More Thoughts On Podcast Tracking - And A Few Thoughts On Intimacy - The Podcast Report

Your podcast has value. That's why you're doing it. And if you want to serve your audience, which is the other reason why you're doing it, you'll figure out the value and then you can see the real monetization. You are listening to the Podcast report with Paul Colligan. Here's Paul what kind of relationship do you want with your audience? This is going to be a shorter episode, but it is a really important one. If we as an industry can crack this nut, if we can make podcasting an intimacy game, the game will change forever. The profit will go up. The impact that we're looking for will continue to rise. I don't fully figure this out on this episode, but it's something that's on my heart right now and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. I don't think. No, I know that we're not just about the downloads, and the ads that we can throw at those downloads is bigger. Podcasting is better, and that's what I want to explore on this episode before we do so, though, the tip of the week. If you want your audience to do something, it won't always be obvious to them. It may be the clearest thing to you. You might know exactly what you want them to do, how you want them to do it, when you want them to do it. But your audience doesn't necessarily know. If your audience is listening to your podcast, you're taking them down a journey, you're taking them down a path, and you want them to do something. Let them know what it is that you want them to do. Tell them exactly how to do it. Tell them exactly what to expect in the process, and of course, tell them what to expect when that actual thing is done. Podcasting is still new. Podcasting is still filled with audience members who don't know the industry and don't know the world as well as you do. So if you want your audience to do something, simply tell them. Show them how. Tell them what the results are, and you will be impressed with what happens. When I finish this recording, I'm going to be packing because I'm heading out to another industry event. I love sharing with podcasters what is possible, what is doable, where to think, how to think bigger, how to think better. And that's kind of what I want to do today. So I'm going to bring together some themes, some things I'm seeing at work, some things I'm seeing in the industry. Then we'll come together for some what do we do with this kind of stuff be topic is more thoughts on podcast tracking and a few thoughts on intimacy. So I'm heading to this event. I'm going to be chatting with podcasters about monetization, a favorite standard of mine. But what's fascinating is even at this event and it's a panel and I've got one who's doing the traditional ad inserts, but I've got two others who are doing very non traditional monetization and they're seeing much better money as a result. And I feel like it is an industry. If we stop focusing so hard on getting the down downloads so we can get into sponsors and started working to a more strategic approach to all this, we could be doing a lot better. I've chatted about this in the past. I'm sure I will chat about it in the future, but I wanted to go from there. In the most recent episode of the feed, Rob Walch chatted and we'll put this in the show. Notes podcastreport.com 142Rob chatted about a meeting he went to with NPR. And basically NPR is hoping that maybe podcast clients will start reporting what is being consumed, much the same way that we're getting that from Apple now for the podcast app. And the idea there is of course, that, you know, the more we know about consumption across the different platforms, the more we'll know what to do for the ads, which is again, that very targeted, very specific. I mean, it's a fine option, but it's not the only one. So that's going on. I just signed a new client. I'm really excited. You're going to be hearing a lot of things. One of the promises. Well, let me tell you the whole story. Client name will be announced soon. Very high profile in business, very high profile in consulting, very high profile in Internet marketing. And he asked me just bluntly, he said, okay, Paul, who in podcasting is tracking their direct marketing? Well, really none? He said, really none. I said, yeah. And here's the thing. He had been studying enough. He goes, yeah, it kind of looks like that. Well, don't worry, we're going to do it. Which excites me because now I'm getting paid. And this is the thing I love about my gig, is that we're getting paid to track all this stuff and I'll have more to report to you in future episodes. But said, yeah, Paul, that's kind of sad. And it is kind of sad. And I've chatted about this in the past and I think I've got maybe some answers here. Would love to Hear your thoughts. Thepodcastreport.com142 so I got three reasons why people are not tracking the things that let them monetize the most. One, they're just stuck in the downloads equals success trap. Download is an easy metric to follow. 1000 downloads is 1000 downloads, and they're just stuck in that trap. They think that's the answer. It's not the answer. If you look at podcasting and you look at the numbers and you look at the averages and you look at where the average podcast is, you're not going to get enough downloads to see a real revenue stream from ads. Number one, they're stuck in the downloads equals success trap, which is a bad trap to be stuck in. Number two, and this one makes me nervous. I think there's a lot of podcasters who deep down are kind of scared that they don't think that their podcast has value. So if they try to do something above what everybody else is doing, they're worried that the numbers are going to show the truth. Your podcast has value. That's why you're doing it. And if you want to serve your audience, which is the other reason why you're doing it, you'll figure out the value and then you can see the real monetization that comes from it. Now, the third reason, honestly, is I think a lot of us don't know how. So let me give you a new idea. Let me give you a new paradigm to kind of think about podcasting with. I pulled out a copy of the the Business Podcasting Bible, the book that I wrote way back in the day came out before the iPhone. Wrote it with my friend Alex Mendozian. As we were just trying to figure out podcasting, we talked about the intimacy of podcasting. And I've chatted about this on past episodes. But let's go really deep into the concept of intimacy here. A lot of people talk to me. A lot of people talk at me. A lot of people talk. And I may listen, I may not listen. We are in a talk talk talk world. But when my wife talks, I truly listen. Now, she may argue with that sometimes, but that's a whole other story. But my wife gets attention that nobody else gets because she's my wife, my kids. I just got back from picking up my youngest from a high school event and that conversation was intense. That conversation was true because it was intimate. Swears a lot of people said a lot of things to me today. Everything Heidi said rang True. I acted on. I wanted to respond to. Because of our intimate relationship. My time with Paige in the car today, just picking her up, because of our intimate relationship. I wanted to act. I wanted to move. That's the power of intimacy. And that's the power. Now, we don't have necessarily a spousal relationship in our podcasts, but we have a lot more than the guy on the evening news chatting away and the guy on the evening news chatting away or the guy on random show X or random radio show X. He's getting a really low rate for his ads because there is no intimacy. But we have intimacy. My wife. And again, there's plenty of jokes here. She doesn't have to say the same thing to me over and over and over again. When she says something because of who we are together, it rings true. And I tend to act much quicker on her than anything else. She doesn't need to say the same thing over and over again. She doesn't need to prove her point. She's already established that. We've been married nearly 25 years. That's intimacy. In podcasting, we have intimacy with our audience. If you've listened this far, this is probably not your first episode. If it is your first episode, welcome. We got a whole bunch, you know, this is episode 142. We've got a whole bunch of topics and ideas and tools and paradigms. But most of you have come with me on this journey. And you're listening to me because you respect where I'm at, you respect what I'm thinking about, you respect where I'm going. And this isn't just a random article or a random blog post posted about some of the power of podcasting. This is Paul with his 10 plus years of experience sharing with you in an intimate relationship. My wife doesn't need to say the same thing over and over again. I don't think I need to say the same thing over and over again. I don't think you need to say the same thing over and over again. My wife doesn't need to prove her point. I don't think I need to prove my point. I don't think you need to prove your point. The session that I'm going to, I've got three people on my panel. Number one is a guy who's running a podcast where his audience actually invests in funds, financial funds, as a result of his podcast. This is not spends $5 on a domain name or $20 on a book or $30 on a T shirt or something. These are major investments. He gets them to do that because of the intimacy of the show. It's huge trust. He takes them down a path. He takes them down a journey. One of the other people on the panel, she has a business that is the involvement of family and business together. It's what moms do in the process that is just personal. If your job is slinging coffee, slinging burgers, and I'm talking the cheap stuff, not necessarily running your own coffee shop or running your own restaurant, there's no intimacy there. It's not part of who you are. But my panelist helps people make decisions that involve the integration of family and business. This is the blend that matters. This is the blend that is intimate. Now, the third guy actually is from an ad group who puts ads on other podcasts. But I've been through his group. I got ads placed on a podcast because of their process. And even they are not about just throwing on the ads like we'll see on the TV or we'll see on the radio, but they're doing the type of ads that are trustworthy from the point of view of the podcaster. They want people who try the product, who know the product, who like the product, who can speak with experience about the product. Trust. Intimacy is a really interesting part of this. So a couple of ideas. Number one, the only tech that matters in podcasting is the tech that increases intimacy. Right now, there's a new microphone that's very, very popular. It's in the crowdsourcing space. A lot of people are talking about it, a lot of people getting excited about it. It doesn't help me increase the intimacy with my audience. Therefore, I really don't care. There's talk about a new camera microphone thing. Again, it doesn't necessarily help. Now, if it did get me more comfortable, if I could feel better, if I could present more of who I am without having to set things up all fancy, maybe that helps with intimacy. I'm not saying the tech is bad, but I'm saying the only tech that matters is the tech that helps us increase our intimacy. As you look at the products you are about to buy, the things you're about to invest, and the money you're about to spend on your podcast, is it going to help with your intimacy? Now, I'm going to give you this one's a bit bold, but I think it's important. The podcast of the highest value, the most profitable podcast is the one that gets the audience to make the intimate choice. Last Week on Episode 141 the podcastreport.com 141I very specifically, very seriously made an offer to follow up in training, but that call to action wasn't give me your email address. That call to action wasn't to visit the website and download a PDF. That was give me your phone number. Many of you did. And I am aware of what that phone number represents. I mean, that is with you all the time, that if I did something wrong, I could wake you up at 2 o' clock in the morning. You've given me great trust. You have offered me a connection with you that is deeper and more relevant than the average podcaster gets. I understand that value. And now, because of the trust and because of the value, I have to deliver, and I will. And the product that we're doing with that makes great will be of great value. If you haven't grabbed it, if you haven't listened to 141 yet, definitely do that. But because you and I have trusted each other with a deeper level, I believe that relationship of the people that I have that phone number with, we're going to do more together. The only tech that matters is the tech that increases intimacy. The podcast of the highest value is the one that gets the audience to make an intimate choice. Let's show value to each other. Let's be worthy of our intimacy. And finally, broken intimacy is hard. If I send you an unworthy, lame, cheap, unthought out message, insensitive message to your phone, I'm going to get the stop and I'm going to lose all chances to communicate with you. And gosh darn it, I would deserve that. Because you've taken that step. I'm going to take that step. And that relationship is the type of relationship that podcasting makes possible, because I am right now speaking into your earbuds or into your car stereo or into your headphones as you're jogging, I have a connection with you that most advertisers, marketers, can only dream of. You have that same connection with your audience. Let's do something very, very cool with it. So what do we do? Number one, let's stop assuming it's about the numbers. Let's stop reaching for the downloads as the metric. Let's connect with our audience. Let's have intimate conversations that produce really big results. I want you to ask what kind of relationship you want with your audience. Do you want an audience who, you know, begrudgingly logs on every Wednesday to get your latest message because they're supposed to, or do you want someone who is excited? This morning the kids went to school. I had some time with Heidi. I was excited about that when I picked up Paige tonight. I was excited about the 10 minutes we would get in the car together. Is your audience excited about the intimate relationship that you've built with them? Are you excited about the intimate relationship that we've built together? Can you do the same with your audience? What kind of relationship do you want with your audience? And then finally, and this isn't going to be my longest episode by far, but I really want you to ponder what happens when you have an audience that trusts you. I want you to ponder what the possibilities are when you have a audience who not only listens, who not only subscribes, who not only gives you an email address or a phone number, but has a smile on their face when they consume, gets excited, looks forward to, is entranced with the idea the next episode is out. That is so much more powerful than a bunch of downloads that I can chill out at 40 cpm. Let's track the deep relationships. Let's track what can come from it. Maybe let's think secondarily about the numbers and the consumption. All good stuff. Have a good idea about what's happening with your podcast, but really leverage the relationship that you have with your audience. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one. The PodcastReport.com142 Go ahead and leave a comment there. Of course. ThePodcastReport.com Twitter the PodcastReport.com Facebook Pick your favorite social media site. Let's interact. Heck, even the podcast report@outlook.com is a great place to continue this conversation. I'm going to investigate this more. This is going to be a deeper part of where I'm going. It's a deeper part of where you should be going. It's a deeper part of where the industry I think will be going very soon. We will reach a cap soon on how many downloads. We'll reach cap soon on what we sell our ads for. But the intimacy and the relationship that we can get with our with our audience will continue to grow. It's a relationship I want. It's a relationship that you want. It's a relationship that hopefully we can get. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast report. Should be fascinating to see what happens next week. Bye. We love the social interaction here at the podcast report. ThePodcastReport.com Facebook ThePodcastReport.com Twitter ThePodcastReport.com InsertSocialPlatformofYourChoice Would love to hear from you. Love to give you the chance to interact with other listeners of the show. Another thing we'd love to have you do is simply subscribe to the show if you know what that means. Great. Head out to the podcatcher of your choice and subscribe to the show if you don't know what that means. Basically, all the big programs, itunes, Google, stitcher, all of these platforms give you the ability to subscribe to the show like you'd subscribe to a magazine or a newspaper. And then the minute a new episode comes out, it comes to you automatically. It comes to you without worries about spam or that type of thing. And you don't have to visit the website. You don't have to go out to these platforms and see if there's something new. It comes to you automatically. Do that by subscribing thepodcastreport.com iTunes thepodcastreport.com tuneinthepodcastreport.com Stitcher. You get the idea. Finally, last but not least, we do have an email address. It's the podcastreportoutlook.com Would love to hear from you. Chat with you next week. Bye.