I have an extreme situation. My neighbor's mother died today. She was 96 and it wasn't a surprise. Still, as I don't really know my audience I don't know how to react. Do I say

• Everything is going to be fine?
• Your mother is now in heaven...
• You've done hard things before, you've got this!

I don't know what would be the best thing to comfort him in his time of need and it depends on his thoughts, financial situation, and religious beliefs. 

When You Know Who Your Audience Is You Know What Content to Provide

When you know who your audience is you know what format, what content, what length your podcast should be. 

You can do this using sites like meetup.com, Facebook groups, or look for people on Twitter and Instagram and see what they are talking about (just listen and learn). 

Need Help?

Need help identifying your audience? I'd love to help you. Schedule a coaching session today. 

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You are thinking of changing the format or going "outside the box" of your typical topics, and you're nervous.

While it can help to get feedback from other podcasters, or your friends, but the BEST place to get feedback from is your AUDIENCE. 

Scott Johnson does the "What was that like" podcast, and he has a private Facebook group where he can interact with his audience to talk to his audience in between episodes. When he thought of doing an episode slightly different than his usual audience, he put a poll in his private Facebook group. 

Scott's audience decided they DID want to hear about what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper. 

Do you need a guide to help you through the fog of podcasting?

Let's get together and get your going in the right direction with your podcast. Schedule a session today

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I do a show every Saturday at 10:30 AM ET at www.askthepodcastcoach.com/live

It's the same time every week so my audience knows when and where to find me. It never changes. If I don't feel good, the show must go on. 

If you are just starting out and you think you will field questions and interact with your audience you may need to remember you don't have an audience (yet) and only a very small percentage of your listeners will show up to listen live. 

The benefit of live streaming is the instant feedback you get when people show up. You can get feedback in podcasting, but you have to wait for it. This is instant.

Many people shy away from doing anything live due to the fear of messing up in front of an audience. Keep in mind these are your fans and they don't care if you stumble. They are the people rooting for you. When you do stumble, you're human and they may love you even more and find you more relatable. 

Video of Vince Gill at George Jones Funeral

I use Streamyard to live stream to YouTube (you can go to a number of places) and use a portable recorder like a Zoom H6 to record out of your USB Device like a Focusrite 2i2. I currently use the Rodecaster Pro ($599) which is a great piece of equipment for anyone looking to record and stream at the same time. 

You don't have an audience when you start.

You need to live stream at the same time so your audience knows when to show up. 

If you are adding sound and music it makes it more technically challenging. 

Your audience doesn't judge you if you stumble. They like that you are human.

I love streamyard for streaming

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If you're working on crowdfunding, you have to position your rewards in a way so that they are a reward for your audience. 

Superfans want more content. They love your show and they want more of it. Keep in mind they also want the same level of quality.

Superfans also want to help steer the show. This means if you do Q&A they get their questions answered first. This means if you do a roundtable maybe they get to vote on the topic. In some cases it means they get behind the microphone.

Some superfans simply want to help you create your art and do your show. They realize that it takes time and effort to produce quality content, and they want to enable you to create more of your content. 

Some people offer to remove any advertising. This often doesn't' work because if you don't your job right, your advertiser fits your audience.

If you're not sure how to shape a position any rewards for a crowdfunding campaign, create a poll using Google Forms and ask your audience to fill it out. You might have to bribe them with a gift card.

I love helping people plan, launch, and grow their podcast. Schedule a coaching session today at www.podcastconsultant.com/schedule

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From the Patreon website, you can expect 5% of your audience to join your crowdfunding campaign. The average patronage is $7/month.

If you want to make $60,000 (take home) you need to make $98,192 gross income. This means you need 1169 patrons. 

To have 1169 patrons you need 23,379 downloads a month or 5845 downloads a week.

Need help growing your audience? See

https://podcastconsultant.com/how-to-grow-your-podcast/

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line is if you plan on using sites like Patreon to crowdfund your podcast, don't forget the first steps is to grow your crowd.

WANT SOME HELP WITH YOUR PODCAST?

Go to www.podcastconsultant.com/schedule and let's start about you starting and growing your podcast. 

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I had someone ask me about publishing a "preview" of a show and then putting the "full" version of the website (but not have the full version go to Apple, Google, etc). There are tools at Libsyn.com (use the coupon code sopfree for a free month) to help you do this ( File for download only). 

In thinking about this, it sounds like you're adding an additional step for your audience to get your episode. That doesn't seem like a good plan. If you want people to go to your website to take an action (like signs up for a newsletter, etc) then give them the FULL version of the podcast, and ask them to your website to sign up for the newsletter (as only the super ENGAGED people will do that - and those are the people you want). 

Try to make keep the path between you and your audience as clear as possible. 

Need a Coaching Session?I'd love to help you launch your podcast. If you have a podcast, I'd love to help you make it grow. 

Schedule a session today.

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You notice that none of your quests that you interview on your podcast are sharing their interview. There is a reason for that. The interview you did was very similar to the other interviews they have done in the past and their audience has already heard their story and the same old same old questions.

If you want your guest so share the episode with their audience it has to hold the attention of your audience, but it also has to hold the attention of their audience. It can't be the same questions they get asked over and over again. 

Then make it easy to share. Don't send them a link and say "Its live." Pre-write the tweet, the email, the Facebook post so all they have to do is copy and paste. 

There is a website call clicked to tweet that you pre-write the tweet and all you guest has to do is provide a link you get. 

Social Warfare is a great WordPress Plugin that makes sure that the right images is used social mentions. 

If you need to make artwork, Stencil is a great tool to use to make great looking artwork with lots of templates to choose from 

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In the previous episode, we talk about the importance of listening, to take this one more level deeper in this episode I want to talk about the importance of staying out of the way of the guest. I edit some client's show's and when you do active listening by saying things like, "Uh huh, Mm Hmm" is not needed. It goes against what we feel might be rude (as actively listening shows you are listening to the person).

We are not used to awkward pauses. We might even feel like they are "Dead air." Keep in mind that this is NOT live radio and any unwanted silence can be edited out. When a guest starts to take some time to think about an answer we get nervous and throw out potential answers (making what was a hard answer a multiple choice). The best answers are the answer that requires some thought. Let them think about it, and come up with a great answer.

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It's not the size of the guest that brings value, its the size of the value that makes the guest. 

When doing interviews you need to ask yourself:

• Why am I bringing this person on?
• How will this person bring value to my audience?

Then do some research so you can craft an interview that brings value. If you know the answers that are going to get your audience sharing the episode, then you need to make sure to ask those questions. 

Evaluate Your Interview

After the interview listen back and at the top of a piece of paper write down why you asked this guest to come on your show. Then listen to the questions you ask and see if they help move the conversation in a direction that is in alignment with your "why."

Interviews are Harder Than Just Asking Questions

The hard part of conducting an interview is listening. That seems obvious but you NEED to do a mock interview before doing a "real" one (I advise to interview your parents if they are still around). There is a "little voice" that goes on in your head as you try to remember a follow-up question in your head, try to figure out the next question, all while still listening to the guest.

In today's show, I give you my strategies on how to be a better listener.  

Get Your Podcast Going and Growing

If you're ready to start and grow your audience, I can help. Go to www.podcastconsultant.com/schedule and schedule a coaching session today. 

My interview(s) with Glenn Hebert from the Horse Radio Network.

My interview with Cathy Heller from the Don't Keep Your Day Job podcast.

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Podcasting Observations

You are looking for places to be interviewed, or you're looking for guests for your show. Today we talk about a few.

Some of these resources will charge between $400-$1000 per month (hundreds of dollars per episode). There are events that again cost hundreds of dollars to attend. I don't recommend paying for these as there are many free resources.

I have a list at Podcasting Resources.com

I'd love to help you launch your podcast. If you have a podcast, I'd love to help you make it grow. 

Schedule a session today.

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Podcasting Observations