The 7 Potholes of Podcasting with Travis Brown
Travis Brown is the creator and instructor at Shortcut to Podcasting and the Chief Podcast Producer at Podcast Buddy. He has, over the past five years, developed an amazing system for launching a new podcast and consistently releasing episodes. In this episode of Operation Podcast, Travis breaks down the SEVEN bottlenecks to podcasting in today’s times! Not Making Your Podcast Audience-Centric and Inviting The most common roadblock is that podcasters tend to make everything about themselves. Is your podcast all about you, your reviews, ratings, and scripts? If yes, there needs to be a shift in focus. And it's really easy to change that. Start inviting your audiences by asking their opinions or experience or feelings, and bring them to grow by being a part of your journey collectively. “They [your audience] are the most important part, they are the hero of your journey.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Needing to Qualify Your Podcast Listeners Travis suggests using the Spray and Pray method to qualify your listeners. And by this, he means to say that you have to make your audience understand what the show will be about and let them figure out if they want to listen to it. Present the problem to your audience and then the fix to the problem. “Qualifying is everything. It's in sales. It's in marketing. It's in everything that you do. And it's a very easy tweak. Because I think people don't know what to say.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Your Podcast Does Not Know Its Target Audience Understand your niche and your target audience and make it clear who your podcast is tailor-made for. You want everybody to listen to your podcast. But if people don’t understand whether your show is for them, it could take forever to grow. Once you gain more visibility, you could expand outward and go to different topics. “Be really specific, be really targeted.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Not Realizing That The First 60 Seconds of Your Podcast Is Gold The first 60 seconds are crucial to hooking your listeners and making them decide if the episode is for them. It would not be very pleasant to have a 60-second regular podcast intro to regular listeners, especially. You could avoid this by using that time to tell them what the episode is about or give them the highlights from the conversation. “If you had any value meter on your podcast, the first 60 seconds is absolute gold.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Not Investing in Your Skills and Circle Travis says podcasters, specifically, don't invest in learning or invest in their circle. But if you look at anybody successful, you'll find things going the other way round. Travis cites Dan Pena’s words to explain the same. It goes like, “Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future.” “Invest in yourself with your health, your mental, your podcasting skills, your business skills, and you will grow a lot faster than just endlessly googling and YouTube in circling yourself around.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Having A Cluttered Social Media Account The best way to promote your podcast organically, according to Travis, is through social media. The social media accounts of many podcasters, however, are confusing, with personal, professional, and podcast-related posts in the same place. It would help to make your profile specific to your podcast content and promotion. “The less confusion we can create with people, the better.” Catch the interview with Travis Brown on Operation Podcast! www.operationpodcast.com. Setting Unrealistic Targets and Failing to Focus on Growing Slowly Travis explains that giving yourself an imaginary crushing goal that nobody told you
