Transcripts
Podcasters have a lot of jobs.
Evo Terra:One we don't often think about is being ambassadors for podcasting.
Evo Terra:But it's an important job if we're to grow the entire podcasting pie.
Evo Terra:And it starts by having some IHNIs at the ready.
Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:Way back in the summer of 2018, I introduced my audience at the time, small
Evo Terra:that it was, to a concept called IHNI.
Evo Terra:No, not your belly button.
Evo Terra:IHNI is an acronym and the letters I, H, N, and I represent what I still think
Evo Terra:is the best way for you, the serious podcaster, to grow podcasting, and not
Evo Terra:just your podcast, but all of podcasting.
Evo Terra:Albeit slowly, one listener at a time, but still, new listeners who you have a lot
Evo Terra:more influence on than you probably know.
Evo Terra:So, first off, what, Evo, is an IHNI?
Evo Terra:Well, an IHNI can refer to either a podcast, the entire
Evo Terra:show, or just a podcast episode.
Evo Terra:Most of the time, it's an episode or a select number of episodes.
Evo Terra:Much less often, though it is a joy when it happens, it's an entire podcast
Evo Terra:where every single episode is an IHNI.
Evo Terra:Now, the letters in this acronym stand for I Had No Idea.
Evo Terra:Specifically, they stand for those words in the following sentence, "I had no idea
Evo Terra:that is what podcasts can sound like."
Evo Terra:A sentence uttered by a person who, until your intervention with that IHNI
Evo Terra:in hand, had decided they didn't care for podcasting or that podcasts simply were
Evo Terra:something they were not interested in.
Evo Terra:And who knows why.
Evo Terra:Perhaps they had a bad experience.
Evo Terra:I mean, that happens.
Evo Terra:4 million podcasts exist and Sturgeon's Law applies.
Evo Terra:Poor audio quality, jabbering hosts, uninspiring interviews,
Evo Terra:bad attempts at playing at radio.
Evo Terra:I mean, look, you have to admit that the unassisted podcast listening
Evo Terra:can be a lot like a carnival game.
Evo Terra:You're likely not going to get the big stuffed animal on your first try, if ever.
Evo Terra:And perhaps they've adopted preconceived notions about what podcasts are without
Evo Terra:actually listening for themselves.
Evo Terra:I mean, maybe they've got that annoying friend who just won't shut up about how
Evo Terra:much they love some celebrity host or a pundit, a host or a pundit that the other
Evo Terra:party finds markedly less interesting.
Evo Terra:And they're left thinking, well, that's what podcasting is all about.
Evo Terra:Or maybe this person is really off-base and is assuming that podcasts are
Evo Terra:something they have to pay for, or that podcasts are nothing more than
Evo Terra:videos or livestreams or something else that has nothing or just little
Evo Terra:to do with what podcasting is.
Evo Terra:All of those people, and more, think that podcasting is
Evo Terra:something that is not for them.
Evo Terra:They have the idea that podcasts are something to be avoided.
Evo Terra:But you and I, we know that they probably have no idea what podcasts can sound like.
Evo Terra:And so that's your job.
Evo Terra:Show them.
Evo Terra:No, don't tell them, show them what podcasts can sound like.
Evo Terra:You, after all, are a podcaster.
Evo Terra:Who better than you to be an excellent brand ambassador for all of podcasting?
Evo Terra:No, not just your podcast.
Evo Terra:In fact, perhaps not your podcast at all, but for all of podcasting.
Evo Terra:I know that sounds like a big job, but it's one that you, the
Evo Terra:serious podcaster, are up for.
Evo Terra:I know you are.
Evo Terra:So here's what I want you to do the next time you're with a friend or an
Evo Terra:acquaintance, or perhaps you're introduced to someone at an event, who has made
Evo Terra:the choice not to listen to podcasts.
Evo Terra:I want you to help guide them on their journey, rising above your
Evo Terra:own self-interests and looking at this as a larger opportunity to help
Evo Terra:someone develop the podcast listening habit, someone who currently has the
Evo Terra:idea that podcasts are not for them.
Evo Terra:I want you to recommend that they listen to an IHNI.
Evo Terra:If you can, I want you to help them find an IHNI on their
Evo Terra:phone, right there with you.
Evo Terra:Done correctly, this takes less than a minute.
Evo Terra:Done correctly, you'll have, hopefully, made someone say, "I had no idea
Evo Terra:podcasts could sound like that," which might encourage them to change
Evo Terra:their mind and at least consider becoming a regular podcast listener.
Evo Terra:Now, the trick, obviously, is to have the IHNIs at the ready all the time.
Evo Terra:Look, you're probably actively consuming lots of podcasts, way more
Evo Terra:than the average podcast listener.
Evo Terra:So it's important, as an ambassador of podcasting, for the entirety of
Evo Terra:podcasting to have this process down pat.
Evo Terra:Okay.
Evo Terra:It's a big job, but again, I think you're up for it.
Evo Terra:Now, finding these IHNIs is a three-part test.
Evo Terra:Think of a waterfall or a flow chart, if you will.
Evo Terra:Three simple questions you go through until you get to a yes.
Evo Terra:Question one, have you made any IHNI episodes?
Evo Terra:Not just good episodes.
Evo Terra:Not episodes that you really enjoyed making.
Evo Terra:Not even episodes that got a lot of downloads, and, almost certainly,
Evo Terra:not your most recent episode.
Evo Terra:No, I want you to now be very real and honest with yourself.
Evo Terra:Do you have an episode of your podcast that when someone who has already said
Evo Terra:they don't like podcasts, if they listen to it, they will say, "Wow, I had no idea
Evo Terra:that's what podcasts could sound like?"
Evo Terra:Are you sure that episode you are thinking about will knock them out of their socks?
Evo Terra:Now, if the answer is yes, then bully for you.
Evo Terra:You are the exception to the rule.
Evo Terra:Go into your podcast hosting service or your website hosting service,
Evo Terra:and make a redirect to that episode.
Evo Terra:Something like PodcastPontifications.com/IHNI.
Evo Terra:Something you can easily remember that you can tell someone to type
Evo Terra:into their phone and let them listen right there on your website.
Evo Terra:Now, you don't wanna send 'em to your home page and have them start searching around.
Evo Terra:You wanna make it simple for you to remember and for them to type.
Evo Terra:Now, if your answer to that question was no - and honestly, my answer is
Evo Terra:no - then proceed to question two.
Evo Terra:Question two is this, can you make an IHNI?
Evo Terra:If you can, well, I'll ignore my first reaction of then why
Evo Terra:haven't you done that until now?
Evo Terra:And I'll say great, make that IHNI episode.
Evo Terra:I'd suggest, however, shopping it around to some people in your life who aren't
Evo Terra:afraid to burst your bubble - by the way, I'm @EvoTerra on Twitter if you want an
Evo Terra:honest evaluation - just to make sure it really is an IHNI and then do that
Evo Terra:vanity URL trick so it's easy to remember.
Evo Terra:But if you can't, and, and I simply, can't.
Evo Terra:Not with Podcast Pontifications at least.
Evo Terra:I mean, if someone has decided they don't really care to listen to
Evo Terra:podcasts, how exactly is my content, you know, my monologues on the future
Evo Terra:of podcasting or ways to make podcasting better going to convince them?
Evo Terra:It's, it's not.
Evo Terra:Yeah, I put a lot of time and effort into making sure my episodes sound
Evo Terra:great and are valuable resources, but any podcast about podcasting isn't
Evo Terra:going to cut it for these people.
Evo Terra:So if you, like me, acknowledge that while you can make a great sounding
Evo Terra:episode, you cannot make an IHNI episode, then proceed to question number three.
Evo Terra:The third and final question is this, do you know of any IHNI episodes?
Evo Terra:Your answer there has to be yes.
Evo Terra:If it's a no, then you need to start listening to more podcasts until
Evo Terra:you find yourself an IHNI episode.
Evo Terra:And when you find that episode, save it.
Evo Terra:Now, I use Spotify for this.
Evo Terra:It's because I never listened to podcasts through Spotify.
Evo Terra:Although according to the Creators Report we just put out from Sounds Profitable,
Evo Terra:a surprising number of podcasters do.
Evo Terra:But almost everyone has Spotify on their phone.
Evo Terra:So I can ask them to pull up Spotify on their phone and then show them
Evo Terra:the shows or the episodes I've saved, either the entire podcast, like Twenty
Evo Terra:Thousand Hertz, or some excellent episodes of Love + Radio, saved right
Evo Terra:in my Your Episodes folder on my phone.
Evo Terra:That makes it super easy for them to search Spotify and find the name they
Evo Terra:see on my screen in the exact same app.
Evo Terra:It's, it's dead simple.
Evo Terra:And once they have it on their phone, if the situation's right, I'll have
Evo Terra:them listen right there because it's amazing to watch faces light up when
Evo Terra:they discover that yes, there are podcasts out there that are unlike
Evo Terra:what they thought podcasting was.
Evo Terra:And that's it.
Evo Terra:That's the way you become an excellent ambassador for new listeners, helping
Evo Terra:them say, "I had no idea that's what podcasts could sound like"
Evo Terra:by sharing your IHNIs with them.
Evo Terra:And with that, I shall be back next week with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
