Big Podcast Playbook - Grow Your Podcast. Build Your Audience.

The 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge is done, but you are not done – your podcasting challenge is just beginning.

This series was designed to give you a jumpstart into the world of solo podcasting. What happens next is up to you...

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

Your podcast, especially if it's solo, is a billboard – it lets people know everything they need to know about you (or at least what you want them to know about you).

So what do you want to be known? That's what this episode of the 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge is about.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

One of the most common questions people ask me about solo podcasting is, "Where do you get ideas for episodes?"

In this episode of the 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge, I talk about this and give you a very specific exercise to make sure you never run out of podcast episode ideas.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

All podcast hosts have two things:

1. Things we want people to know about.
2. Things we hope remain secret.

Some secrets are scandalous. Or we think they are. 

Some are a big deal. Or we think they are.

This episode is about secrets and what we choose to share (or not share) with listeners.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

Most stories in the media, at least when it comes to celebrities, don't just happen. When you see somebody "famous" getting positive coverage on big media, there's a good chance it happened because a publicist (or even the person himself) asked for it.

When it comes to getting attention for yourself, your podcast, and the business behind your podcast, you need to let people know the kind of attention you want.

The same is true for your reputation. A good reputation doesn't just happen – you have to let people know the type of reputation you want, then act accordingly.

What do you want your listeners to know about you? How can you let podcast listeners know these things within the podcasts you're doing? That's the subject of this episode.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

Listeners are attached to you. Because of this, they love "behind-the-scenes" info. One of the best ways to ease into this and provide something of value that's related to your podcast topic is to share the tools you use to do your job (related to your topic) and your work process.

The tools I used to make this podcast episode:

• Audio-Technica BP-30 microphone
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Audacity

Something that I didn't mention, but was also used in the creation of this episode is Auphonic, which is post-production software that touches up your raw audio to make it sound better.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

Over the last couple of episodes, we've covered the "future" as well as the "past." In this episode, I talk about how to share what's happening NOW and get your listeners involved in what you're currently doing.

Have you ever been in a city where there is a Starbucks on one side of the street and, directly across from it, there is another Starbucks? That can seem like overkill, but those situations aren't by accident – they happen because people are less likely to go somewhere if they have to cross a street.

If a city street will keep people from spending money on something they're addicted to, you can imagine how difficult it can be to get people to take action on "non-addictive" offers. I talk about this also...

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

The image we present as podcast hosts is always different than how we actually are as humans. Some of this is done on purpose, but because our podcasts are planned out and edited (or should be), it's easy for people to think we're better at organizing messages and delivering them than we actually are.

Like standup comics, we plan things. And we tweak our messages (and perfect them) before they're delivered to people.

If you want to have real rapport and connection with the people who listen to your podcast, you have to let them know that you make mistakes too.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

As a podcast host, listeners look to you as an authority on your subject. And it can be helpful to your "status" as this expert to talk about current and future trends.

Think about the host of a stock market show. What does something like that do for listeners?

Part of the job is to advise you today on what the market will do tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year.

You can benefit by doing something similar. Even if you don't make predictions for the future, it can be helpful to your expert status to talk about the trajectory of current trends.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

There's a saying among those who sell their own products that, "If you don't have a few people return what you've sold, you're not selling enough."

The same could be said for bad reviews of podcasts. If you don't have some bad reviews for your podcast, you're not reaching enough people with it.

Everybody who has ever really tried at life has been rejected. Because of this, your listeners will have their own stories of rejection.

You have one too. And a great way to better connect and develop rapport with your listeners is to share it with them.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.