My Top 3 Tips to Creating a Successful Podcast with Rachel Nielson
I had so much fun interviewing Rachel Nielson from the 3 in 30 Podcast recently. It was hard to stay focused on our topic of creating a successful podcast because we had so much to talk about! I love talking all things business and podcasting with other women entrepreneurs. I know you’ll love listening to this podcast episode as much as I loved making it! Let’s get to it. Here are the 3 top tips you need to know for growing your podcast and getting started in the podcasting world.
3 Tips for Creating a Successful Podcast and Getting Started-
- You need your own purple cow
- Pick social media channel to invest in heavily
- Choose episode titles and feature images that communicate exactly what the listener will gain from listening to your show.
Tip 1:
What makes you stand out in a crowd? What is your purple cow? Have you heard of the purple cow marketing concept before? Seth Godin wrote about it back in the 1980’s. He talks about how if you drove by a field of brown Jersey cows, none of them would stand out. But, if there was a purple cow in the middle of the brown jersey cows, you would definitely notice it! You would tell all of your friends about the purple cow you saw, how amazing it was, where you saw it, etc. Right? And then those friends you told, would tell their friends everyone they knew, and the purple cow would become more and more well known.
So this is what Rachel was talking about when referring to having a purple cow for your podcast. You need to have some element of your show that is a purple cow. Within your niche or focus of your show, what makes you stand out? For Rachel, it’s her format. The concept of 3 things in 30 minutes that she wants you know about. For other people it might be their personality, or their subject matter. If you are just starting out, don’t stress too much about having a definite purple cow, but it’s something to keep in mind as you work on creating a successful podcast.
Tip 2:
Pick one social media channel to invest heavily in. This tip applies if you’re just starting out or if you already have a podcast and you want it to grow. Do not think you need to do all of the social media channels at once. Rachel says “pick one [social media channel], invest heavily in it and use it as a vehicle to always be pointing people back to your podcast.” Rachel’s choice has been instagram because it’s a good fit for her chosen demographic of busy moms. She chose it because she was more comfortable on instagram over other channels and she didn’t want to learn an entirely new channel. Remember! There’s nothing wrong with starting where you are comfortable. Rachel has been podcasting for over 2 years and she’s just now thinking of reaching out on other social media channels to grow her podcast more.
One thing to note, it can be difficult to just stick with one social media platform. It’s way more fun to start something than to stick with anything, right? Don’t be afraid that you are missing out by sticking with one platform. You can’t do everything all at the same time. Do what you can, and do it well, and you will find the growth and success you’re looking for.
Tip 3:
Choosing the right episode titles and images. Think of this as communicating to your listener how your episode is going to benefit them. Have you heard of Donald Miller of StoryBrand? He always says to remember that your customer is the hero and you are the guide. In this case with your podcast your listener is the hero. By utilizing specific episode titles and images, you are showing your listener how your episodes will help them be the hero they are longing to be. You are showing them what they’r going to get out of your episode and how it will help them in their lives right now. Most podcast listeners look at the titles of the podcasts and they decide if it’s worth their time. Spending time getting those titles right is so worth it if you are working on creating a successful podcast.
Other tips Rachel has for anyone growing an online business:
-Start with one thing and make it really great, and then slowly you’ll start to add different pieces to your business that makes sense to you.
-Don’t forget that part of growing a business is just adding and taking away, and honing and refining what you offer and what you do to generate income.
-We all feel like we’re here [building businesses] because God wants us to be here and doing these things and we start and then things open up because we’ve gained these new skills. You kinda just have to start.
Rachel’s secret to success has come from showing up where she promised to be, and having a very clear why from the very beginning. Write down your why and put it where you can see it. You can get so distracted and so overwhelmed by all of the advice and the opportunities and the desires that you have to grow your business. But when you just come back to your why it can be the lens that helps you sort through all that noice and focus on these questions,
- What do I want to actually add to my business?
- Does it fit with my life?
These two questions will help you know what to say yes to and what to say no to.
So many great nuggets of inspiration and knowledge are in this podcast episode I can’t share them all in this blog post or it would be insanely long. Be sure to listen to the episode above to hear what else Rachel has to share!
Have you joined my challenge yet? I’m showing you how easy it is to plan a year of content in 5 days! Click Here to Join!
For more about building a business online, read these:
5 Pillars of Your Online Business
How to Create a Month of Content in 5 Steps
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