Because of My Podcast: A
Veteran Got a Home
Robert Kerns produces the Living
the Vet life. He had a mortgage specialist on his show. He was
contacted by someone in another state (again, podcasting is global)
and the mortgage specialist was able to get the listener in contact
with another specialist and the veteran was able to get his loan
with a special VA Home Loan rate. None of this would have happened,
but it did because of hist podcast. Check out Rob at livingthevetlife.com
If Podcasting Was A
Sport.
I live in Cleveland. A fairly
famous sports town. Famous, for not quite being good
enough.
We were 1 pitch away from winning
the world series.
Two yards away from going to the
Super Bowl.
Over the years the Cleveland
Browns Football team has taken over leading the pack of bad sports
teams in Cleveland. Every few years we fire our coaches and their
staffs. Our players get suspended. Our coaches stink when they are
here, we fire them, and they win mutliple super bowls.
What does this have to do with
podcasting? Stick with me.
In 2014 after having a miserable
year the owners of the Cleveland Browns decided to work on the
stadium. They installed:
Massive, uniquely shaped video
boards,
Escalators that helped eliminate
congestion
and a cranked-up audio
system
The quote was they hoped these
items "Improved the fan experience."
The next year they added more
concessions and better lighting. The cost over two years? $125
million
Again they stated they wanted an
"improved fan experience."
The best way to improve the fan
experience is to put a WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM TOGETHER. The last two
years our combined record is 11-21.
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO
PODCASTING?
At the core of the stadium is the
team. A team we come to root for, and a team we expect to win. When
they win, the fans brave insane temperatures to pack the stadium in
the winter. Everyone is talking about the game on Monday morning.
When the team stinks, they don't. I don't care if I can take an
escalator to my seat. If the team has no shot at winning, I'm not
going. I'm not watching from home, and nobody is talking about it
at work, because it is horrible.
Well, we see people investing in
a better microphone (when their original microphone was fine). They
invest in a new theme for their website (that most of their
audience never visits). They switch email list providers. They
switch media hosting companies. They get a new player for their
website. In a sense they are sprucing up the stadium of a losing
team.
They need to put a winning team
on the field. They need to create content that will impact their
audience. We need to focus on our audience, that leads to great
content, and the finally we need to promote that content (and
hopefully get our audience to promote it as well).
How Do Sports Teams Get
Better?
They
prepare.
They watch film of both their
opponent as well as watch tapes of their own games and look for
mistakes they made to help avoid them.
They
Listen
Good players are open to
feedback. They listen to their coaches. They listen to their fellow
players. They have a mindset of constant improvement. They might
take a week off when the season is over, but then it is back to the
gym to prepare for next season
They Trade Players That
Didn't Work
When a player doesn't meet
expectations (Johnny Manzel in my case) and you gave him a chance,
you cut your losses.
They Bring in A New
Set of Eyes
Tiger Woods has had numerous
coaches over the years. The Browns hired a guy from BASEBALL who
has a completely new perspective and strategy on choosing
players.
How Do Podcasters Get
Better?
They
Prepare
They Prepare. They think about
what they want to say before they hit record. I am writing these
notes way before I press record (it's the way I do it, and I find I
get better content). They listen to other podcasts. Not to rip off
the content, examine why a show works (and what they can learn from
it) and what doesn't work (and how they can avoid it). Realize this
is all subjective, but if