It was Friday morning – 4:18am. I woke up, gasped for air, and when I looked around, I realized I was still at home in San Diego.
It was just a dream.
I panicked for good reason, though. In just 12 hours we were going to be hosting an in-person meet up for our Podcasters’ Paradise community at Podcast Movement in Fort Worth, TX – and I didn’t know if we were going to be able to pull it off.
I panic way too much
What we had expected to be an 80-person Paradise community meet up at the Omni hotel bar, Whiskey & Rye, had turned into over 140 RSVP’s, plus a lot of requests from members asking if they could bring their significant others.
In fact, there were a few things about the weekend ahead that had me panicked in addition to the in-person meet up, (where we might not have enough space for everyone); I also had my talk on Saturday morning that I’d practiced a lot for, but that I was still incredibly nervous about; we were going to have a table out for Podcast Cruise with the hopes we would sell out that weekend; and the awards ceremony – I was really hoping to hear, “…and the winner is… EntrepreneurOnFire!” for the Business category.
Podcast Movement 2015
Despite my excessive panicking, Podcast Movement 2015 was incredible. Here’s proof from our video team over at Re-Peet Productions:
From start to finish Dan, Jared and the rest of the PM team brought the heat.
The event was organized well (although I barely had time to eat, so I would ask for a longer lunch break next time), at a beautiful location (how on earth do people live in TX with that heat?!), and most importantly, it gave over 1,000 podcasters a platform and venue to continue the movement we’re all so passionate about.
My single biggest takeaway from the weekend
Uniqueness is still the trump card.
How will you stand out from the hundreds of thousands of other podcasts your listener has to choose from?
Why will they decide to press play on YOUR podcast instead of someone else’s who is talking about the same thing?
I wish I could teach others how to be unique, but if I, or anyone else could, then we wouldn’t be so unique after all, right?
My biggest ah-ha from the weekend
After receiving some insanely valuable and positive feedback from my session on Creating Systems that Create Freedom, I realized something: people don’t know how to create systems for their podcast, their business – their life.
And without systems, we can’t grow and scale, which is something I know we all want in our business.
So I’m going to be testing some things out, like switching up how I focus my blog and episode content so that I’m not just brushing on the importance of systems and processes, but instead making it a point to include the actual system and process that’s behind every topic I cover.
Interested in joining me on this journey so you can learn how to create systems that create freedom in your business and life?
Awesome, click here! ;)
Podcast Movement 2015 sessions in review
Alright, let’s really dive into the content from Podcast Movement. Here’s a review of the sessions I attended, and my biggest takeaway from each!
Pat Flynn: Fear and You vs. You
Pat really had me going there for a minute… he stopped in the middle of his keynote presentation – as if he had forgotten what to say. But I thought “no way – Pat wouldn’t forget…”
That’s when we all heard it: Pat’s voice – inside his head – telling him he wasn’t good enough. Telling him that he would never be able to make an impact and that his content wasn’t good enough.
Sound familiar?
That’s because we ALL face the imposter syndrome. We ALL have to learn to break through fear on our journey.
Pat did a phenomenal job on his presentation and really bringing home the point that we are our own worst critic, and we will find ways to sabotage our own success. But we also have the power to fight it. It’s up to us to embrace that fear, and instead of letting it hold us back, let it give us permission to charge forward.
Kate: Creating Systems that Create Freedom
Hey! That’s me! :)
I’m currently working through a series right here on the blog that is a step-by-step of Creating Systems that Create Freedom. You can check out the first post in the series here; it’s all about the difference between a system and a process.
If you’re interested in learning how to set up systems that will allow you to scale and grow your business, and therefore achieve freedom in your life, then click here to join us on this journey to creating systems that create freedom!
Martiza Parra: How to attract your listeners onto your email list
Value bomb alert: Start with the end in mind.
Sounds quiet simple, right?
That’s because it is!
What’s that high-end product, service or community you want to lead your audience towards – eventually?
Next, what’s something you could give them that would be a good lead-in to that high-end thing?
Finally, what type of lead magnet can you create that will introduce your audience to the lead-in so they can take that first step towards your high-end thing?
You can think of it like a pyramid, where you should start at the top, making it a lot easier to figure out exactly what will attract your perfect lead.
Haphazardly throwing up an opt in form with a lead magnet that doesn’t take your subscriber on a journey to the products, services and / or communities you’re looking to create is a waste of time for you – and for them.
NO Apologies with Aisha Tyler
My major takeaway from Aisha came via an answer to a question she was asked during the Q&A.
The question: “Why do you continue to handle all aspects of your podcast when you could just hire someone else to do it for you?”
Her answer: “My podcast is my own – it’s 100% MINE and I don’t want that to change.”
I definitely understand this feeling, and I’m sure you can, too. Sometimes it’s nice to have something that’s ALL YOURS.
So, what are you working on that’s ALL YOURS?
John Lee Dumas on 10 Pillars of Podcasting Success
To break it down, here’s the acronym John used on stage to cover the 10 Pillars of Podcasting Success:
S – start
U – UVD: Unique Value Distinguisher
C – community
C – commitment
C – care
E – engage
E – excitement
S – systems
S – story
Make every one of these pillars count every single day.
How many of these pillars are you applying in your podcast? In your business? In your life?
This isn’t JUST about podcasting – these pillars can be applied to every area of business and entrepreneurship.
Shawn Stevenson: How to stand out in a crowded niche
Pretty important topic, wouldn’t you say? …and arguably something we hear A LOT about.
But the way Shawn presented this really got me thinking: it wasn’t so much what he was saying, but how he was saying it.
My biggest ah-ha? Shawn pointed out that every single podcast in existence has a beginning, middle and an end, but how you present those sections of your podcast is what will make you and your podcast unique.
So what are you doing at the beginning of your show to make it different? This might be a funny joke you tell every single time, or a reference to what type of beverage you’re drinking at the time.
What are you doing in the middle of your show to make it different? A music clip? A surprise guest appearance from someone your audience knows?
And what are you doing at the end of your show to make it different? This is the last thing your listeners hear when they tune in, and therefore it’s likely what they’ll walk away with. How are you leaving your listeners?
Omar Zenhom: What Michael Jackson can teach you about podcasting
Podcasting is a performance. Preach on, Omar!
And preach he did.
Omar’s presentation was unlike any I’ve seen, and I have to say, I feel sorry for those who missed it. He not only put on an incredible performance, but he managed to weave in the 4 Secrets to Podcasting Success at the same time.
The 4 Secrets to Podcasting Success
1. Be an Innovator
Don’t just think of new ways to do something; actually change the game.
2. Rehearsal is where the magic happens
If you don’t work at becoming a great podcaster, then you’re never going to become a great podcaster. It takes time and dedication.
3. Start strong: The minute of Power
a. Start w/ energy
b. Get your audience’s attention
c. Always be Branding
d. Tell them what’s in it for them
e. Tell them why they need to keep listening
4. Work on your instrument
Your VOICE is important. Do breathing exercises, warm up your vocals – these are the types of things that will help you become a better speaker.
Cliff Ravenscraft: 10 Ideas for Building a deeper relationship with your existing audience
No surprises here: Cliff brought some amazing content to the table, including 10 ideas to help you build a deeper relationship with your existing audience.
Those 10 Ideas:
1. Engage with THEIR content first
2. Ask MANY questions
3. Shine the spotlight on your audience
4. Prioritize your mailing list
5. Create online community environments
6. Reach out and touch someone
7. Set yourself reminders
8. Collaborate with your closest community members
9. Periscope
10. Community meet ups
My favorite of the 10, and one that’s worked incredibly well for us in terms of building a deeper relationship with out audience: well, all of them have really been huge for us, but #2 is where it really starts.
You’re never going to know how you can best serve your audience unless you know them so friggin’ well it hurts. Never stop asking questions, and never be the one to end the conversation.
Turning casual listeners into loyal fans with pro list building techniques: Tim Paige
Tim, host of the Conversion Cast Podcast (by LeadPages) brought the heat back to the PM15 stage to talk about pro list building tips, including some pretty hard core questions every podcaster should be asking themselves at the beginning of their journey:
First: Is your show even worth listening to?
Might be a tough pill to swallow, but if you can’t say that your show is worth listening to, then something needs to change – stat!
This is a serious question: Do you honestly have something unique to offer your listener via your show?
Second: Are you making it easy for your listeners to opt in to your list?
Again, it might seem like a silly question, but more often than not we’re not leveraging the many opportunities we have to catch the attention of our listeners and make it easy for them to take action.
Tim’s suggestion? Meet your audience where they are.
An example: your listeners are likely on their smart phones when they press play on your podcast, so why not offer the option for them to text to opt in to your list vs. having to remember a long URL, waiting until they’re at a computer, then typing it in, then trying to figure out where the opt in box is…
Third: Give people lots of reasons to opt in.
The more opt in opportunities you have, the more opt ins you’ll get!
True story.
LeadPages doesn’t just guess at this sort of stuff; they have 6 opt in opportunities for 3 different lead magnets ABOVE THE FOLD!
Fourth: Create content upgrades!
Instead of using 1 lead magnet for everything, customize your lead magnet based on the content your listener is consuming.
Ever listen to Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast? She does a phenomenal job of this, and her list is there to prove it.
Just head over to her site and check out one of her episodes – listen to her call to action: she makes it easy for her listener to take action by offering a text to opt in option, and then she also makes it compelling by giving away a free download that is a content upgrade: it’s something specifically related to the content in that individual episode.
Now I know this might sound like it takes forever – a content upgrade for every episode!? Put a plan in place and stick to it, and your email list will thank you for it later!
Fifth: DO Webinars!
Webinars will grow your list faster than any other lead magnet.
In fact, here at EOFire we’ve built a segmented, targeted list of over 25,000 people just from our Free Live Workshops that we host for Podcasting.
Sixth: Test and measure new things.
Okay, so I might have gotten the numbering mixed up a little bit here, but it was easier to continue saying “first, second, third…”
So there you have it! Six awesome pro list building tips. Which will you try out in the next 7 days? (Let us know in the comments section below!)
Sarah Koenig of Serial Podcast
How did they do it?
That’s the question Sarah opened her closing keynote talk with, and let me tell you – she had me on the edge of my seat. A behind the scenes look at how Serial was created, produced and shot to the top of the podcasting charts?!
It was really neat to hear Sarah “normalize” the process. When Serial started gaining all the hype and attention of major news sources and television stations, it almost made it “untouchable”: how could anyone actually do that?
But to listen to Sarah talk about meeting up with her producer to talk about the show’s flow, and then going down into her basement at her house to record (sometimes under blankets and jackets to help with the sound quality), I realized that Sarah is just like any other podcaster: she’s got a story to tell, and she tells it really, really well.
I’m not sure that I left the room with a clear answer as to “how did they do it?“, but I can imagine it’s tough to communicate in 40 minutes or less how you launch a podcast, and suddenly have 94 million downloads in every country in the world except for 2.
One thing that did really stand out to me in Sarah’s talk is this:
She said, “I didn’t realize that I was a part of this story.”
Wow. To think that she started her journey to creating Serial, not even recognizing that she was a part of the story – a huge part of the story – was really surprising to me. But I think this extends to a lot of us and our own podcasting journey. Sure, we put out content for our audience, and we plan our topics and interviews around ideas, lessons and people we know can serve our audience best. But at the end of the day, you ARE a part of the story – a BIG part. Start treating it as such, because once you’re in it, it becomes relatable. It becomes more real to your listeners. It becomes more you.
When Sarah told her editor that she didn’t feel a part of the story, her editor said, “If you can’t tell me what you think of all this, then I don’t care.”
Sarah became a part of the story, and that’s the reason why her audience cared.
PM15 was incredible, and I’m so grateful to the entire PM team who made the event possible. In my mind, if my biggest complaint is that I didn’t have enough time to grab lunch and that TX is way too hot, then I’ll go back 100 times over again to be a part of the Podcast Movement.
