Margy is all about hot springs after visiting the West Coast, and Jess is getting lots of flowers in the mail! In this episode, Jess and Margy discuss their favorite podcasts, what makes them SO GREAT and how to make YOUR listeners obsessed with you.
How to Make Your Listeners Obsessed With You:
- Go on Tour
- Meet your listeners
- Conferences are a great way to do this!
- When The Minimalists first started touring, no one showed up, but they kept at it!
- We’re seeing My Favorite Murder live at LA Podcast Festival (EEEK!!!)
- Create Other Content
- Jess found The Minimalists through their documentary originally
- You can build your audience on a different platform (blog, YouTube, etc)
- Be Yourself
- People who like you will stick around, and the sooner you repel the people who don’t like you, the better!
- The Minimalists and the My Favorite Murder gals have great banter, which we love because we love THEM!
- Dave Jackson has great banter with himself
- It can take time to feel comfortable being yourself
- Focus on Developing Yourself as a Speaker and/or Entertainer
- Study other speakers or comedians
- Check out toastmasters
- You may not be good at this right away
- Prepare!
- The more you put in, the more your listeners will get
- Congressional Dish hosted by Jen Briney is a great example- Jen does a ton of work for her audience and is an amazing journalist
- Josh of The Minimalists said on an episode that he had 6 pages of notes
- Be Unique with Your Content
- Our favorite podcasts cover unique topics that they are very passionate about (true crime, congress and minimalism)
- The didn’t start out to be famous, they were just passionate about their unique topic
- Jen Briney covers things that most mainstream media doesn’t cover- there is a ton of original content out there waiting to be covered!
- Inspire Your Listeners to Create a Community
- Margy is a Murderino, the name for fans of MFM, many of whom are in a FB group together
- The Minimalists have meetups in all different cities
- When your listeners form their own communities and interact with each other, the show takes on a life of its own
- Stop Advertising at the Beginning of the Show (unless it’s really funny)
- My Favorite Murder does very funny ad reads, so they are an exception
- In general, don’t ask your listeners to do something before you have given them any content (i.e. right at the beginning of the show)
- Brand new listeners aren’t going to do something for you before they have gotten to know you and your show
- Choose Your Co-Hosts/Guests Wisely
- Co-host dynamic is everything
- Don’t co-host with anyone you couldn’t spend a full week on vacation with
- The Minimalists and MFM are both pairs of bffs
- Sell your personality as much as your content
- Invest in Your Show
- If you want to succeed, you have to invest!
- Many successful shows have teams to help produce the show
- Have good equipment
Final Thoughts:
- You DON’T have to go viral. Don’t start a podcast to be famous, start a podcast because you love it. Podcasts are passion projects!
- If you are an entrepreneur podcasting to connect with potential clients, you DON’T need a huge audience to see results. You just need the RIGHT audience! It can also be a great tool for client retention as you can feature them and make content directly for them.
Episodes to Start with:
My Favorite Murder: Episode 85: Live at the Boulder Theater
The Minimalists Podcast: Episode 91: Nostalgia
Congressional Dish: Episode 157: Failure to Repeal
Resources Mentioned:
The Minimalist Podcast
My Favorite Murder
LA Podcast Festival
Congressional Dish
Jen Briney
Dave Jackson
Toastmasters
Podcast Movement
MFM Facebook Group
@InterviewConnections
Julie Broad
