Morgan Franklin: One of the most
important lessons I've learned
in business and podcasting and
probably life, is if there is no
way to measure it, there is no
way to manage it. And on the
surface, this seems like a
grossly capitalistic cliche,
basically, if we can't measure
the growth of something, it
isn't worth doing, but I really
don't see it that way. The way I
see it is, if we can't quantify
what we're doing and try to find
ways to improve and grow and get
better, we're always gonna be
stuck in that endless loop of
questioning, and for me,
questioning is the most anxiety
inducing activity that will
completely suck the excitement
out of anything. So when I say
if there's no way to measure it,
there's no way to manage it,
what I really mean is, if
there's no way to measure it,
there's no way to stop the
endless questioning and fear of
wondering if we're succeeding or
doing enough, or any of those
other anxiety fueled questions
we ask ourselves over and over
as podcasters, hello and welcome
to podcast for profit. My name
is Morgan Franklin. I'm a
Podcast Producer, strategist and
educator. This podcast will help
you create and grow a podcast
that cuts through the noise of
social media and speaks directly
to your target audience. If
you're ready to create a podcast
that will align you with the
experts in your industry,
position yourself as a trusted
leader and create another source
of revenue for your business,
you're in the right place.
Measuring the success of a
podcast is gonna look different
for all of us, and that's
something that I learned really
quickly as a Podcast Producer.
Even success for a host and the
producer and the editor of a
same podcast, those three people
working on the same team could
look really different. So
imagine from podcast to podcast,
how different success is going
to look for all of us. Over the
past year, I put a lot of work
and time into trying to figure
out how to help podcasters
achieve their goals on a much
broader scale. And as I said, I
realized very early on this was
not going to be easy. We all
have such different goals and
plans and ideas and
expectations, but one thing
early on that we all have to
focus on is knowing our
listeners. Know who your
listener is. You have no idea
how often that I get on a
discovery call with a podcaster,
and the first thing that I
usually ask on a consultation
like this is, who listens to
your podcast? Just a very easy
question, right? But so often
that is just met with a blank
silence from both of us, where
we're both just looking at each
other and realizing neither of
us knows who is listening to
this podcast. In this episode,
I'm gonna walk you through not
only why you need a solid,
written out listener profile,
but what it really looks like,
what you need to know going into
every episode and why it
matters. Oh, and I have a little
treat for you, once you get it
all sorted out, I've made a tool
for podcasters that uses your
listener profile and information
about your podcast and a little
bit of magic for me, and it will
email you five ideas for brands
you should reach out to, to
partner or sponsor your podcast.
When I used it for myself, I was
so excited because it actually
recommended two brands I'm
currently working with to set up
partnerships with. So make sure
that you finish your listener
profile and then go check that
out. It will be linked in the
episode description. So why do
you need a listener profile?
Let's start there. If you've
listened to any of my previous
episodes, you know, I'm a
stickler for figuring out why we
are doing what we are doing. If
you don't know where you're
going, any road will get you
there. So what road are you on?
Why are you making a podcast?
Who are you making it for? Why
are they listening? This has so
many moving parts to it, and I
think we want to completely
gloss over all of them, because
it makes us question too much
about ourselves and too much
about this process. Like I said
earlier, living in a state of
questioning is hell it is. But
we don't have to feel that way
all the time. We don't have to
be constantly questioning. We
can know exactly who we're
talking to, why we're talking to
them, and what we want to talk
about. That gets me to my next
point. What is a listener
profile and why should you take
the time to figure out who your
ideal audience is a listener.
Profile is a detailed outline of
the intended audience of any
podcast. So basically, when
you're creating anything for
your podcast, you can consult
this profile to figure out,
Okay, do I think this would
serve the person I'm making all
of this for, or am I just making
something. That I want to make,
or that I think is a cool trend,
but is not actually going to
move me towards the outcomes
that I'm working towards. In my
opinion, this is why so many
podcasters stop podcasting and
are never able to make any money
with their podcast. They start
the podcast trying to serve a
topic, something they're
interested in and not a
listener. And that never works.
We are all selfish consumers,
and when we aren't getting what
we're looking for, what we
signed up for, we're gonna move
on and find someone else that is
giving us what we're looking
for. If you ever wanna make
money podcasting, you need to
have a listener profile. And it
doesn't have to be perfect, but
it does have to be as specific
as possible. If you want someone
to give you money seriously, if
you want someone to give you
money to talk about their
product on your podcast, you
better have a crystal clear view
of who is listening to your
podcast, why they're showing up
every week and how this product
is gonna speak to them. Because
imagine you're on the other side
of this. Imagine you are a
business owner, and some little
podcast comes to you, pitching
their show to you to advertise
on, and they say, Okay, we have
30,000 downloads every week. We
talk about all kinds of things.
It's kind of about everything
and anything that we want to
talk about. This is the standard
pitch that I get from
podcasters. Well, it's about
anything I want to talk about.
Okay, okay, I just know, as a
business owner, I'd be like,
This is a hard pass, because if
you can't tell me what this
podcast is about or who is
listening, why would I ever
think that this would be a wise
marketing decision for me? You
need to know exactly who is
listening and why they're
listening, and it can be a silly
reason. It doesn't have to be
like I said. This doesn't have
to be perfect, but it does have
to be specific. You need to know
who is listening. If you can't
measure it, you can't manage it,
and if you can't measure it, you
can't make money off of it. That
being said, let's go ahead and
start phase one of your listener
profile. If you already have a
podcast that is live, that has
episodes, go ahead and go onto
Apple podcasts or Spotify
podcasts, or wherever you have a
platform login, log in, make
your login information and look
at who is listening to your
podcast. Write down what is
their age, what is their gender.
Are they subscribed to your
podcast? Get every bit of
information that you can from
these websites. Go ahead and put
that aside. Now after that,
whether you have a podcast or
not, I want you to write down
what your ideal listeners, age,
gender, location, language,
education, level and income
range is. This is so important,
and it might feel strange. It
might feel very strange, but it
is so important for you to know
who you want to be listening to
this podcast, and if you already
have a podcast live, who is
already listening to it. So if
you already have a podcast
that's live, I want you to go
through and compare what you
wrote down. If you're making
content for women ages, let's
say 25 to 35 but you see that
men ages 18 to 25 are listening
to it. You need to dig into it
and see what's going on. Should
you keep making content like
this and kind of shift towards a
different demographic. Should
you rebrand yourself? Because if
your target audience is women,
let's say ages 25 to 35 like we
said earlier, you're trying to
get advertisers that would speak
to that demographic. You're
trying to create content that
would speak to that demographic,
but if it turns out that young
men or who is listening to it
that is not going to serve you
or your advertisers, so make
sure that not only do you know
who your ideal listener is, you
know who is actually listening
to the podcast. Phase two of the
listener profile, whether you
have an active podcast or not,
is going to be digging a little
bit deeper into your listeners
preferences and their
objectives. I want you to write
down these five questions, what
are my listeners interests and
hobbies? What is my listener
doing on a daily basis, and how
will these activities align with
my podcast content? I think that
this is something that we kind
of pass over because we're not
really thinking about the
knowledge that our listener is
coming from. So let's say, for
example, I do have that podcast
that's geared towards women aged
25 to 35 I'm going to be making
references to things and talking
about different pop culture and
relevant like, you know,
different things than I would be
talking about if I was talking
to even. A 65 plus woman, you
have to know what the interest
of your listeners are, so that
you can speak to them in more
ways than one, so that you can
speak to them at every level of
the content that they're
consuming. Number two is what
problems are my listeners trying
to solve that the my podcast
addresses. Now, this sounds very
professional, right? It sounds
like, Okay, I have to know the
problem, and I have to solve the
problem, but the problem can be
as personal as loneliness. Maybe
you are someone that that person
listens to while they're going
on a walk, that maybe they're in
a new city and they don't have a
friend to listen to. This can be
something that is very different
for everyone. And by you just
addressing, okay, what could
some of my listeners problems
be? Like I said, it doesn't have
to be. It doesn't have to be,
oh, they're looking for a new
job, or they're trying to figure
out how to improve their profit
and loss or something like that.
It sounds very professional, but
it doesn't professional, but it
doesn't have to be. Number
three, when and how do they
listen? This is so important,
and I very rarely hear podcast
producers talk about this.
People listen to podcasts on a
schedule. So is this person
listening to this podcast while
they're commuting or while
they're exercising. This
matters, because if someone is
listening to your podcast when
they're exercising, let's say
they exercise for an hour. Well,
if your podcast is only 20
minutes, then that doesn't
really fit into someone who
normally listens to your podcast
while they're exercising. So I
need you to think about, okay,
what is the person doing that is
listening to my podcast. Are
they on a short commute? Are
they on a long commute? Do they
listen to this when they're
doing the dishes? This is so
important because you know how
some podcasters make the three
hour long podcast? That's really
for when people just have it on
in the background and they're
kind of coming in and out and
watching it, versus a podcast
more like this, where it's
usually under 20 minutes, and it
might be a quick just commute
listen. You need to know when
your listener is listening to
your podcast. Number four, what
other podcasts does my listener
enjoy? This might be the most
important question of all, even
though it might not seem like
it, you need to know what other
podcasts that your listener is
listening to that way, not only
can you diversify, but you can
give them what they're looking
for. Most of the time, we aren't
looking for something new. We're
looking for something like the
things we already like. I mean,
think about when you're finding
a new podcast, are you looking
for something totally new that
you've never listened to before?
Probably not. You're looking for
something like the other
podcasts that you like. So you
need to find out, okay, what are
the other podcasts that someone
would be listening to, my
podcast be listening to, and
then number five, to follow up
on that, what sets my podcast
apart from other podcasts in
this category or topic? Because,
yes, while people want the same,
they also want different, right?
You wouldn't listen to two
podcasts are giving you the
exact same information. So know
what sets your podcast apart.
This is going to be very
valuable for you. It's going to
be valuable for your
advertisers. It's going to be
valuable for your listeners. So
know what sets you apart. By the
way, all of these questions will
be available in the blog post
that is associated with this
episode and that will be linked
in the episode description. So
don't worry about having to
write down every single one of
those. I will have them in the
blog post and that will be
linked in the episode
description. All of these
questions are going to help you
better understand beyond the
superficial, age, gender,
education, who is my listener?
Because data is just data. At
the end of the day, data is just
data. We need to put meaning
behind our research, and that is
where phase three, creating a
listener persona comes in. I
want you to create a listener
persona, name them, talk about
them. Maybe it's someone that
you know that listens to the
podcast already. Maybe it's an
influencer that you follow that
you think, wow, they would love
this podcast if they listen to
it. Maybe it's a fictional
character. Maybe it's somebody
that you just make up. Take the
time to name this person. Write
down what city they live in,
what their age is, what their
occupation is how much money
they make, what their education
level is, what they do on
Saturdays, what they do on
Sundays, what they believe in,
what they want out of life. You
cannot go too far with this,
because this is the person you
want listening to your podcast.
It is so meaningful and it is
going to be so powerful to you,
because now, every time you have
a question about, Oh, should I
host this guest, or should I
make an episode about this? Or
what should I do next? You're
going to look at your listener
profile and you're going to
think, would they listen to it?
Would they want it? What do they
want? What do they need? Now,
when you're thinking, who is
going to be the first sponsor
for my podcast, now you aren't
just thinking, well, we talk
about everything. I don't really
know who listens to the podcast.
You're approaching advertisers
and sponsors and you're saying,
This is who listens to my
podcast. This is why they
listen, and this is who they
are. Every podcaster needs a
listener profile for multiple
reasons, as we talked about in
this episode, but a big one is
your own sanity. Like I said,
podcasting can be overwhelming,
and when you have these tools to
tell yourself, okay, this is who
my listener is. This is who I'm
doing all of this for. Then from
there, it will make everything
so much easier. If you need help
putting together a listener
profile, please book a discovery
call with me. I have a one hour
consultation that would be
absolutely perfect for this. The
link is in the episode
description, and don't forget to
use my new tool. Like I said, it
is absolutely perfect for after
you figure out your listener
profile, it takes all the
information about your ideal
listener and your podcast and
some magic from me, and
instantly emails you five brands
that could be perfect to partner
with your show. And as always, I
can't wait to listen to your
podcast. Hey, thank you so much
for joining me on this episode.
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