Welcome, welcome to the first episode of 2022. I am really, really excited for this new year. If you do not know yet, we are going to be launching a new show. That is right. We are launching another podcast. Starting in March, we will have a brand new show to share. This show is going to be a little different than this. That show will be a little different than this show, rather. That show will focus on the Cannabis business space and the unique environment that they are having to market in.
So if you are looking for some ideas, maybe outside of your business or outside your business model, or outside of your niche. This is going to be really worth listening to. And if you’re interested in getting into the Cannabis business space, definitely going to be something worth listening to, so that is going to be launching in March.
In just total transparency, I am using The Podcast Newsroom to share the behind-the-scenes of this process because one of the most common questions I get is, what does it take to launch a show? What is involved? What does it look like? How do you make these decisions? What are the questions I should be asking myself? Those kinds of things. So that is, I am literally just going to walk you through it as it is happening. We kicked that off with January’s episode released on the 1st.
If you haven’t listened to it yet, you can subscribe to The Podcast Newsroom here.
Maybe you moved through 2020 and 2021, and you started your show and it is working…?
It is, you think you hope you mostly enjoy it most of the time but there is this little part of your brain that is like, but what could this be?
What is the ever-elusive next level, that magical sort of mythical place that we get to where everything will be figured out?
What are the things you need to know to get there?
And that is what I want to dig into today. So let us start right at the top, niche down.
It’s time for you to niche down your podcast
Talk about something even smaller.
I think so often we try to counterbalance the voice in our head that says, we do not have enough to say or that we are going to be repeating ourselves and our audience is going to get bored. We try to counterbalance that with diversifying what we talk about or expanding who we are talking to and it does a huge disservice to our podcast and quite frankly, an even bigger disservice to our business because now we are putting our time and our money, and our energy and our voice and our, our expertise – behind something that is not actually going to do what we wanted to do because if we do not niche down if we do not get really granular about what do our ideal clients need to know to make a decision, whether working with us, is right for them or not. And sometimes as an understanding of what we do and sometimes that is getting them to a place where they are ready to work with us, right?
If we are not doing that with our show, what is the point?
And it is really hard, really hard to get results when you are trying to do all the things. There is so much more value. If you can just have a tiny, tiny, tiny little hole that you dig hella deep. Versus if you try and dig a two-inch swimming pool, that is Olympic-sized. It is gonna be really hard to swim laps in that mother. So I want you to be looking at where in 2022 can you further – narrow?
What it is you are talking about?
A great example is this show because when we launched this agency in 2019, by the way, happy 3rd birthday to Uncommonly More. January 1st was the third birthday of Uncommonly More.
Three years ago, when we launched this agency, we were going wide.
We were trying to build a 1-inch pool Olympic-sized and it meant, we were doing all things, digital marketing – social media, content marketing, podcast production, sort of fitting in their e-mail, all of it, all of it so so much and it meant that we were not doing the things we do best exceptionally well and it meant a huge task on our team.
It was just hard. And so we narrowed the scope of how we worked with clients and it was incredible. It gave me so much clarity and there is so much more value in it for our production clients now because I have the capacity and our team has the capacity to really do what we do exceptionally well.
That meant though, that we were only selling one thing, but on this show, when it was still called, Hit the Mic, we were still talking about all of it. We were still talking about digital marketing strategy. We were still talking about Instagram tips. We were still talking about e-mail ideas. And it meant. I was priming an audience of buyers for something I did not sell.
So what happens is then your show does work, except you have given them, no actual next step. So I was getting on sales calls with people who are submitting, who were reaching out and saying, “Hey, we would love to work with you.”
And I go “Oh, we do not actually offer that anymore. I am sorry. We only offer da…da…da…da.”
And that is a problem and I want you to look at where in your show.
- Are you selling something you do not sell?
- Something you do not deliver?
And pay attention to where you can be making changes. So that you are getting really really specific about what you are talking about. You are getting really, really clear. We did that in 2020 when we rebranded this show to Uncommonly More and we shifted to talking about podcasting and every once in a while, something will creep in here.
Social and e-mail still relate to how you can use your show. So there are still things of value to my audience. Then I will talk about those topics, but I am talking about it from a view that is very specific. We are talking about it in a really really really narrow area. We are not talking about the e-mail I got that said, Instagram was going to roll out this new feature. Not unless I can tie it directly to how it is valuable for podcasters. The only way we are ever going to talk about Instagram reels here is if I find a podcast doing banging good things with it. And I decide to say, let’s talk about using this as a way to market your show.
Because there we are not talking about Instagram reels, we are talking about a marketing tool for your podcast. And that is what I want you to look at. Look at. And if you are looking at your topic and you are looking at your content calendar and you are looking at what you talk about on your show, and you are saying, “Stace, I’m already tight.” This is as niche as it’s gonna get. It’s gonna get I’m talking about blue alpacas that live on the east side of Culver boulevard.
That is niche.
Where can you niche down there? Where can you be talking to fewer people? If I hear one more person get on the phone with me and tell me their audience is female entrepreneurs, I might actually throw my computer against the wall for real.
This is not an audience. I want you to get really, really, really, really snug around who are you working with.
We work with podcasters who have been in business for a couple of years, who know what they are selling, who have their offers. And, this show is geared towards people who already have a podcast. Now, that does not mean, there are no people who do not have a podcast that listens to the show. They do and they give value. And oftentimes, it is because they are thinking about launching a podcast, but you will notice most of the content on this podcast is not about launching a show.
We did that for a little while last year. And then we niche down. And now the only place where you are going to get the pre-launch content, where we are talking about launching this new show, is the podcast newsroom.
And you will notice when I talk about on the podcast newsroom that I am really showing you how the process we do it to launch. Is something you can now use to audit an existing show. So instead of answering those questions and sort of making up the information from the front, you can answer those questions and use that as a data point to compare your current show. Great. So if this is the answer to my question, and I am currently building something that supports an answer. Because the bulk of our clients and our ideal clients already have shows, we do not launch very many shows, one or two a year.
It is not my favorite thing to do.
Also, I do not think most podcasts need the kind of support we offer from the first day. Hot take. If you want to know more about that. Let me know. And we will do a whole episode about it.
We actually have an episode we are going to do. I think it comes out later in January, later this month. It might be early February. We are talking about what to consider when hiring support.
And how long you have been in your show? It is one of the things to consider and we will talk about more of that more there. But so that impacts. We niche down. We keep niching down.
Until I run out of clients or I run out of leads. I am going to keep getting more and more and more and more clear and more and more and more and more targeted. So that is what I want you to look at in 2022. Where can you Niche down?
How are you engaging your listeners?
One of the reasons that I am putting such an emphasis on e-mail and reaching out, getting subscribers to The Podcast Newsroom, really driving people who are not ready to work with us to the e-mail list is because that is one of my favorite ways to engage with listeners. I get e-mails back when I send out e-mails about the podcast and I will get responses to what we talked about or their take or whatever so that we can have both parts of this conversation.
Instagram DMs. I’ll be honest. The only reason I am still on Instagram is so I can talk to you. So send me a DM. Let me know what you thought of the show.
I love that. So where can you be putting a conscious effort in ways to engage with your listeners. And the reason that this really supports the thriving of your podcast and the expansion of your podcast is not just that. Oh, well, that means they are super fans. That means they are going to lead to buying from me or that means they are early adopters and they will share me with a friend. Like, it is not nearly as clichéd or Buzz 40 like that.
It turns your podcast into a conversation that will sustain you. We have talked a lot about podcast burnout on this show. We have talked a lot about the fact that I deeply believe every single podcaster will have a season more than once.
But they hate their show. They think. “I don’t know why I do this.”
It happens. And in most cases, like not real stat making it up right now. Full disclosure 95% of podcast burnout because I just got overwhelmed with the show. They fell out of love. They fell out of excitement. They fell in lust with our show without having really built a relationship.
Think about it this way. Let us say you meet somebody. And you are chatting with them and you hang out but they like never really text you. Like you send them messages and they just never text back. You would stop hanging out with that person. Right? So if you are showing up and just value value value, talking to talking to talking to your listeners, and you never hear back from them, it is going to be really hard to keep going.
I have a lot of friends who are podcasters and speakers and I have got a lot of clients who are podcasters and who have also done some speaking.
And so often like, “Yeah, I just assumed you know, I can stand on the stage. No problem. 45 minutes. Blah. Not a big deal. I can teach a workshop for a whole day. Why can’t I batch six episodes without feeling exhausted? I can talk for that long.” It is because when you are standing in front of an audience, or you are doing a workshop, even if it is virtual, you have something coming back. When you sit down alone in your office, in your studio, in your closet, in your wherever and you record the show. You have nothing coming back. You have to wait.
And if you do not create opportunities for your audience to engage with you, and you do not make yourself available for that engagement, you are never going to get the return on that output ever.
Ever. You have got to have the other half to return of that output and to do that, you have to be really conscientious about how are you engaging your listeners?
Like I said, the only reason I am on Instagram is to talk to you and I make time to go in there, and to engage I make a point to go in there myself. I do not have this outsourced to someone. I go in there and I respond to people’s messages. I see comments. I respond to comments and messages. I talk back because it is also not any fun for your listener to then reach out and be like yelling into the ether that is your inbox.
Make yourself available for their engagement.
It does not have to mean, you are scrolling Instagram 24 hours a day. I have times I go do it. Not everybody gets a message right away. If you have ever sent me a DM, sometimes takes two days, three days. I think three days is probably the worst time to get, but unless I am on winter break, and then it is two weeks. Says the girl getting ready to go on winter break.
Actually, now, I am back when you hear this, I am back. Anyways, I really want you to be finding ways to engage with your listeners. Have those calls to action to reach out. You have heard me say in this episode, send me a DM, reply to the e-mail, reach out. Tell them, tell them you are available to talk to them, and then be available to talk to them.
It’s time to get support for you and your podcast.
I know like 6 people just checked out and we are like now she is going to try to sell me and that is true. We are an option. We will be taking on new clients in Q1. We have some spots available to work with us, in January. If you want to talk to us, talk to us.
But support can look like lots of things. And again, that is what we are going to be talking about in the next couple of weeks.
How to know when is the right time for you? What to consider when you are considering support because support can look like lots of things. Maybe it is a VA or an admin who is going to help you press the buttons, upload the episodes, get the e-mails out to your guests, help you book guests, manage getting the social done. Maybe it is a social media manager to help you do the promotion of your episodes. Maybe it is an Editor to help you clean up your audio.
Maybe it is an SEO expert to help you optimize your show notes. Maybe it is working with a podcast production agency to help you take, just the raw audio and hand you back your show notes, your graphics, your audiograms, uploaded to your website, uploaded the link to it in lips, your host rather most of our clients, our lives in. But we have a few on the things but maybe that is what it is. Whatever it looks like, get it, get some support, get some help. Look at ways that you can get another voice in your planning.
And that is what I would recommend above all else. Like, if you wanted me right now if you were literally sitting here next to me and you were like steezy. What is the one kind of support that you would, you suggest above all else? Here’s what I would say. Here’s what I’m going to say.
Strategic support. That could be working with an agency like ours where the strategic support is built in through quarterly calls and a dashboard and a podcast production system. Or maybe that is when you can get it. That is why I still have single session 1-hour calls.
And we have clients who booked them. One, two, three. Four times a year.
Because that’s that is what they have the capacity for right now. That is what works for them right now.
But sit down with someone get out of your own head and your own perception.
And get a new perspective. Get a new take.
Expand out the view a little bit because generally when we are talking about our own stuff or we are thinking about our own stuff for so damn close to it.
And it is hard. It is hard to see through it. It is hard to… it is hard to see it clearly and it is hard to be honest about what we are seeing. And not even consciously.
And so if there is one way you get support, get the strategic support, find somebody who you want to sit down with. There will be a link in the show notes if that somebody is me and talk through what you are doing with your show. Does not have to be all year. Could be quarter by quarter, could be month by month. Whatever works for you.
But get some support this year. Stop doing it alone as valuable as it is.
And so many of our clients, DIY their show and figure it out for the first again, 6 8, 10, 12, 14 months, even.
As valuable as that is. You have been in it a while.
It is time to get a new view. It is time to bring someone in even if it is just for the strategic part. All right? All right.
What I would love next is to hear from you. So, reach out, e-mail, DM, whatever.
Let me know which one of these things you are going to take into 2022 and take action on because that is where actual change happens, is in action.
And if that action is getting support and you are ready to get support, we do have spaces to work with us starting in 2022.
We have a podcast episode about what working with us looks like. That is a great place to get started figuring this out and then ultimately head over to learn more about podcast production with Uncommonly More and take a look at what is available on the calendar and book a conversation with me and let you and I sit down and talk through what support can change for you.