in online revenue. Joe combines his knowledge and experiences to help solopreneur businesses learn to increase their leads, decrease their costs, and grow their profits by a minimum of 30% in 90 days (or less), by creating efficient lead generation funnels.

I am excited to have him on the show today to help us develop our lead generation.

In this conversation, you will learn …

– how your podcast fits into your funnel

– how to overcome the biggest struggles with lead generation

– the biggest mistakes most online experts make with lead generation

– and much more

I love the nuggets Joe gives us to grow our show. The lady that is 70-something getting more work than she can handle was amazing. Your podcast is part of your system to build your business. Make sure you lay it out and plan.

Get connected to his mini-summit the 3^rd Thursday of each month. It is coming up this week. Find the link at www.FlipYourMarketingFlops.com.

Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Podcast

What Must Be In Your Podcast Show Notes – PTC 290

July 11, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Today we will cover handling stagnant audience growth, eliminating the dreaded “uh” and “um”, and the “must haves” of your show notes.

We are answering your questions on the show this week. If you have a question, e-mail me at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. I read all of those notes and answer as many as I can here on the show.

FIX AUDIENCE GROWTH PLATEAU

How have you handled a prolonged stall/plateau of your podcast? Whether your regular audience is dozens, hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands per episode, at some point for almost everyone your podcast hits a lull—where when you look at your episode numbers it either stalls/stops growing or even consistent drops in downloads.

In many cases it’s not that you’re not working as hard as you did before, promoting on social media before, having the same quality guests as you did before—but the plateau or download decline happens anyway.

-Patrick

It is all about getting in front of new audiences. If you have tapped the current pool, find another pool.

Remember when you were going to the bars with your friends all of the time?

My buddies and I always went to the same few bars to see the same few bands. We would always go to Arthur’s to see Hat Trick. They were the house band each weekend.

The bar was full of pretty much the same people every weekend. Hat Trick would play the same songs. We’d have the same drinks.

After a bit of time, we weren’t meeting anyone new.

One weekend, our friends invited us to just bar hop to a bunch of bars we’ve never visited. All of a sudden, we were meeting new people and running into people we haven’t seen in years.

You can do this same thing by connecting with new people who are talking to your ideal listener.

Get on other podcasts for an interview. Do a joint project with a peer and share it with your respective e-mail lists. Attend some virtual events in your space. Speak on some virtual stages. Be part of a giveaway or summit.

Simply find ways to meet new people. Your audience won’t grow if you don’t get in front of people who don’t already know you.

If you would like a great way to supercharge this, check out JV Insiders Circle. Find my affiliate link at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jv.

This organization is designed specifically to help online people find joint venture partners and get in front of new audiences. It is a very powerful network of people with large followings.

REMOVE THE UH AND UM

I could use some help. I am really good at speaking in person, but my podcasts … I’m not incredibly proud of the end results. I know I have to cut the uhhhs and umms and possibly too much repeating. How do I get better?

-Travis

The good news is you will get better. The bad news is it will take time.

Don’t spend a lot of time editing all of those little pieces out. Most won’t notice.

There are two easy things to get you on the path to improvement.

First, plan the show. Know where you want to go.

You say “um” and “uh” because you are looking for the right words. When you outline the show before you start, your brain knows where it is going. You spend less time trying to read the map and more time enjoying the scenery.

When I first started on radio, I would fly by the seat of my pants. I would think, “I’ll talk about seeing this band last month at the arena.”

When the song ended, I would jump on and talk about the band coming to town. However, I didn’t know where I was going. I hadn’t planned how to end it and get out of the bit.

It would end up being like that Chris Farley bit on SNL when he interviewed Paul McCartney. “Remember that time you said the love you get is the love you give? That was cool.” It was clunky and uncomfortable with no real end.

Start with the end in mind. Know where you want to go. Then, it will be much easier to follow the path to get there. The “uh” will diminish over time.

The next way to improve is to listen back to your show. Take notes. Find things you do really well and the things you would like to remove.

You can’t simply remove the stuff you don’t like. You need to replace it with something good. If you just take stuff out, you are eventually left with nothing.

As you learn to discover the good and bad parts before they happen, you train your brain to do more good and less bad.

If you find yourself always stuck on a word or using a crutch over and over, write down 15 different ways to say the same thing. Keep it by your monitor as you record.

When it comes time to say “You know what I mean”, you can replace it with one of the phrases on your list. Train the brain.

If you want help reviewing your show, visit www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/coaching.

SHOW NOTES

I’ve realized that I’ve put a significant amount of work into show notes along the way, but I’ve also realized I rarely read the show notes of the podcasts I listen to. How much time and effort is reasonable to put into show notes, and what are some “must haves” in show notes.

-Dean

Start with the end in mind. What do you want your show notes to accomplish.

Search engine optimization is a benefit of show notes. When you create a blog post over 300 words, you can get some good search juice.

If people are coming to your show notes, they are probably looking for something specific that you mentioned during the episode. Place those resources at the top of the notes. Make it easy to find.

People may also come to the notes if you have content that is technical or step-by-step. They want the easy download they can reference.

I often listen to podcasts about business. Many times the guest will give 5 ways to boost your traffic or 7 steps to audit your website or how to link your shopping cart to your membership site. Rather than writing all of that down, I prefer to go to the show notes to get the steps.

If the show is more about soft skills or entertainment, I don’t visit the show notes. There is nothing there I need.

What does your audience want from your show notes? Ask them. Send out a survey. This could be as easy as sending an e-mail to your subscribers or setting up a Survey Monkey survey.

Then, determine what you want your notes to accomplish. If you need SEO, make it rich with search terms. If you don’t even post it on your website, you may simply need an outline of the show.

Finally, decide how much time you want to spend on your notes. You may get more traction spending the hour you spend on show note in another area.

If you used that same 60 minutes by spending 45 minutes marketing your show and 15 minutes creating a simple outline as the notes, your show may grow much faster.

I would say the “must haves” in your show notes would be the things your audience expects. That would be links to things you mentioned, an easy way to play the show and an overview of the episode. After that, it becomes diminishing returns. You need to weigh the benefits against the time spent.

ASK YOUR QUESTION

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.

Podcast

The 3 Secrets to Grow Your Podcast Audience – PTC 286

June 13, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Almost every podcaster who comes to me for coaching has the same struggle. They want to know how to grow your podcast audience. There are 3 keys to grow your audience.

There are many gurus and YouTube videos that will tell you have to drive more traffic and get more listeners. What they don’t tell you is how to keep those listeners.

If you have listeners coming in the front door, but you are doing nothing to keep them, your audience won’t grow. It is like bringing people into your party, but not having any food or entertainment to keep them. Why would somebody stay at your lame party? It is the same with your podcast.

AUDIENCE EXPLOSION BLUEPRINT

I am launching a new coaching program to help you grow your audience. This will teach you what all the other gurus miss. And since it is new, you can get in at a great deal.

The program is called Audience Explosion Blueprint. It is a step-by-step live coaching program to explode your podcast audience in 6 weeks or less.

You can get the full details and enroll at PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.

Do you want to build a podcast audience that you can monetize?

Would you like to build the right audience in a way that doesn’t take hours of your time every day?

Do you want to design a marketing plan around your strengths that fits your personalityand defeats the Impostor Syndrome?

Audience Explosion Blueprint is a program designed around my 30 years of experience building successful radio stations, coaching talent, developing marketing campaigns and growing audiences. Unlike all the gurus on the internet only teaching you how to get new listeners, this program will help you attract the right audience and keep them listening by developing your show and personality like a radio star.

THE PROGRAM

In this program you will get access to:

6 Live group coaching/training calls including Q&A sessions to plan, create and launch your audience growth blueprint for your podcast, including access to the recordings of the presentations in case you missed any live sessions.
Lifetime access to a full, online training portal containing worksheets and other tools to show you how to organize your blueprint, execute your plan in just a few minutes a day, and methodically grow your downloads (including all updates).
Transcription and audio recordings of the modules.
Life time access to Audience Explosion Blueprint Facebook group to help you continue to develop new audience attraction ideas.
Daily e-mail reminders during the 6 weeks of coaching to help you consistently take action and execute your plan.
1 one-on-one call with me to ensure your plan is clearly defined and efficient.

By the end of this program you will:

Have a clear, step-by-step plan to grow your audience of ideal listeners
Consistently attract the right listeners to your podcast every week
Execute your plan in minutes a day
Have more time to spend creating great content and monetizing your show
Have more time to spend with your clients, building your business, and enjoying life

WHO IS IT FOR?

This program is for a podcaster who is willing to consistently take action a few minutes each day to work to grow your audience by following a plan. This program is not for those who expect to build their audience to thousands of listeners in just a few days, like a “get rich quick” scheme.

Because this is the first time I am launching this, you get in for half price. It is a steal for six weeks of training. Registration closes on June 22^nd, because we need to start the coaching. Sign up today before it is too late.

Get enrolled at PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.

THRE THREE LEGS OF THE STOOL

You see, building your audience requires you to attract new listeners who are not already familiar with you. Then, it also requires you to keep those listeners coming back for more to grow your audience.

You need to build awareness, get them to come listen to your show, and keep them coming back episode after episode while you go find even more listeners. If you miss one piece, your growth plan falls apart.

There are three legs to the stool for your audience growth plan. Those three legs are personality, programming and promotion. Without one of the legs, your stool won’t stand up.

It is not enough to simply bring people to the show. You need to keep them listening.

The promotion creates the awareness. Your programming creates great content that attracts them to the show. When you add your personality to the information, the content becomes unique and keeps people coming back.

YOUR NICHE

How many people have a podcast in your niche? Let’s say you create a podcast around making money online. How many podcasts talk about creating an online course? Probably thousands.

There are three steps to making money with an online course. Determine your expertise, create your course, and get people to buy it.

All of the experts have a little difference in their program. Russell Brunson is all about funnels and the marketing. David Siteman Garland talks about accelerating your creation process. Jeff Walkertalks about launching the course and the promotion piece.

Each of those experts talk about a piece of the process. But, it is all about making money online.

What makes each of them different? It is their personality.

Russell and his wresting background and hyperactivity is much different than Jeff Walker and his down-to-Earth Rocky Mountain laid back approach. They are both different than DSG’s quirky approach.

To be unique, add your personality to your content. It is your secret ingredient.

DEFINING YOUR PERSONALITY

The first step to define your personality is to describe the persona you want to project on your show. How do you want to be perceived by your audience?

You might want your persona to be quirky, or fun, or inspirational, or in-your-face, or supportive and loving.

Don’t pick a persona that isn’t you. Be yourself. If you are naturally supportive and loving, you cannot be the in-your-face host. That isn’t you.

It might be possible to adjust from in-your-face drill sergeant to tell-it-like-it-is inspirational host. You could move from the knowledgable nerd to be the quirky expert. Those moves aren’t a big swing.

Next, list twenty adjectives that describe that persona. If you want to be the quirky expert, what words describe that person? It could be odd, off-the-wall, unexpected, unconventional, wacky, unorthodox, experienced, skilled, well-read, and clever. List 20 that describe your persona.

Finally, select five words from that list that you would like to highlight and bring to life on your show. One or two of these words might need to be developed a bit. At least 3 and probably 4 should already exist in your personality.

You might be a little off-the-wall, wacky, experienced and clever. On the other hand, you might need to develop unexpected.

SHOW PREP

In your show prep, you then build a few opportunities to create something unexpected. You might take a story in an unexpected direction. Some sound effects might be added in a unique way. There might be an unexpected question you ask during an interview.

A little unexpected will go a long way. Be sure it isn’t forced. Add it where it naturally fits and the reputation will grow.

We are already a personality. Each of us has a unique personality. You just need to define it.

This is something you have probably never done. If you need to find someone who knows you really well to help you, ask them.

The key to defining your personality is to decide which aspects of that personality you will choose to highlight, stress and grow on your show. You don’t need twenty. You only need the right five.

CO-HOSTS

Defining personalities and roles is especially important when a show has multiple hosts. If two hosts have the same personality, opinion and perspective, one of you isn’t necessary. If all you say is, “Yeah, what he said,” you’re not needed on the show. You are wasting time.

Think of any show that has multiple characters. They are all different.

Consider the show Friends with Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Ross. Each are different characters. The three ladies are the smart one, the superficial one and the dingy one. The guys are funny one, the ladies man and the nerd.

You say, “Yeah, but that is a tv show, not real life.”

Let’s consider other shows. On the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Johnny was different than Ed McMahon. On the Elvis Duran Morning Show, he has 10 people and they are all different. Elvis, Danielle, Froggy, Skeery, Ghandi and Dave Brody all have different personalities. Howard Stern is complimented by Robin Quivers. Even on a sports show like Mike & Mike, one was a player and one was a scholar.

Think about the original cast of American Idol. If you had to describe each judge with one or two words, what would you choose? Simon was the rude one, Paula was the dingy one and Randy wanted to be everybody’s friend.

Do you think those three faked their way through the show or is Simon really a blunt, sometimes offensive, tell-it-like-it-is individual? Those are their true personalities. The producers cast the show in that way.

THE 3-PERSON SHOW

Many 3-person shows have that set up. One is nice, one is the nerd and one is naughty. Or one is the dork, one is the doll and one is the disruptive. Everyone has their role true to their personality.

Work this week to define your personality. If you would like help growing your audience and developing your show to keep your listeners, check out the Audience Explosion Blueprint.

It is a step-by-step live coaching program to explode your podcast audience in 6 weeks or less. Since this is the first time I am launching it, you get in for half price. Enroll today to grow your audience before we close it down on June 22^nd, because we need to start the teaching.

You can get the full details and enroll at PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.

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.

Podcast

What You’re Missing For Audience Growth – PTC284

May 31, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Most podcasters think the key to audience growth is attracting more listeners. However, that is only half of the equation. You have to work to keep the listeners you already have.

FIX THE LEAKS

If you are trying to fill a bucket with water, it becomes very difficult when your bucket has big holes in the bottom.

There are 3 keys to keeping your listeners and achieving audience growth.

Be unique and make them remember you.
Give them a reason to come back.
Get them to actually listen.

Today, let’s talk about being unique. Your listeners will remember you by the stories you tell. That is how they get to know, like and trust you.

You can get my Podcast Talent Coach Story Development Worksheet at PodcastTalentCoach.com/story.

IRELAND BOYS’ AUDIENCE GROWTH

My son watches a show on YouTube created by Ireland Boys Productions. These are videos created by a two brothers and their friends. They do crazy stuff like spending 72 hours in a WalMart, sneaking pumpkins into shopping carts of other people and ordering the entire Popeyes Chicken menu.

IBP has posted 201 videos and has 3.78 million subscribers. There have been 6.1 million views on the WalMart video.

These videos aren’t short, either. They are 20-30 minute videos.

These kids even go on tour, because they have created a tremendous following.

The brothers make their fans part of the show. Their viewers get to suggest crazy stuff to do on the show. You can even buy their merch on their website.

Most importantly, their fans know their story. Watching their show, you meet their parents. You see where they live. You see the awards YouTube has given them for their online success.

It is all about their story and the plot of the episode. Each time, you wonder if they will succeed or get busted by store security.

WHO AM I?

When I started in radio, I just copied the other big personalities on the radio. I was using their phrases and mannerisms. I wanted to be them.

One day, I was reviewing my show with my program director. She was helping me find ways to improve my show.

As we were listening to the show, she stopped the audio. She asked why I was using a particular phrase. It was a phrase that was used by the morning guy on our sister station. It was the rock station I was on before I got the gig here.

When she asked, I had no answer.

She said, “Why don’t we leave that to the other guys. You be you.”

That was the day I started being true to myself and defining my own story and personality. I started sharing who I am with my audience. That began my climb to the top.

YOU’RE NOT GARY

Many podcasters hear Gary Vaynerchuk and try to be Gary Vee on their podcast. So, they start dropping F-bombs and living the hustle.

The problem is … they aren’t Gary Vaynerchuk. They weren’t born in Belarus. These people didn’t immigrate to the United States unable to speak English.

Podcasters who want to be Gary Vee didn’t spend their youth working in their fathers’s liquor store. They didn’t grow up learning how to sell by hustling baseball cards. You can’t be Gary Vaynerchuk unless you’re Gary Vaynerchuk.

Stop trying to be Gary Vaynerchuk and start being yourself.

WHO ARE YOU?

What is your story? Where did you come from? What makes you unique?

Let your personality come out on your show. Make a list of your unique characteristics that make you different from everyone else.

Maybe you’re brash, or caring, or cold, or inspiring. People might find you matter-of-fact, or welcoming, or take-no-prisoners, or comforting.

Define your personality. Then, put all of your content through that filter.

Be true to yourself and your listeners will remember you.

With your content, tell your stories. Use your personality to make your listener feel something. People remember emotions. Get them invested emotionally. This is critical to your audience growth.

When you tell stories on your show, define what do you hope to make the listener feel with your story. Always start with the emotion.

FIND THE EMOTION

Once you know have defined the emotion, you will know how to tell the story.

The more stories you tell, the more your listeners will get to know you. They will get emotionally invested with your show. Your listeners will remember you and come back time and again.

As you are working for audience growth, be sure you are working to hold onto the listeners you have.

You can get my Podcast Talent Coach Story Development Worksheet at PodcastTalentCoach.com/story.

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.

Podcast

Growing Your Influence – PTC279

April 25, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to implement a few new strategies to grow my sphere of influence. One of them grew my mailing list by 500 people. What are you doing to grow your influence?

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

We all know we need to nurture our listener communities. That is how we grow our audience. We find new people to listen to our podcast.

But, what are you doing to nurture the relationships in your peer community? What are you doing to connect with those other people of influence in your niche that can help you grow?

To supercharge your growth, surround yourself with other winners who do what you do. It is critical to your success.

In his book “The Ultimate Sales Machine“, Chet Holmes wrote about the Dream 100. Many people use it and teach it today.

You have probably heard of Pareto’s Principle. It is also known as the 80/20 rule. 80% of your results comes from 20% of your effort. 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.

Basically, a very small number of inputs is responsible for a very large percent of the outputs.

Chet tells a story of a magazine that used this principle to double its sales in a year.

A review of their client database showed that 95% of their sales came from 167 of the 2,200 of their clients.

The magazine set out to spend all of their efforts on these particular clients. 28 of these advertisers were enough to double the sales over the previous year.

Rather than using the shotgun approach and hit as many as they could, they used the sniper approach to find the right clients.

That is the way to grow your audience.

If you try to find listeners one by one, it will take you forever to build a big audience. However, if you connect with the influencers who are already talking to your ideal listeners, they can help you reach listeners truckloads at a time.

Partnerships are incredibly powerful.

PARTNERSHIPS

I am in an online group for joint venture partners. We partner with each other to collectively grow.

In the group, I connected with my first partner. She was running a giveaway. You may have received the e-mail giving you the opportunity to get over 40 free gifts.

The giveaway is comprised of multiple content creators. We all offer up something of value, like a course or software of templates. We then all offer the free gifts to our tribe. By doing so, we all grow our e-mail list.

Over the course of 2 weeks, I added 500 new people to my e-mail list. How great would it be for you to be able to have conversations with 500 additional people? That is the power of partnerships.

I am now part of a podcast summit. In this one, a group of podcasters will get together to teach online.We all present for 30 minutes and teach something powerful. At the end, we offer a free resource which helps build our e-mail list.

At the end, the hosts and I had a great time hanging out. Now, they want to do more ventures together. This is how we grow.

I am also in a live joint venture group. In this group, we get on a call every week. We are divided into small groups, so we can share what we are doing and what partnership opportunities we have available. It is networking on steroids.

If you want to see how my joint venture groups work, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jv.

YOUR GROWTH

Now, who can you connect with? Who is an influencer that would make a great partner for you?

Let’s say there are 2,000 ways you can grow your audience. You could do ads, speak at events, send out e-mail, participate in Facebook groups, appear on podcasts, write a blog, post YouTube videos, write articles for magazines, teach at a community college, hand out flyers at events and so many others.

Or, you could find the few actions that can drive a majority of your growth. You could find the 20% that generates the 80%.

If you could find 100 people who are talking to the audience you want to reach, and you could tap into those resources, you can supercharge your growth. That is the magic of the Dream 100 that Chet taught.

This week, make a list of people who are talking to your ideal listeners.

Make a big list. Don’t stop at 6. Try to get to 100. Big fish and small fish. The top 100 people talking to your ideal listeners.

Next, send an e-mail to them. Include three things.

Tell them what you love about what they do. Be specific.

Ask them what they are working on.

Then, ask them how you can support them.

You are not asking for anything. You are simply offering to help them with their projects. Offer value and help.

This is how you start the relationship. This is how you start to build your Dream 100. By taking these steps, you will begin to supercharge your influence.

Get started this week.

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.

Podcast

4 Ways A Mastermind Can Supercharge Your Podcast – PTC275

March 28, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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A mastermind group can be very powerful for your podcast. If you bring a powerful group of people together, the collective mind can create big things.

NAPOLEON HILL

Napoleon Hill first coined the phrase in 1925 in his book the Law Of Success. He expanded on the idea in his 1937 book Think And Grow Rich.

Here is an excerpt from Think and Grow Rich where Hill explains the concept …

The “Master Mind” may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

No individual may have great power without availing himself of the “Master Mind.”

The two characteristics of the Master Mind principle, one of which is economic in nature, and the other psychic.

The economic feature is obvious. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of PERFECT HARMONY.

This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.

The psychic phase of the Master Mind principle is much more abstract, much more difficult to comprehend, because it has reference to the spiritual forces with which the human race, as a whole, is not well acquainted.

You may catch a significant suggestion from this statement: “No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.”

Many people have used Hill’s mastermind concept to create great things. The book goes into the idea in greater detail. Today, I want to give you four specific ways a mastermind can supercharge your podcast.

MENTAL

Like minded people who understand you
Think bigger
Support
Energy and motivation
Impostor Syndrome into confidence
Habits
Focus and clarity
Power of helping others

RELATIONSHIPS

Connections
Create an instant network and extend your current network
Exclusive community
New friendships

GROWTH

Collaboration
Shared goals to improve
Pushed and challenged
Honest feedback
Work through problems out loud
Progress

KNOWLEDGE

More ideas from more contributors for variety solutions
Different opinions
New & better perspective
Insights
Brainstorming
Been there, done that experience
Shared resources
Specific knowledge of others

NOT ALL EQUAL

Not all masterminds are the same. A powerful mastermind needs a leader. This is someone you respect who can hold all members accountable.

A good mastermind also needs structure. Members need to agree when to meet, how to meet and why to meet.

The group requires respect, trust and a desire to contribute. Without a common purpose, it will be difficult for the group to succeed.

A successful mastermind also requires all members to have skin in the game. Every member needs to have incentive to show up and be present every single time. If members have nothing to lose, the effort will be less than optimal.

The mastermind also needs commitment with a timeline, so separation isn’t awkward. There will always come a time when it is time to separate. Plan for it at the beginning.

JOIN US

I am combining my coaching with the power of a mastermind into the Podcast Grad School Mastermind. This will be a small group of 8 podcasters with common goals helping each other succeed.

It will include a weekly call where we all come together. These calls will include 30 minutes of teaching to empower you with new knowledge. That will be followed by a hot seat for each member to work through your challenges with group contribution.

You will also be a member of a private group to allow you to collaborate between calls.

As a member of the Podcast Grad School Mastermind, you will get a bi-weekly one-on-one laser coaching call. You and I will get on a call every other week to personally help you with your goals.

This group will help you demonstrate your authority and market your business through your podcast in order to get more clients.

To get you the attention and accountability you need and deserve, the group will be limited to 8 people.

You need to be a good fit for the group. A podcast should be part of your content marketing. You need to be open-minded and willing to accept constructive feedback with the goal to improve. As an ideal member you should also have a desire to use your podcast to drive your business while helping others do the same.

If you would like to apply for a spot or get more information, head to PodcastTalentCoach.com/mastermind.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.

Podcast

More Podcast Audience Growth – PTC270

February 22, 2020 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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We are all looking to grow our audience. Who doesn’t want more podcast audience growth? You need a strategy and multiple ideas.

MULTIPLE STREAMS

Multiple streams of income help grow your revenue. Those streams also protect you from any one source going away. If all of your revenue comes from one source, you are at risk of losing most of your revenue if that source disappears.

The same is true with your audience growth. If all of your new listeners are coming from the same source, your growth dries up if that source goes away.

I have a free resource for you. If you would like 75 ways to drive engagement with your podcast, visit PodcastTalentCoach.com/increasedownloads.

Finding ways to get in front of new audiences is a great way to grow your show. A podcast with a similar audience is ripe for collaboration.

LARRY THE CABLE GUY

I was on a free strategy call the other night with a podcaster. We were discussing how she could use a podcast to promote her books and speaking opportunities.

A podcast is a great way to promote your services and demonstrate your authority.

We talked about her concept, and we realized she didn’t really want to do all of the work to create a podcast from scratch. She really wanted to get a jump start by partnering with an established brand.

That brought to mind Larry the Cable Guy. Back in the early 90s, Dan Whitney was getting his start in stand up before he became better known as Larry the Cable Guy.

If you check out YouTube, you can find stand up routines by Dan. His career was just like every struggling comedian until he found his unique bit and partners to help him grow it.

One of my radio buddies was friends with Dan. Chris and Dan were both coming up through the comedy circuit as Chris was getting into radio.

Dan would call into Chris’ radio show and do his “Larry the Cable Guy” bit. It was commentary on society and hilarious.

This turned into Larry doing the same bit on stations across the country. By being featured on many radio shows, Larry’s comedy career took off.

Larry didn’t need to create his own radio show. He just found established partners who could help him jump start his career.

FIND A PARTNER

As I was talking to this podcaster, and we realized she didn’t want to start from scratch, I told her the story of Larry the Cable Guy. She has a friend who would let her do a feature on his show each week. This is a perfect way to get started.

When Cliff Ravenscraft was doing the Podcast Answerman Podcast, Erik Fisher would do a technology segment on the show each week. Erik now has BeyondTheToDoList.com. Finding a podcast partner is a great way to create audience growth.

BENEFITS

There are a few benefits of using a partner for audience growth.

Somebody else creates the bulk of the content
No need to edit. You can just show up, record and be done
It is a jumpstart. You start a few rungs up the ladder
You get in front of a whole new audience

DRAWBACKS

There are also a few drawbacks of this strategy

You don’t control the entire content of the show
Somebody else’s platform gets the benefit from promotion
You don’t control the promotion of the show
You don’t control the brand and image of the show

AUDIENCE GROWTH STEPS

If you want to try this approach, three steps.

Find someone with an audience you’d like to attract
Determine how the main host will benefit from your feature
Create a simple agreement in writing, including how often, how long, when you record, compensation (plug your site, etc), how the agreement ends, what happens if one party doesn’t live up to the agreement.

FREE RESOURCE

If you would like 75 ways to drive engagement with your podcast, visit PodcastTalentCoach.com/increasedownloads. These ideas will help you create audience growth for your podcast.

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.

Podcast

7 Ways To Grow Your Audience This Weekend – PTC263

December 28, 2019 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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There are things you can do this weekend that can grow your audience. Some tactics will have immediate effect. Others will grow your audience over time. Each tactic incorporates one powerful ingredient.

Word-of-mouth.

Word-of-mouth has worked for me time and again. You can start using it this weekend.

RADIO AUDIENCE

It was the spring of 1999. The company I worked for had just purchased a few more radio stations in town. Our general manager was going to let me program one of those stations as a Top 40.

Now, the biggest station in town was a Top 40 that had been around for about 20 years. They were the big dog. Everyone listened to that station. Getting people to change would not be easy. In fact, it had been my favorite station as I was growing up.

The station couldn’t just be better. We had to do something different.

We signed on the station playing Top 40 music that leaned a little rhythmic. Along with the biggest hits on the chart, we were playing the rap and hip hop that wasn’t being played anywhere on the radio in town. It got high school and college kids talking.

Our on-air team consisted of me in the afternoon and a 20-something kid at night. The rest of the day was nothing but music. We had a promotions director who helped a ton, but wasn’t on air. The 3 of us had to take down Goliath.

Since there was only 2 of us on the air, we started using our listeners as the voice of the station. Our listeners introduced new music. High school kids hosted our Top 9 at 9 countdown. Listeners were on the air all the time requesting songs and giving a shout out to their friends.

The week after we signed on our station, they big heritage station was having their annual outdoor concert. We set up shop along the only road in and out of the amphitheater. We were shaking hands and thanking people for listening all day long.

By campaigning along that road, we upset the big station. So much so that they came down to run us out. That was no problem. We had hired an airplane to pull a banner and fly over the event. The banner said, “Channel 977 – Move To It”. More importantly, the other station stood on stage and told the crowd to NOT look at the plane. More word-of-mouth.

Whenever we were on the streets for events that summer, we were recording more listeners to put on the air. Our entire goal was to make listeners feel like they controlled the station and really had input in what we were doing. They talked about it all the time.

One year later, we were the number one radio station in town. A few years later, that heritage station changed their name and their musical focus. Our listeners did it all.

PODCAST AUDIENCE

I took that experience and used it when I was launching my podcast.

As the podcast was taking off, I was networking with other great podcasters in the industry. Not only was I getting my listeners to talk about my show, other podcasters who came before me were helping.

That’s the difference between radio and podcasting. You have to choose between two stations. Radio is 24-hours a day. If you are listening to one, you are not listening to the other.

With podcasting, you can always listen to two podcasts … or three or four. Podcasts are only a few hours a week at most. There is still plenty of time to consume others. Podcasters are always much more willing to help each other.

When I ask people how they discovered me and my show, many tell me they heard someone else mention it. It may have been on a podcast, on social media or during a conversation.

Word-of-mouth is powerful. Use it to your advantage.

GROW YOUR AUDIENCE THIS WEEKEND

Here are seven things you can do this weekend to start growing your audience.

1. Deliver quality content in your newsletter that could be used and shared.

Ask listeners to bring along a friend & spread the word.

Deputize your audience.

2. Network with as many influential people in your niche as possible.

When others in your niche talk about you, it can give you instant credibility. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a podcast. This can be a website, publication, or any other well-known individual in your niche.

3. Create a flashback segment from an old episode on your current episode.

There are two ways to increase downloads. One is getting more listeners. The other is to get currently listeners to listen more. By getting current listeners to check out past episodes, this is a great way to increase overall downloads.

4. Do Facebook Live “ask me anything” sessions.

Demonstrate your expertise.

5. Get media to talk about you.

Become an available expert in your field. Send them a note about something newsworthy in your industry. Then, tell them you are available if they need an expert to expound on the details in the news story. Make it easy for them.

6. Create a survey for your super-fans to determine what they desire

7. Partner with another podcast.

Just like I did when I launched my show, reach out to other shows in your niche. Especially those that compliment your show. Trade resources with another podcast. Guest host for another show.

GET STARTED

Some of these can have an immediate effect on your downloads. If another podcaster or a news outlet mentions your show, your downloads can jump quickly. Creating content that can be shared and doing Facebook live sessions will take a little longer, but will create a solid brand for your show.

If you want to create revenue with your podcast, you need to first build an audience. This is where you start. Take action this weekend on two or three of these. See what is possible.

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.

Podcast

How To Grow Your Audience By 10x – Episode 176

September 27, 2017 Erik K. Johnson Leave a comment

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How To Grow Your Audience By 10x – Episode 176

Get out of your comfort zone — Copyright: orla / 123RF Stock Photo

If you want to grow and develop, you need to push yourself. Self-development requires you to get uncomfortable. Nobody grows in their comfort zone. This is especially true if you want to grow your audience by 10x.

In the online business space, you hear a lot of people talking about 10x. You hear them encourage you to grow your business by ten times its current size. Grow your audience by ten times. The gurus encourage you to not focus on growth from 200 to 300 downloads and instead focus on growing from 200 to 2,000 downloads.

How do you do that?

Well, you won’t 10x your growth by doing the same thing you’ve been doing. It hasn’t got you there yet.

You need to take bold action. You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and do something big that will get noticed. Get uncomfortable to grow your audience.

I have been on the radio for 30 years. But, I didn’t start at the top.

PUSH #1

If you look back at my start in radio, it happened by accident. When I was in college getting my degree in architecture, I picked up a part-time job at a roller skating rink. My job was to skate around and make sure kids followed the rules. My younger brother was the DJ.

After moving up the roller rink food chain, I eventually became a DJ at the rink. The job requirement to get the gig was simply to be the guy with most tenure. If you were the one who had been there the longest, you got to play the tunes.

Dan was another guy who worked at the rink. He also happened to run a really small AM radio station. The station played paid, long-form programming. He hired my brother to work part-time at the station.

One day, he called the house to see if my brother could cover a shift he had open. My brother wasn’t home. However, that call turned into a part-time offer for me at the station. That weekend, I was at the radio station running the board for the programs. I still wasn’t on the air, but I was running a radio station. My envelope wasn’t being pushed quite yet.

Over the summer, I began thinking of a career change. The next semester of school, I picked up broadcasting for the non-major as an elective. One night in class, the program director of the campus radio station visited.

The program director is the guy who runs the entire content operations of a radio station. Music, imaging, contests, commercials, and talent. The PD is in charge of anything you hear on the air.

When the program director was wrapping up, he told us he was looking for a music director for the station. The music director works for the program director and handles everything related to the music.

This was the first time I pushed the envelope. After class, I went up to him and explained I wasn’t a broadcasting major but was interested in the position. He explained that I didn’t need to be a broadcasting major. He said I just needed to be interested and willing to do the work.

Here I was … an architecture major with limited radio experience being put in charge of the music on the radio station and responsible for communication with the record labels. I had no idea what I was doing. I simply learned on the fly.

Though those years, I met a ton of great people. I was exposed to a lot of great music I had never hear. Most importantly, my on-air ability grew at least by ten times. In fact, it grew enough to land me a full time gig at a local commercial radio station.

PUSH #2

Jump forward 5 years. I was working as an audio producer for an interactive phone company. Radio had been my career until I joined this company 8 months earlier.

The station I left 2 years earlier called me. The station was for sale and the program director was leaving. They asked me to come back to the station to be the new program director until they could find a suitable buyer.

At this point in time, I had never been a program director. In fact, the college station was the only time I had ever been a music director. There was no experience managing a staff on my resume. I wasn’t even in radio at the time.

Now, I had the opportunity to run a radio station.

I could let the little voice in my head tell me all the reasons why I wasn’t qualified to do it. Or, I could jump at the chance to prove I had what it took.

Time to push the envelope a second time.

I took the chance and leaned all I could. This was the first time I started coaching on-air talent. I was building shows and shaping content. It was a great ride. We never reached the top, but we learned a ton and had a blast.

The station eventually sold and I left the station.

PUSH #3

The third chance to push the envelope came 2-and-a-half years later.

This time, I had a chance to launch a station. I was offered the opportunity to be the program director of a station that was flipping format to Top 40. I was given one on-air talent and one promotions director.

My first guy didn’t last very long. My second guy took the challenge and ran with it. We took that station to number one in 12 months. It was huge.

We were on a small signal with a small staff. We just did what others wouldn’t. The staff grew. I helped my team develop shows that were the buzz of the town. It was an amazing ride. That station was number one for a long time.

DO YOU HAVE THE DESIRE?

Every time I made huge leaps in my career it involved pushing the envelope. My growth came from getting out of my comfort zone and stretching myself.

Do you want to grow your audience by leaps and bounds or do you want to slowly creep toward your goal?

Are you ready to increase your downloads ten times what they are now?

Then you need to do a few things that are going to make you a bit uncomfortable.

You need to reach out to others in your space. You need to increase your circle of influence. You need to take some chances and make some noise.

Here are some tips to grow your audience.

TEN TIPS TO GROW

Reach out to super-fans and begin the interaction.
Help people meet and create community.
Host events to create community.
Get interviewed on other shows. Make it easy for hosts to find you.
Give. Leave feedback for other shows. Ask great questions on other shows.
Promotion is the exploitation of great opportunities. Find great opportunities.
Buy a contest insurance policy.
Collect birthdates in your database and call listeners on their birthday.
Create a lead magnet for every episode.
Find people who can help you and invest in yourself. Mastermind, coach, peers.

You can get my entire list of 52 ways to create engagement with your show here:

Get to work. Move out of your comfort zone. Grow your audience by 10x by pushing yourself.

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.

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