Finding Your 'Why': Essential Steps for Podcasting Success

Why did you begin your podcast? It's a question that often goes unasked but is pivotal for your show's direction and success. Reflecting on your 'why' can clarify your goals and outcomes, leading to a more intentional and impactful podcasting journey. In this episode of Communication Connection Community, we guide you through the critical steps of identifying your core motivations, setting clear objectives, and planning essential aspects like format, time commitment, and budget. These foundational elements are crucial whether you're just starting out or looking to elevate your show to the next level.

I share my own story of transitioning from my initial podcast, Speaking of Speaking, into this current platform, revealing how it has bolstered my expertise and facilitated meaningful conversations with vetted guests. These guests, who bring valuable insights into podcasting, communication, and leadership, are selected with care to ensure rich, engaging content. Take a moment to jot down your reasons for podcasting and consider how they've evolved. From aiming for growth to maintaining your course, having a clear 'why' is your compass for success. Tune in and join us as we explore the multifaceted world of podcasting, connecting with experts and community alike.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride.

Speaker 1: 0:32

Let's dive into today's episode, and today I want to ask you a question. Maybe a couple of questions, but the main question I want to ask you today is why are you podcasting? What is the why behind you decided to start your podcast? Was it to generate more qualified leads for your business? Was it to get more clients? Was it to share your passion project? Was it to expand on your hobby? Or was it none of that? Was it just something that you wanted to do for fun? But what is the why behind why you decided to start your podcast and, taking it a step further, what's the goal that you have? When you came to podcasting, you probably had a goal, and if you didn't have, now's the time to start thinking about it. What is the goal you want from your show? What is the outcome you want from your show? The reason I'm asking these questions is we have a number of people who come to our business here at Podcast Solutions Made Simple, and one of the first things we ask them is why do you want to start a podcast? What's your goal? What's the outcome you hope to achieve? And then, of course, we dive into things like what's your show going to be about? What format do you think your show will take? How much time will you have to put into your show? What investment do you have for this? Do you have a dollar amount in mind that you can spend on putting a show together? These are all relevant questions that should come up, and if they didn't come up for you when you started your show, that's quite understandable, because for some people they don't. But certainly if you want to expand your show or level up your show, these are questions that you really need to start looking at. So I'm asking you now what is your why? Why is it that you wanted to start your podcast?

Speaker 1: 2:29

I can say for me, when I started my first podcast, speaking of Speaking, which is now merged into this podcast when I started Speaking of Speaking, I already had a business, albeit a part-time business, as a speaker trainer and I knew that I wanted to get the word out there about what it is that I do. And a podcast made sense. It totally made sense. I realized and it took me a while, by the way, but I did realize, after about four or five years of exploring and people telling me I should have a podcast, that, yeah, this is a great fit, because a podcast, at the end of the day it is.

Speaker 1: 3:05

In my opinion, it's a stage. It's a virtual stage, it's a speaking opportunity and it's a great way to share your expertise. It's a great way to share your intellectual property and now, as I've expanded my business into the podcasting space, it's become a great place to grow my expertise. It's been a great place to put my knowledge out there. It's also been a great place to connect with other people and have real, authentic conversations and to share those conversations with you. I mean, that's why I have guests on my show and I bring those guests on who have something to say, but not just anything to say. I'm very careful in vetting my guests so that the guests who are joining me on the show they have something to say about their podcasting journey or their speaking journey or their business or leadership journey. It's all connected around communication and leadership, even though the podcast now isn't just about communication. The podcast now isn't just about communication. It is centered a lot with content creation and podcasting, of course, but it is around basically communication.

Speaker 1: 4:16

So what is your why? I want you to just take a moment and write, jot down a couple of ideas, if you haven't already sorted this out. Jot down why you started your podcast, what your goal was and maybe even what's changed for you. What's your goal moving forward? Is your goal to grow a big show? Is your goal maybe to just stay the course and keep doing what you're doing? Is your goal to take what was, or what is now your audio-only podcast and turn it into an audio and video podcast with transcription? Is your goal to get a guest on more shows?

Speaker 1: 4:51

If you haven't been guesting on shows, what is the why that you want to address and how do you want to see? You know, if we were to gaze into a crystal ball, how do you want to see yourself and your show or your podcasting experience, say, six months to a year from now? And, by the way, if you are just guesting on shows right now, that's phenomenal and I commend you for doing that. A lot of people don't even take that time to guest on podcasts. It's a phenomenal way to get your feet wet into the podcasting space. But where do you see yourself six months from now, if you are a guest? Do you see yourself as having your own show? I mean, that's where the not to turn this into a money statement, but it is. It really is where the money's at, especially if you're looking at leveraging a podcast to elevate your credibility and your brand and your business. If you set it up correctly, there's some amazing opportunities there, and if you partner with people or have joint ventures with people who share similar interests to you, then there's some amazing opportunities there too.

Speaker 1: 5:54

But take a moment to jot down your why. Where you want to be, say, six months or a year from now. And now I want you to look ahead even further than that. Where do you see yourself, say, two years from now, with this podcast or this podcast guesting that you're doing? Do you see it as something you're still doing? Do you see it as something you're hanging up?

Speaker 1: 6:17

Because one of the challenges we're seeing in the podcasting space is a lot of pod fade, and part of that is because when people come to podcasting for the first time, they don't understand their why. They don't understand the time commitment. They don't understand that it's not a get rich quick scheme, right, you don't get rich, you don't get rich quick from podcasting. And it's also not a sprint, it is a marathon. It's a long game, not a short game. So I want you to think about those things.

Speaker 1: 6:48

I want you to jot down some ideas and, with some of the upcoming episodes that I'll be sharing with you solo episodes, but also guests is about some of those inner things that we maybe don't think about when we first set up our show and that we maybe need to go to the drawing board every six months to a year and say, yeah, what is this podcast still working for me? Should I be making some changes? Should I be investing in an editor, such as podcast solutions made simple? Should I be changing the format? Should I be? Should I be joint venturing with people? These are all questions to ask. Should I be doing a podcasting co-op where I'm bringing in other partners to put together a magazine style show? Should I stay the course? Should I go from guesting to having my own show?

Speaker 1: 7:29

So I want you to think about that, and then we'll be chatting with some great people, as I said, in the coming weeks, and then we'll be talking about the opposite of this question is why are you not podcasting? If you were podcasting, why did you stop? If you haven't podcasted yet, if you haven't started a show yet, what's holding you back? And we're going to go beyond the five myths that I've talked about on this show several times. So I'm hoping that this has opened up your mind a little bit and gotten you to think a little bit more about not just podcasting, but you and your bigger. Why for podcasting? Maybe even your bigger? Why for business? Maybe even your bigger? Why for podcasting? Maybe even your bigger? Why for business? Maybe even your bigger? Why for your life in general?

Speaker 1: 8:10

And thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, dom Coriglio, our music guru, nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms, all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, stephanie Gaffour. If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space, because, after all, we're podcast solutions made simple. We'll catch you next time.