Finding Your Podcast’s Focus

Intro: Real quick before we get started, I wanna tell you about a free email course I have called Five Fast Fixes to grow your podcast.

If you’re wondering why your podcast growth is stagnating or non-existent, you likely just need to make a few small tweaks to see growth. This free email course will go over what they are, why they work, and how you can implement them. To get this totally free email course, you can head over to [makemoneypod.com/fixes]. That’s [makemoneypod.com/fixes] for Five Fast Fixes to grow your podcast. That’s [makemoneypod.com/fixes]. 

Real quick before we get started. I wanna tell you about a free PDF I’m offering that will help you Make Money Podcasting. It is the perfect supplement for this podcast. If you go to [makemoneypod.com/smash] S-M-A-S-H right now, you can opt in to the mailing list. And in return, you will get this free smash framework and template to help you Make Money Podcasting. It will go through my full smash framework. That’s sponsorship, membership, affiliate links, selling, and helping. It’ll give you monetization ideas to help you determine which one works best for you and give you some templates for sponsor and membership Outreach. 

I highly recommend this if you are serious about making money in podcasting. Again, head over to [makemoneypod.com/smash] S-M-A-S-H to get your free download today.

Welcome to Make Money Podcasting. The podcast that teaches you that monetizing your show is no longer just about getting sponsors. On this show, you’ll learn tried and true methods to increase your revenue and turn your podcast from a money pit into a money maker. 

Hi! I’m your host, Joe Casabona. And I’ve been able to make six figures with my podcast. I’ll share everything I know with you here on Make Money Podcasting presented by Nexcess and Podcast Liftoff.

Joe Casabona: I think a crucial misstep in nearly anything business-related is a lack of planning. I’ve made the mistake multiple times. I get an idea, I launch, and I figure out how it will support me financially later. It goes into a credo that became popular as starting an online business became easier, moving fast, and breaking things. Except moving too fast hurts you and wastes time. In the immortal words of modern families Phil Dunphy, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” As an aside, Ty Burrell is a National Treasure. 

So, when you are thinking about your podcast, going a little slow to smooth out the process will help you earn money faster. And when it comes to finding your show’s focus, there are a few questions that you should ask. Those are the questions we’ll cover in this episode. And I know what you’re thinking. If you already have a podcast, maybe these seem basic or rudimentary. But I encourage you to listen through anyway. I got these well after I started podcasting and they helped me find clarity in each of my shows of which I have three active. One: I produce for a client. And two: that is currently inactive. And so they’ve helped me a lot. 

The first question is: Why am I starting a podcast? The book starts with “Why” has had a considerable impact on me because I always focused on the what and how first. But then why is definitely the most important. The why will help you define what Andrew Warner of Mixergy calls your shows, Higher Purpose and what Tom Webster of Edison Research calls your red thread.

For this question, you’ll need to dig deeper beyond, I want to start a podcast or because I want to talk about X. Your higher purpose should be about what your audience gets out of your show.

My higher purpose has changed a few times over the years as my audience and the times have changed. At first, back in 2016, it was to show small business owners, specifically WordPress developers, how other developers built a tool or a business. Both the successes and the failures.

For most of the first season of How I Built It, the analogy of the Olympic Gold Medalist came up. We only really see the athlete compete and then stand on the podium. We don’t see the years of sacrifice, training and pain both physical and mental. They went through to get to that moment. And it’s the same for most successful businesses. But as I and my audience evolved, we wanted to hear from other business owners, not just developers. So the mission and the higher purpose of the show changed to helping small business owners leverage tech.

But then I noticed that there’s been a common throughline in the guests that didn’t necessarily align with my mission. I was talking to small business owners and creators about building a good sustainable business. It was something that I was trying to do.

Since I started my podcast, I had gone out on my own full time without fully realizing the ramifications of moving a side hustle to my main hustle while also starting a family. And so the type of guests I was having on my podcast showed my curiosity about what I could do best. 

And now that I’m in the content creation business myself, I feel I can best serve my audience by talking to more people about that. So the why / higher purpose/mission of How I Built It is now I help creators and small business owners unlock revenue through the power of creating engaging content. 

And this still gives me a lot of wiggle room. I can talk to a freelancer about executing their content strategy. I can talk to a YouTuber about their process and getting their channel monetized. I can talk to an agency owner about how they’re using TikTok to generate leads, something I’ve actually done. The talking to the agency owner part, not the using TikTok yet.

The mission for this show, Make Money Podcasting is a little easier and perhaps clearer. I want to show podcasters there’s more to monetization than sponsors and give them the blueprint to make money with their podcasts. 

Your mission, “Your higher purpose should be the thing that helps you get your audience from zero to win.” Thanks, Troy Dean, for that phrase. Over the life of the show and the life of an episode, answering this important question will help you more easily answer the next ones. 

Speaking of number two: What is your show’s topic? A question you don’t really answer in the higher purpose question is what’s my show’s topic? It’s kind of an in-betweener, right? Because talking about your show’s higher purpose tells you what you want listeners to get out of the show. 

And next, we’ll answer a question about who you’re talking to. But that’s more about your listenership. So what you will talk about is something different and the questions that we answer here will help. But I think there are actually a couple of more that will help you give you a solid foundation into what your show’s topic should be.

The first is what do you like talking about. For a while, everyone wanted to start a true crime podcast because they thought that’s how you Make Money Podcasting. But unless you’re willing to be an investigative journalist and invest tons of time, research, and money into a show where you’re weaving a story, then a true crime podcast is a bad bet. Podcasting can be a grind, and you need to enjoy what you’re doing. 

I recommend making a list of your areas of expertise, as well as your hobbies. And once you have them, you can answer this next and more crucial question: What do you want to be known for? 

This is crucial because it will determine which type of monetization method is best for you. Which type or types. If you’re a SaaS product owner, for example, you want to be known as an expert to the audience your SaaS serves so that they’ll trust you enough to pay for your SaaS.

If you help a specific group of people in an audience and it’s more hands-on than a group coaching or cohort-based course could be your path to making money where people learn about what you do through your podcast. And then sign up for coaching on your course. 

Taking these topics and applying your higher purpose should give you a strong foundation for what you’ll talk about on your show. Then you’ll be ready to answer this very important question: Who are you talking to? 

Sponsor: This and every episode of Make Money Podcasting is brought to you by Store Builder from Nexcess.

As a podcaster, you might be wondering what’s the best way for me to implement some of the things that we talk about on this show. How can I easily make money with my own website? And when it comes to setting up an e-commerce site, you kind of have the choice between an easy but limited platform or a limitless platform that you need to manage yourself, taking precious time away from your podcast.

Until now, Store Builder is e-commerce made easy for everybody. It saves you time and delivers a storefront that lets you get to business. As someone who has set up multiple e-commerce sites, I can tell you that store builder has been a much easier experience than anything else I’ve tried. Answer a few questions, add your content, and sell. 

Store builder was created and is supported by the e-Commerce experts at Nexcess. I host all of my important sites, including the membership for my own podcast and this podcast at Nexcess. Get the speed, security, and support you need when you need whether you’re selling podcast merch, offering a supplementary course, or you have a membership or subscription. 

Are you ready to monetize your podcast the way you want to? Head on over to [makemoneypod.com/storebuilder] all one word to try it for free for 30 days. That makes [moneypod.com/store builder]. 

Thanks so much to Store Builder and Nexcess for sponsoring this and every episode of Make Money Podcasting. 

Joe Casabona: I say that who are you talking to is the million-dollar question. Because defining this clearly will help you determine ultimately how you’ll grow your audience and make money from your podcast.

The idea of an ideal customer avatar is something common in marketing. You basically define your customer in terms of a real person that you’re talking to. Here is perhaps a rudimentary example because I am not a marketer.

Let’s say I sell affordable noise-canceling headphones to parents. My customer’s name is Molly. She is in her mid-thirties, works from home part-time, and has four kids. Two of which are at home. After getting the two kids down for their naps, she likes to unwind with some distraction and free alone time. She’ll pour herself a drink, grab the baby monitor, and go out on her porch, put some headphones on and enjoy music or simply the sound of silence.

Here’s one more. I coach podcasters to help them make money. My customer’s name is Nick. He’s in his early thirties and has been podcasting for a few years now. While he freelances as a copywriter to support him and his wife, he loved to ditch freelancing and make money with his own content including his podcast. He’s ready to spend the time and make the investment to turn his podcast from a money sac into a money maker.

Doing this exercise can help you get a good feel for the type of episodes you want to create. If I were creating a show or a podcast for Molly, I’d make it short. I’d make it relaxing. Maybe it’s a podcast of daily affirmations. This is actually a podcast my wife listens to and we have three children under five years old. 

If I were creating a show for Nick, it would be, well, it would be this exact show. 

When you’re starting your podcast, you first ask what your higher purpose is. Then you more clearly define who you serve. My higher purpose happens to define who I serve as well. Small business owners and creators. And Nick is the perfect personification of that higher purpose. 

Now, once you have all of that, your higher purpose, your topics who you’re talking to, you might want to think about your show’s format. And you need to figure out the best way to deliver the topic to your listeners in a way that promotes that higher purpose. There are lots of ways to do that. And we won’t belabor this point, at least not in today’s episode. But the main podcast formats are interview shows, solo shows, news and headline, host, cohost, and heavily produced fiction/storytelling. You should pick the one that works best for your higher purpose, your topic, and your audience.

Okay. Now let’s answer the title question: How will your show make money? This question feels a bit premature if you haven’t launched yet. Should you even be thinking about making money? Plus, is there a way to make money besides sponsorship? Did you listen to the intro? But having a plan from the outset will make it easier for you to implement as your show gains an audience. And while we’ll cover lots of ways to do this in the coming weeks, if you have preliminary questions to ask, are: Do you plan to have sponsors? Do you plan to sell products or services directly to your audience? And how does your higher purpose and topic lend itself to making money through your podcast?

Knowing all of these in the beginning, or at least having some idea of them in the beginning lets you create a roadmap to monetization. And at the risk of burying the lead, the one thing you can definitely do at the outset of your podcast no matter what is start building a list, set up a landing page, have a clear call to action, promote that page everywhere in your trailer, in every episode, and on social media, build your mailing list. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. I’ve given a good outline for people who haven’t started. But what if you already have a show? Is it too late? Definitely not. Like I said earlier, I’ve pivoted my primary show several times. Growing and evolving is an important aspect of podcasting. A beautiful thing about a non-permanent medium. Plus, if you already have a show, you probably have an idea of what resonates with your current audience. I recommend you check out your stats, see what did well and how you can focus your show around those types of episodes. And of course, build that mailing list If you haven’t started already.

Now, moving forward, this show will loosely cover my smash framework. Something you can get for free at [makemoneypod.com/smash], which outlined the five aspects of podcast monetization, sponsorship, membership, affiliate links, selling a product or service, and helping courses consulting and coaching.

The PDF will help you figure out at this point what works best for you. But this show is all about laying the groundwork first. 

In the upcoming episodes, we’ll talk about landing pages, mailing lists, and call to action. But for now, I want you to think about the questions we’ve talked about here today. You can get a written to be read version of this podcast over at [makemoneypod.com/001]. But that’s it for this episode. 

Thanks so much for listening to Make Money Podcasting presented by Nexcess and Podcast Liftoff. For all of the show notes and to subscribe, you can head on over to [makemoneypod.com/001].

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend.

Until next time. I’m Joe Casabona, and I can’t wait to see what you make.