Technology
Whether you are brand new, or you've been publishing for years, we are all looking for audience growth. Unfortunately, few of us have a strategy. We are just trying random things and gaining no traction. CLEANING I was cleaning the basement the other day. After hours of work, it looked like I had done nothing. We collect everything down there. The basement is where everything goes when we don't have a place to put it. We have a pool table down there that doubles as a ping pong table. The table came from some friends that just wanted it out of their basement. I quickly learned why. The table has now become the place where my son does his school work … and sorts his baseball cards … and leaves his spare hockey gear. My office space is down there. We have book shelves and storage shelves and a couch where we go when tornado warnings fire up. One day, I decided to clean the basement. I started putting a stack of books on the book shelves. That's when I realized some of my hockey coaching material was on one of the shelves. That belonged in binders in my office space. While I was putting the hockey stuff away, I noticed I had some podcast notes in a stack on my desk. I started getting that squared away. On my desk was a shoebox I was using when I was recording a video. I took the shoebox over to the baseball cards where it belonged. Next thing I know, I am arranging the baseball cards on the pool table. My son had a few jerseys on the table that got taken to the laundry room. This went on for hours. When I finally stepped back to admire my work, it didn't even look like I had been there. There was no change. Why? I had no plan. My work wasn't focused. I needed to work on one area until it was done. INTENTIONAL Be intentional to grow your audience and get people to listen. Create a plan and stick to it. What activities will bring in new listeners if you do those activities on a consistent, regular basis? About a year ago, I joined JV Insider Circle and my podcast took off. JVIC connects you with people who run podcasts, radio shows, tele-summits and live events. Members of this community have large lists in your target market. You can find details on JVIC at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/JVIC. By attending the bi-weekly calls and various virtual events they hold, I met a variety of influencers who were talking to my potential audience. I started participating on their summits and in their giveaways. They had me on their podcasts and you've heard a few of them here. Next thing I know, my audience was growing by leaps and bounds. I simply focused on this strategy and took regular action. Instead of trying everything, find two or three things that you enjoy doing, will get you in front of new listeners and you can and will do on a regular basis. Then, focus on those actions for a month. See where it takes you. CONTENT Before you invite people to your party, make sure you've cleaned the house. The first thing you need to do is make sure your content is solid and entertaining. Ask yourself if you would listen to your show if it wasn't your show. Oscar spent the first year of his podcast interviewing other people. His show wasn't growing or driving his business. He came to me for some help. We restructured his show to highlight his expertise. The show still included other experts. However, we created space specifically for Oscar to talk about what he did and the service he provide. After we got the show working, we started inviting people to the party. That's when his audience began to grow. Tighten up your content before you bring more listeners to the show. You only get one shot at a great first impression. NEW AUDIENCE Once your content it tight, go get in front of new people. You can't grow your audience until you find people who are not yet aware of you and your show. As we discussed, JVs are a great way to find new listeners. You can also be present in social groups. You can appear on podcast interviews. People can discover you on summits. There are many ways you can get in front of people. Find the activities you love and will commit to doing consistently. Again, you can check out www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jvic to learn about finding joint venture partners. INVITATION Once you get in front of a new pool of potential listeners, invite them to listen. So many people get interviewed or get on a stage in front of an audience and forget to tell people to listen. If your goal is audience growth, ask people to listen to your show. Tell them where to find you and why they will love the show. REASONS Telling people to listen isn't enough. You need to give them a specific reason to listen. Why will they love it? When you ask people to listen, give them a specific episode that they will love. If you have interviewed someone special or taugh something really cool, send them to that episode. Asking people to check out a generic show will give you a few listeners, but not great growth. Telling them why they will love your episode that was downloaded more than any other episode will bring people in. Remember, they are asking, "What's in it for me?" Give them a reason. REMIND THEM Getting them to listen isn't enough for audience growth. You need to bring them back episode after episode. Remind your listeners to come back using your e-mail list and social media. Stay top of mind so the new listeners add to your current listeners. If your current listeners are leaving, you do not achieve audience growth. You maintain. New listeners are just replacing old listeners. Give your current listeners a reason to come back next week by teasing effectively. Create some fear of missing out. YOUR PLAN This week, get to working on your audience growth plan. Start small with a plan that you can stick with. Do the work consistently and watch your audience grow. Next week, we will talk about ways to use events to create audience growth. Events are coming back. Let's be strategic to use these events in the best way. You'll get a bunch of ideas for your plan next week. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.