7 Secrets To Podcasting Success

In this episode, share my seven secrets to podcasting success.  Starting with defining your niche so you can focus on your podcast content and audience.

In addition, I include practical advice and insights for indie podcasters to avoid common pitfalls and thrive in the podcasting space.

Key Takeaways

• Define your niche to guide content creation.
• Mindset is crucial for podcasting success.
• Every podcast should have a clear mission statement.
• Consistency in publishing is key to growth.
• Editing should focus on professionalism, not perfection.
• Promote your podcast on platforms where your audience is.
• Building an email list is essential for nurturing listeners.
• Monetization can come from various sources, not just sponsorships.
• Creating lead magnets can help grow your email list.
• Ebooks and affiliate marketing are viable monetization strategies.

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00:00 Secrets to Podcast Success

04:49 Essential Tools for Podcasters

10:07 Planning and Consistency in Podcasting

14:57 Promotion and Growing Your Audience

17:50 Monetization Strategies for Podcasts

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Transcript

J. Rosemarie Francis (00:00)
What does it mean to have a successful podcast? In today's episode, I share my seven secrets for successful podcasting. Don't be one of the 85 % of indie podcasters who pod fade before they reach 10 episodes. So if you're struggling to come up with content or to monetize your podcast, this episode is for you.

Seven secrets to podcasting success. Hi, my name is J Rosemarie Francis. I'm a podcast creator, host and mentor. And today I want to share seven secrets to having a successful podcast. First one on my list is define your niche. Be sure to define your topic, your subject matter, who you're going to be speaking with and what you're going to be speaking about.

Pat Flynn liked to say the riches are in the niches. And whether you say niches or niches, it's the correct word. And it allows you, it guides you to create the proper content and or execute better marketing for your podcast. One of the best ways to define your niche is to define your ideal podcast avatar.

I talk about that on episode 112, how to define your ideal podcast avatar or listener. I have a link below where you can download my free guide, my checklist worksheet if you want. And that will help you to narrow down your IPA, your ideal listener, and also help you to...

create, refine, and define your topic area, your niche, your subject. My second secret for creating a successful podcast is to have the right tools. Now, there are tools that you need to get, physical tools, a microphone, the best microphone you can afford, headphones, and you may need other kinds of physical tools depending on what kind of headphones.

⁓ microphone you get. USB microphone is the simplest one. Also, software tools like a hosting platform, editing tools, just different things that you might need. But I want to talk about three tools, three other tools that are as important, if not more important, than a microphone. And these three tools I talk about

in other videos and an episode of Tools of the Podcast Trade because the first one of these three tools is mindset. You have to have the right mindset to do anything in life, to be successful in life. And if your mindset is not where needs to be, you'll be frustrated with podcasting. You'll get to a point where you won't want to do it anymore.

or it will take you a long time to do it. I can attest to that because it took me six years to start my first podcast because I just was so overwhelmed with putting myself out there with imposter syndrome, with the lizard brain telling me I wasn't good enough. And so that's why I believe in anything you do in life, mindset is your most important tool, a good mindset.

a strong mindset, a positive mindset is your most important tool. The second tool, because I don't want to spend too much longer on this second secret, is a mission statement. Every podcast needs a mission statement. You need a mission statement to help you define your niche, define your ideal podcast avatar, and to help you remember your why. ⁓

Third and final tool is mentorship. You need a mentor if you need to get to where you want to go faster. The mentorship doesn't have to be a hired gun. It could be a professional party. So you follow online, you're in a free community ⁓ or you just learn from someone online. So those are my three important tools within this topic area of having the right

tools to start your podcast. Secret number three for a successful podcast is you have a plan for your show. You've written a mission statement and you've decided how you want your show to look. Now you have to have a plan of when you're going to publish and put that on a calendar, have a content calendar so that you can follow a daily... ⁓

a daily, weekly or monthly schedule, however you decide you're going to do it so that you can be consistent. Because consistency is going to be beyond the preparation and the mindset. It's going to be the thing that drives your show, drives success for your show. And this is something I struggle with. And so I understand that

be consistent is very difficult, but it is doable even if you're doing your podcasting on your own. so you have a plan, have a calendar plan, write out your topics. ⁓ Even if you don't end up writing about those things, have something on each block. Do a little bit every day depending on your schedule, but just have a plan of action for your podcast.

who you want on it if you're guesting, if you're having guests, how you're going to promote it, which platforms you're going to promote it on, stuff like that. That's number three secret to successful podcasting. Number four, number four secret to successful podcasting is to edit your show, record and edit your show like a pro. Now,

This is the most stressful part of podcasting, think, because we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. This is not about perfection. This is about doing your best, recording, finding a quiet place, the best place you could find for your recording. And when you're done editing it and the way you present yourself in

creating your show, how you appear online, just different aspects of that professionalism will come through. It doesn't really matter what kind of show you have, you have to present yourself in a positive light and a professional life. So it doesn't mean you have to be in a straight jacket and it doesn't mean your audio has to be perfect. What it means is to me anyway, and what I'm trying to share with you.

is that it is okay if everything is not perfect. But we need to put our best foot forward when it comes to our podcast because we are creating content for someone else's consumption. But when you keep your audience in mind, when you're creating content, it is very difficult to be unprofessional, so to speak.

So don't pressure yourself into perfection, but do your best to get better each time. And so I want to caution, and this is even though I said record and edit professionally, as a professional, I want to caution you on the perfectionist mentality. Mindset is everything. And I'm going to give you an example. Russell Brunson is a multi-billionaire.

He's the co-creator of ClickFunnels. And when he started his podcast, 10 years ago or so, I used to listen to it. And it was, if you think about it in terms of professional podcaster, it was horrible. And he will tell you it was horrible, but I didn't think so. And the reason people, thought he was horrible was because he'd record in his smartphone, in his Tesla.

driving down the highway with the top down, and he would be recording. And he'll tell you, I'm sorry about the noise, but he's talking and he's giving, but he's giving you the goods. You know, and I used to love listening to him. And I want to tell you that listening to Russell Branson was a big encouragement for me who had imposter syndrome because I thought it had to be perfect and polished and all of that. And Russell Branson showed me that

It doesn't have to be polished. It just had to add value to the listener's life. And so I want you to think about that. right? Secret number five to successful podcasting is to promote your show. Now there is a lot of noise about podcast promotion online. Some people think you should be posting every day, everywhere. And some people think, you know, select a platform.

go where your audience is and promote to those on that platform. I am somewhere in the middle. I think you do what's bearable for you while you're trying to reach your ideal audience. So my way to do this is to create your show. If you're just doing audio clips, you could use a program like Headliner.

who would split up your audio show into audiograms and post them automatically to whichever platform you want. Or if you're doing video, you could use something like Opus Clip, which does the same thing. Cut up your clips with caption and headline and hashtags and distribute them to any platform that you designate.

in the program, in the app for it to distribute the show on. There are different ways for you to promote your show. You just have to decide how you're going to do it, where you're going to do it. But the main decision should be based on where your audience is. Or if you're trying to reach other people or a broader audience, where are those people hanging out? Make sense? We have to promote our shows.

regardless of what kind of show it is. And so that is my secret number five to successful podcasting. Secret number six for successful podcasting is to grow your listener base. And one of the best ways to grow your listener base, apart from posting ⁓ regularly and consistently on social media, is to

to have an email list. Now, how do you get an email list, you might ask. Create something of value for your listeners in exchange for their email address. And the way you do that, you'll need an email provider and there lots of them that will start you off for free. And what you do, you create a lead magnet. You can get an ebook, create an ebook, a checklist.

a worksheet, a cheat sheet, anything that you're talking about on your podcast, do a listicle and make a Canva, go to Canva and make a download PDF of that. You can use ChatGTP to extract the main points from your transcript and then ask it to create images to go along with those main points.

Then go to Canva and create a PDF or ChatGTP can create a PDF for you. Then sign up with ConvertKit or ClickFunnels or there are a bunch of email providers that you could start for free. Sign up with them and create a lead magnet that you can collect people's email. And when you collect those emails,

Don't be like me and just keep those emails. They're not treasures to treasure. Emails are for you to nurture your listeners and to give them what they want in another format. The reason emails are so important is emails become your own real estate. It's renting an Airbnb versus buying your own house because being on social media,

You have no control. I'm going to give you an example of that. I have a monthly newsletter on LinkedIn called Nonprofit Podcasts, and I have over 400 subscribers to that newsletter. And the last newsletter that I published, I looked at my stats and LinkedIn had only showed that to 11 of my subscribers. Here I am having all these people who...

They deliberately clicked the link and subscribe to my newsletter, but LinkedIn was not showing the newsletter to those people. I don't know who they're showing it to, but that's the story of lying on and hanging your hat on social media. That is why Pat Flynn, Russell Branson, all these people are emphasizing the need to collect.

email addresses. This section is longer because this is a very important point and I'm actually going to do a separate video on this because I want to go into how this works so that you start collecting emails. My seventh and final secret to successful podcasting is monetize your podcast. There are many ways to monetize your podcast.

The most popular way is getting sponsored, but you don't have to if you don't want to. And sometimes sponsors are not giving you much for what they're getting in return, 30 bucks, 25 bucks, whatever. And so there are many other ways to monetize your podcast. And one way is affiliate. You can sign up with a platform like Awwin or Rakuten or not a click back.

bank fan, their one. One of most popular and easy ones to get on is Amazon. You can become an Amazon affiliate and market Amazon products. And the choice of goods on Amazon are so wide and varied that it's bound to fitting your niche. And then promote those products so you can make some money for your podcast. Amazon don't pay a lot.

Most affiliates will pay 30 % for their product or service, but Amazon is more like five or 10%. I think you're lucky if you get 10, but it would be consistent and it's a start. If you're just starting out as a content creator, it's a start. Another way you can monetize your podcast is through eBooks. You could create eBooks. Doesn't have to be anything long and complicated. Talk about.

your frameworks. What is it you're offering your customers, your listeners? Create frameworks for them so they can follow it and solve their problem. For instance, if your show is about podcasting and you want to help people start a podcast on their own, create an ebook, how to start a podcast and give them a framework. What is your framework for starting a podcast? This video here is part of a framework

for creating a successful podcast. And so you can find different ways. On my previous secret, I mentioned email marketing. Emails, with emails, you can notify your clients of anything you have going on. You could coach. There's so many ways, so many different ways to make money with podcasting. And those are the simple ways. So thank you for listening.

Grab my free guide, start your podcast now. The link is below.