Lionel Ritchie is a class act and every bit of a gentleman you would hope he would be.
Do they remember?
When you consider the options podcast listeners have, the importance of creating a powerful brand really becomes apparent.
I searched iTunes for podcasts about hockey. There are hundreds of hockey podcasts available. Thousands and thousands of episodes exist that deal with hockey. You can find various topics, including drills, NHL teams, coaching, fantasy hockey and many more.
How do you stand out? How do you get noticed?
Your listener needs to remember your podcast, so they can return and listen again. That is the way to build a following. It really doesn’t matter how many people listen today. What builds a strong podcast is the number of listeners that come back the next time, and the next time, and the time after that. You build your audience slowly with more listeners this week than you had last week. Get your listener to remember to return.
Using your brand to create strong relationships with your listeners is critical to the health of your podcast. If you are bland, you will get lost in the sea of average. There are over 100,000 podcasts available for consumption. Most of them are average or worse. If you refine your content, turn your information into entertainment, and transform your podcast into powerful relationships, you will easily stand out from the crowd. It is a must not only for your success, but your mere survival. Begin your brand today.
When it comes time for your audience listening again, do they remember?
Be Yourself
A great podcast is a great relationship. It is just like creating a great brand. In order to develop that solid relationship, you must be yourself. You can’t fake it.
When you try to be someone or something you are not, you will not sound authentic. Eventually, the truth will come out.
Have you ever met someone you had admired from afar, only to have them do something that didn’t fit with your image of them? Maybe it was a baseball player, or a movie star, or a politician or a musician. You met them with great expectations of an encounter with your hero only to find out they were rude and average. It turned out they were only being who they thought they should be for the public when really they were someone completely different in real life.
Everyone has their flaws. That is what makes them human. Howard Stern has flaws. He makes his flaws part of his show. Domino’s Pizza admitted the errors of their ways with their cheap, low quality pizza. They laid it out for the world to see in their marketing. Your listener will accept your flaws. They will feel like you are “one of them” when you admit your flaws upfront. Don’t be afraid to expose yourself.
When your listener discovers you are something other than the character you portray, the bond of trust will be demolished. Your relationship will be forever damaged.
Build a solid brand. Be yourself.
Unique, Vivid, Mental Images
When someone tells a story, on the radio or in a podcast, it is theater of the mind. When you hear the old time radio show describe the dim light on in the servant’s quarters, the scenery is playing out in your mind in a unique way unlike the way anyone else could envision it. No other person is imagining the clothing of the characters the exact same way you are imagining them. That mental theater is unique to you. You are listening and imagining by yourself.
Podcasts make the one-on-one approach even more important. Podcasts are often enjoyed through headphones. Your audience is truly listening by themselves. The headphones block out all other sounds and distractions. You have multiple “one person” audiences at the same time. Yet, it is still one person.
Connect with your “one person” audience by creating a great theater. The theater will be different for each listener, because they are using their individual imagination. Create a movie and put the listener in it. Make the story an individual experience for the listener. Engage the listener with vivid details and a fantastic storyline. Make them forget they are listening to a podcast. Create great theater of the mind. Create unique, vivid, mental images.
I would love to help you with your podcast. E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com.
My daughter took a group of us to the Katy Perry show. Now that’s a unique brand.
A memorable brand that becomes a household name. It is like the Holy Grail. So many companies strive for it, but so few achieve it. Why is that?
A brand is a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name, a brand name, a particular identity or image regarded as an asset, or a particular type or kind of something.
But, when we think of a brand, we think of so much more. There is so much more emotion in a powerful brand.
Each of those iconic brands were available at the same time their counterpart was making a name for themselves. Yet, the iconic brands became huge, powerful, valuable names. That’s not to say the other brands were not familiar or valuable. Those competitor brands simply did not become the astronomical brands of the segment leaders.
Why is that? What can you learn from these iconic brands that can help your podcast become a name, identity or image, but a name that evokes powerful emotion from your listener. How can you create fans instead of a casual audience?
Here are six steps you can put into use this week to begin to develop your unique brand.
Develop Your Style
Create everything you do in your own style. Powerful brands have a style all their own.
Your style is your way of doing something. Are you friendly? How about challenging or argumemtative? Maybe you are the Everyman. Is your podcast a narrative or instructional? Are you explosive, soothing or euphoric? Do I hear sarcasm in your show? Are you a friend to everybody or the guy they love to hate? Do you take risks or play it close to the vest?
Each piece plays into your style.
You can only stand out among all other shows when you create your own unique style. You must then make sure everything you do is consistent with that style.
Many new broadcasters try to emulate the style of their hero or mentor. They attempt to imitate the styles they hear from other broadcasters. Unfortunately, copying doesn’t create a unique style. Copying typically creates a watered-down version of some other style. When creating your content, be yourself and find your own style.
Some of the greatest broadcasters didn’t start the ascension to the top until they abandoned the attempts to broadcast in the style they thought others desired and began being true to themselves.
Oprah Winfrey quit trying to be a traditional news anchor. She also quit doing the typical tabloid, daytime talk show like Sally Jessy Raphael was doing at the time. When she began to create the show she always desired, she went to the top of the game.
Howard Stern began as a radio DJ sounding like every other radio DJ. He was playing the records and spouting the lines written by management while going nowhere. If you watch “Private Parts”, Stern’s autobiographical movie, one of the classic scenes is Howard trying to recite “W-N-B-C” just like his boss wants everyone to do it.
When Stern decided he was going to do radio his way, he began to make a name for himself. He also went to the top.
Rush Limbaugh followed a very similar path. His bland radio name was Jeff Christie. He followed the format designed by somebody else. Limbaugh made every attempt to fulfill the typical radio DJ stereotype.
He also got fired again and again. When he decided to broadcast in his style and true to his beliefs, he began his rise to the top.
Adam Corolla made his climb when he took full control over his style and show. He was climbing the DJ ladder in Los Angeles. Corolla had some decent television work. He then decided to create his own show in his own style via podcast. That began his rise as one of the biggest podcasters in the world.
All of these broadcasters made the decision to stop copying others. They all created shows that were true to their style.
They each also stay true to their style in everything they do. You will never hear Rush sound like Howard. You’ll never mistake something Oprah says as something Adam might say. Being true to their style isn’t something that takes conscious effort. It comes easy to each of them, because it is true to who they are as people.
Be true to yourself. It will make it easy to create everything you do in your style.
Define Your Character With Stories
I’m not simply talking about your integrity. By character, I mean all of the attributes that create you, as in character in a play.
The purpose of your show is to attract an audience. Whether you want to monetize that relationship, encourage a call-to-action, or simply create an audience for your ideas, creating the audience is where you begin.
The stories you choose to tell reveal how open you are to others. Your openness is a sign of trust. Trust is a big piece of a relationship. Reveal things about yourself through your stories and you’ll begin to build trust with your listener.
The details you include tell your listener what you value. If the listener feels you value things they too value, you solidify the relationship. People like to hang out with similar people. If your values are opposite of your listener, you may also attract them. It is like a love/hate relationship. They may dislike it, but they continue to listen. This often happens when talking politics.
What you find entertaining will be evident by the stories you tell. Since people like other people who have similar tastes, revealing those things you find entertaining will also build the relationship.
Stories also have the power to demonstrate your vulnerability. Stories can show that you are a real person. Your listener will see you as approachable. They also may begin to see you as a friend. That is when true relationships begin to form.
Iconic brands use their story.
Oprah uses her story of her upbringing and career building by breaking down barriers. Her weight loss. Her struggles to cut a new path in daytime talk.
Howard’s story of defying “The Man” and doing it his way inspires others. Rush was told he would never make it on the air and should consider radio sales.
Harley Davidson was a joke in the motorcycle industry. Harley owners had two bikes … one to ride and one for parts. Harley now stands for independence and “take no flack” attitude.
Foster a relationship with your listener by revealing things about yourself through stories. Stories will define your character.
Don’t Just Fill Time
You never catch Oprah just going through the motions. She would never have typical guests on her show. When others were interviewing the co-star of some moving, Oprah would interview the President of the United States. Oprah has Tom Cruise jumping on her couch. You never knew what was going to happen on Oprah’s show.
When you fill time, you waste time. Your listeners have come to your podcast, because you have made them a promise with your brand. They believe they will receive some sort of information and entertainment from your show. Your listener will only give you a few minutes to begin delivering, or they will be headed to the next podcast.
Consistently add value for your listener at every opportunity. Either make the show shorter, or prepare better. It is usually a solid rule of thumb to prepare more content than you will need. This will allow you to always deliver valuable information.
Seth Godin does a fantastic job delivering brief bits of valuable information with his blog. He even carries this through to the manifestos published by his Domino Project. Seth wastes very little time. Once he has made his point, he wraps it up.
Your listener is expecting something from your podcast. Deliver continuously on the promise of your brand. Don’t just fill time.
Be Memorable
When other shows would give away a television, Oprah would give a television to everyone in the audience. Now, everyone does it.
If you want to keep your listener coming back show after show, you need to make them remember to come back. You need to remain top-of-mind for your listener. That is the purpose of audience engagement. Make your listener remember you for something specific about your show.
As you build your show, make it about one thing. Find one particular thing that will be remembered. If you try to be all things to all people, you will water down the show. Everything will be nice. However, isn’t usually truly memorable. You will get lost in the millions of messages your listener receives on a daily basis.
Find the magic. Your listener should remember one thing about your show this week. What will that be?
Stir emotion. Make it amazing. Bring your listener back. Be memorable.
Move Beyond Information
Make your show emotional. That deep connection creates relationships.
The goal of our podcasts is to create strong relationships with our audiences. We can take those relationships and move our listeners with a call to action. To achieve that strong relationship, we need to move beyond information to engaging entertainment.
Dan Miller, author of “48 Days To The Work You Love” could simply explain how you might find a new job. Instead, Dan instills the belief in his listeners that there is more to work than a paycheck. He stirs emotion describing how you can turn your passion into your career. Dan uses that emotion to turn his job finding information into engaging entertainment.
Financial information is turned into entertainment on “The Dave Ramsey Show” when Dave turns debt into the enemy. He doesn’t simply walk you through the steps to become debt free. Dave helps you find that burning desire to escape the shackles of debt. He makes you envision the possibility of “living like no one else”. His help becomes engaging entertainment. That is the reason his show is extremely popular and he is very wealthy.
Our shows can be powerful when we build relationships and move our listeners with a call to action. Those relationships happen when we move beyond information to engaging entertainment.
Risky Stands Out
It was a risk for Rush Limbaugh to step out and be incredibly opinionated regarding politics. Now, there are hundreds of shows that do the same thing.
It was a risk for Harley Davidson to embrace the bad ass lifestyle. Today you can see middle aged guys riding their bike to the office.
It was a risk for Oprah to walk away from the standard daytime tabloid drama that made her successful. You cannot flip through the stations today without finding a dozen copycats of Oprah’s style. However, none of them achieved the success of Oprah.
As we develop meaningful relationships with your podcast, we in turn build credibility that will support our call-to-action within your show. To develop strong relationships, you need to create engaging entertainment that will get you remembered by your listener. To be remembered, you must stand out.
You stand out when you are loved. You are remembered when you are hated. You fade into the background when you are plain, vanilla and trying to not upset anyone. If you don’t stir strong emotions, you are easily forgotten.
When we create, we expose our perspective. We open ourselves to criticism. It is natural to want your thoughts, views, art and creation to be accepted by everyone. To avoid being disappointed, we often play it safe.
Those fantastic, memorable personalities are usually both loved and hated. Rush Limbaugh is loved by the conservatives and hated by the liberals. Dave Ramsey is loved by the conservative investor and hated by credit card companies and whole life insurance salespeople. Dr. Laura would consistently be critical of her callers. Yet she would receive more callers than she could handle on any given show.
Safety lacks creativity. It is risky to be truly creative. However, that is really the only way to get noticed. Safe blends in. Risky stands out.
I’d love to help you with your podcast. Post any questions or comments you might have, or e-mail me at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com.
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.
Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.
Let’s have a conversation. People want to feel part of the discussion and not like they are sitting in a lecture. How do you create that atmosphere on your podcast?
1. Talk to me, not at me
2. Treat your audience as an audience of one
3. Let your listener live vicariously through you
4. Use your regular voice
5. Do everything in your own style
Talk To Me, Not At Me
When you are podcasting, talk “to” your listener. Don’t talk “at” her. You are not announcing. You are having a personal conversation and building a relationship.
Podcasting is an intimate conversation with one person. The conversation is typically one person speaking into a microphone addressing another single individual. There may sometimes be hundreds of thousands of people listening. However, they are all listening by themselves. Even in an automobile with others listening via communal speakers, the members of the audience are listening by themselves in their own head. Each listener is developing their own unique, mental images.
Have a conversation directly with that individual. Put your listener in the moment. Avoid addressing the group. Instead of using “hello everyone”, use “hi, how are you?” Make her feel like you are talking directly to her. It will make your podcast relationship much stronger.
Audience Of One
As you are creating your podcast, treat your audience like you are talking to each person individually. This is critical when creating a trusting relationship with your audience.
I hear many shows address their audience as a group with comments like “hello everyone” or “hey guys”. Each person in your audience is listening to you as an individual. Audio is a very personal medium. Many times, they are listening with headphones. It is just you and her. Talk to her just like that.
Addressing a crowd on the radio began when radio began. As radio was just being created, station owners needed content to broadcast. Radio programming began with rebroadcasting live, theater events. The person on the stage would address the crowd as “ladies and gentleman”.
As radio progressed, live audiences were eliminated. However, people on the radio continued to address the audience as a group. It was fitting. The family still gathered around the radio before television was introduced to the family room. An on-air personality could address the audience as a group and be justified in doing so.
Radio then became a personal medium. The television replaced the radio as family entertainment. In-car and headphones became the preferred method of radio listening. Each listener was now creating images and visions in his or her own head that were unique to their imagination. Their thoughts were different from those of any other listener. The conversation was now between the person on the air and the individual listening.
Unfortunately, radio personalities continued to address the listener as a group. ”It has always been done this way.” The disconnect began.
Podcasts are even more individualistic than radio. Most people select a podcast because of their own tastes. Groupthink does not play a factor as it would to select a movie or television show for the family. It is one person listening on their own to a show that interests them.
If you are talking to your listener as if they are in a group, using plural terms like everyone and you guys and you all, your listener will wonder who you are addressing. They will think, “You guys? I’m listening by myself. Who are you talking to?” In the end, they will not follow your call-to-action, because they will think someone else in your “group” will handle it. Talk to an audience of one and build that relationship with each listener individually.
Nobody like to be lectured to. Data and facts get dull & boring. Engage by being conversational. Tell stories. This is a converstaion, not a lecture
Vicarious
Can I Be You?
Vicarious. Voyerism. Eavesdropping.
Those are three main reasons people listen to your podcast. Tell stories to help fulfill those desires.
People dream about having a different (and usually better) life. They want to experience those things others are experiencing. The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. People crave living the lives of others.
Your listeners want to live vicariously through you. They want to experience your success. They wish they had the courage to do the things you have done. Your fans want to be you in some way or another.
Voyerism is a reason many people watch the shows they watch, listen to the stories they hear, or read the books they read. They want to experience the lives of others.
People eavesdrop on the conversations of others for the very same reasons. They can experience the life of others without the risk of faliure. Eavesdropping doesn’t take the courage that it takes to actually live the life.
By telling great stories about your experiences, you help your audience fulfill the desire to live vicariously through you. If your show contains audio of your feats and experiences, you allow your audience to become the voyers they desire. When you interview people on your show, you allow your listener to eavesdrop on your conversation.
When you simply lecture as the content of your show, you fail to help your listener experience any of those three desires. Find new ways to deliver your material to your audience. You will make those important connections that turn into friendships. Those relationships will foster loyalty to your show. Your tribe will follow you wherever you go. That’s a powerful thing.
Tell stories of self-revelation. See where it takes you. You’ll be surprised how many people wish they could be you.
Use Your Regular Voice
The scoop is that fake announcer voice that you hear quite often. It’s like a slow start with a gradual build.
“Wwwwweeeelllllcome to the big show.”
It sounds like your voice is going up and down as if it is on a yo-yo.
Real people don’t talk like that. You are trying to build trusting relationships with your audience. You want to sound real and authentic.
When you sound like a supermarket announcer, you sound fake. Your listeners will find it hard to trust you, because they know that isn’t really you. The audio they are hearing sounds like a character you are portraying.
Don’t let your voice bounce like a ball. You can be excited and enthusiastic. You can also be real and natural at the same time. Just be yourself.
When the inflection of your voice bounces up and down, you will find it difficult to truly engage your listener. Be real. Avoid the scoop.
Create Everything In Your Style
Create everything you do in your own style. You can only stand out among all other shows when you create your own unique style. You must then make sure everything you do is consistent with that style.
Many new broadcasters try to emulate the style of their hero or mentor. They attempt to imitate the styles they hear from other broadcasters. Unfortunately, copying doesn’t create a unique style. Copying typically creates a watered-down version of some other style. When creating your content, be yourself and find your own style.
Some of the greatest broadcasters didn’t start the ascension to the top until they abandoned the attempts to broadcast in the style they thought others desired and began being true to themselves.
Oprah Winfrey quit trying to be a traditional news anchor. She also quit doing the typical tabloid, daytime talk show. When she began to create the show she always desired, she went to the top of the game.
Howard Stern began as a radio DJ sounding like every other radio DJ. He was playing the records and spouting the lines written by management while going nowhere. When Stern decided he was going to do radio his way, he began to make a name for himself. He also went to the top.
Rush Limbaugh followed a very similar path. He had a cheesy radio name. He followed the format designed by somebody else. Limbaugh made every attempt to fulfill the typical radio DJ stereotype. He also got fired again and again. When he decided to broadcast in his style and true to his beliefs, he began his rise to the top.
Adam Corolla made his climb when he took full control over his style and show. He was climbing the DJ ladder in Los Angeles. Corolla had some decent television work. He then decided to create his own show in his own style via podcast. That began his rise as one of the biggest podcasters in the world.
All of these broadcasters made the decision to stop copying others. They all created shows that were true to their style.
They each also stay true to their style in everything they do. You will never hear Rush sound like Howard. You’ll never mistake something Oprah says as something Adam might say. Being true to their style isn’t something that takes conscious effort. It comes easy to each of them, because it is true to who they are as people.
Be true to yourself. It will make it easy to create everything you do in your style.
I’d love to help you with your podcast. E-mail any questions or comments you might have to Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com.
If you wish to have your audience/listener/customer act on your call-to-action (sales pitch, invitation, read your blog again), you must first create trust. People buy things from people they trust.
A person will only trust you if 1.) they believe you have their best interest at heart and 2.) they believe you trust them.
A relationship moves beyond acquaintance to friendship when trust is developed.
People will believe you trust them when you reveal things about yourself to them. Your revelations show you trust the other person to hear you without judgement.
If you give first, your counterpart will be more likely to give in return. If you show trust, they will eventually show trust in return.
When you tell great stories in your podcast, you begin to develop strong relationships with your listeners by revealing details about yourself and trusting your audience with those details.
Howard Stern reveals his inadequacies often on his show. Domino’s Pizza revealed their missteps in their latest ad campaign. When Oprah Winfrey revealed her personal issues and troubles, people loved her even more.
Create a trustworthy, solid, effective brand by telling great stories. Out of self-revelation comes trust.
When you have two hosts with the same opinion, one isn’t necessary.
Many shows have two hosts. It seems like one person grabbed their friend with similar interests and decided to create a show. Unfortunately, similar interests mean similar points of view. If both hosts have the same point of view, the second host isn’t adding anything new. The second host is usually just restating the same position as the host.
When both hosts have the same point of view, you’re just wasting the time of the listener while you are trying to get each personality mic time. It would be very similar to debating yourself.
“The Mike and Mike Show” demonstrates solid, differing points of view when discussing sports. On “The Howard Stern Show”, Howard Stern and Robin Quivers usually have opposing thoughts. In both shows, the different opinions add to the discussion rather than simply stating the same positions again.
There must be contrasting points of view between the personalities to justify the existence of each on the show. When you have two hosts with the same opinion on a podcast, sorry, one of you isn’t necessary.
A great podcast is a great relationship. It is just like creating a great brand. In order to develop that solid audience relationship, you must be yourself. You can’t fake it.
When you try to be someone or something you are not, you will not sound authentic. Eventually, the truth will come out.
Have you ever met someone you had admired from afar, only to have them do something that didn’t fit with your image of them? Maybe it was a baseball player, or a movie star, or a politician or a musician. You met them with great expectations of an encounter with your hero only to find out they were rude and average. It turned out they were only being who they thought they should be for the public when really they were someone completely different in real life.
Everyone has their flaws. That is what makes them human. Howard Stern has flaws. He makes his flaws part of his radio show. Domino’s Pizza admitted the errors of their ways with their cheap, low quality pizza. They laid it out for the world to see in their marketing. Your listener will accept your flaws. They will feel like you are “one of them” when you admit to your flaws upfront. Don’t be afraid to expose yourself.
When your listener discovers you are something other than the character you portray, the bond of trust will be demolished. Your relationship will be forever damaged.
Create everything you do in your own style. You can only stand out among all other shows when you create your own unique style. You must then make sure everything you do is consistent with that style.
Many new broadcasters try to emulate the style of their hero or mentor. They attempt to imitate the styles they hear from other broadcasters. Unfortunately, copying doesn’t create a unique style. Copying typically creates a watered-down version of some other style. When creating your content, be yourself and find your own style.
Some of the greatest broadcasters didn’t start the ascension to the top until they abandoned the attempts to broadcast in the style they thought others desired and began being true to themselves.
Oprah Winfrey quit trying to be a traditional news anchor. She also quit doing the typical tabloid, daytime talk show. When she began to create the show she always desired, she went to the top of the game.
Howard Stern began as a radio DJ sounding like every other radio DJ. He was playing the records and spouting the lines written by management while going nowhere. When Stern decided he was going to do radio his way, he began to make a name for himself. He also went to the top.
Rush Limbaugh followed a very similar path. He had a cheesy radio name. He followed the format designed by somebody else. Limbaugh made every attempt to fulfill the typical radio DJ stereotype. He also got fired again and again. When he decided to broadcast in his style and true to his beliefs, he began his rise to the top.
Adam Corolla made his climb when he took full control over his style and show. He was climbing the DJ ladder in Los Angeles. Corolla had some decent television work. He then decided to create his own show in his own style via podcast. That began his rise as one of the biggest podcasters in the world.
All of these broadcasters made the decision to stop copying others. They all created shows that were true to their style.
They each also stay true to their style in everything they do. You will never hear Rush sound like Howard. You’ll never mistake something Oprah says as something Adam might say. Being true to their style isn’t something that takes a conscious effort. It comes easy to each of them, because it is true to who they are as people.
Be true to yourself. It will make it easy to create everything you do in your style.
