Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin | Podcasting Strategy for Podcasters

I have a question for you: why do people listen to your podcast?

It’s such a simple question, but it’s really hard to answer. That’s because it’s not a fill in the blank question, it’s not black and white, there’s a hundred different correct answers for why someone might listen to your podcast. But in this episode, I’m going to help you figure out the most important one.

👋🏼 Listen to Ep. 8 - How to Pitch Your Podcast in 30-Seconds:
https://morganfranklin.media/how-to-pitch-your-podcast-in-30-seconds/

👩🏻‍💻 Shop My Podcast Template Store:
https://podcastsforprofit.com

📌 Work with Me 1:1 for Podcast Coaching and Development:
https://morganfranklin.media/contact-morgan-franklin

📥 Download 4 FREE ChatGPT prompts for podcasters and listen to the episode on how to use them here:
https://morganfranklin.media/podschool-steal-my-4-favorite-chatgpt-prompts-for-podcasting/

👋🏽 Let's connect! You can find me on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Questions? Comments? Ideas? Message Me:
morgan@morganfranklin.media

Creators and Guests

Host
Morgan Franklin
Morgan Franklin is a podcast producer, strategist and educator. Since 2020 Morgan has founded and produced multiple top ranking podcasts from the health industry to beauty. Featured everywhere from Good Morning America to Martha Stewart Living Morgan's passion and knowledge for branding and podcasting have helped countless business owners and brands grow their impact and bottom line podcasting. Morgan is the Founder of Podcasts for Profit and Morgan Franklin Media, in addition to host of Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin.

What is Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin | Podcasting Strategy for Podcasters?

If you’re ready to create a podcast that will align you with 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. Podcasts for Profit will help you create and grow a podcast that cuts through the noise of social media and speak directly to your target audience. Stop letting the algorithm determine your social marketing strategy. Stop letting trends dictate the kind of content you’re able to create. Hosted by expert podcast strategist, producer and educator: Morgan Franklin, Podcasts for Profit is your step-by-step guide to creating a podcast that will transform your business, opportunities and life.

Morgan Franklin: One of the
biggest mistakes that I've made

as a podcaster and producer is
trying to make a show that

everyone will love. Now, that
seems like a harmless crime,

right? Why wouldn't you want
everyone to love your podcast?

Why wouldn't you want to make a
podcast that speaks to everyone?

And the answer, of course, is
that nothing speaks to everyone.

If you're trying to speak to
everyone, you'll end up speaking

to no one. In this episode,
we're going to talk about the

most important strategy that we
as podcasters can use moving

forward to grow and monetize our
podcast. 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. Here
is a question for you to think

about, why do people listen to
your podcast? It's a really

simple question, right? But it's
so hard to answer. That's

because it's not a fill in the
blank question. It's not black

and white. There are 100
different correct answers for

why someone might be listening
to your podcast, but in this

episode, I'm gonna help you
figure out the most important

one, one of my favorite episodes
of this podcast, is how to pitch

your podcast to anyone in 30
seconds. It's episode eight.

It's one of the episodes that I
send to people who are asking me

what they need to know before
they start a podcast. And I

think that this always kind of
confuses people, because they're

thinking, why do I need to know
how to pitch my podcast before I

even have one, and that's
exactly the point. Think about

how much easier your entire
podcasting journey would have

been if, in the beginning,
before you press record for the

first time on that first
episode, you had such a clear

vision and audience and purpose
for this podcast that you could

have pitched it to anyone in 30
seconds. Most podcasters

struggle to explain what their
podcast is about, even when

they're years into it. This is
why you figuring out why people

listen to your podcast is so
important. This is why you

should niche down. It took
everything in my soul to not

name this episode, How To Find
your podcast niche, or why you

need to niche down. And the
truth is, because I didn't think

that you would listen to it, or
maybe it's just that I wouldn't

listen to it. Explaining the
importance of a niche is so

played out. In my opinion, we
all know we do, but I want to

offer you in this episode as
someone that has made all the

niching down mistakes and more
that niching down does work in

podcasting, and it might be one
of the only strategies that

actually works, and why it works
might not be for the reasons You

think. Let's talk about three
totally made up podcasts. One is

about traveling. That's all.
It's about travel. This is how

so many of us explain our
podcast. We just use a few vague

words and think that people will
know what it's about. So the

first podcast is about travel,
all things travel. The second

one is about travel in the
United States, so coast to

coast, traveling all over the
United States. People obviously

travel in the USA all the time.
The third made up podcast is

about tips and tricks for
families on a budget going to

Disney World, Orlando. That's
all it's about. Every week is

just new content on how to
travel on a budget with a family

in Disney World Park in Orlando,
Florida. So many of us think

that if we niche down, we are
going to lose the opportunity to

reach new listeners or to create
a bigger audience. And every

client that I've ever worked
with and myself has had this

same thought. And you know what?
It's just it's simply not true.

Let's look at the three podcasts
that we just talked about. The

first one being just about
travel. Think about the last

time you wanted to find content
about just a general category.

It's probably never happened.
When we're looking for a podcast

or even a YouTube video to
watch, we're looking for very

specific things that we want to
see. Unless this host has built

up content in another way or
through another podcast, someone

that has a podcast that's just
about a generic topic is going

to have a much harder time
finding an audience, because who

would be looking for that? But
what about. The third Podcast,

the podcast about how to travel
on a budget with a family to

Disney World Orlando. There is
probably somebody looking for

this podcast as I say that
sentence. See what a huge

difference that there is, from a
listener perspective, for

someone to find this podcast
versus a podcast that's just

about travel, or even just
travel within the United States.

See how every time we go a
little bit more niche, there

would be a person who would want
to listen to that podcast. You

aren't losing listeners if they
were never going to listen to

your podcast in the first place.
And that is the hard truth that

I think all of us need to hear
your podcast isn't for everyone,

and that is okay. It's more than
okay. You need to be clear and

proactive about telling people
what it is about. There's

currently about 3 million active
podcasts. So how are you going

to set your podcast apart and
start making a name for

yourself. I remember a workshop
that I went to early on as a

photographer. I was working full
time in digital marketing. I

knew that I wanted to go into
photography, but I was just so

all over the place. I was doing
newborn babies, I was doing

families. I would do real estate
and weddings, and I had no

style, and I had no real goals.
I didn't know what was going on,

but what I did know is that I
wanted to leave my corporate

job. I knew I had to figure out
a plan. So I went to this

conference, and of course, most
of the educators were there to

sell you something else you
know. So I unknowingly go into

this class about branding
yourself as a photographer. The

presenter is talking about how
you actually get clients and how

you actually make money and all
this stuff. And she said, if you

can't figure out what your niche
is, you are never going to be a

successful photographer. And of
course, I am freaking out over

this. I am hanging on to every
word. And so she says, imagine

if you need a liver transplant.
Are you going to go to a family

doctor or a general physician
that does everything? No, you're

going to go to a specialist that
does liver transplants. People

who care about their photography
and are willing to invest good

money are the same way. They
want a wedding photographer for

their weddings. They want a
family photographer to do their

family photos. You have to be a
specialist, and that's what I

want to share with you today.
You have to be a specialist

because people are giving you
the most valuable resource of

all, and it's not money, it's
their time. It's their

attention. We live in an
attention economy. That's the

most valuable thing that you can
ask from someone, and it's non

renewable, so someone is taking
the time to listen to your

podcast. The least that you can
do is understand why they are

listening, and with intention,
give them what they came for.

You owe it to your listener to
niche down. You owe it to the

community you build around your
podcast to niche down. Some of

my favorite communities online
are built around podcasts, and

that would have never happened
if the host was lazy or sloppy

or didn't know why they were
making the podcast. Having a

niche is a courtesy to your
listener, so I want you to

reframe it as I'm not losing out
on listeners by broadening the

scope of my episode niche. I'm
honoring the listeners I have

and building a strong audience
by giving them the targeted

content that they actually want
and they're actually looking for

at one point or another. Every
host that I have worked with has

said, I want to go bigger. I
want to change my audience. And

the thing that I always tell
them is that we can go quote,

unquote, bigger, but you will
lose what the original audience

came for, because let's go back
to our made up podcast about

Disney. What about when the host
says, I want to cover all of

Orlando, or I want to cover all
the Disney parks. Think about

the original audience that they
were serving, that were coming

for that specific reason to
learn about Orlando Disney and

how to travel with a family,
you've completely dissolved your

audience, and you're basically
starting a new podcast, because

that's not what the people
expect from your show, and your

audience didn't come for that
information and that Content

most of the time, going wider
isn't the answer, because you're

gonna lose the audience you put
so much effort into creating.

Because the wider you go, the
less relevant it is to everyone

listening. Instead, you should
dig deeper into the topics and

guests and series and. Would
serve your current listener. Why

do they listen to your podcast?
How can you provide them with

even better content that would
reinforce why they are listening

to your podcast in the first
place? I've also heard

podcasters say again, including
myself, what if I run out of

things to talk about. And let me
just tell you that simply will

not happen if you are truly
invested into something enough

to make a podcast out of it.
There are always gonna be new

things. There will always be
topics to cover and opinions to

give. You will never run out of
things to talk about. And I know

you're probably thinking,
Morgan, you don't know what my

podcast is about, and I don't
care, you will find more things

to talk about. The more time and
energy and thoughtfulness that

you put into your podcast and
your podcast audience, the more

that you will get out of it, I
promise. Finally, and not least

significant of all is getting
sponsorship deals and monetizing

your podcast. The thing that
we're all here for, the more

specific that you can be about
the content of your podcast, the

more niche opportunities that
you have to advertise, the more

of an authority you are in your
niche, and the more valuable the

brands see you as to advertise
whip. So let's go back to our

three made up podcast examples.
So let's say that the podcast

about the United States and
traveling in the United States

versus the podcast about Disney
World, let's say the one about

travel in the USA has 10,000
weekly downloads, and the Disney

World One has 3000 weekly
downloads. And I am a boutique

Mickey ear business in Orlando,
who would be most valuable for

me to spend my money with the
podcast about Disney World,

right? I mean, they're both
about travel, but I have to look

at where my target audience
actually is, and when you have

such a vague topics, it makes it
a lot harder for a business to

know if you're the right person
to partner with or not. And

again, we think that we're
taking away opportunities by

niching down, but really we're
just creating new ones that

would have never been there. So
what can we do? What steps can

we take this week to start
niching down our podcast in a

meaningful way. The first thing
is ask yourself, why people

listen to your podcast? It's so
simple, but it's gonna be so

informative for you. Please do
that second, ask yourself, how

you can better serve the
listeners of your podcast with

the content that they actually
want to hear. And lastly, ask

yourself how you can
differentiate and define your

podcast to be even more
specific. So when someone asks

you, Hey, what's your podcast
about, you know exactly what

it's about. You know exactly
what to say if you want to

listen to that episode eight,
how to pitch your podcast in 30

seconds or less. It is going to
be linked in the episode

description. If you want one on
one, help from me on finding

your niche and learning how to
speak directly to your target

audience. I have one hour
consultations made exactly for

this purpose, to help you with
this kind of strategic planning.

The link will be in the episode
description, and as always, I

can't wait to listen to your
podcast. Hey, thank you so much

for joining me on this episode.
If you enjoyed the podcast and

you'd like to hear more episodes
like this one, go ahead and

subscribe to the show. New
Episodes air every Monday

morning. And if you found this
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help other business owners and
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start making money on their
podcast.