Behind The Mic: A Few Things To Consider Before You Start A Podcast With Michelle Abraham

Michelle Abraham: 00:00:03

This is amplify you the podcast about you discovering your message and broadcasting to the world. If you're a coach, author or speaker, you'll want to tune in. If you're looking for the best return on your time investment, to get your message out to the world in a bigger way, we're giving you full access behind the scenes look of how we're running our podcasts, how our clients have found success, and what you can do to launch your podcast today. The world needs your message. I'm Michelle Abraham, the host. Join my family as we unleash your unique genius and find the connections you need to launch your venture today. Join us and let's get amplify. Hello, welcome. Today we're talking about the things you should consider before you're starting a podcast. Let me just take a quick second to tell you about myself and introduce myself. Hi, I'm Michelle Abraham, I am the founder of amplify you podcasting network. We help authors, coaches, speakers, experts launch their podcasts, we also help them manage their podcasts, market, their podcast, and monetize their show. We've been working in the podcasting space since 2012. And we've launched over 200 shows in the last few years. And we on average, edit and publish and produce about 65 episodes a week with our team. So we really specialize in the experts and the entrepreneurs who have a big impact message to share with the world. So that's really where our expertise in the podcasting space has been, has been helping those those in the experts space, really gain more visibility, help them get more exposure, but more importantly, really connect their podcasts to their business. Um, so there's quite a few things that you need to consider before launching a podcast in, in the last year or two, we've seen a huge number of podcasters that have come to us with already having a show that was launched. And they're at this kind of standstill with their podcasts right now where the Lifestyle Podcast, they didn't really give much thought or strategy to it. And now they're you know, anywhere from 20 to 2200 episodes into their podcast. And they're really at a point where it no longer matches their business, their business and them as an expert have evolved, but their podcast has not. And so we're really starting to have a lot of shows that we're helping relaunch. And that's great. If you want to relaunch, I think that's wonderful, because then we can help you kind of with the strategy at the beginning, rather than, you know, just putting a podcast together for the sake of putting a podcast together to only find out, you know, 20 episodes in that, you know, it's not the right topic for you. It's not the right thing, you know, the podcast doesn't have the right feel you want to change the cover art or whatever. And I think several years ago, there was this, there was this thing where I think people thought podcasts for something that you put up once, and it's there forever, and it never changes. And it's a long term commitment. And those things are all true. But what I want you to know now is that podcasting can evolve with you and your brand. So as you grow and your business grows, your podcasts can also grow as well. This is a great time to put in a new season, change the cover, maybe refocus the content on something, you know, newer that you're working on in your business. And that's totally okay to do that rather than just stopping your show abandoning ship. And we're calling that a pod fate. So we don't have pod fade. So there's some few things that we want you to consider before you even get started podcasting. And first of all, it's like, why are you what? Why you podcasting? What's your goal? What's your goal? What do you want to do what you want to achieve by having a podcast, for most of the clients we work with, that would be expert positioning, it would be to open up doors to relationships that they wouldn't normally have access to. So reaching out to somebody inviting them on your show. It would also be to create a community and a connection with their clients through their podcasts. And it also is really great way of them being able to express their expertise in a way that they can freely and creatively do that.

Michelle Abraham: 00:04:29

So those are a couple of things to think about before you get started. Now our experiences specifically with like experts, entrepreneurs, corporations, businesses, usually so we don't have a lot of experience with shows that are like hobbies or shows that are out there to create a business from the show. We work a lot with people who have a business and want to show we help them get those together. So if this if this is not If you're not in that kind of space, then there might be a few other things that you might need to consider to about your show before you get started. So for us, I really, I really want our experts to think about that this is a long term commitment. So you don't often see shows launch with hundreds of 1000s of downloads right out of the gate. That's usually something that comes over a course of a few months, a few years. It's kind of like that snowball effect. So having a commitment to your show to post regularly, and you

Michelle Abraham: 00:05:34

really have your listeners in mind when you're thinking about your content. I remember when I first got started podcasting, I was a new mom. And I happened to stumble across podcasting on the Apple TV. And when they went to find a show happened to be Jimmy Terry's eventual millionaire or Amy Porterfield, Ali Murphy, meet, meet Ed. So this is back in 2012, when these shows were pretty new. I found those shows, I love their content, I binge listen to all our episodes, and then we wait every Monday morning for when they would release a new one. And then I put my earbuds in and take my son for a walk in his stroller. And I remember those, that being the listener like waiting for the episode to drop. So have they not dropped an episode, just because they didn't have the content ready or they weren't feeling like it, I would have been really disappointed as a listener. So you want to consider the listener, as you know, really keep the listener in mind when you're doing a podcast, you want to remember that they're excited to hear your episode, they're gonna be super disappointed if you don't, if you don't publish an episode when you when you say you're going to publish an episode every Monday morning or every Tuesday morning whenever that is. So that's something to consider. And we want to really prevent that pod fee that we were just talking about. So a few things that you can do at the beginning to prevent the pod fade, will be really getting down your content and knowing who you're talking to on your show. So we find that, typically, it's not, you know, podcasting is kind of like a bigger net that you can cast for your content and your expertise. But if you haven't really thought about if you can't write down 100 things about your topic are you going to write, you're gonna run out of things to say. So when you're launching a podcast, you're casting a larger net. So for example, if my podcast is about online marketing, that's great. I can talk about online marketing all day long. And there's so many different ways of talking about online marketing. And then my business is more about just online courses, then that's, that's an easy segue into your business. If you start your business, your podcast or just about online courses, you may you might run out of things to say, or you might be limiting yourself on your content. So maybe, maybe not. Maybe that might work for you as well. But something to consider anyways, when you are doing your podcasts. What? What's your goal with your show? That's the thing I want you to consider. So just think about it for a moment. What is your goal with your podcast? Why are you doing this? I'm doing this because someone told you to do it? Are you doing it? Because you want to set yourself up as an expert? Do you want more visibility in your business? Do you want more customers in your business? Are you doing it to get paid sponsorships and make money from your podcast? There's no right or wrong answer. I just want you to consider why you're doing this podcast. If you know why you're doing this podcast makes it a lot easier to continue with a lot of our experts. Their Why is for more visibility, but also to make a bigger impact with their message. They can reach far more people by doing a podcast than they could by staying in their business and marketing on social media. So where do you fit in the podcast landscape? Like I mentioned before, we work with a very small amount of podcasters. That is in the experts and authors, crater space. They're entrepreneurs. They're the impact message. But there's a lot of different podcasts out there in the landscape. There's the shows that are about the hobbies, their shows that are both sports, there are new shows, there's author shows their shows that are fiction and hired actors. There are shows that are made by huge corporations. There's the true crimes shows there's oh my gosh, so many different kinds of shows out there. Your unlimited amount of kinds of shows that you can kind of think about using but where do you fit in in the podcasting landscape? Next thing you want to consider is that are you going to be having Are you going to be looking for ads and sponsorship on your podcast?

Michelle Abraham: 00:09:48

Most of our experts and authors it's funny enough they actually almost none of our shows have any ads or sponsorships for them. And there's a reason for that is our belief is that if you have your own products and services, it's better to put your own ad in there for your own program your own service than it is to go there after sponsorship sponsorships for your podcasts. That's just our that's just our opinion doesn't have to be what you do either. But that's just something that we have found with our podcasters that we work with. Another thing you want to consider is like, how are you going to be the host on your show? Are you going to be the host that interviews other people? Or are you going to be the host that is delivering the content and teaching the material that you're going to have? Or you could have a co host? Are there going to be two of you? Or are you going to have a panel where there's several of you. There's all sorts of different ways of doing that. What we have found, though, there's a couple of things I want to I want to give you some tips here. What we found is that if your goal in podcasting is to be the expert, and to get more visibility for your message, then interviewing people constantly is not the right fit for you. What I would say is that you can interview people a few times, but make sure you have your own content, as your own solo shows that you can also deliver. In the meantime, hope that makes sense. What we found is that over time, if you don't, you're always interviewing people, you don't have that chance as the expert to to share your knowledge. Without it without interrupting your guests or without raising your guests up on that pedestal when they're there. You know, or it's just just makes a little bit more awkward occurred, interviews if you are wanting to be the expert, but are always having guests on. So give yourself that time do those solo shows that are just for you to share your knowledge and your expertise. So who is your listener? Another thing you need to consider? Who is it that you want to be listening to you. And so if you can think of your listener, when you're speaking in your podcast, it's a great idea if you can speak directly to that person. So instead of Hey, everyone, Hey, guys, how are you all doing today? Doesn't sound very special when I'm listening to that in my ears. But if you're saying hi, how are you today, I want you to know something, here's here's what we're going to talk about today, I feel like you're talking to me. And that is going to make me want to listen more. Because I feel like we're having an intimate conversation. And you have to think about it literally your your, your listeners are listening in their ears, which is you're in their head is pretty sacred space to be in. So you want to hold that at the highest regard. So you want to make sure you have good sound, good quality, you're speaking clearly, and you're speaking to them, make them feel special, then you're really going to grow that like no interest factor from your listeners, make sure you're you give your listeners a chance to take the next step with you in your podcast. So if I'm listening into your show, I feel like I know you so well. The next thing I want to do is join in a conversation with you. So give them that opportunity are you going to have a you know, have a once a week kind of thing over on clubhouse where people can come and interact with you are you going to send them to an opt in where they can join your Facebook group. Or you can send them to a PDF or a video or training where they get to know you better, and then maybe work with you. So think about how you want to move your listeners from being a listener, getting to know you and loving you on the podcast, to then having a two way conversation with you. Something that you really want to consider before you get started. There's quite a bit of strategy when it comes to podcasting. I think a lot of people will, especially those that are coming to relaunch their show right now. There was a lot of strategy that was not thought about before they went ahead and did the podcasts, you know, they wanted to do a podcast, they knew they want to talk about this topic, and they just went ahead and started it. But you have to really think about some things before, before you get started a couple of things is how often are you going to publish? It looks really great when you're gung ho and you want to do five days a week episode, but it doesn't look so good. From that five day a week episode to two months later is now once a week episode, right? So you want to consider the frequency of your episode and keep consistent with it. You don't want to look like you're inconsistent with your content. And it's okay to publish tons of episodes right at the beginning and then a little bit slower after but whatever it is, just let your audience know what you're doing so that you keep consistent and they're not they're waiting every day for a new episode. You know, let them know that you're moving to a two day a week schedule. Whatever your frequency is, make sure that you can keep consistent with it. Keep committed to that long term goal of having a podcast it's not it's not it's not worth all the effort to set up a podcast and get going to then close it down two months later. So keep that in mind as you are thinking about starting your podcast right now.

Michelle Abraham: 00:15:06

We want to also think about keywords. What are some keywords for your topic? What is your, you know, what, what are some things that you can say or talk about in a podcast. I love to see podcasts that start off with a little trailer, a five minute five to 10 minute trailer, that's a little bit more about posts about their story about what they people can expect, like you would see a trailer in a movie. And then the next episode, I love to see like a little bit more deeper dive into the host story. And then they're kind of like their hero's journey. And then I'd love to see the next episode be something about them training on something that they do that they're the expert on. So what is it that they can talk about. So if you think of a webinar, and you break down a webinar into those bits, where it's like the introduction, the hero story, sometimes the five of the three mistakes and then the five, the five keys of solving that problem to get your listener to where they are right now to where you are or where you go, what is it you solve in your business for them, to take them through that journey. In the first five episodes, I find that it's been really successful for our experts who have started to do that. It's kinda like doing a webinar. But over the course of the first five episodes seems to kind of set the stage really well. And then you can bring in guests, and then you can bring in other people, but it gives the audience a chance to get to know you really well right from the beginning. Another great thing that we like to think about is your title. Is your title, literal. And can people understand what the title the name of your show means. So I host a podcast for a company called blissful parenting. Think it's pretty obvious what we talked about on that podcast, and make your parenting experiences a little bit more blissful by how we interview lots of parenting coaches. So like the profitable photographer, that's a pretty literal podcast, right? You know the name of the podcast, you know what they're going to talk about on there. So try to be clear on the podcast name as to what you are going to be talking about in so people can get the idea, the more fancy and ambiguous and kind of spelled weird names don't do very well, believe me, I have a podcast called amplify you that is spelled weird. And it's hard to find.

Michelle Abraham: 00:17:26

It's not that deep take that advice is something that I learned the hard way with my own podcast. So those are some great things to consider when you're doing a podcast. At amplify you, we also have a special ingredient secret ingredient recipe for a podcast that makes a really great show and that you can be proud of and that you can launch pretty successfully. So that secret recipe I'm going to give you right now. So one is you need to have a show that is a movement worthy, okay, so you need to have something that people can feel great about jumping on board, like a mission or a message. So something that you feel passionate about, you want people to get on board with you. So that's number one, create a movement. Number two, is create a community around your connection and community. Okay, so connection and community is really important for people to feel a sense of belonging. So get them involved as fast as you can into a community with you, whether that's you're meeting them over on clubhouse, or you're meeting them on Facebook, you're having a two way conversation, you're inviting them into your Facebook group, not to mention when you invite them in your Facebook group, ask for their email addresses. So that you can also then, you know, ask those questions when they come into the Facebook group one, what's your email address to have you gotten our free gift? Three? What are you struggling with right now? And if I could wave a magic wand and take care of something, what is that? Guess what? That's amazing content for your podcast. So connection, and connection and community is number two, number one was creating a movement number. And number three, is thinking about your podcasts is the relationship, the best relationship building tool out there? So are there people in your industry in your space in your ear that you want to get to know but you don't have a reason to reach out to them? Use your podcast, leverage your podcast to build those relationships. I can't tell you how many doors my podcast is open for me like being able to reach out and offer this is cool too. You get to lead with service are you leading by inviting someone onto your show? That is an act of service, you're doing something for them that will elevate them and you're going to share their message with your audience. So oftentimes the Law of Reciprocity kicks in there right so you do that really nice thing for them. Maybe they might introduce you to someone they might invite you to come on their summit the you know, it's a relationship In this the before and after the recording conversations that really move the needle on people's businesses. So I've often found joint venture partners here, collaboration partners, clients, I've been hired right off the back of being interviewed by someone. There are in both ways by also having someone on my show. So that's a really great way if you can think of your podcasts as a way to build relationships. So you've got create movement, create momentum, connection, and community. And number three is relationships, those three things that we think at amplify, you create a really great podcast, they also set you apart from other people. And they allow you to lead with service and deliver tons of value, and have a podcast that you're proud of, that also connects to your business, and also allows you to randomly generate revenue. And also build a community from and this is what we're all about over here. So we want to create impact, make a difference out there. And remember, you have those listeners attention, when in a world where our time and attention are our most valuable assets. There's no better place right now than podcasting, to have the attention of your audience. So make sure you do some things that are really valuable. Give tons of value. And make sure that you are holding that space that that that intimate, that intimate space in their head with their earbuds in there, hold that at the highest regard and make the most out of it. And yeah, just have fun. All of our clients say podcasting is the most fun thing they do in their business and myself included. I could podcast all day long and be happy. That's the only thing I had to do. Because it's so much fun. So those are some things to consider when thinking about starting a podcast. I hope that was helpful. The ever need any help or any suggestions or just want to reach out it's Michelle at amplify you.ca and p li FY o u.ca. So once again, you can find us at amplify you network.com All right, thanks, guys. Have a great day.