1 00:00:00,179 --> 00:00:02,399 Travis: When you first get started in podcasting, it's 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,799 almost guaranteed that you're going to make a handful of rookie 3 00:00:04,801 --> 00:00:07,980 mistakes, but that doesn't mean that you have to make all the 4 00:00:07,980 --> 00:00:13,109 mistakes. So in this special bonus podcast episode, we went 5 00:00:13,111 --> 00:00:16,109 back through the archives of the podcasting Q and a show, and five 6 00:00:16,111 --> 00:00:19,500 minute Mondays to pull together the 10 things we wish we knew 7 00:00:19,620 --> 00:00:22,559 before starting our very first podcast. Now, as you're listening 8 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,769 to this episode, you'll hear some sound effects pop in from time to 9 00:00:25,771 --> 00:00:28,410 time. And that's simply because we pulled these clips from our 10 00:00:28,411 --> 00:00:31,410 YouTube channel, where we add animations and different 11 00:00:31,411 --> 00:00:34,259 sequences to help visually communicate the things we're 12 00:00:34,261 --> 00:00:37,500 discussing. So when those things pop up, that's what that is. If 13 00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:41,189 you are wondering, but they're not overly distracting. So you'll 14 00:00:41,191 --> 00:00:44,130 still be able to get the gist of what we're talking about and 15 00:00:44,131 --> 00:00:46,380 hopefully be able to take one of these things and implement it. 16 00:00:46,381 --> 00:00:49,469 Moving forward for your podcast to help you reach your goals, 17 00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:50,340 that much faster 18 00:00:53,030 --> 00:00:57,770 Sarah: Creating good audio is really key to keeping your 19 00:00:57,771 --> 00:01:01,579 podcast listeners engaged because no matter how good the content 20 00:01:01,581 --> 00:01:04,939 is, if your audio quality isn't good. It's unfortunately just 21 00:01:04,941 --> 00:01:08,359 going to turn them away. I know what you're thinking is you 22 00:01:08,361 --> 00:01:11,359 probably think you have to spend thousands of dollars on equipment 23 00:01:11,361 --> 00:01:14,090 or rent a podcasting studio just to make sure everything sounds 24 00:01:14,090 --> 00:01:17,930 great. And I'm here to tell you that's not true at all. I have 25 00:01:17,930 --> 00:01:22,400 created some pretty good audio from mic's that costs less than a 26 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,129 hundred dollars. And I have also recorded in places like in my 27 00:01:25,131 --> 00:01:29,239 home office, even in the closet. Yes, no. One's going to see you 28 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,599 unless you're recording video like this one, um, wherever you 29 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,170 can just to muffle the sound is going to be really make that 30 00:01:36,171 --> 00:01:40,189 difference between air quality and good quality. 31 00:01:42,739 --> 00:01:44,840 Travis: Now, when you're creating your podcast intro, there's a 32 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,750 couple of things that you want to make sure that you cover a couple 33 00:01:47,751 --> 00:01:50,299 of things that you want to make sure that you say the first one 34 00:01:50,301 --> 00:01:54,950 is who you are specifically, like, what is your name? So you 35 00:01:54,950 --> 00:01:59,299 can start. Your podcast is, Hey, welcome to my podcast. My name is 36 00:01:59,329 --> 00:02:02,780 Travis, Albritton, and then your credentials. Why should someone 37 00:02:02,781 --> 00:02:06,019 listen to you? So if you have experience in whatever you're 38 00:02:06,021 --> 00:02:09,110 talking about, you want to make sure that you mentioned that if 39 00:02:09,110 --> 00:02:11,900 you went to school for something, if you have a job doing 40 00:02:11,901 --> 00:02:14,569 something, if you have clients that you work with, you want to 41 00:02:14,570 --> 00:02:19,219 mention the things that lend credence to your advice. This is 42 00:02:19,221 --> 00:02:23,419 a specifically important. If your podcast is centered around you 43 00:02:23,420 --> 00:02:25,849 and your expertise, the next thing that you want to make sure 44 00:02:25,850 --> 00:02:30,229 to include in your podcast intro is what your podcast is about in 45 00:02:30,289 --> 00:02:33,979 this podcast. For instance, podcasting una. At the very 46 00:02:33,980 --> 00:02:37,069 beginning, we talk about, well, one, what is it that we're going 47 00:02:37,070 --> 00:02:40,969 to discuss? And then our opening tagline is that we're giving you 48 00:02:40,971 --> 00:02:44,659 tips and strategies to launch, grow and monetize your podcast. 49 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,520 So if you're a podcaster that speaks directly to you because 50 00:02:49,580 --> 00:02:52,189 you're listening to this, or you're watching this because 51 00:02:52,191 --> 00:02:54,590 you're looking for those tips and you want to think through, for 52 00:02:54,591 --> 00:02:58,189 your podcast in a similar way, what is it that people are 53 00:02:58,219 --> 00:03:01,389 looking for? And then how do you make sure that you address that 54 00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:04,180 in your intro? So they're going to continue to listen, not just 55 00:03:04,181 --> 00:03:08,139 to the one episode, but to every single episode, it'll actually 56 00:03:08,140 --> 00:03:11,590 turn into a subscriber that then goes on to download everything 57 00:03:11,591 --> 00:03:13,930 that you have. And then the third thing that you want to make sure 58 00:03:13,931 --> 00:03:18,370 you mentioned in your podcast intro is why someone should care. 59 00:03:18,490 --> 00:03:22,479 Why should anyone care that your podcast exists? Are they going to 60 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,060 lose weight? Are they going to be happier? Are the relationships 61 00:03:25,061 --> 00:03:27,610 going to get better? Are they going to make money, save money? 62 00:03:27,969 --> 00:03:32,289 What is it that you were offering to them? What is the end result 63 00:03:32,290 --> 00:03:34,870 look like for them, if they not only listened to your podcast, 64 00:03:35,110 --> 00:03:36,939 but then also put it into practice. 65 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,509 Gilon: So is there an ideal podcast length, short answer? 66 00:03:42,689 --> 00:03:46,979 Nope. Joe Rogan has some episodes that are three hours long, but 67 00:03:46,980 --> 00:03:49,800 then there are other podcasts that do just fine and are very 68 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,310 successful at 10 minutes or less. The reality is we love podcasts 69 00:03:53,340 --> 00:03:56,400 because of the content that they're presenting. And so if it 70 00:03:56,401 --> 00:04:00,000 takes you 10 minutes to get out great glorious content, amazing. 71 00:04:00,270 --> 00:04:03,960 If you have some podcast episodes that are on the longer end, maybe 72 00:04:03,961 --> 00:04:07,590 up to three hours, that's okay. Too. People come to the podcast 73 00:04:07,591 --> 00:04:11,310 to get the content, to get what you say weekly. And to be honest, 74 00:04:11,311 --> 00:04:13,379 there are times when we need just a quick little something to 75 00:04:13,381 --> 00:04:15,599 listen to. And there are times when we have a lot of space in 76 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,300 our day to listen to something. It really just depends on what 77 00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:20,579 you're trying to accomplish and what you're trying to get across. 78 00:04:23,189 --> 00:04:26,939 Travis: Be a guest on other people's podcasts, but not just 79 00:04:27,149 --> 00:04:31,319 anyone's podcast podcasts that have a similar target audience 80 00:04:31,649 --> 00:04:34,949 that you do. So let's say for example, that you talk about 81 00:04:35,399 --> 00:04:38,790 online marketing. For instance, you want to find other podcasts 82 00:04:38,790 --> 00:04:40,800 in your space where they talk about online marketing, where 83 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,589 they talk about how to grow your business, where they talk about 84 00:04:43,591 --> 00:04:47,519 the entrepreneur life. Because those are the groups of people 85 00:04:47,970 --> 00:04:51,180 that have already self selected and said, Hey, I want to hear 86 00:04:51,180 --> 00:04:54,750 this kind of podcast content. If you can pitch yourself as a guest 87 00:04:54,750 --> 00:04:59,430 to be on those podcasts, then they will immediately trust you 88 00:04:59,699 --> 00:05:02,639 because they already trust the podcast host of the podcast 89 00:05:02,730 --> 00:05:05,819 you're guesting on because they listen to it every week. And then 90 00:05:05,821 --> 00:05:08,519 when you're able to demonstrate your expertise and say at the end 91 00:05:08,521 --> 00:05:11,759 of the episode, Hey, by the way, I also have a podcast where I 92 00:05:11,761 --> 00:05:15,149 talk about X, Y, and Z. You're going to get a good number of 93 00:05:15,151 --> 00:05:19,500 people from that podcast to come over and subscribe to yours. 94 00:05:22,139 --> 00:05:24,240 Gilon: Interviewing noteworthy guests that have a significant 95 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,000 audience is actually one of our favorite marketing strategies for 96 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,470 podcasters. The only thing is the guest has to promote the episode. 97 00:05:31,529 --> 00:05:33,959 Ideally, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to 98 00:05:33,961 --> 00:05:37,050 promote the episode. So some things that you can do are 99 00:05:37,170 --> 00:05:40,319 creating an audio gram or a social media graphic for 100 00:05:40,321 --> 00:05:43,290 Facebook, for Instagram, whatever social media platform you promote 101 00:05:43,290 --> 00:05:46,350 on. That's a really easy way to get them to share that episode 102 00:05:46,350 --> 00:05:48,779 when you have that created and it's made right there for them 103 00:05:48,781 --> 00:05:51,480 and you give it to them. The second thing that you can do is 104 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,389 create a blurb for them to include in their newsletter about 105 00:05:54,391 --> 00:05:57,740 the episode. Hey, this is an episode about X, Y, and you send 106 00:05:57,740 --> 00:05:59,930 that over to them. They can push that right out to their people 107 00:05:59,959 --> 00:06:03,290 via email. The other thing that you can do is provide a direct 108 00:06:03,290 --> 00:06:06,620 link where people can listen to the episode. The idea is that it 109 00:06:06,620 --> 00:06:09,920 should be as easy as copying and pasting and pushing out to their 110 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,040 people. You want to have no reason for them not to share the 111 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:14,029 episode and promote it. 112 00:06:16,629 --> 00:06:21,310 Travis: Use templates, make it your goal in life as a podcaster, 113 00:06:21,519 --> 00:06:26,110 to never duplicate your work, whether it's your outlines, 114 00:06:26,259 --> 00:06:29,079 whether it's your audio editing software, your projects that you 115 00:06:29,081 --> 00:06:32,920 work in, your emails that you send to your guests, anything 116 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:37,000 that you do consistently spend some time really make it 117 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,329 unbreakable, make sure that it's exactly the way that you want it. 118 00:06:40,930 --> 00:06:44,620 And then don't go back and redo that actually leverage that work 119 00:06:44,620 --> 00:06:48,759 you've done in the past to speed up future episodes. So let's say 120 00:06:48,761 --> 00:06:51,069 for instance, that you have a guest that you're bringing onto 121 00:06:51,071 --> 00:06:54,970 your show, rather than writing a custom email from scratch, send 122 00:06:54,971 --> 00:06:57,939 them the one that you sent to your previous guest, but then 123 00:06:57,970 --> 00:07:00,279 change out the first name to them. It looks like a brand new 124 00:07:00,281 --> 00:07:03,550 email because they haven't seen that email before. And you know 125 00:07:03,550 --> 00:07:06,250 that it has all the details that they need to know to make sure 126 00:07:06,250 --> 00:07:09,879 they're fully prepared to come on your episode. Once you finish 127 00:07:09,970 --> 00:07:12,250 your recording and you bring your interview into your audio editing 128 00:07:12,250 --> 00:07:15,009 software, you shouldn't be creating a new project from 129 00:07:15,011 --> 00:07:19,360 scratch. You should be opening up a previous episode, saving it as 130 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,470 a duplicate and then rewriting over the pieces that need to 131 00:07:23,471 --> 00:07:26,319 change leaving, intact, your intro, your outro, and all of 132 00:07:26,321 --> 00:07:30,189 your audio preferences. And then when you're creating your show 133 00:07:30,190 --> 00:07:33,819 notes, they should be copy and paste from your previous episode, 134 00:07:33,821 --> 00:07:36,370 show notes, and then filling out the fields and changing 135 00:07:36,370 --> 00:07:39,189 everything. That's different just by using templates, just by 136 00:07:39,190 --> 00:07:43,060 leveraging your previous work. And previous efforts for future 137 00:07:43,060 --> 00:07:49,089 episodes is going to save you a ton of time. These show notes is 138 00:07:49,091 --> 00:07:52,899 the section of your podcast episode that allows you to engage 139 00:07:52,959 --> 00:07:55,480 for your listeners, provide some next steps for those that are 140 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,180 ready to take action on what they just listened to. And also 141 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:02,500 persuade someone new to listen to the episode. The number one best 142 00:08:02,500 --> 00:08:07,269 practice is to use formatting. All right, a majority of podcast 143 00:08:07,271 --> 00:08:11,769 players like Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, uh, overcast, 144 00:08:12,009 --> 00:08:15,490 they support HTML formatting. That means you could put 145 00:08:15,490 --> 00:08:19,449 paragraph breaks, bullet points in bed links, all the stuff that 146 00:08:19,451 --> 00:08:23,680 you need to do to make your show notes look nice because when your 147 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,350 show notes are properly formatted, when it's easy to 148 00:08:26,350 --> 00:08:30,220 navigate within your episode description, it makes it easier 149 00:08:30,221 --> 00:08:32,769 for your listeners to find what they're looking for. Right? 150 00:08:32,770 --> 00:08:35,139 Instead of combing through several paragraphs of 151 00:08:35,140 --> 00:08:37,840 information, they can just zip down to the list of links that 152 00:08:37,841 --> 00:08:41,080 you mentioned and click on the one that they're looking for. 153 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,169 Because remember when someone goes to your show notes, your 154 00:08:44,171 --> 00:08:47,470 episode description, they're going for a number of reasons. 155 00:08:47,710 --> 00:08:51,129 First reason they heard you mentioned something in the 156 00:08:51,130 --> 00:08:53,590 podcast and they want to find the link. They want to learn more. 157 00:08:53,799 --> 00:08:57,120 They want to buy that product, that you, they are looking for a 158 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,730 particular piece of information. And they're going to take action 159 00:08:59,730 --> 00:09:02,190 on that. The other reason somebody goes through your show 160 00:09:02,191 --> 00:09:05,519 notes or your episode description is they're not sure that they 161 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,120 want to devote the 30 minutes, 40 minutes hour to listening to the 162 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,539 full episode. And so they see the title is interesting. They're 163 00:09:12,541 --> 00:09:15,960 curious. They want to learn more and they go to your show notes 164 00:09:16,549 --> 00:09:19,169 too, to see some amplifying information to see is this 165 00:09:19,171 --> 00:09:20,519 something that I really want to listen to? 166 00:09:22,879 --> 00:09:26,570 Sarah: So let's talk about whether you actually need a 167 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:32,059 custom podcast website now for most pod-casters the answer is 168 00:09:32,061 --> 00:09:36,950 actually no, because if your podcast has an RSS feed with a 169 00:09:36,951 --> 00:09:42,799 podcast host like Buzzsprout chances are you already have a 170 00:09:42,801 --> 00:09:46,879 podcast website with Buzzsprouts website, you get a homepage with 171 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,690 links to obviously all of your episodes that your listeners can 172 00:09:50,691 --> 00:09:54,440 listen to. You can also direct them to different podcast 173 00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:57,350 directories like Apple podcast, Stitcher and Spotify. If they 174 00:09:57,350 --> 00:10:01,429 want to go listen and subscribe there, and you can also use your 175 00:10:01,460 --> 00:10:05,960 own domain names. So you can look and feel like your own podcast 176 00:10:06,379 --> 00:10:09,440 website. You're just looking for a place for people to listen to 177 00:10:09,441 --> 00:10:12,649 your episodes. Changes are you don't need to spend that money to 178 00:10:12,650 --> 00:10:14,690 build your own custom website. 179 00:10:17,330 --> 00:10:19,820 Gilon: You may think that the best strategy is to put your 180 00:10:19,821 --> 00:10:23,450 entire episode up on a social media platform, but actually you 181 00:10:23,451 --> 00:10:26,389 want to create teaser content and teaser content gives them a 182 00:10:26,390 --> 00:10:28,580 little sound bite, just a little snippet that what's their 183 00:10:28,581 --> 00:10:31,730 appetites want to go listen to the rest of the episode, wherever 184 00:10:31,730 --> 00:10:35,269 they listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify, or what have you. So 185 00:10:35,270 --> 00:10:37,940 we're going to talk about what three things are included in 186 00:10:37,941 --> 00:10:40,970 every good social media post. The first thing that you need is a 187 00:10:40,971 --> 00:10:44,000 visual element, right? So people are scrolling. They're reading, 188 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,120 whatever. If you post a picture that causes them to stop. And the 189 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,580 idea is that they stop, they listen, they read, they engage. 190 00:10:49,759 --> 00:10:52,279 And the picture of visual element helps them do that. So this can 191 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,830 be a graphic. It could be a headshot of your guest. It could 192 00:10:54,831 --> 00:10:57,259 be an audio gram. The second thing that you need is a good 193 00:10:57,260 --> 00:11:01,100 hook. Think about what can I say to make someone want to continue 194 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:04,370 listening, to go check out the full episode. It could be a crazy 195 00:11:04,370 --> 00:11:06,799 stat. It could be a really good quote. It could be a couple of 196 00:11:06,801 --> 00:11:09,860 bullet points that summarize the high points of the episode. 197 00:11:10,129 --> 00:11:13,519 Whatever that thing is, put that in the caption to help encourage 198 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:16,580 people to go check out the full episode and finally a link you 199 00:11:16,581 --> 00:11:20,299 want to include a direct link to that specific podcast episode in 200 00:11:20,301 --> 00:11:23,539 your post. If you nail all three of these elements, you'll not 201 00:11:23,541 --> 00:11:27,049 only intrigue new listeners. You'll also encourage existing 202 00:11:27,051 --> 00:11:28,850 subscribers to share your posts as well, 203 00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:35,809 Travis: Batch production of your podcast episodes. So anytime that 204 00:11:35,811 --> 00:11:38,809 you were producing an episode, there's so much involved. There's 205 00:11:38,811 --> 00:11:43,129 so many moving pieces that need to happen in a specific order in 206 00:11:43,130 --> 00:11:45,860 order for you to create that episode. So you have to start 207 00:11:45,860 --> 00:11:48,230 with generating ideas. Then you have to create outlines or 208 00:11:48,409 --> 00:11:50,629 scripts. If you have a scripted podcast, you have to line up 209 00:11:50,659 --> 00:11:53,470 interviews, you need to record the episode. You need to edit it. 210 00:11:53,471 --> 00:11:55,940 You need to upload it. You need to schedule it. All of those 211 00:11:56,220 --> 00:12:00,690 things take time. What takes even more time If you do every single 212 00:12:00,691 --> 00:12:04,200 episode by itself. But let's say instead that you scheduled all 213 00:12:04,201 --> 00:12:07,259 the interviews that you needed for the entire month in one week, 214 00:12:07,289 --> 00:12:09,899 maybe you had to record it on Tuesday. And to record it on 215 00:12:09,900 --> 00:12:12,570 Thursday, you know, have four episodes to start working with 216 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,169 that Saturday. You create the outlines for the rest of the 217 00:12:16,171 --> 00:12:18,809 episode. You record the narration, put it with your intro 218 00:12:18,811 --> 00:12:21,659 and your outro music, and you export it. You output it to your 219 00:12:21,660 --> 00:12:24,570 podcast host, and now you schedule it out. You've just done 220 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:29,759 a month of content in one week. So if you're looking to optimize 221 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,669 and streamline your workflow even more beyond templates, the next 222 00:12:32,671 --> 00:12:34,769 best thing to do is to batch your episodes.