Podcast Talent Coach

INTERVIEW GUESTS AND MORE Podcasters have been hitting me up with great questions looking for answers. Today we talk about booking big name guests and demonstrating your expertise during interviews without talking the spotlight from your guests. We will also answer questions about bringing energy to your podcast, podcasting 2.0, and the pros and cons of joining a podcast network. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, email me at coach@podcasttalentcoach.com. PASSION AND ENERGY I remember you always said to be authentic. And I’m doing just that. However, I feel that I lack energy. I certainly don’t feel like I’m boring. And the stats are showing it. Something inside of me keeps telling me that I shouldn't decide how exciting I sound, it’s my audience that will decide that. How do I overcome the need to feel that I need to bring the energy like John Lee Dumas but I’m afraid I will sound like a rodeo cowboy? I just want to be me. -Edwin Soler – Closing the 18 Inch Gap TWO DIFFERENT THINGS Passion and energy are two different things. You don’t need to be JLD wild to have passion. When I hear you talking about the people you help or the struggles you’ve encountered at your last job, you get passionate. That doesn’t mean you are overly energetic. You definitely do NOT want to sound like a bad wedding DJ or some horrible car lot commercial. People can easily identify fake energy. It's like a fake smile. Faking it will blow any trust you've developed with your audience. But being authentic will endear you to your audience. Authenticity is being real and revealing things about yourself. Being authentic is about stirring emotion. Think of a suspense thriller you've seen. These movies aren't over the top enthusiastic. However, I would argue they have a lot of energy. Suspense thrillers have you sitting on the edge of your seat with a knot in your stomach wondering what will happen next. Don't confuse sounding exciting with being exciting. BRING YOUR PASSION As you approach your podcast, be passionate about the topics you select. Smile a bit, and let the audience feel your enthusiasm for the content. It is similar to reading a story to your audience versus telling them a story. Reading the story to the audience doesn't have the same excitement and connection. When you deliver your content, vary your inflection a little. Stir different emotions throughout the content. Make them smile a bit. Get them choked up. Surprise them. Get under their skin and annoy them a little. Above all, let your audience get to know you. When you stir emotion and you talk about content that is interesting to you, I have no doubt you’ll be authentic, energetic, and enthusiastic. CONNECTING WITH GUESTS What are some good strategies to attract and connect with celebrities to appear as guests on my podcast? My podcast is "Cancer and Comedy: Healing Through Hope and Humor" and can be found at cancerandcomedy.com. I'm looking to have guests who are entertainers and other public figures who have faced cancer and have a story to tell of how they overcame their circumstances to have success. Two examples of dream guests would be Michael J. Fox and his Parkinson's Foundation and SNL performer Vanessa Bayer who overcame Leukemia. -Brad Miller – Cancer and Comedy WHO DO YOU KNOW For really big stars, reach out to their publicist. I Googled Michael J. Fox publicist and found Sharron Elkabas and her phone number. A quick search of the publicists for stars will help you get started. You might also consider a subscription to IMDb Premium. The cost is $12.50/month when you buy an annual subscription. That membership will give you contact info to most representatives. When you are reaching out to people to appear on your show, lead with what's in it for them. How will the guest benefit by being on your show? You might start with people who have something to promote, like a book or new movie. They have a bigger incentive to make...

USING PUBLICITY TO GROW YOUR AUDIENCE To grow your audience, you need to consistently attract new listeners. Marketing your podcast requires publicity and public relations. YOUR PUBLICITY Publicity is defined as notice or attention given to someone or something by the media. Getting on other podcasts could be considered publicity. You're leveraging media to draw attention to you and your show. The average podcast listeners consumes around 8 different podcasts each week. To draw attention to your show, get on other podcasts. But you can also use other media as well. My client Greg Payne hosts the Cool Grandpa podcast where he helps grandfathers connect to their grandchildren in more powerful ways. Greg was featured in an article in the New York Times. His monthly downloads doubled overnight. That New York Times article led to another article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Get outside of your insulated circle and find other media who can highlight you. THE ART OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relations is defined as the state of the relationship between the public and a company or other organization or a famous person. Use publicity to improve your public relations. You know I'm big on relationships. The rapport you're building is the foundation of all sales. There are a variety of ways to let people get to know you and build those relationships. Getting interviewed on other podcasts is my favorite way. But you can also share your story in newspaper interviews, magazine articles, blog features, Facebook lives, YouTube video interviews, and any other opportunity you can find to get in front of your ideal target listeners. MAKE IT EASY To get others to interview you, make it easy. Post your speaker sheet on your website for easy access. You can see my speaker sheet on my website at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/speaker. When people are interested in interviewing you, direct them to your speaker sheet. This will contain how they will benefit by interviewing you. It also lists the best ways to contact you. A speaker sheet helps you appear professional and organized. It will make it easier for people to contact you for publicity. I'm always looking for opportunities to be interviewed. If you would like to have me on your show, let's see if we can find a time to make that work. Email me at coach@podcasttalentcoach.com and let's make it happen. JILL LUBLIN To help you with your publicity and public relations, I'd like to share this interview I did with Jill Lublin. Jill is an international speaker on the topics of Publicity, Networking, Kindness and Referrals. She is the host of the "Jill Lublin Show" and author of 4 Best Selling books. Her latest book, Profit of Kindness went #1 in four categories. Jill is a master strategist on how to position your business for more profitability and more visibility in the marketplace. She is CEO of a strategic consulting firm and has over 25 years experience working with over 100,000 people plus national and international media. To make an even bigger impact, Jill also leads a conscious kindness community. Enjoy my conversation with Jill Lublin. Such a great conversation with Jill Lublin. You can grab her free publicity action guide at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jill. Grow your audience by getting in front of new listeners. Find new people you can invite into your audience. Get started this 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.

CONTENT ISN'T KING It is often said that content is King. That isn't necessarily true. Content by itself won't gain you an audience. Content isn't King. Great content is King. Anybody can copy information. Your content needs to be infused with story and personality to really connect with listeners. To help you create more powerful interviews, grab my list of "17 of the most Powerful Podcast Interview Questions Ever". It is a free download you can get at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview. BE UNIQUE It really hit me one time when I was interviewing a musician on the air. I won't mention his name, because he called me out right there in the middle of the interview. Before our conversation, I went online and read his bio. I went through the news release they sent me about the new album and the tour. Once the interview began, I felt pretty good. We were rolling along with the standard questions and he was giving the standard answers. In what city will the tour start? When does the album come out.? What can we expect when you roll through here? Then I asked him a question about a detail in his bio. I though it was something unique. But he said, "Well, I see somebody read my bio." That's when I realized I couldn't just ask typical questions and get typical answers. To create great interviews, I needed to get my guests to tell great stories. Everything I was doing to this point was simply a derivative of someone else. I was a cliché, a poor knock off. Why would anyone listen to me when they could get the same thing by listening a variety of other interviews with the same guest? From there, I took my original content and made it great. CONTENT WITH STORIES Later in my career I was interviewing Preston Brust of the country band LOCASH. He and Chris Lucas had been working hard for years writing songs for themselves and others while also recording and touring. LOCASH had a few different record deals, but had never had that big hit they needed to break through. Other artists were recording songs the two had written, but none of those had hit either. In 2011, country superstar Keith Urban not only decided to record a song written by Preston and Chris, but he was going to release it as a single. When I was talking with Preston, I asked him what it felt like when he got the call that Keith Urban was releasing their song. Here is what he said. "Things weren't going so good. I get this phone call. I'm in the backseat of my friends car and I get this phone call and it sounded like something was wrong. And he says, 'I'm sitting next to Keith Urban and he just told me that 'You Gonna Fly' is going to be his next single, and he's releasing it next week.' And I literally had them stop the car and I got out of the car and I just let out this yell. It just felt like I'm back." They were back. That song went to number one on the country charts. Preston and Chris then wrote a hit for Tim McGraw and eventually a top 5 hit for themselves. I guarantee that question about how it felt to get that call hasn't been asked many times if ever of Preston. We created such a relationship over the years that he still texts me. They just finished their latest song called "Hometown Home" and he sent me the early version. That kind of relationship doesn't happen with typical questions and standard answers. Your audience also isn't attracted to typical interviews. Be different. BE YOURSELF Over the years, my style and content developed. I became myself. That is when my show became #1. My content was original and fresh. Nobody else was doing it. If your content isn't great, nothing else matters. The production of your podcast could be the best available. You could have all the bells and whistles available in your studio, including the best mic. The marketing of your podcast could incredibly creative and unique. However, if the content is average, no one will care. Don't simply go through the motions creating your content. Find a unique...

PEOPLE STAY FOR YOUR PERSONALITY People come for your content. They stay because of your personality. We have heard it so often. People do business with those they know, like and trust. It's all about building rapport. People like you and fall in love with you because of your personality and story. On this episode, I want to share with you a session I did recently during my Audience Explosion Blueprint Workshop. This was a powerful 3-day workshop where I helped a group of podcasters build their strategy to grow their audience. This particular session will help you develop your personality and begin building powerful relationships with your audience. YOUR UNIQUE STYLE And what I want to help you do in this session is really get clear on your personality. Your personality is your unique style. A lot of people think personality means I need to be funny or I need to be over the top, I need to be this big, boisterous, iconic personality. Personality just means you're uniquely you. It it's what makes you different from everybody else. There are 4 or 5 characteristics that you possess that people love about you. Listeners may say things like I love how warm she is, or I love how inviting he is. I love how he listens. I love how attentive he is. He's always able to distill my problems down to 1 or 2 sentences. I love how he makes me laugh, or I love how she makes me smile when she walks in the room. There are plenty of characteristics that you can have that make you uniquely you and why people love you. I want to help you figure out how to bring more of that into your content. Your personality is what keeps people coming back week after week and episode after episode. Your personality is why people fall in love with you. The content gets listeners to come. Your personality gets them to stay. NOT JUST CONTENT ALONE If you rely only on content, you're a commodity. I can get content anywhere. Not only on other podcasts, but I can get content in books and blogs and websites and videos and everywhere else. However, I can't get you anywhere else other than your show. So if you think of various subjects like cooking, how many cooking shows are there? How many cooking channels are there? And politics... everybody is talking politics these days. Anybody can interview celebrities and athletes. What makes these shows different? What makes the cream of the crop rise to the top? It's all of their personality. If you think of somebody like Rachael Ray, she doesn't have a background as a culinary chef. She's just a mom that gets in the kitchen and makes up easy stuff for her family to eat. And, women love her for it. Rush Limbaugh took political talk and really brought back AM radio by adding his personality into it and adding a little humor into it. He added his sarcasm and his wit. Rush was also incredibly knowledgeable about the subject matter. So many people try to copy Rush, but they can't because they can't copy Rush's personality. OPRAH'S PERSONALITY It is the same thing with Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, Sally Jesse Raphael, and Phil Donahue. Every channel had one of those talk shows on it where it was sensationalism. It was tabloid sort of conversation. They were all doing the exact same thing. Oprah decided she didn't want do the exact same thing. She wanted to do a show her way and talk to people that interested her. Oprah wanted to talk about things that are meaningful, not only to her, but to her audience, to the women who were watching every day. And so she talked started talking about weight loss and started talking about the books that she loved, and she started talking about all of those things. Next thing you know, Oprah rises above all the rest, and Oprah becomes Oprah instead of Oprah Winfrey. It's how she became who she is, because she stopped trying to be like everybody else and started being herself. Oprah started being her authentic self. BOB COSTAS I watched Bob Costas. Bob is so knowledgeable about the...

When it comes to growing your podcast and building your business, a joint venture partnership is a powerful way to find success. Many people view a JV partnership in a very simplistic way. The most common JV partnership is an agreement to promote a product or service in exchange for an affiliate commission. But, there are many other ways to leverage a JV partnership. Why would people want to promote you? This is a common question, especially if you have a small audience or small email list. There are various reasons, and money is only one of them. PARTNERSHIP FOR MONEY Money is surely one motivation for promotion. This is what most people think of when they hear JV partnership. In this agreement, you would provide your promotional partner an affiliate link through your system like ThriveCart. You can see the power of ThriveCart at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/ThriveCart. Your partner promotes your offer using their affiliate link. When their audience makes a purchase through your link, your partner earns a commission on the sale. You can also created a simple referral system if you're a coach. In this system, your partner would send an introductory email to you and the person they are referring to you. If that person signs up for your coaching, you can pay your referral partner a referral fee. This method requires a little more manual work, but you don't need a lot of software to help you set it up. Just track it with a spreadsheet. YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY The second reason people would promote you is because they love you. Your friends and family would be willing to promote you, because they want to see you succeed. Reach out to the people you know who also know others who could be your ideal client. Ask if they will help you spread the word. YOUR CONTENT People may want to promote you, because they love what you do. Your superfans love to be part of a winning team. When Alex Hormozi launched his new book “$100M Leads”, he had thousands of people promoting him. These people received a bonus chapter of the book when they hit a threshold. Alex's partners weren't in it for the money. They just loved what Alex teaches and wanted to be part of something exciting. He simply empowered his superfans to spread the word. PARTNERSHIP SWAPS The next reason people might promote you is for exchange of promotions. Partners will often promote you in exchange for promoting them. Sometimes, your list isn't big enough to match your partner's list. How can you give equal exchange? My tech guy wanted to be part of an AI summit. Unfortunately, he didn't have an email list largest enough to qualify. My tech guy came to me and offered some services in exchange for using my list. I will email about the summit to fulfill his obligation to the summit. In exchange, I will receive some tech work. He will promote the summit. In exchange, he will get exposure to the summit audience to promote his services. Get creative with your partnerships. ASSOCIATION PARTNERSHIP That other reason people might promote you is for association. These people may want to gain the credibility just by being associated with you. I volunteered as the Dean of Podcasting in Dan Miller's 48 Days Eagles community. I happily offered value in the community and promoted it whenever I could. The biggest benefit I received was being associated with Dan. He was a great man, and I was honored to be part of his world. Find people who want to be in your world. WAYS TO PROMOTE There are a variety of ways people can promote you and you can promote others when you create a partnership. The easiest way is to feature them on your podcast and get on their show. This is the best way to grow your audience. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts. Get on other shows. Cross promotion is the second way to promote each other. This can be in exchange for money as described before. It could also be simple exposure. In a cross-promotion, I could mail your lead magnet offer...

Your great content will only get you so far. You need to master marketing in order to succeed. It's not just marketing your business. You also need to grow your podcast with powerful marketing. It all works as a system. I recently spoke with a few podcasters on the verge of throwing in the towel and ending their podcast. However, I've had a few conversations with other podcasters who are doubling down and going all in. The difference between the two groups is marketing. To build a successful podcast, lean into your marketing. THE ROI The first podcaster, let's call her Anne to protect her identity. She is frustrated by the perceived lack of return on investment. Ann told me, "Although I love podcasting, I am not sure I can justify the investment of time and money for the ROI that I am receiving right now in leads and revenue. I am just not seeing that things will shift soon enough and I know it's a long game. I haven't decided yet if I am pausing the show or going to do seasons or how I am moving forward but I know I need to step back from everything and reevaluate." This is common in all podcasting. There is an old saying in the advertising world. It is to marketing pioneer John Wanamaker. He is quoted as saying, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don't know which half." Marketing is cumulative. Each piece add to the next. Business owners want to believe if they run an ad on Facebook, it immediately generates a sale. That isn't how marketing works. THE SUM OF THE PARTS Here is an example of how your marketing might work. Your ideal client will hear you mentioned on another podcast. Awareness has begun. She hears you interviewed on another podcast. Now she might think hmm, that brand sounds familiar. When she next sees you on a summit, familiarity starts to set in. She might download your lead magnet. Next she might see your logo as a sponsor of an event. That triggers memory of the lead magnet that she digs up to review. Your lead magnet gets her to check out your podcast. She listens to a few episodes and starts to understand what you do. Finally, she comes across your Facebook ad. She clicks the ad and takes action to schedule a call with you. So, let me ask you this... Which piece of your marketing worked? The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It all builds on each other. Each part serves a purpose. Your podcast allows you to build the relationship with your audience over time. When she is ready for your solution, you are top of mind. It truly is a long game. You don't become best friend with anyone overnight. MARKETING FOR REVENUE The next podcaster needed to focus on revenue. Let's call him Bill. Bill was a couple dozen episodes into his show. He was getting frustrated with the lack of growth. When we talked, Bill told me, "I'm pausing everything right now to get other pieces in place. I need to focus on things that generate revenue. Right now, I have so many things swirling around that I'm not getting clear. I'm getting derailed and distracted." What Bill needs is a strategy. How does the podcast fit into the overall revenue generating strategy for his business? "Build it and they will come" sounds great when Kevin Costner's character hears it in the movie Field of Dreams. But the real world isn't like that. Growing your audience takes marketing. Not advertising, but marketing. The Oxford Dictionary definition of marketing is, "the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising." Advertising is part of marketing. But all marketing isn't necessarily advertising. Everything you do to make people aware of your product, service, podcast, or anything else is marketing. When you mention your podcast from the stage, you are marketing. Mentioning the show in your newsletter is marketing. If you're getting interviewed on another podcast and you mention your show, you're marketing. MARKETING...

CREATING PODCAST MONEY Many podcasters want to create a profit from their podcast. However, most lack a strategy to generate revenue and grow their business. NO PROFIT FROM MY COURSE When I created my first product for Podcast Talent Coach, it was a complete flop. Nobody wanted it. I started a mastermind in 2013 with 8 of my entrepreneurial friends. We all had aspirations to create successful businesses. Podcast Talent Coach was just getting off the ground. I had also purchased Brendon Burchard's Total Product Blueprint. As I went through the program, I created my plan. The mastermind helped me refine it. My first product was a course. It was the Podcast Talent Coach system. This program was designed to help podcasters transform their information into entertainment and turn their podcast into powerful, profitable relationships. The course was a 7-disc set that covered everything you need to know to create a successful podcast. It had everything I learned over my decades of radio experience being on the air, coaching talent, and programming radio stations. It started with the magic of audio and using theater of the mind. We talked about content creation, storytelling, and getting results for listeners. Disc 2 was about the structure and strategy for your podcast. We then got into content consistency and the power of one-on-one communication. The course included how to prepare for each show to ensure you reach your goals and lead your listeners to your call to action. It covered how to review your show for constant improvement. We then got into generating revenue and using your podcast to grow your business. Finally, the course laid out how to get started and put it all into action. It even had an accompanying workbook to walk you through all of the steps. As you can see, it covered everything. Unfortunately, nobody wanted everything. WHAT TO SELL People just want the solution to their most pressing problem. The more I talked with my listeners, the more I discovered they had two big problems. First, they wanted to grow their show and increase their downloads. Next, they wanted to profit from their podcast. These podcasters needs to master storytelling and content creation. They needed to build an effective structure for their show. However, they didn't WANT it. Sell what your listeners want. Give them what they need. Sell the outcome, the benefit, and the transformation. They don't care about the process to get there. That's when I changed my strategy. I created my Audience Explosion Blueprint program. You can see that at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience. I also created my Podcast Profits Accelerator membership. You can see that at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/accelerator. When I started to focus, my business began to grow. YOUR IDEAL CLIENT Begin by talking with your listeners and ideal clients. Ask about their challenges and struggles. Then, create a solution to help them overcome those problems. When you create the solution to their most pressing problems, it becomes much easier to generate a profit with your podcast. Sell the outcome and the benefit. They won't care about the calls or videos or templates. Your potential clients only want the outcome. My clients only want to grow their audience and profit from their show. They don't really care how we get there. The membership and coaching calls and resource library aren't important until they buy into the transformation. Start by having conversations. PROFIT FROM YOUR PODCAST Dave Jackson is the host of the School of Podcasting podcast. He is also author of the best seller Profit From Your Podcast: Proven Strategies To Turn Listeners Into a Livelihood. He launched the School of Podcasting in 2005 and was inducted into the Podcasting Hall of Fame in 2018. Dave joined me on the Podcast Profits Summit to talk about overcoming your challenges without spending thousands of dollars. I want to share that session with you today. To get...

Have you had little success finding new listeners and growing your podcast downloads? You aren't alone. THE CHALLENGE WITH DOWNLOADS I recently sent an email to my tribe asking about the biggest challenge most podcasters face. Podcasters like you mentioned things like these as their biggest challenges... Finding more subscribers interested in my content I need perfect people listening to my podcast I'm trying all things to increase downloads Learning to build an interactive community What else can I do to grow my downloads I have no email list I need a strategy Have you had similar struggles? You've tried many things. Empty promises is all you get from the webinars you've attended. It is time you get a growth strategy that works. That's why I've turned my Audience Explosion Blueprint program into a powerful 3-day workshop. I shot a video all about it. You can see it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience. During the Audience Explosion Blueprint workshop, you'll develop a REAL strategy to consistently and easily grow your podcast audience. This event will help you quickly and easily explode your audience without the frustration, hard work and guessing. To overcome your growth struggles, join us. You can see all the details and get registered at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience. PODCASTS FADE AWAY Podcasts fade away for 3 reasons. Podcasters give up because podcasting is more work than they thought it was going to be. They don't have a system in place to produce their show easily and consistently. Podcasters give up because downloads of their show doesn't grow as fast as they thought it would. They don't have a strategy in place to help them grow consistently. And finally, podcasters give up because the show doesn't make money as fast as they thought it would. They don't have a process in place to grow a business with their podcast. DOWNLOADS WITH SPRAY AND PRAY Let's talk about growing your downloads. Many podcasters approach growing their downloads with a spray and pray approach. They try a million things and wonder why nothing works. Imagine you were trying to lose weight. Today, you try cutting out all carbs. Yesterday, you tried riding the stationary bike for 30 minutes. The day before that you didn't do anything, because you got busy. You tried the Atkins diet the day before that. It was walking around the neighborhood the day before that. You only ate Lean Cuisine meals the day before that. Unfortunately, you missed two days, because you were out of town. But you ate nothing but vegetables the day before you left town. You hit the gym for the first time in 3 months the day before that. This has been going on for 3 weeks and you wonder why you haven't lost any weight. When you dabble in a variety of tactics, nothing seems to work. But when you focus on a few select tactics and work consistently, you have a better chance of experiencing results. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Before we can talk tactics, we need to talk fundamentals. YOUR POWERFUL WHY Why do you want to grow your downloads? A powerful "why" can be inspirational to you and your tribe. Podcasters give me many reasons they want to grow their downloads. It could be to spread your message. Maybe you want to build your authority. Growing your downloads can help you grow your business or market your goods and services. Maybe you want to grow your downloads so you can be a thought leader. Or you're creating a home base for your tribe to find you. Growing your downloads could help you have more impact in the world. Maybe you want to generate more revenue or have a bigger and better reputation. There are many reasons you might want to grow your podcast downloads. And all of these reasons are valuable and worthy. But you can't choose all of them. You need to select a reason that is meaningful to you. The reason must stir the fire inside of you and inspire you. Your why can't be for anyone other than...

OVERCOMING YOUR CHALLENGE What is your biggest challenge? I asked that recently to podcasters on my email list. On this episode, I'll help you through a few of them. DO THE WORK Whatever your challenge, do the little work daily to build your foundation. Country artist Chris Young is a great example. The first time Chris Young came to town was around 2009. He played in the radio station conference room to about 20 people. This was shortly after he was the winner of the 4 season of the TV show "Nashville Star" in 2006. The next time here in town, he played to a small club with a few other artists for a few hundred people. Over the next few years, Chris returned to town as the opening act for a variety of other artists. Each time he played to a few more people than the last. Finally in 2019, Chris came to town to headline his own show for about 5,000 people. He has done that a few other times since then. Here is a guy that got great exposure on a television singing competition with a big audience. He has put in the consistent and methodical work over time to get where he is today. Other artists on the singing shows don't make it, because they haven't put in the work to create the relationship over time. Just look at the winners of American Idol, like Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks. They didn't put in the work. Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have been working for years to get where they are today even after their American Idol start. You can't create a relationship in 20 weeks of a tv season. It takes years. Do the work. Get rich slowly. Whatever your challenge, give it time. Let's look at a few of these questions. THE DOWNLOADS CHALLENGE I’m trying all the things to increase downloads. I send out a weekly email and post on social media. I also mention my podcast when it’s applicable on music teacher Facebook groups. I’ve been a guest on a few podcasts. I guess my biggest challenge is not knowing what else I can do to grow downloads. They are increasing but very slowly. Maybe that’s normal? Thanks, - Jeanette Yes, Jeanette, that is normal. I know we don't like to hear that it takes time. But, it takes time. Rarely will you see your downloads grow at a huge rate unless you get in front of a large pool of your ideal clients. Greg Payne is one of my clients. He hosts the Cool Grandpa podcast. As he was growing his podcast, he was able to get mentioned in an article in the New York Times. Who reads the New York Times? Typically a lot of people who are grandparents. Greg doubled his downloads overnight. Getting into the New York Times isn't something we can do everyday. However, you can find other influencers who speak to your ideal clients. Those influencers make great partners. To find the influencers who have the attention of your ideal target listener, begin by defining your listener. You can do that quickly and easily by downloading my Ideal Target Listener Worksheet here: www.podcasttalentcoach.com/listener. Keep working both sides of the growth equation. First, keep your current listeners coming back. Your email and social media tactics will help remind your fans to listen. Then, find those new ideal clients and invite them into your world. Get them on your email list, so you can email them as well. The podcast interviews you are doing should help. Let's find other areas to ramp it up. Above all else, create great content, share yourself, and be consistent. THE GUEST CHALLENGE My biggest challenge is getting the guests to share the episode. - Kate This is another common challenge, Kate. We can't expect our guest to share, but it is always great when they do. There are two things you can do. First, select better guests. Next, make it incredibly easy for them. Let's talk about better guests. Dave Jackson at the School of Podcasting is a great guest. When he is interviewed on a podcast, he will play a clip of that interview on his own show. Dave will...

CREATING A POWERFUL PODCAST MESSAGE Your message can be powerful when you clearly understand whom you're targeting. A message designed for everyone reaches no one. MIXED MESSAGE I was on a podcast strategy call with two nurses the other day. They help healthcare practitioners decrease anxiety and stress, calm down their inner voice and enjoy life. Their goal is to bring resilience to humanity. Part of their curriculum is continuing education for healthcare providers. As we talked, we realized most of their clients are nurses. Though doctors and other healthcare providers can benefit from their content, nurses make up the majority of the revenue. We often get scared of losing a client. People tell me, "Yeah, but I can help them, too." I understand you can help everyone. However, you don't have enough time to help everyone. You also don't have enough time and money to market to everyone. The biggest problem with trying to help everyone is the clarity of your message. CLEAR RESULT If these two try to create content for everyone, how can they possibly frame the content for nurses and doctors? They have different needs and pain points. A surgeon comes in for about an hour. They are in a very high pressure situation for a short burst. Then they move on. Nurses have a little less pressure, but it is consistent. The pressure lasts for their entire eight or ten or twelve hour shift. When these two hosts try to speak to both doctors and nurses, the examples are mixed and the solutions are blurry. The content can be much more powerful when they focus on nurses alone. By focusing on nurses, the listener understands exactly what we are offering. She can see it is exactly what she needs. And, she has clarity on how it fits into her life. The listener can envision the results, because the examples are clear. She says, "I can relate – that sounds just like me." MISSING OUT By focusing on nurses, the hosts might miss out on a few doctors enrolling in their program. But, they will make it up by increasing the number of nurses that enroll. Let's say 80% of the clients are nurses and 20% are doctors. Let's also assume we have 100 clients. That would give us 80 nurses and 20 doctors. Now, let's say focusing only on nurses changes both sides by 20%. We lose 20% of our doctors and gain 20% more nurses, because we are now perfect for nurses. We would now have 96 nurses and 16 doctors. Our total number of clients just increased from 100 to 112 or 12%. They don't have enough doctors to lose. There are many more nurses to gain. When you narrow your message and focus, you will provide more clarity. You will gain more listeners and have more clients. Download your Ideal Listener Development Worksheet for free online at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/listener. YOUR MESSAGE Today, Janelle Anderson joins us to help us ensure our message isn't just heard, but felt. Stir emotion with your message. Janelle Anderson is known as the Speaking Confidence Coach for coaches. She is a Certified Professional Coach, author, and renowned speaker. Janelle is on a mission to empower coaches to launch on a strong foundation of clear messaging aimed at the audience most aligned with their passions and strengths. She helps coaches grow their business through masterful speaking and storytelling with her business, Emerging Life Coaching. I recently shared my message on Janelle's summit. She was recently a guest on my Podcast Profits Summit. This is that conversation. Be yourself. Your authentic message builds trust. You can download Janelle's Niche Discovery for Coaches for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/message. https://bit.ly/nichediscoveryvideos 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.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO GROW YOUR PODCAST? If you're like most podcasters, one of your biggest challenges you want to overcome is how to grow your podcast. I hear it often. Today, I want to help you dive deep into audience growth. IMPORTANT LINKS Here are links to those resources mentioned in this episode: Libsyn – Audio host for podcasters – https://libsyn.com The Feed – the official podcast of Libsyn – https://thefeed.libsyn.com Alex Hormozi – https://www.acquisition.com/bio-alex Dan Kennedy – Magnetic Marketing – https://magneticmarketing.com Taylor Swift – https://www.taylorswift.com Big Machine Records – https://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com Podcast Strategy Call – https://podcasttalentcoach.com/podcast-review-questionaire/ Send me an email at coach@podcasttalentcoach.com. MAKE THEM CARE In this episode, we dive deep into the challenges faced by many podcasters when it comes to growing their listenership. You receive invaluable insights into why some podcasts stagnate and what you can do to overcome these hurdles. We start with the critical importance of making your audience care. Provide unique value in your episodes. Infuse each episode with authenticity and stay true to yourself. We discuss strategies to build a relationship with your listeners, such as cleverly weaving your episodes together and harnessing specific tactics designed to not only attract but also retain a dedicated audience. TWO SIDES There are two sides to the audience growth equation. To grow, you must spend time attracting new listeners. Then, invest time keeping your current listeners coming back episode after episode. Maintain regular contact with your existing listeners to keep them invested in your podcast. Reach out frequently. While many podcasters dream of reaching a staggering 5,000 downloads per episode to successfully sell ads, the sobering statistic is that only 7% of podcasts hit those numbers. That is according to Rob Walch at Libsyn. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY The quality of your audience is more significant than sheer numbers. Therefore, it starts by identifying your ideal client. Identifying your ideal target listener and developing content specifically tailored to their interests and needs is key to cultivating a meaningful connection. I share a few stories from my radio career, illustrating the importance of forging a genuine bond with listeners. It starts by being your authentic self, as mimicking others won't create the same loyal following. Being relevant, interesting, and true to your identity are the cornerstones of developing a consistent audience that returns each episode. You can't please everyone - it’s better to focus on resonating deeply with the right people. STRATEGY VS. TACTICS You need a strategic approach to audience growth. There is a big difference between having a strategy – an overarching plan – and the tactics – the individual actions within that plan. I'm creating a workshop to help you grow your audience. I want to ensure it is extremely powerful for you. When it comes to increasing your downloads, what is your biggest challenge? Send me an email and let me know at coach@podcasttalentcoach.com. Let's grow your show the right way and for the right reasons.

HOW DO I GROW MY PODCAST? When it comes to growing our podcast, I get many questions about podcast promotion. How do we get in front of new listeners and invite them into our show? On this episode, we'll answer a variety of questions about podcast promotion. PODCAST GROWTH EQUATION There are two sides to the podcast growth equation. A larger audience involves keeping your current listeners coming back week after week while you are attracting new listeners to your show. If you are only promoting your show on social media and to your email list, you are only speaking to people who already know you. This does very little to grow your audience. However, podcast promotion on social media and to your list is important to keep your current listeners coming back every episode. So, keep it up. To grow, you also need to get in front of new listeners who are unaware of you. Invite those people into your world, so you can increase the number of listeners. As we go through these questions around podcast promotion, we'll start with some fundamentals around structure and process. We'll then talk about visibility. Finally, we'll get to when and what to promote. Let's jump in. PUBLISHING DAY What day of the week and what time do you release your podcast episodes? I’m about to launch my new podcast and I want a set date and time for when I release my weekly episode. -Craig The great thing about podcasting is that it is on-demand entertainment. People can consume it whenever they would like. The day and time your publish your show isn't nearly as important as your consistency. Be there when they are ready to listen. People are creatures of habit. Get them in the habit of listening to your podcast. I listen to my favorite podcast on Saturdays when I am working around the house. I believe he publishes sometime on Friday morning. In fact, he records the show on Wednesdays. Unless your podcast is dealing with current events that would be dated in a few days, timing isn't critical. It really doesn't matter to me when my favorite podcast publishes. I only care that he is there consistently when I'm ready to listen. That consistency builds trust with your audience as well. Pick a day and time. Then, stick with it. SHOW NOTES Does anyone read show notes? I personally don’t read them on podcasts I listen to. I write a simple episode description for ours but don’t really add anything else. Should I be putting more detail in? -Tim Yes, you should probably add more detail. Your show notes really serve three purposes. First, your show notes should provide the important info from your episode that your listeners might be seeking. This info could be links that you mentioned in the show. It might be the lead magnet you were offering or a book you referenced. Your show notes could offer a bulleted list of points you made during the episode. Maybe you were talking about the top 7 tools you currently use. Listeners might come to your show notes to find that list. The next purpose of your show notes is Google juice. When you create SEO-rich show notes, you make it easy for Google to find you. Spending a little more time adding detail to your show notes will improve your SEO. Use strong keywords and optimize your notes as much as possible. The final purpose of your show notes is accessibility for those with disabilities. It is important to make your podcast content available for those with hearing and vision impairments. The best way to do this is with a full transcript. Changes in iOS 17.4 include support for auto-generated transcripts in the Apple Podcasts app. However, transcripts will only be available for English, French, German, and Spanish-language podcasts. Adding more detail to your podcast will make it easier for those with disabilities to consume your content. There are many benefits to putting in a little more time and effort into your notes. INCREASE VISIBILITY FOR PODCAST PROMOTION How can I increase my...

When coaches come to me for assistance, one of the most common challenges is making money with their podcast. Most are using their show incorrectly and spending time in the wrong places with the wrong activities. There is a misconception about podcasting. You make money WITH your podcast, not FROM your podcast. By that I mean your podcast doesn't generate money. You're not making money from the show. When it comes to making money, use your podcast to promote your revenue engine. As a coach, your revenue engine would be your coaching. If you sell affiliate products, you make money from affiliate commissions, not from producing the podcast. THREE CHALLENGES There are three major challenges podcasters face when trying to generate revenue with their podcast. The first is selling ads and sponsorships. They are spending time on the wrong activities. Next is spending too much time on their guest during an interview. It's a delicate balance to demonstrate your authority while making your guest look great. Finally, coaches do not have a strong call to action that leads listeners to becoming clients. Let's jump into each of these individually. Before we do, I would love to help you build your monetization strategy. Take advantage of my complimentary podcast strategy call. During your strategy call, you and I sit down to define your goals. We determine where you are today. Then, we build a strategy to get you from here to there. This isn't a heavy pressure sales call. We'll work together to build your strategy. When we are done, we'll have an idea if we like each other. If you'd like to see some options to achieve your goals, we can talk about how that looks. You can apply for your complimentary podcast strategy call online at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply. Let's get into the challenges. ADS AND SPONSORSHIPS The first challenge is selling ads and sponsors. There are a few issues with this. First, only 7 percent of all podcasts have an audience large enough to attract sponsors. Second, it takes a lot of your time to sell a sponsor. Once you sell one, you need to start selling the next. It is rarely recurring income. Instead, spend your time on your clients. Next, you can only put a limited number of sponsors and ads on your show. Therefore, it caps your revenue potential. Finally, it treats your podcast as a commodity. Your ad offer is just like every other ad offer. You don't control the price. Sell your own offers instead of selling other businesses through ads. MAKING MONEY WITH INTERVIEWS The next challenge is your interview. Many hosts spend a lot of interview time making their guest look great. When Oscar came to me, he was struggling to get his podcast Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words to do anything to grow his consultancy. I listened to his show and realized he was a great interviewer. However, he did very little to tell me what he offers. The interview is typically about what the guest offers. We send our listeners to our guest's lead magnet or website. However, we don't want to make the interview all about us. It's a delicate dance. Be sure to carve out time on your show to demonstrate your expertise and show people what you do. CALL TO ACTION The final challenge is a call to action. Hosts often deliver great content but fail to ask their listeners to do anything. What do you want your listeners to do when the episode is over? Your call to action should be the first step toward working with you. The content on your episode should lead to that call to action. Have a strategy for each episode to get your listeners one step closer to working with you. CINDY J. HOLBROOK I want to help you spend more of your time on money making activities. Cindy J. Holbrook the Visibility Wiz joins me on the show today. She guides entrepreneurs and small business owners to thrive as you go up the ladder from being the best-kept secret to Trusted and In-Demand Authority. Cindy J. has been coaching since...

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR WITH BETTER RELATIONSHIPS I have a vision to help us love thy neighbor. We need more relationships in our lives. And our podcasts can help us do exactly that. PERSPECTIVE It is funny how our attitude changes when we realize we know somebody. Our default attitude is confrontational and offended. Someone cuts you off in traffic and we get upset. Did they cut your off? Or maybe they didn't realize their lane ended. It's perspective. Someone takes two plates through the buffet line instead of one, thereby taking more than their fair share. Or maybe they were getting a plate for their handicap spouse who can't stand in a buffet line. Someone left their trash all over the fast food table. Or maybe they got a frantic call that their child was rushed to the hospital. Again, perspective. Remember, we only know what we know. And when we have strong relationships, our default tends to be forgiveness rather than confrontation. IT'S WHO YOU KNOW One winter we got around 12 inches of snow three weeks in a row. It was a time my attitude changed once I realized we had a relationship. It was early January, and I was pulling into the parking lot of the radio station. It took longer than usual to get to work, because of all the snow. When you get that kind of snow, you take it slow and exaggerate your moves. You turn slower and wider. It takes longer to stop. You ease your way through snow. If you've ever lived in a cold climate, you know snow plows come down the street creating small walls of snow in front of every driveway. Nothing is more frustrating than just getting finished shoveling your driveway only to have the plow push a big wall right back into your fine work. When I got to the station that morning, the plows had pushed the snow from the street right into the entrance of our parking lot. It was pretty good sized and took some effort to get through it. As I pulled into the radio station lot just before 8 AM, I had to go around this little BMW that was high centered in the snow. He tried to take his little low profile car through the snow wall the plow had created. Not smart. Anyone who has driven in snow knows you don't drive a sports car in the snow. And, you surely don't try to drive through deep snow. Common sense. I had a few choice words under my breath as I drove around him and found my parking spot. I walked into the building as he continued to spin his tires trying to get out of the snow. Again, anyone who has driven in snow knows you don't spin your tires. You'll never get out. Rock it and ease it out. THE MEETING When I opened my email at my desk, I saw an invite for an all staff meeting at 8:30. At that meeting, the vice president of our company introduced our new general manager. He had just arrived from Tucson, Arizona. And yep, he was the guy stuck in the snow in that BMW. I probably should have helped him get unstuck. He surely didn't know any better. DEFAULT TO CONFRONTATION Why do we default to irritation or confrontation? Why are we offended first? We don't know what we don't know. We make assumptions about people when we really don't know the full story. It's because we lack relationships. Tech makes it so easy to say things behind a screen name that we would never say to someone in person. It is easy to send a scathing email when we would never say those same things face-to-face. The way we act in the digital world creeps into how we act in the real world, because we spend most of our time in the digital space. It becomes second nature. RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESS It happens in business as well. We are shopping on Amazon. When getting gas we pay at the pump. We don't talk with travel agents any longer. With the pandemic, menus went to our smart phones with QR codes. You can even buy a car from a vending machine at those big Carvana towers. We have no relationships in business. Rather than buying from someone you know, it has all been reduced to a battle for price....

HOW TO WRITE A BOOK Are you ready to turn your podcast into a book? 6 REASONS TO WRITE A BOOK Each week you work hard to spread your message and share your vision. If you produce an episode a week, you'll have 50 episodes in just under a year. With four pages of show notes (or 1,200 words), you could turn your podcast into a book. But, why would you want to go through all the work to write a book? There are six big reasons. INCREASED VISIBILITY Writing a book will help you achieve increased visibility. You will a reason to be interviewed on other podcasts and in other media. It is possible that people will begin talking about your book and create a buzz. Your book will the the launching point of your visibility. BUILDS CREDIBILITY Writing a book will also help you build credibility. Just being a published author gives you credibility. Authors know what they are talking about. The time and energy you put into a book communicates that you're serious about your topic and an expert in your industry. INSPIRE OTHERS Writing a book will help you inspire others. People can revisit your book again and again as you share your story and vision. Talk about your why and get people to follow you and your mission. CONFIDENCE Writing a book will give you confidence. The sense of accomplishment you achieve when you write a book is amazing. Seeing your book in print is exhilarating. When you step in front of an audience with your book in hand, you can't help but feel proud and confident. MAKE MONEY Writing a book can help you make money, but probably not from the book. It takes a lot of book sales to make money. However, it can be quite profitable when you leverage the book to land speaking gigs, build your credibility, and grow your business. Your book can bring people into your world and build a relationship. It can then lead to deals and revenue opportunities. LEARN A LOT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR NICHE Finally, writing a book will help you learn a lot about yourself and your niche. When you put your thoughts on paper, you get amazing clarity on your subject. But, the writing process itself will help you learn a lot about yourself. You will learn discipline writing everyday. The book will help you get clarity on your vision and discover what really stirs your soul. Writing a book will also help you learn more about your niche. Digging into your topic and getting clarity on their needs and pains will help you uncover things about your niche you never knew was possible. STEVEN LEAPLEY There is great news. You don't need to write the entire book yourself. Steven Leapley is an executive ghostwriter from Southern Califormia. He helps creative people like you write their book. Steven specializes in creating impactful books and articles for executives, entrepreneurs, elite military personnel, and emergency medical professionals. With a rich background spanning various careers including a Navy Corpsman, professional musician, aspiring farmer, and a full-time RV living minimalist, he empowers clients to craft influential content. Committed to inspiring belief and building relationships, Steven's life philosophy is encapsulated in his motto: "When You Love Your Life, You Leave A Legacy". Steven joins us today to help us discover how to turn our podcast into a book. Get Steven's 21 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Ghostwriter. Send him a message on linked in here: www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/ghost. 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.

MONETIZE WITH A MASTERMIND Creating a mastermind is a great way to monetize your podcast. It is easy to wonder why people would pay to be in a mastermind. When you can bring a group of people together to stir the power of a mastermind, it is well worth then investment. MASTERMIND LINKS: Mastermind Ready Scorecard: http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jay Jay Fairbrother: http://jayfairbrother.com Six Figure Masterminds: https://sixfiguremasterminds.com NAPOLEON HILL MASTERMIND In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill defines the Master Mind principle as, "Two or more people who work in perfect harmony for the attainment of a definite purpose. When working with a positive mental attitude, this group will constitute an unbeatable force." Hill goes on to say, "No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind." There are five big benefits of being in a mastermind. When you curate the power of the group, you save your members time and effort trying to create the power themselves. It takes time and effort to find the right people to create your mastermind. When you bring together the right mix, great things happen. MY MASTERMIND I have been in a few masterminds. Each runs a bit differently. My primary mastermind consists of just two people, my friend Jon and me. But it didn't begin that way. In 2017 this mastermind was started by Jon and consisted of four of us. We were all in the online business space building and growing our businesses. This weekly meeting provided support and encouragement to each of us. Six months later, two members left and we had two new members joined. Of our two new members, one only lasted a month. Over the years, members have come and gone each contributing in their own way. Jon and I have remained consistent. We haven't looked for any new members for quite some time. We simply support each other each week to reach our goals. I've been in three other masterminds that have had up to a dozen participants. From these experiences, I've experienced many benefits. Let's look at the top five. CHALLENGES First, we share challenges. Each week we bring the big challenge we are facing. Just talking out the challenge often generates a breakthrough. Sharing challenges also shows members they aren't unique in their challenges and are not going through struggles alone. We all run into hurdles. FEEDBACK The mastermind also provides a high level of feedback. When the members are carefully selected, each has a unique super power. Feedback comes from many different perspectives. Receiving feedback from and solving problems with a variety of perspectives can be very powerful. It also generates a variety of solutions. COLLABORATION WITHIN A MASTERMIND When you mastermind with other amazing minds, you have the opportunity to collaborate with great people. This is completely different than networking. You are creating amazing relationships with great minds. OPPORTUNITIES A mastermind can open an whole new world of opportunities. When the people in your mastermind need experts in various fields, they will look to people with whom they've already created relationships. Your mastermind can create business opportunities, speaking gigs, new guests, and a variety of other situations. ACCOUNTABILITY Finally, your mastermind provides accountability. Information alone doesn't create transformation. It takes accountability. When you know you have to show up every week and report your progress to members of your mastermind, you tend to take action and get results. Great things happen when you take action. The accountability through your mastermind will help you reach your goals. THE MASTERMIND GUY Today, Jay Fairbrother joins us to discuss the power of a mastermind. Jay is a serial entrepreneur, business coach and mastermind guru with 30 years of experience starting, buying and selling 7-figure businesses. He is...

THE POWER OF PODCASTING IS BUILDING COMMUNITY When it comes to building community, there is nothing more powerful than your podcast. We often talk that people do business with those they know, like and trust. It's all about building community and rapport. (See my next workshop at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/workshop.) BUILDING COMMUNITY I was on the radio one afternoon and suddenly developed a case of the hiccups. It happened while the mic was open and I was on the air. There was not much I could do about it at that point. I said, "If this keeps up, this is going to be a very long show." Two days later I was a hockey practice with my son. Two moms came up to me and said, "When you got the hiccups the other day on the radio... that was the funniest thing we ever heard." Being human and sharing our authentic self on the podcast is how we build friendships. When your audience listens to you episode after episode, they get to know you and really building community. WHY PODCASTING Podcasts and audio in general are a very personal medium. People are usually listening to you with headphones. When you are in their earbuds, you are having a very personal, one-on-one conversation. Only they can hear you. If you say something on your show that makes your listener laugh, people will wonder what they are laughing about because nobody else can hear you. It is that kind of personal connection that starts building community. Video doesn't have that power. What I see on video you see. Nothing left to the imagination. We also "perform" on video. It is a little more difficult to be ourselves. It simply isn't natural. With your podcast, we are in a room alone talking intimately to people we cannot see. We aren't worried about what we look like. It is just a personal conversation building relationships. YOUR FUNNEL As you're building community with your listeners, you can get them started down your funnel. Being your authentic self on your podcast build the rapport. Your audience begins to trust you. When you then offer your free resource or make a call to action, your audience is more likely to act upon that request. Your podcast is a powerful way to grow your email list when you're using the show for building community. JEANETTE SHOREY Let me show you how it works in real life. Jeanette Shorey was on my Podcast Profits Summit to share how she uses her podcast to grow her business. I want to bring you that conversation here. Jeanette Shorey is a National Board Certified music educator with over 25 years of experience. She is an Arts Integration Specialist, an instructional coach, a National presenter and a mentor. Jeanette mentors music teachers through The Happy Music Teacher Academy. She is the author of resource books and the creator of The Happy Music Teacher Podcast. She uses her podcast for building community and growing her business. 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.

Tech makes so many things easier in our lives. Unfortunately, it is killing your business. Tech may make it easier for customers to buy. But, it's making it more difficult for you to sell. THE SERVICE STATION Jim Pendergast lived 6 houses up the street from us on the corner when I was growing up. He owned the neighborhood service station. When mom had issues with the car, we'd go see Jim. It was a full service Phillips 66. Jim would pump your gas, clean your windshield and even check the oil if you needed it. We knew Jim, and Jim knew us. Today, you can fill your tank at the gas station and never even talk to anyone let alone know them. When it comes time to have your car serviced, who do you trust? For the last 20 years, I've taken my car to a Midas shop owned by Rick and Brad. When the dealer would tell me I needed work done, I'd take the car to Rick and Brad. One time the dealer said I needed brakes all the way around. I told the dealer I have a brake guy and took the car to Midas. Brad took a look at it and said I still had 3 to 6 months left. Nothing to worry about. He said we'd look at it next time I was in for an oil change. Here is a place that specializes in brakes telling me I don't need brakes. 6 months later Rick and Brad were putting brakes on my car. In July, we took my wife's car into Midas for an oil change. There was a new guy behind the counter. Rick and Brad had sold the franchise and retired. I'm stuck looking for the next person I can trust. Relationships are critical in business. Tech is making it very difficult to create those relationships when we don't interact with people. GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY When I was a kid, we knew everybody on our street. We lived on the corner of a T intersection. Because we were outside playing all the time, we knew everybody. The Nixons, the Weises, the Domenges, the Smiths, the Franks, the Schulers. We knew them all. When toys from the neighbors ended up in our yard, we just took them back over. If their dog got into our backyard, we simply returned him. Today, my son doesn't have a best friend. He knows nobody in our neighborhood, because he is glued to his tech. He hangs out with his buddies on a headset playing Xbox. It's not just my family. We live on a cul-de-sac and nobody is ever playing in the circle. Our neighbors even installed a basketball hoop facing the street, so kids could play. It rarely gets used. I would have killed to live in a circle when I was kid. We'd be out there playing street hockey all the time. And because we don't know our neighbors, it is easy to get angry at them when their dog is in your yard or you have to move a stray ball when you're mowing. We don't know each other. The relationships have been sucked out of society. Love thy neighbor is a thing of the past. ROAD RAGE On my way to a meeting the other day, I was driving behind a really slow SUV on the two-lane highway. She was going a few miles per hour below the speed limit. We were winding through these tree-lined areas, which made it difficult to know where you were or when you needed to turn. It was a bit confusing. I couldn't get around her. Every time I was turning, she would turn. I was behind her forever and felt the tension rise inside of me. My anger was building. As I approached my turn into my destination, she began to slow down. Her signal came on to make the exact same turn. It suddenly hit me that she may be going to the same place, and I might just know this person. I started to feel guilty that I was mad at her. Maybe she didn't know these roads any better than I did. Why was I getting mad? It's easy for us to get mad and lash out at people we don't know. We hide behind our screen names and post nasty things online that we would never say to people we know. We have no relationship to lose, so being nasty isn't a risk. YOUR BUSINESS But when we have no relationship, it also makes it difficult to do business. Think of the last big purchase...

AFFILIATE PROMOTION THE LEGAL WAY We often talk about growing our audience, monetizing our show, and creating better content. But as podcasters and coaches, we don't often think about ensuring we are doing it all in a legal way. Talking about the legal aspects of your podcast is a lot like talking about taxes. It's not something most of us enjoy, but it is important. If you are earning affiliate commissions on products you promote, or if people are compensating you in any way to be on your show or in your email, you must fully disclose that in order to be legal. Otherwise, you could face serious fines. LINKS Here are the important links from this episode. Gordon Firemark's website. https://www.gordonfiremark.com Free Podcast Guest Release - http://podcastrelease.com Podcast Prenup Agreement – http://podcastprenup.com Podcast Law Book – http://podcastlawbook.com Federal Trade Commission – www.FTC.gov. LEGAL INFLUENCER On November 15, 2023, FTC issued a statement regarding a violation of their guidelines. The statement said Federal Trade Commission staff sent warning letters to two trade associations and 12 registered dietitians and other online health influencers warning them about the lack of adequate disclosures in their Instagram and TikTok posts promoting the safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame or the consumption of sugar-containing products. As you hear this, you may not think it pertains to you. Legal matters pertain to everyone. Just because you're a one-man show or soloprenuer doesn't mean you're immune to legal prosecution. These FTC letters went to the American Beverage Association (AmeriBev) and The Canadian Sugar Institute. In the letter, the FTC expressed concerns that the organizations may have violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that the influencers were apparently hired to promote the safety of aspartame or the consumption of sugar-containing products, respectively. It all comes down to legal disclosure. The letter states, "This action follows FTC’s recent revision of the Commission’s Guides for Endorsements and Testimonials, and is part of the agency’s continued monitoring of influencer marketing." Here lies the legal challenge. These are guidelines and not laws. They are not black and white. The guideline says your endorsement of a product cannot be misleading. Who determines if it is misleading? THE FTC LEGAL GUIDELINES Here is what it says on the Federal Trade Commission website. The FTC revised its Endorsement Guides in June 2023 to keep them up-to-date with the ways advertisers now reach consumers to promote products and services, including through social media and reviews. The Guides point out that marketers using these new techniques and media are subject to the same truthful advertising laws to which other forms of advertising have always been subject. That means, among other things, that people who are compensated to promote or review a product should disclose it. The Guides are not regulations but if advertisers don’t follow the Guides, the FTC may decide to investigate if the practices are unfair or deceptive under the FTC Act, in which case the FTC may decide to bring a lawsuit. You can find the guides and entire description at www.FTC.gov. It comes down to ensuring your audience knows that you will receive some sort of compensation in exchange for the promotion. However, you also must be truthful. You cannot say you've used a product you have not. If you get results that are not normally expected, you must disclose that. Compensation isn't always in the form of money either. Anything of value can be viewed as compensation. Just be careful. GORDON FIREMARK Gordon Firemark is a lawyer who specializes in entertainment law, specifically in the area of podcasting. Gordon has been practicing law for over 30 years. He is often referred to as "The Podcast Lawyer™" due to his extensive experience advising and representing podcasters on legal...

THE TOP SIX EPISODES OF 2023 It has been an amazing year at Podcast Talent Coach. On this episode, I want to share with you the best of 2023. These are the top six most downloaded episodes of 2023. DECREASED DOWNLOADS Have you seen a decrease in your downloads in the fourth quarter of 2023? It is probably due to a change with Apple Podcasts. Apple released iOS 17 in September of 2023. That update came with a change to Apple Podcasts and how episodes are downloaded. According to Apple, automatic downloads are paused when a device is out of available storage or when a listener hasn’t played a show they follow. If a listener hasn't played one of the latest five episodes for more than 15 days, downloads are paused. Apple says pausing downloads is to preserve device storage. This change is communicated to listeners with a pause indicator on the follow icon located at the top right of the show page. If a listener resumes playing that show, or changes the download preferences for that show, Apple Podcasts will resume automatically downloading episodes. The big difference for your podcast is how previously unplayed episodes are handled with the listener resumes playing the show. Before iOS 17, when a listener would unpause automatic downloads, the system would automatically download all unplayed episodes. Your podcast would then get credited with those downloads. With iOS 17, Apple Podcasts will not download previous episodes and will only resume automatically downloading new episodes. BRING THEM BACK This change is why is it so critical to keep listeners coming back week after week, episode after episode. It isn't enough to simply get people to subscribe to your show. You need to get them to actually listen consistently. At the end of each episode, creatively tease your next episode. Create some intrigue and anticipation for the next show. Bring them back. When you publish your new episode, tell your tribe about it. Share it on social media. Send an e-mail to your list and invite them to listen. It is important that you tease here as well and not simply promote. Promoting next week is info only. When I say, "Next week we'll talk with Dan Miller", that's promoting. It does very little to create any anticipation for the episode. To creatively tease the episode, I need to create some intrigue. I might say, "Next week, Dan Miller joins us and will show you how to build a business with no money required." A powerful tease opens the loop and gives listeners something to get excited about. However, it shouldn't be something you can Google. I don't want to say, "Dan Miller will share his 48 Low- or No-Cost Business Ideas next week." You can Google "48 Low- or No-Cost Business Ideas" and find Dan's resource. There is no reason to come back to the episode to get the answers. No need to wait. You can go get them now. Tease effectively. SUBSCRIBE My downloads took a dip in fourth quarter like everyone else. It would really help if you would subscribe or follow this podcast right now. Grab your phone. Let's do this right now. On many podcast platforms, simply open the episode. Click that follow or subscribe button on the page. Even if you think you are already subscribed, please grab your phone and check. It would be a tremendous help to me. This week, get out and share your podcast with your tribe. Let's get those downloads coming back. Now, the top six episodes of Podcast Talent Coach in 2023. #6 BEST OF 2023 Number six is Creating a Custom Intro – PTC 433. The introduction of your podcast is probably the most critical part of your show. A custom intro takes it to a whole new level. A typical listener will give you between 90 seconds and a few minutes to entice them to stick around. Don't blow it. You can't catch up to a slow start. When you create your intro, tell your listener how they will be better after listening to an episode. Your listener is asking, "What's in it for me?" A custom intro adds show...