157. Creating a Profitable Private Podcast Series: Part 1

Sara Whittaker 0:01

Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners, and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager. And I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. Hey there and welcome back to podcasting for educators. Today's episode is part one of two episodes all about creating a profitable private podcast series. That's a mouthful. This is part of a training that I did that got a really good response. So I wanted to share it here on the podcast. If you are hearing that term, private podcast for the first time, I have several episodes about private podcasts that I've done in the past that I've compiled into a playlist so that you have them all in one place. In case you want to check those out. I will link those in the show notes for you. But today and next week, although we are talking about private podcast, we're doing it in a little bit of a different way, because we're getting really specific and planning a private podcast series of episodes. And this is great because this is something that you can do whether you have a public podcast or not, you don't have to be a current podcaster to create a private podcast series. And it can be something that you sell as a low ticket offer if you wanted to go that route. But in this training, I'm showing you how to use it as an engaging opt in that will funnel people into a paid offer. So it's a way to really nurture people and get them warmed up before they make that decision to buy from you. Like I said, I'm splitting this up into two parts just to make it really digestible for you. In part one, today, you'll hear what a private podcast series is, and how it can help your business. What kind of things you're going to need in order to be able to create this private podcast series, and what kinds of questions you need to answer for yourself before getting started on this series. Like when are you going to launch this private series? What are you going to drive your listeners to things like that. And then in part two, which will be next week, we are going to get really into the details and the planning of your private podcast series. And I'm even going to go through a really specific example of what a private podcast series could look like, as well as how to actually set your series up. I hope this gets your wheels turning as to how you could use a private series for your business. So let's go ahead and get started. Hello there. Welcome to this workshop on planning a profitable private podcast series. Here are the big things, the big three things that we are going to cover today. Number one, I'm going to touch on exactly what a private podcast series is, and how it can help your business. And then we'll get into actually planning your own private podcast series. So let's look at exactly what a private podcast series is. Now, let's start first with what a private podcast is. A private podcast is different than the usual type of podcast that you are probably used to listening to. So a public traditional type of podcast, you can go into Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever you like to listen, and you can search for these podcasts and you can pull them up and you can listen to those episodes, usually for free. A private podcast is not searchable within these listening apps. So if you have a private podcast, your audience cannot go into Apple podcasts and search for this. They could search for it, but nothing would come up. They have to be given access to the private podcast by you. And then some people have private podcasts that they put episodes out weekly for but today we're going to be looking at doing a private podcast series, which is just a set of episodes that you put into this private podcast and you're not continuously adding to it. It's just kind of a one and done series that you make available to your audience. And this is something that you really want to be something that's bingeable that people can get through pretty quickly. And we're going to talk more details about that in a few minutes. But like I said, this content is gated, and the way that people can access your private podcast series is by either giving you their email address in exchange for this series. Or you can make it a paid private podcast series where they have to pay you and then they would get access to this series. And then one other detail to know about is that when you create a private podcast series, this could be something that is evergreen in your business, meaning that you could always have it open for people to sign up for or you can do what's called a pop up private podcast, where you only have it available for a certain amount of time. Maybe you only do it once a year or once a quarter or maybe just once for two weeks, and it never comes back again. There's lots and lots and lots of different ways that you can format this. Now, how can a private podcast series help your business? Like, what's in it for you? Why should you do it? Number one, it can be a great email list builder, whether it's paid or free. But we're really going to focus today on doing a free private podcast series that's free for your audience as a way to build your email list because like I said, when you create this series, people would have to give you their email address in exchange to get the content. And then if we take that route of making it a freebie, so this is just like an opt in that you would create, except instead of a PDF that you're giving them or a video series, you're giving them a private podcast series. Ideally, you would have a paid offer that you are then going to funnel your listeners into. So during this series of episodes, in your content, you are going to be talking about a paid offer that you want to lead people to this could be a resource of some sort, like a TPT bundle, or it could be a course or a membership, or virtual Summit. Or it could be a service. If you're a service provider, maybe you offer coaching or consultations or maybe you offer retainer services, this could be used in the same way. Or like I said before, if you wanted to go the route of making it a paid private podcast series, you could do that. And in that case, you would really want to think about it almost like a mini course that you're creating. And you would format that in in a bit of a different way than you would format your content for a free series. But this could be a low ticket offer that you turn your series into. So it can be a you know, $17 private podcast series $27 Private podcast series. And then lastly, having a private podcast series is really a natural authority builder, which really just comes with podcasting. In general, when you have a private podcast series that people are opting into. People are then hearing your voice as you're delivering this content, which is definitely much more personable than just receiving a PDF document from you, podcasting and audio in general really tends to build trust, a lot quicker than the written word. And another great thing is that private podcast typically have a really high consumption rate, meaning that when people opt into it, they are actually consuming it, and then they're using your content. And if it's good content, then they are going to be more likely to purchase from you right then and there, or purchase from you in the future. Okay, so what do you need to start a private podcast series, these are the five main things. Number one, you're going to want a microphone, I use the ATR 20 100x. I'm using it right now. It's a super easy mic to use, it just plugs right into your computer and you're basically ready to go. You definitely want to use a microphone because it is a short series of episodes and you want it to sound good, you want people to enjoy listening to it. If it's really bad audio, it could turn people off and could cause them to not finish this series. You also want to wear headphones, your headphones would typically plug into your microphone, and then again, your microphone would plug into your computer. And the reason for wearing headphones is just so that you can be really aware of what you sound like how far or close away from the mic you are, it helps with your pacing when you're talking. And especially if you're going to do any kind of interview as part of your series. So if it's not just going to be you it might be one or two or more other people in any of your episodes, then you definitely want to have everybody wear headphones to eliminate any kind of echo or what's called mic bleed, which is just like a terrible sound that can happen if you guys aren't wearing headphones. Number three, you need a platform to record your audio and edit your audio. My recommendation is Audacity. It's a free program, you download it to your computer, and then it'll just live on your desktop. Again, super easy to use. You plug your microphone in, you hit the red record button and you're good to go. So that's my recommendation there. Again, if

you are doing any kind of episode where it's other people involved and not just you there And you could use a program like zoom, or something like Zen caster, which is created specifically for podcasters. But if it's just you, I would stick to Audacity. Next you need a hosting platform. And this is going to be a huge piece of your private podcast is basically what's going to create your private podcast, it is so easy to use, it's going to be the place that you upload your episodes and schedule your episodes, and it will create your podcast feed for you. And it will magically make it available on those different listening apps. And it will give you just everything you need to be able to share it with your audience. And then number five, you will need to design a cover art, which is just like a thumbnail image that has the title of your private podcast series, it can be a picture of you or it can be a graphic of sorts without your face on it. But you can design this in Canva. I know most of you who are listening are probably very familiar with Canva. But that would be a great tool to use to design your cover art. And that would be something that you also add to Hello audio. And then most importantly, you need a plan for your private podcast series. And that is what we are going to do. For the remainder of this workshop. We are going to plan out a profitable podcast series that will be used as a free opt in for your business as a way to build your email list and as a way to drive listeners to a paid resource or service that you offer. So before I have an example that I'm going to give you but before I do that, these are the questions that need answers from you. These are the questions that I want you to be thinking about. Number one is, when will you launch this series, I really recommend giving yourself time to do this really well and plan out your content for your episodes really intentionally. So that it does become something that converts into your paid offer that you're sharing with people, I would give yourself a minimum of two weeks to put all of this together before getting it out and in front of people. The next question you need to ask yourself is what am I driving listeners to this is a huge piece of creating your private podcast series because you really want to take this backward design approach where you're thinking of where you want people to end up, because that's really going to drive the content that you create. So what are you going to drive people to? Is it going to be a service that you offer? Is it going to be an online course, your membership, a TPT bundle, I would not do an individual TPT product, unless it's a higher ticket product. But a bundle would be a really great thing, if you want to stick with using your TPT resources. Number three, what are the pain points that your audience has around this topic that your resource or service will provide them a solution to? So think about what you're driving people to? What are they struggling with that makes them need your resource for your service. This is really important because it's going to dictate what you focus on in your episodes. For example, I have a private podcast series, that is called the podcast launch guide. And it's meant for people who want to start a public podcast and it helps them kind of kickstart that journey. pain points for my ideal listener are I don't know anything about the tech that goes into podcasting. I don't know where to begin, I'm afraid no one will listen to my podcast. Those are three pain points that typically come up for my ideal listener. So I speak to those pain points in my series of episodes. So that's why we're really focusing on pain points, because it can help you decide what to talk about in your series. And number four, what can I teach in this series that will be valuable. Although this is going to be a free resource, you want it to be really, really good. You want your listeners to walk away having learned something super valuable, because we all know that that's going to build trust with you. And I know you as educators, we all want this we all want to teach. We all want to help people take that next step in whatever it is that you're teaching on. So you want people to listen to your private podcast series and really walk away with something whether they purchase from you or not. And then the last question I want you to answer is how can I show that my resource or service is the solution that they need? And this is where it can be a little bit tricky, because I just said that you want your content to be valuable. And you do. But you also at the same time want to show people that they will still benefit from whatever it is that you're driving them to. So you're giving them valuable information, but you still want to show them that there's a need to purchase from you. Alright, that is where we are going to stop today. For part one, I hope that you have a good clear idea of what you might need to have in place before creating this private podcast series. And you thought of some ways that you could use it for your business. Be sure to come back here next week for part two, because we're really going to get into the nitty gritty of planning. I'm going to give you some super specific examples of types of episodes that you could put into your series, and what you can do to make sure that you are actually driving people to the paid offer that you have. I'll see you then. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

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