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If you want to create a successful podcast, you need a strong “why”. If you don’t have a powerful reason for creating your show, it will feel like work trying to record it each week. This week, I will show you my “why” and share my story.
TRAINING
Before we start, I have a few great resources for you this week.
I am doing another free workshop for you. It is called “6 Ways To Make Money With Your Podcast”. If you want to make money with your podcast, this will help you develop your strategy.
In this workshop, we will develop ideas for your show. You will receive a workbook to give you a clear focus for your strategy.
Do you want to leverage your audience and authority in your niche to monetize your show?
Do you want to grow your audience to consistently produce your show and promote your content in just a few minutes a day?
On this training, you will discover …
- How to transform your show into a successful podcast using your personality
- Why some podcasts don’t make money and how to avoid these pitfalls
- How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast
- How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode to grow your audience
- And much more
Get registered at www.podcasttalentcoach.com/growth.
LIBSYN
If you need a host for your audio, be careful of the free services. Companies that offer their service for free often have a difficult time making money. If they aren’t making money, they can’t stay in business very long.
If your hosting company closes their doors and goes away, your audio goes away as well. All of your work is down the drain. Find a solid company and pay for great service.
I am now an affiliate of Libsyn. My show has been hosted on Libsyn since it began back in 2013. They also have fantastic support to help you set up your feed and move your show if you need it.
You can get your first month free using the coupon code PTC at Libsyn.com.
PODCAST EDITING
If you are spending too much time editing and posting your podcast and not enough time trying to attract listeners or building a business around your show, I now have a team ready to takeover your editing.
There are three packages available. You can start with the basic service that includes simple editing, mixing and mastering. Or you can go all in with the premium service that handles YouTube video, promoting, SEO, timestamps, show notes, and more.
You can find all of the packages at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/editing.
WHY YOU NEED A WHY
To build your podcast audience, you need a strong “why”. Building an audience takes consistency. Consistency builds trust.
People are creatures of habit. They typically listen to your podcast on the same day each week. It is a habit.
When your listeners come for your show, you new episode better be there. If they come and you haven’t posted on schedule, your credibility begins to deteriorate. You said you would do something and you didn’t.
Getting into the studio and recording a new episode every week takes dedication. If your purpose isn’t well-defined, it can become a struggle to make yourself stick to the schedule.
When you have a burning desire to lose weight, going to the gym is much easier. The same is true with your podcast. When you have a true, devoted “why” and purpose, getting into the studio become easier.
Find your “why” somewhere in your story. How did you get here? Why are you passionate about your subject and niche?
MY STORY
My whole life I wanted to own my own business and be my own boss. I grew up with a single mom in a household that was probably in the low income bracket, but I never knew it.
Sure, we were challenged by money. We may have been broke at one time or another. But we were never poor. My mom never had that mentality.
Mom waited tables at night, cleaned houses during the day, and created amazing wedding cakes on the side. She did whatever it took to provide for us.
That is probably why I never knew how little money we had. It wasn’t until I had to fill out financial aid forms for college that I discovered our situation. The application required parental tax forms.
My mom’s tax return said she made $12,013 in the past year. Even in the 80s, $12k wasn’t a lot to live on.
She taught my brother and me the value of hard work. And I started early.
I was hustling Christmas cards door-to-door off the back of Boys Life magazine by the age of 10. When I was 12, I bought two cases of gum at a white elephant sale and sold it out of my school locker.
If there was a gig to be had, I was trying it. We held magic shows and homemade haunted houses for the kids in the neighborhood in our garage. I was throwing newspapers and babysitting.
When I was 15, I was doing magic shows for birthday parties. My sister-in-law was my agent booking me gigs. Her son was my first show.
ARCHITECTURE
By the time I was 12, I knew I wanted to be an architect and own my own firm. I loved being creative within a set of strict parameters. It was my creative and analytical sides working together.
I started taking classes and had my first job as a draftsman by 17. I was on my way.
College took me to the University of Nebraska to study architecture at one of the best schools in the country. However by the third year, I realized I was on the wrong path.
Computers had come in and taken over architecture. It lost the magic drafting had once held for me. My corporate ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.
THE NEW DOOR
Then one day, a new door opened for me. I discovered radio.
My brother was working part-time at a local radio station. The manager called to see if my brother could fill in for somebody, but my brother wasn’t home. I knew the manager from another job I held. He asked if I would be interested in some part-time hours at the station.
I was a broke college kid at the time. Extra money is always a good thing when you’re in college. So, I took the gig.
For my architecture degree, I needed a few electives. Like any good college student, I looked for the easy classes and found Broadcasting for the Non-Major. I was already working in radio. How hard could that class be?
One night in class, the manager of the campus station came into the room. He said he was looking for a music director for the station. No experience necessary. No need to be a journalism major.
I had always loved music and was a broke college kid. Extra money is always a good thing when you’re in college. So, I took the gig … and loved it.
That gig turned into a full-time opportunity at another local station. Soon, I was building a career in broadcasting.
I finished my architecture degree and stayed in radio. That first full-time job paid me $12,000 a year. Though it was the same money my mom was making, my parents thought I was crazy. We just paid for a degree in architecture and I was taking a radio job for $12k.
NOT ENOUGH
Though I was having a lot of fun, the credit card companies and the tax man were soon hunting me down. Turns out it is hard to make ends meet on $12k.
I picked up another job in a warehouse and a third job DJing weddings. Just like mom taught me, I did what I had to do to climb out of that hole.
Soon I was making $26,000. Then $36k. Then $46k. I paid my dues doing overnight radio, but it was paying off.
My goal was to eventually own my own radio station. My desire to own my own business and be my own boss was still there. It just looked a little different. I even got my Masters Degree in Business Administration to help make my dream come true.
I had a passion for creating great radio. Coaching the talent was my favorite part of the job. I learned all I could building amazing radio stations with great music, entertaining personalities and fun promotions.
One time, we had half a dozen contestants spend a week in a truly haunted house doing various challenges to win a trip to the Grammy Awards.
Another contest we created involved putting 6 listeners in a van to travel across the country to New York City. Along the way, they would do various challenges in different cities and vote someone off the trip. That loser would get bussed back to town as the others continued along the journey. The winner got to see the Michael Jackson tribute concert in NYC.
One winter, we invited listeners to build sleds out of cardboard boxes and clear plastic tape. They could decorate the racer any way they would like. On Saturday, we brought everyone out to the ski park to race the boxes down the hill. The winner got a wad of cash.
The promotions and marketing plans we were creating were generating buzz in the market. This was my life and I loved it.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Until one day, radio became big business. With the passage of the telecom act in the late 80s, radio started to change over the next decade. Suddenly, the little guy was out and large corporations were in.
Big companies started buying all of the stations. Radio become homogenized. The little guys could no longer buy the good stations. It all started sounding the same.
This was no longer the dream I had. The creativity and entrepreneurial nature of radio had been sucked out. It was replaced with best practices and formulas.
PODCASTING
That’s when I discovered podcasting. The creativity returned. All of the freedom was back. We could one again entertain and control our own shows.
I finally started to really be myself and develop my own personal brand. Rather than being somebody others wanted me to be, I was allowed to be me.
Now, I have a thriving business helping others discover that same passion. I show podcasters how to create great content, grow an audience and build a business around their show without spending 30 years learning it like I did.
The magic is back and I’m spreading it as much as I can.
MY WHY
That is why I do this show every week. My “why” drives me to give you great content you can use each and every week. A burning desire makes it easy to get into the studio every week and produce this podcast.
Take 30 minutes this week and write your story. What is your true “why”? When you find it, your podcast content will start pouring out of you.
I would love to help you even more. Join me for my for my free workshop.
Sign up at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth.
It is a free workshop for you called “6 Ways To Make Money With Your Podcast”. If you want to make money with your podcast, this will help you develop your strategy.
In this workshop, we will develop ideas for your show. You will receive a workbook to help you develop a clear focus for your strategy.
If you want to leverage your audience and authority in your niche to monetize your show, and grow your audience and promote your content in just a few minutes a day, this workshop is for you.
Get registered at www.podcasttalentcoach.com/growth. I’ll see you there.
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.