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Podcast directories are littered with abandoned shows.
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Shows someone thought would be a hit, but failed to thrive.
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For many, it wasn't an audience growth problem.
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It was a problem of missing value.
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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Two clients - well, two prospects - recently approached me that I'm pretty
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sure I'm not going to win their business.
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Both of them had money.
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They were all business people.
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They fit in the world of where I, my production company works.
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They both claimed that they knew all of the realities of podcasting,
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would be in it for the long haul.
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And also both of them assumed that their stellar guest lineup
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would be all that they needed.
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You see, neither of them could articulate anything unique that they would
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bring to the world with their show.
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And when I pointed out, by the way, that all of the guests that they mentioned
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to me had been guests on other podcasts and are frequent guests on other
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podcasts, they sort of went quiet.
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I offered both of them a small consulting block to help them
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actually figure out what their unique aspect would be in podcasting, how
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to plan for this thing other than just get guests and have interviews.
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And neither of them pulled the trigger.
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Maybe I scared them off of podcasting, which I don't necessarily think
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would be a bad thing, right?
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So I didn't think much about that until I was watching the IAB Upfront yesterday.
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Series of shows that IAB has put together to try to sell out the advertising.
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And during the live, obviously event that was distanced, I was really blown
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away that every single host that they brought up on stage, if you will, or
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had a presentation by, they all did a great job of describing their show
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and making it seem quite interesting.
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All of them.
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And they didn't take a long time to do it.
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The only possible exception is there were a few celebrities that didn't
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do that, but they're celebrities.
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And so, yes, I'm interested in the new Seth Rogan podcast because
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the same reason I'm interested in watching Seth Rogan movies.
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I don't need the synopsis.
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He's funny.
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I like that kind of humor.
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So I'll probably listen.
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But if you're not famous, like I'm not famous, we don't have that luxury.
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I think a lot of podcast hosts out there don't really know what it
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is that makes their show special.
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They know the mechanics, they know the pieces, they know the features that
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are inside of their show, but I don't think they know the why, or they are
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unable to properly articulate the why and what is unique about their podcast.
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Now, unfortunately, figuring out what makes your podcast unique
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isn't something that we can do in a ten-minute-long episode.
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The process of defining brand identity is just that, it's a process.
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I'm going to link to some resources in the episode details if you want to
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start on that because it is a process you can pay a lot of money for, but
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you can also do a lot of it yourself.
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But while you're going through one of those things I'm going to link to in the
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episode details, just keep this in mind.
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The biggest mistake I see podcasters make when defining the identity of their
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show is failing to understand who that definition is for first and foremost.
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You see, we tend to think it's about the audience, and it is, but that's not
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the first person we're worried about.
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This isn't an exercise that you'll go through so that you can write
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a better description of your podcast in various directories.
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Although, your show very likely needs a better description, and this exercise
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will certainly help you do that.
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This also isn't an exercise that will help you build your media kit
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better or get you more sponsors.
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Although, once again, I will say that if you do this better, if you can better
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articulate the uniqueness of your show, you probably will improve your media
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kit and probably will get more sponsors.
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If, in fact, that's what you want to do.
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This is an exercise for you so that you have zero doubt every single
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time you sit down to work on your next episode or prepare for your next
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episode, new season, whatever, you know what it is that makes your show
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unique and different from the rest.
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You know how you can take a topic and an angle - two things I've
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talked about ad nauseum on this show - and make it uniquely yours.
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Because anyone can have that topic and a lot of people could have a
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similar angle to you, but you're the only one who can deliver it your way.
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You need to deliver it in a way that only you and your show is capable of.
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And you need to understand your brand identity before you can do that.
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And when you have that, keep that.
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We tend to drift off from that line from time to time so you need to be
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vigilant about checking yourself to make sure you're staying true to the core
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brand identity you've developed there.
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Now, it's always a good idea to get an outside opinion on this.
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It's very hard to do on your own.
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So my suggestion to you is communicate what you think the secret sauce of
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your show is to another podcaster who you like and respect, and also a
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podcaster who listens to your podcast, and ask them for their honest feedback.
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That also is going to be hard for them to do.
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So my suggestion is share this episode or article with them so they know that
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you're just not fishing for compliments.
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Right?
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Right.
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If you find this idea helpful, please go to buymeacoffee.com/EvoTerra and every
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single person who is a member - membership is different than just buying a one-off
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coffee - but every single person who is a member is going to get a sneak
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peek of what's happening with season four of Podcast Pontifications, the
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larger scale, by the end of this week.
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So you want to get on that list right away.
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All right.
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Short episode today.
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I'm going to go back and watch more of the IAB Upfronts 'cause I've got
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that blocked out on my calendar.
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Enjoy the rest of your day.
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I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
