Let's talk: What Makes Podcasts Fail?
I want you to point some thing you notice out to me in the comments, even before you try to read this post.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW, YOUR PODCAST TOO MAY FAIL EVEN BEFORE IT STARTS...
Okay, that sounds big and harsh. Well, not so.
I've seen members of my Nigeria Podcast Network, NPN, start and end podcasts - severally. Maybe because I'm at the backend of most of them, I get to hear a lot of things that don't come into the group.
I am presently working with a group of pastors to launch their podcasts, and I am setting things straight for them. That's because the thing that gets us up to wanting to podcast sometimes is what gets our podcasts to fail.
I have seen lotssssssss.......... of podcasts start and after a while fizzle out.
Let me mention a few that apply generally across board (not sure I can complete them in this post)
(1). Before you start your podcast, know who you are, and what makes your podcast different.
Okay, that doesn't sound grand. Even motivational business people will say that to you. Well, we are not really saying the same thing.
Before you start your podcast, listen to as many podcasts as you can within your field or niche, and find exactly what thing they are not talking about that you love to talk about.
The truth is there will always be some gaps either between personalities of the hosts, style of the podcast, format of podcast, what it is they’re doing, or how that podcast fits into the market they're playing in.
I don’t care what market you’re in. There are plenty of gaps in that market space. You just need to uniquely find and fit into one of those gaps.
If you cannot do that, all the tutorials, coaching and training I provide you are not going to help you at all.
It doesn’t matter how well you launch. If you don’t have that Perfect Positioning, as I call it, your podcast may not stay for long.
(2). Pattern of Presentation
When it comes to the psychology behind language, and the dynamics of communication, I am big on that, and try as much as I can to implement what I know regularly.
You must have heard me talk about the different voices with which we present the knowledge, information and ideas that we share on our podcasts.
If you are not familiar with that....errrrrmmmmm...run a search in this groupp for the word: sage, struggler, sherpa.
But here is the synopsis. Every time you present your information on your podcast, your show, you are speaking with a certain type of voice.
That could either be the voice of a Sage, someone who's been there and done that.
Or with the voice of a Struggler - someone who is on a journey, and taking people along.
Or as the Sherpa - more like a pastor, a shepherd - one who is empathetic and wants to encourage.
Whichever voice you're using, be intimately aware of it, and hone your presentation style.
And as much as you can, avoid comparing yourself with someone else. What does that person have that's grandiose than yours?
Podcasts fail when you don't know the voice with which you speak, and your pattern of presentation.
If you have to record your podcast severally before you feel comfortable with your voice, do it. But by all means, bring your authentic self forward.
(( PS: AUDACITY2LEAD PODCAST IS HITTING A CLOSE, SOON - A NEW PHASE, ACTUALLY, MORE DETAILS LATER ))
(3). Your podcast fail because there are No Podcast Listeners - No Audience
Chai! This one can be extremely painful.
You do all the work of packaging your ideas into meaningful content.
Record your thoughts, edit, and design, upload and publish... And you're not even sure there is an audience who will listen to it.
If you've been podcasting for a while, you can relate. I have been there too, I remember publishing an episode with very high expectation of large listenership, and zilt, nothing.
In fact, till today I still have podcast episodes that don't have up to 400 total downloads.
There are few factors that cause that though, based on some of the things I have experienced personally.
One, you know not to whom you are sent. That is the language that best fits this. You don't know who exactly should be listening to your show, and so you're not going to where you can get them to tune in.
I was with a client in our studio last week, and while we were working on the structure of his podcast, when we got to the point of developing a Perfect Podcast Listener, he didn't want to give it much thought on the assumption of: I have a large followership on Facebook.
So I explained to him why I consider it is one of the reasons why podcasts fail - including the one he's about to start.
When you tune in to a radio, from the ambience of the radio, you can almost immediately perceive if the radio station fits you, even before you consider whether the program itself fits you.
That is because, from a research I once conducted, I found that our brains make tiny decisions that do not require much effort from us to determine the information we pay attention to, and the conversations we tune in to.
When you know exactly who your podcast is for, even from the name and title of each episode, your Perfect Podcast Listener will feel attracted to your show.
Two, the case of no podcast audience occurs when no one is listening to your show. Perhaps you are not listening to the audience yourself.
Three, you do not have an audience for your podcast, because you may be speaking above their heads.
I was pitching something to a very rich man sometimes back, and one of the comments he kept making, which I didn't understand its import back then was, "I hear you."
To the uninitiated, that sounds cliche, like what you say in church to make your pastor's preaching feel good right?
Well, I later learnt from Neuromarketing that such statements mean, "I don't want to throw you out of this place... I can barely grasp what you're talking about."
That day I learnt: I hear doesn't mean I understand. So your listeners may be hearing you, however they may not understand you. So come down to their level small abeg!
Lastly number what sef?
When you don't have an audience, it could be because you launched without proper preparations.
Since 2015 that I met Stephanie Obi, she's been preparing for her podcast. In fact when we met, it was on the premise of I want to start a podcast. As at then, she didn't know what exactly her podcast will be about, but she kept preparing herself.
Oh wait... because I said 2015 now you may think I'm referring to years of prep... Nope! Not at all!
What I mean is adequate preparation in knowing what your message is, who your message is for, what differentiates your podcast in the space you're getting into, what kind of keywords will be linked to your show, what type of show you're launching, format... Do you understand your Core Podcasting Needs, are you aware of your Podcast Personality, and so on and so forth...
SO, WHY HAVE I PUT UP THIS POST?
You know as much as I want you to succeed with your podcast - as I have myself, I don't want you to struggle through the many mistakes of trial and error I had to go through to figure out how podcasting works here in Nigeria.
More importantly, I want you to start a podcast that benefits ou both on the short and long run. And that is if you're here to stay.
I wrote this post, because I am beginning to get tired of podcasts that come as fly in the pan. They launch, and make noise, and after a while, we don't get to see or hear about that podcast anymore.
John Obidi will remember those days I was buying books and courses on podcasting because I couldn't find someone locally to put me through professional podcasting.
I wrote this post because you can start a podcast that changes the game for you, if you pay attention to these things I have mentioned.
I wrote this post so that as you start to prepare for your podcast, you prepare really well.
I wrote this post because I want to use style to rant small. Well, forget it... Because after writing all the long things I wrote I edited them out hahahahahaha
SO, OVER TO YOU...
What are you going to do to make your podcast successful?
PSS: I think this is my first lengthy post in a veryyyyyyyyyy long while. Hehehehehe....If you don't say something ehn, I will!