How Do You Get Strategic With Your Podcast Show Notes - The Podcast Report

How do you get strategic with your podcast Show Notes? It's the podcast report, episode 123, show notes, links, conversation and more@the podcastreport.com 1, 2, 3. This episode of the Podcast Report is brought to you by how to podcast training@howtopodcasttraining.com who else wants a masterclass in how to podcast? So there I was. I got the email from a client, customer, friend, associate, however you want to call it, someone who I hope to bring into the podcast partnership fold. And he asked a question that was smart, or at least initially. So it's the type of thing that I get asked all the time. And it was essentially this. Who does the best show notes? If I want to kill it in the show note department, who should I emulate? Who should I hire? Who should I act like? Who should I not act like? You know how it is. We always want best practices in the show note department. And show notes are a long, proud part of the podcast industry. So it makes sense. But you see, here's the problem with that question that came in. He doesn't know what he wants to do with the show yet, and he's looking for the best show notes. And like everything in life, if you don't know what you're going to do, the finer points, the finer elements are always going to get in the way. See, he also doesn't know what kind of show he's making. Now, he's a smart guy, he's made a lot of money, and I'm looking forward to bringing him into the fold, as I said. But this process, this examination is completely and totally out of whack. See, here's the problem. Great show notes are a reflection of podcast strategy, not a podcast requirement. This is what I call the podcast show note rabbit hole. You see, we're always asking who has the best microphone, who has the best website, who does the best WordPress integration, who does the best this, who does the best that? Without that examination of what it is that we want to do with that now, this isn't just going to be a preach about, don't do the aim fire ready kind of situation. We'll chat about show notes, but I want to help you think through the process because I think the industry would do well. Let's face it, if show notes were the king of podcasting, the best show notes in the world would be serial or npr, that type of thing. When was the last time you even went to that website? Three goals in show notes. Three things that you want to Think about and I think three elements that perpetuate kind of the thought process in the industry. Now, the first one is great. The first goal is show notes to serve. I have an audience, they've spent time with me, they've put me in their ears, we've gone for the car ride together, we've done these things. And now I've given a little bit of information. And because you shouldn't be taking notes while you're driving, you should be taking notes a lot of the times in the consumption of this podcast. You can head out to my website and get the show notes. So I could say something like, to get the show notes for this episode, visit thepodcastreport.com show notes 1, 2, 3. But you see, let's chat about serving because, well, I'm going to have a link to howtopodcasttraining.com they had the ad at the beginning and I'm going to have the link to the app and the show and the book and that type of thing. But this particular episode, I don't really have any additional content that I'm going to be linking people to. This will be probably one of the least visited show notes. And it's funny because it is one about show notes, which I think is fantastic. But so is service giving you great show notes or is service giving you a podcast episode that doesn't require that you visit my website to get more? I want you to think about that. So, number one, is the goal to serve serve your audience the way that truly serves them, not that serves them through the filter, through the lens that you think you want to serve your podcast audience with. The second goal is to simply save time. If you have an hour and a half long podcast, you have a two hour long podcast. People want show notes to get an idea of. Is this show going to be worth listening to? Should I consume some show notes, have time codes and you can jump to different locations or that type of thing. I know a bunch of people. One person told me at an event, he said, I never listen to a podcast in my life, but I've read a lot of show notes. So the idea to help your audience save time is there. And then there's one that doesn't get as much press or attention as it should, but it's an interesting one, the SEO bump. I mean, if I create show notes about show notes, yes, I get it very meta. But then again, that's the show. If I create show notes about show notes, then if someone's searching for show notes In Google or Bing or is Yahoo even around? Hey, I heard a great joke. I can't remember where I heard it. Why are Yahoo and Sprint joining forces? Why are they merging? Because nobody wants to die alone. The idea is that we do our show notes correctly and we get an SEO bump and we get traffic based on that content to come out and find our podcast. I've chatted about podcast finding and podcast distribution and these types of things, and maybe Google's a good way to do it, maybe it isn't. But those are the three goals to serve, to save time, and the SEO bump. But what I want to ask you is what kind of show are you making? This is key because here's the thing. If you don't have a plan for your podcast, and the guy who emailed me didn't, and sadly, too many I meet at events don't, and especially those who are asking questions like what is the best host or what is the best microphone? Or what is the best show note? If you don't have a plan for your podcast, your show notes will reflect said planning. See, in some cases, I could have show notes to serve. I could also have show notes to sell. I could also have show notes to get the opt in. I could also have show notes that bring people to my site. Or maybe I want a smile on your face by telling you you don't even really need to visit these show notes because it's nothing more than a link to the sponsor. HowToPodcastTraining.com if you don't have a plan for your podcast, your show notes will reflect said plan. Do you have a plan for your podcast? What is the goal? What is the outcome? What do you want your audience to do after they've completed the episode? What I want you to do for this episode is I want you to go, why am I doing the show notes? Am I doing them correctly? And you'll see in a second. I want to know. I want you to think, I want you to ponder, are you spending too much time on your show notes? Are you giving an undue amount of attention and focus to this thing? Because it's something that podcasts have been doing for a long time. I want you to go, yeah, serial. Nobody's talking about the show notes, you know, yeah, the NPR stuff, the public radio stuff. People aren't talking about the show notes. And I got into this to share with you, my audience, not to write a blog. Something to think about. Do you have a plan? What is the goal? What is the outcome? And I've spoke to this in previous episodes, but are you being honest about your traffic? Most podcasts see 10 to 20 to 30 downloads per visit to the website. Are you spinning 10 to 20 to 30 times the time on your content as you're spinning on your show notes? Now, there might be something said that the person who comes to your website is the best client. The person who comes to your website is the most likely to buy, most likely to consume, most likely to sign up. So maybe you want to give them attention. Maybe the website, the show notes becomes a filter. But it's back to that plan, it's back to that goal, it's back to that outcome. And I want you to be honest about your traffic. Are you building show notes to make your podcast look more impressive than it really is? Do you know the numbers? Then one last really real question that I want you to consider is simply are you doing your show notes every time the same way which puts you in itunes Description Hell, think about it. A lot of people start their podcast show notes with in this episode or today we talk about or yeah, those are good enough. If your show notes all start the same, then the itunes page of your show, the description's all going to start the same and the only thing you have is your titles. And by the way, if your title is the podcast report episode number dash, sometimes all they're going to see is the podcast report over and over again and in this episode, over and over and not really know what it is that you're doing. So think about your show notes. Are your show notes different than what you're putting in itunes? Some people reflect them all the same. Again, it's back to the strategy, it's back to the plan. It's about the outcome. Are you doing them the same way all the time for itunes Description hell, if you are, get out. Couple thoughts. How easy is it to fix your existing show note examination? I get frustrated and it happens and I have some clients who are guilty of this. But if I tell you visit the podcastreport.com and search for the episode about show notes, that's annoying. If I say go to the podcastreport.com123 and that's the episode about show notes that's entirely different. Now, yes, a little bit earlier I said this is the episode that probably will have the worst show notes in it. So there's a little bit of show notes section here going on or something like that. But the fact of the matter is if you send people to the show notes do you make it easy? Do you cop out with the search for this? Or do you cop out thinking that people are listening the most recent episodes so they can just go to the top? Have you done. I've seen podcasts that have done showname.com category podcast episode one, something like that. It's ridiculous. The name of your show thepodcastreport.com the episode number 123. I want you to ask yourself this. How would you know if your show notes clients were the best clients? What does that mean? What goes back to what it is that you're trying to do with your show, the podcast report? I am enjoying the microphone and I'm enjoying the chance to share with you. The podcaster looking to do real business with your podcast. I enjoy spending this time with you every week introducing you to friends and people in the industry. But the fact of the matter is I want you to consider either taking the course or buying the book or even joining us as a podcast partnership client. This is not going to happen straight from the podcast. This is going to happen by those who come out and visit the website. So in my particular case, the show note client is actually the best client and in some cases that will be the way if you are doing advertising and part of the ad spend that the customer buys from you might be visits the website, you might be in a situation where they want to come and the Show Note client the best client as well. But flip side, I was on the phone today with a potential new client. I think this is going to be a really exciting show and it's really funny. This is one of those situations where him doing the show will be the story. And even if he doesn't get an audience and even if he doesn't get listeners, the fact that he is in itunes and the fact that he has the show is what's going to be so powerful for him. And in this particular case, this potential client, although I think it will happen, this potential client probably doesn't want show notes. He wants people listening to the show. He wants people knowing his name and then if anything he wants people calling his office. So are show notes clients the best clients? Now there's the whole opt in thing. Many episodes, not this episode in you know, if you head out to the podcastreport.com 1, 2, 3 link to howtopodcasttraining.com which at the time of recording is an opt in. But the course is coming very soon. I've had other episodes where I've had you opt in for A cheat sheet or a checklist or something like that. But here's the thing. You don't have to go to a website to do the opt in. If I tell you to go to the podcastreport.com123 and click on a link and opt in, that's three steps. A short code with your email address is one step. Text me your email address is one step. Visit the website where you give me your email address. That's two steps. Sometimes we think the website is for the opt in, but maybe there's a better way to get the opt in that gets around the website. Things to think about. One of my favorites is Amy Porterfield. Amy, I know you're not listening to this, but if you are high fantastic show notes but an opt in throughout the show note experience because that's the way she designs things and goes from there. So in her particular case, the best way to opt in is to look at the the episode show notes. But in other cases it could be visit the website immediately howtopodcasttraining.com it could be text your email to a 10 digit phone code. It could be click the button inside of the app or visit the website inside of the show notes on the iPhone that you're dealing with. There are lots of other ways to opt in. And if that's your goal is forcing them through the show notes, does that even make sense? Is that even logical? So I want you to think through that. The better option in terms of show notes and what I told my friend, what I told my hopefully future client, I think he came at this with a position of service. I think you are into podcasting for a position of service. You want to do real business, but you want to do real business by serving. Here's the thing I will suggest to you. True service is not giving your customer something else to do. True service is giving them the information they need and letting them step ahead and go forward with the information that you've just given them. I don't need you to come to the podcastreport.com123 I need you to think, why am I doing the show notes? Am I spending too much time? Am I not spending enough time? If I'm getting opt ins, is there a better way to do that? Am I truly serving? What am I doing? And I'll tell you this. In some cases, true service is simply that they don't need to go to your show notes. So the question was, who does the best show notes? The answer is maybe the best show notes are no show notes at. Well, at all. Thank you so much for listening to this. We'll chat again next week. Bye.