I imagine that the O.G.’s have known it for years. The marketers sure have. But of course they’d never tell you. It’s not sexy enough. I’ve even learned a thing or two from being in the trenches – on both sides of the microphone.
The honest truth is nobody’s immune to it. At any given moment you can be at the top of iTunes and knocked off the charts. Vanishing into podcast oblivion, if that’s even a thing.
We’re all one episode away from failure or success.
The story that follows is why I know it to be true and what you can do prepare yourself against the inevitable.
Over the past 11 months, the team and I here at Pod Parrot have worked closely with our clients and discovered a few things I wanted to pass along. I’m calling it “The BIG Four” because without these in place it’s INEVITABLE that you’re one episode away from failure or success.
Yes, I know that’s a strong very statement. But stick with me and you’ll understand why.
Meet Ian. He’s the CEO of a digital marketing agency and created a podcast to level up and connect with influential leaders in his space. We learned a few things from working closely with Ian and his team.
- If you don’t have a TEAM to help on the backend, you’re toast!
- Funnels are the most efficient way to prep guests for interviews and follow-up.
Like I said earlier it makes sense, but you don’t hear the big marketers screaming, “YOU NEED HELP” from the mountain tops. However, they’re happy to sell you widgets and plugins galore. Did you even hear anyone mention the pre-interview and post-interview funnel? I sure didn’t. You live and you learn, right?
Meet Chris. He’s busy running his massive eCommerce business and has very limited time to create content. He started creating short, bite-sized episodes that could be easily outsourced on the fly. What did we learn from working closely with Chris?
- SOPs (standard operating procedures) and systems are essential. Your chances of long-term survival without them are slim to none.
- Accountability isn’t optional, it’s a MUST.
Have you heard of SOPs? Think step-by-step instruction manual specifically for your production operation. They make all the difference with it comes to outsourcing projects. Without accountability, we don’t make it to the gym. The same rings true for podcasting.
So what do Ian and Chris both have in common?
Both of them have wildly successful businesses, but without “The Big Four” they wouldn’t have made it through these past 11 months.
So what does all this mean?
Well, the good news is that I’ve done the “birdy work” and distilled our findings down to four core essentials that I’ll be teaching and sharing on Wednesday.
- How To Define Your Podcast Strategy (Even After You’ve Launched)
- Big Guests: Reaching Out & How To Book Them
- The Importance of The Pre/Post Interview Funnel
- Where To Find Top Talent When Outsourcing
Now, for the bad news. The program that I’ll be revealing later this week is intentionally limited to 16 spots.
After that, it’s closed until early April 2016. If I even decided to do it again – I may just keep all these gems to myself. 😉
A little side note: There are two requirements.
To pre-quality you:
- Must already have a podcast with at least 10 episodes published.
- Ready to commit for the entire semester (3 months).
Before we’ll even consider you for joining The BIG Four program.
Think you have it figured out? Think there’s nothing else to learn in the ever-changing podcast game? This isn’t an opportunity for you.
I’m looking for 16 podcasters who are tired of the hype.
People who want to dig deep into the core disciplines of what we’ve discovered.
People who understand that at any moment they could be one episode away from success or failure.
It’s not an opportunity for everyone. Consider this a call-to-arms for those who are ready.
You can learn more about the program that we’ll be rolling out in 2016 here: