1 00:00:01,410 --> 00:00:03,840 Morgan Franklin: Unfortunately, for most of us, there will come 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,130 a time when we feel like no one really cares about our podcast. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,000 Every single long term client I've ever worked with has at 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,990 some point said, what's the point? Or should I keep doing 5 00:00:15,990 --> 00:00:19,920 this? Or what am I even doing? Or why does it feel like no one 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,250 cares about my podcast, and these are all great questions to 7 00:00:23,250 --> 00:00:26,610 ask ourselves at every stage of our podcasting journey. And you 8 00:00:26,610 --> 00:00:30,750 know, it might feel bleak to ask them, but on the bright side, if 9 00:00:30,750 --> 00:00:34,890 you aren't regularly asking these questions, you're even 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,940 further away from creating a podcast that anyone will ever 11 00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:41,850 care about in this episode, we'll talk about why your 12 00:00:41,850 --> 00:00:46,170 audience isn't growing, what to do when you have a meltdown 13 00:00:46,170 --> 00:00:49,260 moment and you're questioning everything about your podcast 14 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:52,770 existence. And finally, hopefully answer the question 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,300 of, Why does no one care about your podcast? Hello and welcome 16 00:00:57,300 --> 00:01:00,270 to podcast for profit. My name is Morgan Franklin. I'm a 17 00:01:00,270 --> 00:01:04,800 Podcast Producer, strategist and educator. This podcast will help 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,940 you create and grow a podcast that cuts through the noise of 19 00:01:08,940 --> 00:01:13,410 social media and speaks directly to your target audience. If 20 00:01:13,410 --> 00:01:16,590 you're ready to create a podcast that will align you with the 21 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:20,040 experts in your industry, position yourself as a trusted 22 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,120 leader and create another source of revenue for your business. 23 00:01:24,150 --> 00:01:27,030 You're in the right place. I started working on my first 24 00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:31,590 podcast at the beginning of 2021 I had no idea what I was doing. 25 00:01:31,590 --> 00:01:34,980 Like that is an understatement. I never used a microphone or 26 00:01:34,980 --> 00:01:38,400 Adobe Audition or really explored any kind of audio 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,820 medium. I remembered. I ordered about $500 worth of equipment 28 00:01:41,820 --> 00:01:44,580 from Amazon. I couldn't figure out how to use any of it, and I 29 00:01:44,580 --> 00:01:48,030 returned it all. I spent countless hours on Reddit and 30 00:01:48,030 --> 00:01:51,330 YouTube trying to figure out how to get the recording from 31 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,590 talking into the microphone to on the computer. I started 32 00:01:55,590 --> 00:01:58,860 developing a brand with a client who wanted to run for a state 33 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:01,740 senate seat, and having my background in content creation, 34 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:05,220 I thought the easiest and most obvious way to get in front of 35 00:02:05,220 --> 00:02:09,090 his constituents and set himself apart in this race would be to 36 00:02:09,090 --> 00:02:12,210 have an open line of communication with social media 37 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,240 and content. I'm gonna tell you this story, and I've never told 38 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,100 it on the internet before, mostly because it's 39 00:02:17,100 --> 00:02:20,970 embarrassing, but we all start somewhere, and I wish I'd known 40 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,930 how many versions of podcasts that the people I look up to in 41 00:02:24,930 --> 00:02:28,260 podcasting had before their podcast idea that actually 42 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:31,440 worked out I was sitting in a Dunkin Donuts drive through, and 43 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,680 I have no idea why I remember this, but for whatever reason, 44 00:02:34,830 --> 00:02:38,670 the location that was by my house was really, really slow, 45 00:02:38,670 --> 00:02:41,820 like sometimes I would sit in that line for 30 Minutes, and I 46 00:02:41,820 --> 00:02:43,890 would do all kinds of things while I was waiting in line. But 47 00:02:43,890 --> 00:02:47,100 on this one day, I was sitting in the dunganas drive through 48 00:02:47,100 --> 00:02:50,340 brainstorming ideas for this new role and how I could get my 49 00:02:50,340 --> 00:02:53,970 client in front of the community for whatever reason. And still, 50 00:02:53,970 --> 00:02:57,240 to this day, I'm not 100% sure why this popped into my head, 51 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,900 but I thought, wouldn't it be fun if he had a podcast with two 52 00:03:00,900 --> 00:03:03,990 of his other male friends who are also parents and business 53 00:03:03,990 --> 00:03:07,560 owners and generally interesting guys to show a more vulnerable 54 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,430 side of male friendship, because what the world needs is one more 55 00:03:11,430 --> 00:03:14,370 podcast with middle aged white men talking about stuff and 56 00:03:14,370 --> 00:03:17,430 sharing their unsolicited opinion. Right from a brand 57 00:03:17,430 --> 00:03:20,610 perspective, I think that I thought this would humanize my 58 00:03:20,610 --> 00:03:24,600 client, but what I didn't really think about is what our actual 59 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,550 goal was. The actual goal was to help this client run for 60 00:03:29,550 --> 00:03:33,210 political office. So while yes, this could have achieved that 61 00:03:33,210 --> 00:03:37,860 final goal, kind of there were just so many better ways of 62 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:41,460 doing it after four attempted recording sessions that were a 63 00:03:41,460 --> 00:03:45,360 complete and total disaster. I was feeling really defeated. I 64 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,140 was questioning everything about myself and my work and this 65 00:03:49,140 --> 00:03:53,280 brand strategy overall, and I honestly just wanted to quit the 66 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,690 entire podcast idea. I was like, this is not working. Luckily, 67 00:03:57,690 --> 00:04:00,660 one of the two friends we had for the initial episode 68 00:04:00,660 --> 00:04:03,840 recordings had an offer to move out of state before we were able 69 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,140 to launch the podcast. And you know, sometimes things have to 70 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:10,290 fall apart to fall back together. And that is just 71 00:04:10,290 --> 00:04:12,900 something that you should always remember in podcasting and life 72 00:04:12,900 --> 00:04:16,200 in general. But I knew deep down, something had to change. 73 00:04:16,230 --> 00:04:20,100 Because not only was this podcast a total mess from the 74 00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:25,200 production side me, it was really, really boring. We had no 75 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,440 objective. We had no inspiration. This was three 76 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,530 middle aged white guys talking about their work and family and 77 00:04:31,530 --> 00:04:35,370 stories that no one cared about except for them. And that's the 78 00:04:35,370 --> 00:04:38,550 point of this entire episode when you're creating selfish 79 00:04:38,550 --> 00:04:43,440 content no one cares about it, except for you. So after that co 80 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,710 host left, and I was scrambling to figure out if a podcast 81 00:04:46,710 --> 00:04:49,410 should still be a part of this campaign strategy, I decided to 82 00:04:49,410 --> 00:04:53,190 take a page out of my favorite comedian and podcaster, Conan 83 00:04:53,190 --> 00:04:55,950 O'Brien's book. If you've ever listened to his podcast, it's 84 00:04:55,950 --> 00:04:58,680 called Conan O'Brien needs a friend, and in that moment, 85 00:04:58,740 --> 00:05:02,280 well, we needed more than. Anything was to make this brand 86 00:05:02,370 --> 00:05:07,200 and campaign some friends. So I re pitched the podcast idea, I'm 87 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,740 guessing, this time I worked on it after I got the coffee and we 88 00:05:10,740 --> 00:05:14,010 decided to move forward with a podcast that would interview 89 00:05:14,010 --> 00:05:16,920 interesting people from our community. And you know, this 90 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,640 has gone on to be one of the most downloaded, talked about 91 00:05:20,670 --> 00:05:24,570 and highly regarded podcasts in our area, we've had almost 200 92 00:05:24,570 --> 00:05:27,840 different guests, and I'm proud that this podcast consistently 93 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:32,670 gets over 30,000 downloads every month. It's changed my life, and 94 00:05:32,670 --> 00:05:35,340 I know it's played an important part in strengthening our 95 00:05:35,340 --> 00:05:39,570 community and bringing quality media back to our area. Our 96 00:05:39,570 --> 00:05:43,560 community cares about it, and not because of us, but because 97 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:48,240 we have integrity and purpose. We want to uplift the guests 98 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,210 that are on our show. We want to introduce them to people who 99 00:05:51,210 --> 00:05:54,420 might have never heard of them before. About a year and a half 100 00:05:54,450 --> 00:05:57,270 into working on this project, the client I was working with 101 00:05:57,540 --> 00:06:01,140 decided he no longer wanted to run for office after spending 102 00:06:01,140 --> 00:06:04,380 some time in the state legislature, it just wasn't the 103 00:06:04,380 --> 00:06:08,490 environment or experience that he thought it would be. But we 104 00:06:08,490 --> 00:06:12,210 both realized we created something that would exist far 105 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:17,400 beyond a campaign or any selfish purpose that had inspired it. If 106 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,910 you want to make a podcast that people care about, it can't just 107 00:06:20,910 --> 00:06:25,380 be about you. It has to be about them. So if you're looking at 108 00:06:25,380 --> 00:06:28,350 your podcast downloads every month and they're not growing, 109 00:06:28,350 --> 00:06:32,820 or worse, they're decreasing, I want you to take some time and 110 00:06:32,820 --> 00:06:37,320 think about how this podcast is speaking into people's lives. 111 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:41,160 Did you make it for selfish intentions? And if you did, 112 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,580 that's okay. We all have to get off the launch pad, and 113 00:06:44,580 --> 00:06:48,150 sometimes selfish reasons are just as good as any other. But 114 00:06:48,150 --> 00:06:50,730 while that'll get you in the sky, it's not gonna keep you 115 00:06:50,730 --> 00:06:54,540 going. It's not going to grow your podcast. It's not going to 116 00:06:54,540 --> 00:06:58,170 build a community that can't wait to hear your new episodes. 117 00:06:58,740 --> 00:07:02,070 And what about the inevitable podcaster breakdown? I hope you 118 00:07:02,070 --> 00:07:05,010 know what I mean when I say that. But generally, anytime 119 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:08,940 you're just in the total pit of despair, thinking this is never 120 00:07:08,940 --> 00:07:12,870 going to work out, or why am I doing this, or who even cares 121 00:07:12,870 --> 00:07:15,930 about my podcast, or who even listens to this podcast? And 122 00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:19,050 we've all been there. I've been there. I've been there very 123 00:07:19,050 --> 00:07:24,300 recently. Podcasting is hard. Podcasting is the long game. 124 00:07:24,570 --> 00:07:26,850 It's just like owning a business. There's gonna be 125 00:07:26,850 --> 00:07:30,930 really high highs. They're gonna be very low lows. But you know, 126 00:07:30,930 --> 00:07:34,530 the people who make it, they're the ones that figure out their 127 00:07:34,530 --> 00:07:39,390 audience, they know who their community is, and they're always 128 00:07:39,390 --> 00:07:43,500 working to grow and serve them. I was reading a newsletter from 129 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,690 Guy Roz this week, and he was saying that the thing that 130 00:07:45,690 --> 00:07:48,930 almost every business owner he's interviewed over the past 20 131 00:07:48,930 --> 00:07:52,380 years, which is a lot has in common, is they all 132 00:07:52,410 --> 00:07:55,800 underestimated how long it would actually take to become 133 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,740 successful. And if there's a through line through every 134 00:07:58,740 --> 00:08:02,250 podcaster that I've ever met, I'd say it's the exact same 135 00:08:02,250 --> 00:08:06,240 thing. You are not going to be where you want to be with your 136 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,470 podcast in a month, or three months or six months, I'd say 137 00:08:10,470 --> 00:08:14,010 after a year, you're probably just getting in the groove of 138 00:08:14,010 --> 00:08:18,240 how this specific podcast works. In my experience, it takes about 139 00:08:18,270 --> 00:08:21,930 three years to see a real community growth and development 140 00:08:21,930 --> 00:08:25,350 from your podcast. If you're doing a podcast every week, 141 00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:31,050 that's 156 episodes. So yeah, I'd say after 150 episodes, 142 00:08:31,230 --> 00:08:34,890 you're finally going to see where you stand. But do you know 143 00:08:34,890 --> 00:08:38,580 where most podcasters give up? I'll give you a hint. It's not 144 00:08:38,610 --> 00:08:44,010 150 episodes, it's three. Three to seven episodes is how many 145 00:08:44,010 --> 00:08:47,400 episodes most podcasters publish before they decide if this is 146 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,600 working or not, and that's just so unrealistic. Success in 147 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,900 podcasting will always belong to the creator who is willing to 148 00:08:54,900 --> 00:08:58,020 stay the course, because not only are you consistently 149 00:08:58,020 --> 00:09:01,470 showing up for your audience, you're passing up all those 150 00:09:01,470 --> 00:09:05,550 other 90% of podcasters who try and quit and try and quit. 151 00:09:05,610 --> 00:09:09,240 You're getting better. You're improving your skills. You're 152 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,240 writing more interesting episodes, you're connecting with 153 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,180 your audience, you're getting better guests. You're learning 154 00:09:15,180 --> 00:09:19,800 not to use the microphone like that. Practice makes perfect. No 155 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,710 one just wakes up being a professional podcaster, and you 156 00:09:22,710 --> 00:09:26,850 have to give yourself the grace to know you have to practice at 157 00:09:26,850 --> 00:09:30,600 this. You can get better, and you will if you're putting in 158 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,020 the effort. I feel like so many people I meet are just like, I 159 00:09:34,020 --> 00:09:36,780 would never be good at that. Yeah, you might not be good at 160 00:09:36,780 --> 00:09:41,580 it right now, but you will be good at it if you practice, if 161 00:09:41,580 --> 00:09:45,660 you put in the time, and that's so important, because it's hard 162 00:09:45,660 --> 00:09:49,800 to be proud of something when you aren't confident in it. And 163 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,590 I know I've said this before, but if you aren't talking about 164 00:09:52,590 --> 00:09:55,800 your podcast, no one is. And if you're wondering why no one 165 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,670 cares, it's because you don't care if you aren't caring about 166 00:09:59,670 --> 00:10:03,630 it. Enough to talk about it or learn about how to get better or 167 00:10:03,630 --> 00:10:08,190 practice. Why would anyone else care? We have to take 168 00:10:08,190 --> 00:10:11,280 accountability for ourselves first, because we can't control 169 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,400 how other people feel and how other people feel really has 170 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,750 nothing to do with us. I want you to be confident, so sure of 171 00:10:18,750 --> 00:10:22,890 yourself, so passionate and inspired and in love with the 172 00:10:22,890 --> 00:10:27,360 podcast you create that even if no one else gives a crap about 173 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,990 it, it wouldn't faze you in the slightest. You'd keep going. 174 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,800 You'd know that your value, when you find the listeners who this 175 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,300 podcast is created for was so powerful and meaningful and 176 00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:43,620 valuable that you have to keep going until they find you, 177 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,040 because you can create a community around your podcast of 178 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,810 people who love you and adore you and I want you to I pray you 179 00:10:51,810 --> 00:10:55,620 do. The only thing that's going to keep you going and keep you 180 00:10:55,620 --> 00:11:00,030 motivated and keep you creating is knowing that you have 181 00:11:00,030 --> 00:11:03,750 something to give the world that is so meaningful that you have 182 00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:07,590 to keep going, you have to have clarity, you have to have 183 00:11:07,590 --> 00:11:11,280 direction and purpose. And I know that that's not always 184 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,640 easy. That's not always easy for me. I know that sometimes you 185 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,100 get started and you think you know exactly where you want to 186 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:20,610 go, but then things just still end up falling apart. So if 187 00:11:20,610 --> 00:11:23,580 you're feeling lost or uninspired or you just don't 188 00:11:23,580 --> 00:11:27,300 know where to start, I'd love to help you out. Send me an email 189 00:11:27,330 --> 00:11:31,290 to Morgan at morganfranken dot media, and I'll share my website 190 00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:34,170 in the show notes. I have monthly coaching available, or 191 00:11:34,170 --> 00:11:36,810 we can just sit down for an hour together and strategize for your 192 00:11:36,810 --> 00:11:39,570 podcast and figure out how you're going to find the 193 00:11:39,570 --> 00:11:43,590 audience who needs to hear what you have to say. Because 194 00:11:43,590 --> 00:11:48,750 remember, you have to care about your podcast first. And as 195 00:11:48,750 --> 00:11:53,370 always, I can't wait to listen to your podcast. Hey, thank you 196 00:11:53,370 --> 00:11:55,950 so much for joining me on this episode. If you enjoyed the 197 00:11:55,950 --> 00:11:59,070 podcast and you'd like to hear more episodes like this one, go 198 00:11:59,070 --> 00:12:02,430 ahead and subscribe to the show. New episodes air every Monday 199 00:12:02,430 --> 00:12:05,400 morning. And if you found this episode valuable and you want to 200 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,280 help other business owners and podcasters, will you leave me a 201 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,520 five star review. It helps the show rank higher in the charts 202 00:12:11,580 --> 00:12:14,940 and brings more entrepreneurs the information they need to 203 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:17,340 start making money on their podcast.