Conducting interviews for your podcast

One of the things that can add something extra to your podcast is interviewing other people. This will expand your credibility, give your listeners a different perspective and add a new dynamic to your show. But interviewing people can be nerve-racking. In this article, I’ll share some tips on how to do it without getting jittery.

Secure the interview

The first step is actually securing the interview. There are various ways to do it, you can email your contact, or send them a message on social media or reach out to them at in-person events. Just ask in a respectful way that you’re seeking some tips on how to do what they do. All of this must relate to how you serve your customers. Once you get confirmation, add the interview to your calendar and prep to get it done.

Have basic questions that you want to ask

At first have a list of questions that you want to ask your guest. Not everyone feels too comfortable winging it. This helps you get the main answers you’re seeking for our show. Questions that you can ask include:

Tell us a little about your story and what you do?
Now, what can persons do to overcome this problem?
What are some tips to do x?

It’s important to not follow up questions you want to ask while the person is speaking. This will keep the conversation flowing naturally. It’s also important to be curious as well this will help you find more question to ask without wasting the person’s time.

Test recording software and equipment before you go live

Before the actual interview do a test recording. This will ensure that you identify any issues that can happen. Make sure all connections are working. ANd have a plan B just in case your main method fails. You can never be too prepared but doing these simple checks reduces the stress.

Once you’re up and running go live and do the interview. Its ok to feel nervous and anxious at times but with time interviewing people will become easier. When you’re finished save your files appropriately.

How to turn your ideas into podcast episodes

Having lots of ideas for a podcast is good. That makes the process to move ahead much simpler. But how do you transform your ideas into a podcast episode?

With a little planning, you can make it happen. I’ll show you how in this article.

Create an editorial calendar

First up, you need to churn out ideas. Once you’ve gathered all your ideas, the next step is to put them together in what is known as an editorial calendar for your podcast. This is where you sequence when you are going to publish what. In addition to that, start outlining answers to your ideas in a logical order.

In your editorial calendar, choose which day or days you plan to publish episodes, Then decide when it will go live. The other thing is after you decide on a schedule, write out which topic or group of ideas you plan to tackle. Meaning if you cover health, October could be diet, November exercise and so on.

Doing this will further break up the production into chunks. Making it much easier to produce your episode with a plan in place. It will also help you keep your ideas organised.

Start outlining the first set of ideas.

Now that you have an editorial calendar in place, start outlining each idea. You have a lot of questions to answer on your podcast create an outline for each question. Follow the editorial calendar you have in place.

you do this is by writing out 3 – 4 points that will answer the question in detail. You can even break down each point further. If the answers have lots of information, break them up into different episodes and create mini-series. That way you’ll have more content to share on your podcast.

As a side note, you can also find a guest for your show to answer these questions for you. This will help build your audience and provide even more value for your listeners.

Gather your recording kit and record your show

Now that you have your outline, set up your podcasting kit and start to record each episode one by one. Amy Porterfield records all her shows in batches. This makes production easier. It also provides a system to work with that allows you to focus on one thing at a time.

Connect your microphone to your computer. Open your recording software, and hit that record button. Once you’re finished, save your podcast episode in a folder. Save it with the question and add the episode number.

That’s it. You have just transformed your idea into a podcast episode. You have created your editorial calendar, outlined each episode and recorded your show. Feel proud of your accomplishment.

How to find ideas for your podcast

When looking to start a podcast, one of the most overwhelming feeling is, how can I find enough ideas for my new show. While putting together ideas sometimes you get a spark, other times nothing. This can lead you to abandon starting a podcast altogether. I know the feeling because I use to get panic attacks at work trying to find ideas for the radio features I produce. Not a nice feeling, worse when you have a deadline.

Luckily after some searches and queries, I found a way that helped me generate hundreds of ideas that can help you get over the starting phase of your new podcast. All you need is a notepad and a pen.

Write a list of the problems your customers have.

This is something I found in “Duct tape selling” a book by John Jantsch. What this does is give you a platform to start mapping out all the problems you help your customers with. Aim for at least 10 if you have more, then great. These will serve as a good starting point.

As a daily practice, write at least 10 ideas you can use on your show. This includes guest to interview and so on. Don’t filter the list just write them down, you can organise them later. I got this idea from James Alchuters book,” choose yourself.” This one helped me greatly.

Search Quora for frequently asked questions

Another resource for ideas is quora. Based on your industry, visit quora and search for frequently asked questions and add them to your list. These will be valuable later when you’re crafting actual episodes.

To do this visit quora and sign in to your account. If you don’t have one create one. The next thing is to find the category with your topic and find the frequently asked questions. Browse the topics and not the questions and their variations in your notebook.

By now you should have dozens of ideas for your show, but I have one more resource for you to check.

Facebook groups and forums

In the one-hour content plan, Meera Kothand says searching facebook groups and forums are a great source for ideas. And you can use them to your advantage. To do this, log on to Facebook and search for groups relating to your topic.

Once you find the groups, join them and search the group with the word “newbie,” ” beginner” or “getting started”. These will give you more ideas to add to your list. The good thing about doing this is that you are finding questions that real people are asking.

Other places to search are forums, twitter search and google keyword tool. This will give you lots of ideas for your new podcast.

Conclusion

Once you have your list of ideas, it’s now time to format your episodes and start to record your podcast.

What are some of the ways you use to generate content ideas? Leave a comment below.

3 Podcasting formats you can try

When you decide to start a podcast one of the things you’ll need to decide is, what format you’ll use for your show. With the multitude of options available, I’m going to share with you 3 options you can try out and find the one that works for you.

Narration bite

This format is popularly used in broadcast radio. This is where the host narrates the story and they insert sections of the interview, or bites as they call it. This is to supplement telling the complete story. For podcasters, this means writing out what you want to say and transcribing the interview for the sections you want to use.

The drawback with this format is that it’s a lot of work. Both in pre and post-production. It involves doing the interview, writing your script and editing the show after you record your podcast episode. Entrepreneur magazine’s “Problem solver” podcast comes to mind with this format, the BBC also uses it a lot with their documentaries.

It’s a format you can use to get really creative with your episodes in post-production. But keep in mind it’s the most time-consuming.

Interview style

This format is the easiest of all 3. You have a guest, and you ask questions. Once you are finished you can edit the interview, keeping what you want and deleting the rest. In the post-production, all you need to do is an intro, and outro for your show, and add the interview in the middle and you’re done. You can knock out multiple episodes weekly this way.

The drawback with this format is a boring guest. If the interviewee is boring when talking about his or her subject area, then the show can drag on and is then hard to listen. If the guest is engaging and excited about the subject, then the interview can be easy to listen to and fun for your listeners. It will also be easy to edit.

Persons who use this format a lot include “story brand” podcast by Donald miller, “online marketing made easy” podcast by Amy Porterfield and Dave Ramsey.

Lone Ranger Style

The last one is the lone ranger. This is where you are talking about your area of expertise. You can also have a co-host. All throughout the episode you talk about or teach your thing. You answer questions, teach stuff and it’s just you.

This format takes a lot of prep work but its also easy to maintain with a system. If you have lots to share, you can record each response on the go, and that can save you plenty of time in post-production work.

“Side hustle school” podcast, “marketing school” by Neil Patel and ProBlogger use this format. You can listen to the suggested podcasts to get an idea of how the final show sounds. Try them out and get your podcast started.

How to create a campaign to promote an event

Attending an industry event is fun. You get to learn new things, meet people and reconnect with old ones. It can also serve as a great source of content for your podcast. Leading up to the event however, you can create a host of content to promote the event creating a mini-campaign.

In this post, I’ll show you how you can generate content ideas to promote an event.

Pre-event

A month or so before the event, secure an interview with the organisers to get some information about the event. This will help you know what’s happening and if there’s anything new to expect if the event is an annual thing.

If the event is new, get background information. Here are a few questions you can ask the organisers:

If its the first time, why did you decide to host this event?
What topics do you plan to cover?
Who are the speakers who will be there?
Why was this focus chosen?
What can persons expect when they come to the event?
Who would get the most out of this event?
You can wrap by asking location and pricing.

As a side note if they are looking to address a particular issue, spend time talking about it. This is a good way to entice your listeners to actually go to the event. As the event will bring out the solutions.

You can do that in one episode and also do giveaways of tickets or offer early bird pricing. This can serve as an incentive for your listeners to take action and go to the event. Leading up to the event you can do reminders and notices about the event and count down for when the early bird prices will end.

At the event

While at the event record the live presentations. The easiest way to do this is to get a feed from the PA system engineer and connect your recorder to the system. Just ask around and once you find them they will hook you up. Take detailed notes to share with your listeners. Also, update your social media pages while at the event.

Live-tweeting using the events hashtags, Instagram pics and stories.

In addition, get feedback from the persons attending the event using your recorder. These responses can be used for a podcast episode. Talk with the organisers about how well the event is going and general feedback. Also just to pick their brains for plans for next year. You can also ask about turn out.

Next, talk to some of the keynote speakers to get feedback on their presentations and ask follow up questions from your notes. This can help you clarify anything you might not understand and can help generate more content for your podcast.

The last thing at the event, talk to business owners with booths at the site. Talk to them about how the event is going as well as get tips to share with your listeners. Ensure the persons you talk to solve a problem relating to your business and your audience. These interviews can also serve as separate podcast episodes.

Post-event

After the event is finished organise all your notes and interviews in a logical order. Episode 1 talks about how the event went and general key discussion points. You can use clips from the keynotes in your show. That’s why you recorded it.

Episode 2 and 3 is feedback from patrons and sponsors. Let them share how the event went and their experience. Also, anything that can contribute to a full interview from different perspectives. From there, you can use the tips gathered from the business for future episodes that,s a not event-specific. And depending on how many tips you get will determine how many podcast episodes you can crank out.

How to make the most of live events for future podcast episodes

Going to industry-related events is a good way to get new content ideas for your podcast. this is so because you can talk to lots of industry insiders and other persons at the conference with valuable information for your audience.

To get started here’s what you’ll need. A portable recorder such a Xoom or Tascam. A dynamic microphone, xlr cables and rechargeable batteries, a notebook and a pen. This is your conference kit.

Once you have your kit ready it’s time to hit the conference. As a side note, you can use your cellphone to do interviews as well. So if you can’t buy the equipment then use what you have.

When you get to the conference first scout the booths and agendas for all activities that you can get valuable information for your audience. Make notes in your notebook before you start to hit the floor. That way you get the relevant interviews. Keep in mind that how you frame your questions will be super important. What you’re looking to get is tips to share on your podcast.

Once you have all the interviews you plan to do, get started collecting information. Connect your microphone for your digital recorder and go up to each booth one by one. When approaching people, smile, say hello and introduce yourself.

When they respond, let them know you want to ask them a few questions to get some tips relating to what they do for your podcast. Example, if the person sells drip irrigation equipment, ask for tips on how persons can set up a system, and maintenance tips. Let them know what the show is about. if they agree to do the interview proceed to ask questions.

Before starting the interview ask the person their name and title. This will help you identify each person you talk to when you are ready to edit. Here are some questions you could ask:

How did you get started in the business?
Walk me through how your product/software work?
what are some tips that people should keep in mind when dealing with this problem?
While building your business what challenges did you face? how did you overcome them?

The aim is to get their story and get them to talk about their product and services, as well as give you tips. While doing the interview look the person in the ey. It helps you connect with them as well as let them know you are paying attention. Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions. As well as ask additional questions to get a full understanding of what they do.

The people you talk to depends on the problem you solve for your audience. Get relevant information that is tied to your show. That way the value you collect will let the experience worth it. BE sure to talk to the event organizers as well as a few of the keynote speakers. TO round out your coverage of the event.

If possible share while you are at the event on your social media channels, and start prepping your episodes while at the event. Take notes of the things you can use and so on. THis will make life easier for you when producing the podcast episodes.

Collect contact information from the persons as well, so that you can share the episode featuring the interview with them for more exposure once uploaded.

These things should help you get the most out of any event you attend.

If you have other methods for covering events. let me know in the comments below. Also, feel free to share any questions.

The Frustrating thing about building a personal brand

The world is changing and how we go about looking for a job is not the same. A large part of the process is either finding persons willing to hire you to work, or pray and hope someone finds you. The latter is not the best strategy so it’s wise to put yourself in a position to work on your own terms.

Reaching a level of comfort, having enough leads and paying clients per month takes a very long time to master. It’s not like you can buy some ads and sit back and watch the leads come in. You have to work hard to build trust and your reputation. Paying for advertising don’t always work unless you have the right system in place.

I have tried multiple ways to build my personal brand, in order to branch out and work on my own terms. Not much worked. Maybe it was the industry I was in, the methods I was using or I might have missed a few steps along the way.

All in all, it’s a long process and one must be willing to do it for the long haul until something sticks.

Because of my personality, I stayed away from anything that has to do with video. I wasn’t as comfortable looking into a camera when I started.

I started our writing blog post on my website. The aim was to attract Christians to check out my site and hope that they would listen to the music I released. I wrote inspirational articles and stuff I was reading at the time, that I thought persons would like. I did it on a schedule as was recommended and over time I started getting lots of traffic.

My music was selling, though not by much, the needle was moving but I could not identify if what I was doing was contributing to that. I was, however, looking for feedback on my efforts and nothing.

As I researched more about content marketing I found out that I should be writing to attract my buyers talking about the problems they have and how to solve it. And eventually found out what I was doing wrong that led to a lot of frustration.

Not having a marketing funnel

In order to benefit from your marketing efforts, you must have a well thought out system. WHich means you get attention from potential clients, you capture their data and continue talking to them until they want to buy.

To do this effectively you need to have a well thought out marketing funnel. This will help you create messaging that will help potential clients make a decision about trusting you. Taking the time out to map out the funnel will help make your decision making easier.

They are people who say marketing funnel doesn’t make sense but all in all you have to have a system that will make your brand building and marketing activities easy.

I never used landing pages and didn’t create lead magnets

I must admit it took me a very long time to figure out what lead magnets were. This was ignorance of marketing jargons. But essentially using a landing page which is basically an advertisement in the form of a webpage with no navigation links to convince persons to join your mailing list in exchange for something useful.

This will give you free access to continue marketing to potential clients called leads. This makes marketing cost cheaper overtime once the list grows bigger. I ignored this piece of wisdom because I couldn’t find a way to apply it to my situation.

Having patience and being consistent

The last thing is showing up regardless and being patient. I lost patience not seeing the results I expected after putting in a few months at a time. My overall fear was being rejected for not being authentic. And just being afraid no one might like my point of view. So after a few attempts, I thought I was a sign of rejection.

But that’s far from the truth. I have written stuff and friends read it and never leave a comment on the piece, but say it to my face. Even from persons I never expected to read my stuff read it and give valuable feedback.

Conclusion

I’m in it for the long run because building a brand is a marathon and not a sprint. From the mistakes I have made I have learnt how to put my best foot forward. As well as spending the time to put the necessary things in place.

The best way to protect your career diversify your Income

Too many persons like the creatives – artiste, music producers depend on only what they are doing ( working with the artist, recording them, shows, selling music) to earn money. One of the traps you might end up in is if the music is not selling and you are not getting shows how are you going to eat or make money. what do you do then?

The alternative is to diversify your income. Create by-products of the service your offer.

For example, creating a clothing line.

Artiste such a Konshens, Vybz Kartel Jay z and others all have a clothing line or another company selling something besides music.

Examples:

Konshens – Kons 876
Vibes Kartel- street Vybz rum
PDiddy- Sean Combs
Jay Z – Rockerwearater

This alternative is another source of income, independent of the main income. There are unique ways to add to what you are doing to earn a living. Though primarily the focus may be making money, the bottom line is that you are creating a safety net in order to earn.

Consider this, if you are not booked for a show for some time, no music is selling. Ask yourself the question ” what else is there to do to earn an income?” After a while, you’d like to start a business. you have the option to do something else. It may not be a merch line, where you sell branded products. Other options may include speaking engagement, and related events supporting a cause.

For example:

The staging of a conference addressing how you overcame an issue. You collaborate with other persons, give the event a title, then charge for the event. This is now an income stream.

The basic thought is to determine what else can you do to be used to diversify your income.

In essence, you do not want to depend on one venture as your source of income as a creative person. Keep in mind there will be down times meaning no shows, no music sales. If you are a producer, you may not get as many clients for a period. You have to find other things to do to fill the void in order to manage.

There’s no need for stress or worry when these times come. You are protecting yourself.

Living in a country like Jamaica, for example, there’s is the idea that there are limited options apart from merchandise. Instead, you think globally. With the internet, you are able to create small businesses and sell products or services to persons without the worry of storage or establishing a physical location to sell your goods. you have direct access to the consumer.

There are services that allow you free access to set up your store. This is just one of several options.

You have skills that you can promote and charge for service as a freelancer. Persons will pay for the service.

You may be good at marketing and social media persons can pay you to manage their social media page or run campaigns. If you are an accountant you can charge persons to manage their personal or small business accounts or another artist.

Branch out, at the end of the day the income that comes in overtime adds up. For instance, you do five shows consecutively and earn fifty thousand ($50000), and at the same time you are managing a social media account for a small business for a period of 6 months. you receive $50,000. Adding the 2 two incomes you have a total income of $100,000 per month. If you have a clothing line that brings in $100,000 that’s an additional $100,000.

Evaluating your monthly income all together with what your expenses are, there should be an adequate amount to cover the expenses. You are able to save and expand doing whatever it is. In the event, you decide on doing other things you have a protective base for your income and investment options.