Podcast Talent Coach Erik K. Johnson

CONTENT ISN'T KING
It is often said that content is King.
That isn't necessarily true. Content by itself won't gain you an audience.
Content isn't King. Great content is King.
Anybody can copy information. Your content needs to be infused with story and personality to really connect with listeners.
To help you create more powerful interviews, grab my list of "17 of the most Powerful Podcast Interview Questions Ever". It is a free download you can get at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview.
BE UNIQUE
It really hit me one time when I was interviewing a musician on the air. I won't mention his name, because he called me out right there in the middle of the interview.
Before our conversation, I went online and read his bio. I went through the news release they sent me about the new album and the tour.
Once the interview began, I felt pretty good. We were rolling along with the standard questions and he was giving the standard answers.
In what city will the tour start? When does the album come out.? What can we expect when you roll through here?
Then I asked him a question about a detail in his bio. I though it was something unique. But he said, "Well, I see somebody read my bio."
That's when I realized I couldn't just ask typical questions and get typical answers. To create great interviews, I needed to get my guests to tell great stories.
Everything I was doing to this point was simply a derivative of someone else. I was a cliché, a poor knock off.
Why would anyone listen to me when they could get the same thing by listening a variety of other interviews with the same guest?
From there, I took my original content and made it great.
CONTENT WITH STORIES
Later in my career I was interviewing Preston Brust of the country band LOCASH. He and Chris Lucas had been working hard for years writing songs for themselves and others while also recording and touring.
LOCASH had a few different record deals, but had never had that big hit they needed to break through. Other artists were recording songs the two had written, but none of those had hit either.
In 2011, country superstar Keith Urban not only decided to record a song written by Preston and Chris, but he was going to release it as a single. When I was talking with Preston, I asked him what it felt like when he got the call that Keith Urban was releasing their song. Here is what he said.
"Things weren't going so good. I get this phone call. I'm in the backseat of my friends car and I get this phone call and it sounded like something was wrong. And he says, 'I'm sitting next to Keith Urban and he just told me that 'You Gonna Fly' is going to be his next single, and he's releasing it next week.' And I literally had them stop the car and I got out of the car and I just let out this yell. It just felt like I'm back."
They were back. That song went to number one on the country charts. Preston and Chris then wrote a hit for Tim McGraw and eventually a top 5 hit for themselves.
I guarantee that question about how it felt to get that call hasn't been asked many times if ever of Preston.
We created such a relationship over the years that he still texts me. They just finished their latest song called "Hometown Home" and he sent me the early version.
That kind of relationship doesn't happen with typical questions and standard answers. Your audience also isn't attracted to typical interviews.
Be different.
BE YOURSELF
Over the years, my style and content developed. I became myself. That is when my show became #1. My content was original and fresh. Nobody else was doing it.
If your content isn't great, nothing else matters. The production of your podcast could be the best available. You could have all the bells and whistles available in your studio, including the best mic. The marketing of your podcast could incredibly creative and unique. However, if the content is average, no one will care.
Don't simply go through the motions creating your content. Find a unique

PEOPLE STAY FOR YOUR PERSONALITY
People come for your content. They stay because of your personality.
We have heard it so often. People do business with those they know, like and trust. It's all about building rapport.
People like you and fall in love with you because of your personality and story.
On this episode, I want to share with you a session I did recently during my Audience Explosion Blueprint Workshop. This was a powerful 3-day workshop where I helped a group of podcasters build their strategy to grow their audience.
This particular session will help you develop your personality and begin building powerful relationships with your audience.
YOUR UNIQUE STYLE
And what I want to help you do in this session is really get clear on your personality. Your personality is your unique style.
A lot of people think personality means I need to be funny or I need to be over the top, I need to be this big, boisterous, iconic personality. Personality just means you're uniquely you. It it's what makes you different from everybody else.
There are 4 or 5 characteristics that you possess that people love about you.
Listeners may say things like I love how warm she is, or I love how inviting he is. I love how he listens. I love how attentive he is. He's always able to distill my problems down to 1 or 2 sentences. I love how he makes me laugh, or I love how she makes me smile when she walks in the room.
There are plenty of characteristics that you can have that make you uniquely you and why people love you. I want to help you figure out how to bring more of that into your content. Your personality is what keeps people coming back week after week and episode after episode.
Your personality is why people fall in love with you. The content gets listeners to come. Your personality gets them to stay.
NOT JUST CONTENT ALONE
If you rely only on content, you're a commodity. I can get content anywhere. Not only on other podcasts, but I can get content in books and blogs and websites and videos and everywhere else.
However, I can't get you anywhere else other than your show. So if you think of various subjects like cooking, how many cooking shows are there? How many cooking channels are there? And politics... everybody is talking politics these days. Anybody can interview celebrities and athletes.
What makes these shows different? What makes the cream of the crop rise to the top? It's all of their personality.
If you think of somebody like Rachael Ray, she doesn't have a background as a culinary chef. She's just a mom that gets in the kitchen and makes up easy stuff for her family to eat. And, women love her for it.
Rush Limbaugh took political talk and really brought back AM radio by adding his personality into it and adding a little humor into it. He added his sarcasm and his wit. Rush was also incredibly knowledgeable about the subject matter.
So many people try to copy Rush, but they can't because they can't copy Rush's personality.
OPRAH'S PERSONALITY
It is the same thing with Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, Sally Jesse Raphael, and Phil Donahue. Every channel had one of those talk shows on it where it was sensationalism. It was tabloid sort of conversation.
They were all doing the exact same thing. Oprah decided she didn't want do the exact same thing. She wanted to do a show her way and talk to people that interested her. Oprah wanted to talk about things that are meaningful, not only to her, but to her audience, to the women who were watching every day.
And so she talked started talking about weight loss and started talking about the books that she loved, and she started talking about all of those things. Next thing you know, Oprah rises above all the rest, and Oprah becomes Oprah instead of Oprah Winfrey.
It's how she became who she is, because she stopped trying to be like everybody else and started being herself. Oprah started being her authentic self.
BOB COSTAS
I watched Bob Costas. Bob is so knowledgeable about the

When it comes to growing your podcast and building your business, a joint venture partnership is a powerful way to find success.
Many people view a JV partnership in a very simplistic way. The most common JV partnership is an agreement to promote a product or service in exchange for an affiliate commission.
But, there are many other ways to leverage a JV partnership.
Why would people want to promote you? This is a common question, especially if you have a small audience or small email list.
There are various reasons, and money is only one of them.
PARTNERSHIP FOR MONEY
Money is surely one motivation for promotion. This is what most people think of when they hear JV partnership.
In this agreement, you would provide your promotional partner an affiliate link through your system like ThriveCart. You can see the power of ThriveCart at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/ThriveCart.
Your partner promotes your offer using their affiliate link. When their audience makes a purchase through your link, your partner earns a commission on the sale.
You can also created a simple referral system if you're a coach. In this system, your partner would send an introductory email to you and the person they are referring to you. If that person signs up for your coaching, you can pay your referral partner a referral fee.
This method requires a little more manual work, but you don't need a lot of software to help you set it up. Just track it with a spreadsheet.
YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
The second reason people would promote you is because they love you.
Your friends and family would be willing to promote you, because they want to see you succeed.
Reach out to the people you know who also know others who could be your ideal client. Ask if they will help you spread the word.
YOUR CONTENT
People may want to promote you, because they love what you do.
Your superfans love to be part of a winning team. When Alex Hormozi launched his new book “$100M Leads”, he had thousands of people promoting him. These people received a bonus chapter of the book when they hit a threshold.
Alex's partners weren't in it for the money. They just loved what Alex teaches and wanted to be part of something exciting. He simply empowered his superfans to spread the word.
PARTNERSHIP SWAPS
The next reason people might promote you is for exchange of promotions. Partners will often promote you in exchange for promoting them.
Sometimes, your list isn't big enough to match your partner's list. How can you give equal exchange?
My tech guy wanted to be part of an AI summit. Unfortunately, he didn't have an email list largest enough to qualify.
My tech guy came to me and offered some services in exchange for using my list. I will email about the summit to fulfill his obligation to the summit. In exchange, I will receive some tech work.
He will promote the summit. In exchange, he will get exposure to the summit audience to promote his services.
Get creative with your partnerships.
ASSOCIATION PARTNERSHIP
That other reason people might promote you is for association.
These people may want to gain the credibility just by being associated with you.
I volunteered as the Dean of Podcasting in Dan Miller's 48 Days Eagles community. I happily offered value in the community and promoted it whenever I could.
The biggest benefit I received was being associated with Dan. He was a great man, and I was honored to be part of his world.
Find people who want to be in your world.
WAYS TO PROMOTE
There are a variety of ways people can promote you and you can promote others when you create a partnership.
The easiest way is to feature them on your podcast and get on their show. This is the best way to grow your audience. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts. Get on other shows.
Cross promotion is the second way to promote each other. This can be in exchange for money as described before. It could also be simple exposure.
In a cross-promotion, I could mail your lead magnet o

Your great content will only get you so far. You need to master marketing in order to succeed.
It's not just marketing your business. You also need to grow your podcast with powerful marketing. It all works as a system.
I recently spoke with a few podcasters on the verge of throwing in the towel and ending their podcast. However, I've had a few conversations with other podcasters who are doubling down and going all in.
The difference between the two groups is marketing. To build a successful podcast, lean into your marketing.
THE ROI
The first podcaster, let's call her Anne to protect her identity. She is frustrated by the perceived lack of return on investment.
Ann told me, "Although I love podcasting, I am not sure I can justify the investment of time and money for the ROI that I am receiving right now in leads and revenue. I am just not seeing that things will shift soon enough and I know it's a long game. I haven't decided yet if I am pausing the show or going to do seasons or how I am moving forward but I know I need to step back from everything and reevaluate."
This is common in all podcasting.
There is an old saying in the advertising world. It is to marketing pioneer John Wanamaker. He is quoted as saying, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don't know which half."
Marketing is cumulative. Each piece add to the next.
Business owners want to believe if they run an ad on Facebook, it immediately generates a sale. That isn't how marketing works.
THE SUM OF THE PARTS
Here is an example of how your marketing might work.
Your ideal client will hear you mentioned on another podcast. Awareness has begun.
She hears you interviewed on another podcast. Now she might think hmm, that brand sounds familiar.
When she next sees you on a summit, familiarity starts to set in. She might download your lead magnet.
Next she might see your logo as a sponsor of an event. That triggers memory of the lead magnet that she digs up to review.
Your lead magnet gets her to check out your podcast. She listens to a few episodes and starts to understand what you do.
Finally, she comes across your Facebook ad. She clicks the ad and takes action to schedule a call with you.
So, let me ask you this... Which piece of your marketing worked?
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It all builds on each other. Each part serves a purpose.
Your podcast allows you to build the relationship with your audience over time. When she is ready for your solution, you are top of mind.
It truly is a long game. You don't become best friend with anyone overnight.
MARKETING FOR REVENUE
The next podcaster needed to focus on revenue. Let's call him Bill.
Bill was a couple dozen episodes into his show. He was getting frustrated with the lack of growth.
When we talked, Bill told me, "I'm pausing everything right now to get other pieces in place. I need to focus on things that generate revenue. Right now, I have so many things swirling around that I'm not getting clear. I'm getting derailed and distracted."
What Bill needs is a strategy. How does the podcast fit into the overall revenue generating strategy for his business?
"Build it and they will come" sounds great when Kevin Costner's character hears it in the movie Field of Dreams. But the real world isn't like that.
Growing your audience takes marketing. Not advertising, but marketing.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of marketing is, "the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising."
Advertising is part of marketing. But all marketing isn't necessarily advertising.
Everything you do to make people aware of your product, service, podcast, or anything else is marketing.
When you mention your podcast from the stage, you are marketing. Mentioning the show in your newsletter is marketing. If you're getting interviewed on another podcast and you mention your show, you're marketing.
MARKETIN

CREATING PODCAST MONEY
Many podcasters want to create a profit from their podcast. However, most lack a strategy to generate revenue and grow their business.
NO PROFIT FROM MY COURSE
When I created my first product for Podcast Talent Coach, it was a complete flop. Nobody wanted it.
I started a mastermind in 2013 with 8 of my entrepreneurial friends. We all had aspirations to create successful businesses.
Podcast Talent Coach was just getting off the ground.
I had also purchased Brendon Burchard's Total Product Blueprint. As I went through the program, I created my plan. The mastermind helped me refine it.
My first product was a course. It was the Podcast Talent Coach system.
This program was designed to help podcasters transform their information into entertainment and turn their podcast into powerful, profitable relationships.
The course was a 7-disc set that covered everything you need to know to create a successful podcast. It had everything I learned over my decades of radio experience being on the air, coaching talent, and programming radio stations.
It started with the magic of audio and using theater of the mind.
We talked about content creation, storytelling, and getting results for listeners.
Disc 2 was about the structure and strategy for your podcast.
We then got into content consistency and the power of one-on-one communication.
The course included how to prepare for each show to ensure you reach your goals and lead your listeners to your call to action.
It covered how to review your show for constant improvement. We then got into generating revenue and using your podcast to grow your business.
Finally, the course laid out how to get started and put it all into action.
It even had an accompanying workbook to walk you through all of the steps.
As you can see, it covered everything. Unfortunately, nobody wanted everything.
WHAT TO SELL
People just want the solution to their most pressing problem.
The more I talked with my listeners, the more I discovered they had two big problems.
First, they wanted to grow their show and increase their downloads.
Next, they wanted to profit from their podcast.
These podcasters needs to master storytelling and content creation. They needed to build an effective structure for their show. However, they didn't WANT it.
Sell what your listeners want. Give them what they need.
Sell the outcome, the benefit, and the transformation. They don't care about the process to get there.
That's when I changed my strategy. I created my Audience Explosion Blueprint program. You can see that at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.
I also created my Podcast Profits Accelerator membership. You can see that at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/accelerator.
When I started to focus, my business began to grow.
YOUR IDEAL CLIENT
Begin by talking with your listeners and ideal clients. Ask about their challenges and struggles. Then, create a solution to help them overcome those problems.
When you create the solution to their most pressing problems, it becomes much easier to generate a profit with your podcast.
Sell the outcome and the benefit. They won't care about the calls or videos or templates. Your potential clients only want the outcome.
My clients only want to grow their audience and profit from their show. They don't really care how we get there. The membership and coaching calls and resource library aren't important until they buy into the transformation.
Start by having conversations.
PROFIT FROM YOUR PODCAST
Dave Jackson is the host of the School of Podcasting podcast. He is also author of the best seller Profit From Your Podcast: Proven Strategies To Turn Listeners Into a Livelihood.
He launched the School of Podcasting in 2005 and was inducted into the Podcasting Hall of Fame in 2018.
Dave joined me on the Podcast Profits Summit to talk about overcoming your challenges without spending thousands of dollars. I want to share that session with you today.
To get acc

Have you had little success finding new listeners and growing your podcast downloads? You aren't alone.
THE CHALLENGE WITH DOWNLOADS
I recently sent an email to my tribe asking about the biggest challenge most podcasters face. Podcasters like you mentioned things like these as their biggest challenges...
 
Finding more subscribers interested in my content
I need perfect people listening to my podcast
I'm trying all things to increase downloads
Learning to build an interactive community
What else can I do to grow my downloads
I have no email list
I need a strategy
 
Have you had similar struggles?
You've tried many things. Empty promises is all you get from the webinars you've attended.
It is time you get a growth strategy that works.
That's why I've turned my Audience Explosion Blueprint program into a powerful 3-day workshop. I shot a video all about it. You can see it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.
During the Audience Explosion Blueprint workshop, you'll develop a REAL strategy to consistently and easily grow your podcast audience.
This event will help you quickly and easily explode your audience without the frustration, hard work and guessing.
To overcome your growth struggles, join us. You can see all the details and get registered at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/audience.
PODCASTS FADE AWAY
Podcasts fade away for 3 reasons.
Podcasters give up because podcasting is more work than they thought it was going to be. They don't have a system in place to produce their show easily and consistently.
Podcasters give up because downloads of their show doesn't grow as fast as they thought it would. They don't have a strategy in place to help them grow consistently.
And finally, podcasters give up because the show doesn't make money as fast as they thought it would. They don't have a process in place to grow a business with their podcast.
DOWNLOADS WITH SPRAY AND PRAY
Let's talk about growing your downloads.
Many podcasters approach growing their downloads with a spray and pray approach. They try a million things and wonder why nothing works.
Imagine you were trying to lose weight.
Today, you try cutting out all carbs.
Yesterday, you tried riding the stationary bike for 30 minutes.
The day before that you didn't do anything, because you got busy.
You tried the Atkins diet the day before that.
It was walking around the neighborhood the day before that.
You only ate Lean Cuisine meals the day before that.
Unfortunately, you missed two days, because you were out of town.
But you ate nothing but vegetables the day before you left town.
You hit the gym for the first time in 3 months the day before that.
This has been going on for 3 weeks and you wonder why you haven't lost any weight.
When you dabble in a variety of tactics, nothing seems to work. But when you focus on a few select tactics and work consistently, you have a better chance of experiencing results.
But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Before we can talk tactics, we need to talk fundamentals.
YOUR POWERFUL WHY
Why do you want to grow your downloads?
A powerful "why" can be inspirational to you and your tribe.
Podcasters give me many reasons they want to grow their downloads.
It could be to spread your message. Maybe you want to build your authority.
Growing your downloads can help you grow your business or market your goods and services.
Maybe you want to grow your downloads so you can be a thought leader. Or you're creating a home base for your tribe to find you.
Growing your downloads could help you have more impact in the world. Maybe you want to generate more revenue or have a bigger and better reputation.
There are many reasons you might want to grow your podcast downloads. And all of these reasons are valuable and worthy. But you can't choose all of them.
You need to select a reason that is meaningful to you. The reason must stir the fire inside of you and inspire you. Your why can't be for any