Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin | Podcasting Strategy for Podcasters

If you want to grow your podcast, you need to understand your listeners.

What makes a listener a fan? What makes a fan a customer? In this episode we'll talk about the lifecycle of our audience and how to better speak to listeners at every stage of listening.

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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: When you sit
down to record a podcast

episode, who are you thinking
about? Are you thinking about

the listener that's casually
listening to an episode on the

way to work while they're
thinking about 30 other things

that they need to get done? Or
what about the listener who just

came across your podcast on
LinkedIn and thinks that you'd

be a great consultant to work
with, but they figured that they

should listen to a few of your
episodes before they send you a

message. Or what about the
listener that is patiently

waiting for your new episodes
every single time they drop?

These are three very different
listeners, and if you want to

get the most out of your
podcast, you'll need to

understand all three. 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. So often we're
creating our podcast without

really having an end goal in
mind. Now why do we do that? Why

would we do that? Why would we
record a whole podcast episode

without knowing what we want to
come from it. Now there are a

few different reasons. The first
and most consistent I see is we

like it. We're interested in
this topic. We think it's funny

or interesting or cool, and we
want to share it with our

audience. And you know what?
That's okay. There are chart

topping podcast made from the
content of what the host thinks

is cool, and everyone follows
along. However, for most of us,

we don't have the time and
energy and money to make a

podcast about things we just
like or interested in, and hang

around long enough to see if
other people like it too. But

it's funny, because so many
people that I talk to think this

is how podcasts are made. So if
we're not creating a podcast

from the things that we think
are cool and that we like, what

are other reasons that we might
be making it? Usually it's to

promote our brand, and whether
that's a personal brand

ourselves or a business or
industry, it has something to do

with promoting a larger vision
of ourselves, and I think that

that's one of the best uses of a
podcast. What better way to

build a relationship with people
and earn credibility in a field

or subject than talking about it
every week, and sharing your

thoughts and where this
inevitably will go wrong is not

understanding why the audience
is listening. We talk about this

all the time, but that's what we
need to figure out. Are our

audience members? Casual
listeners? Are they die hard

fans, or are they customers? Who
are we serving and how are we

serving them? Let's talk about
casual listeners. I think most

of us underestimate the power of
a casual listener, the person

that just stumbled across our
podcast from a friend

recommendation, or another
podcast that we guessed it on,

or even just knowing the host
outside of their podcast. Weak

connections make the world go
round, and I think that we all

have to pay a little bit more
attention to the person that

randomly listened to one of our
episodes from three months ago.

You have to have casual
listeners before you can have

fans, and that's something that
we tend to overlook as

podcasters. This is a
relationship like any other, and

listeners have to get to know
you. They have to trust you,

make sure that you're giving
them that opportunity. A few

ways that you can speak more
directly to casual listeners is

having episodes that aren't
built on each other, and what do

I mean by that? I mean when
you're recording an episode,

you're recording it as if this
listener has never heard an

episode before. This can be
really easy. Things like, let's

say that you bring up your wife
Carla in every episode. So

instead of saying something
like, Carla loves baby carrots,

you should see her scarf down a
bag of baby carrots. Instead

maybe say, my wife Carla loves
baby carrots, you should see her

scarf down a bag of baby
carrots. You don't have to go

way out of your way to make
small changes like that. They

have a huge impact on someone
that is listening to your

podcast for the first time, they
feel part of the conversation.

Instead of wondering, who is
Carla? Who is Carla eating these

carrots? Another thing is having
some kind of introduction for

yourself and the host of this
show. So I do this in a pre

recorded bit in my intro. But
you can also do this just at the

beginning of your show, in the
first three minutes. Listeners

should have some idea of who you
are and who is coming on this

episode, and what is going on.
And again, this doesn't have to

be. Super formal, but have a
moment to explain. Hey, I'm

Morgan. I'm a Podcast Producer.
I'm going to help you grow your

podcast. Let's get into the
episode of XYZ, just setting up

so people know who you are and
what this episode is going to be

about. The last thing is to have
everything listed in the episode

description. Now, what do I mean
by everything? I mean all the

links that you talked about in
the episode number one,

obviously, that should be in
your episode description, but

all your social links, ways to
get a hold of you, ways to find

out more any relevant
information for a first time

listener or a casual listener
who might want to find out more

about you in the show, I see
some podcasters do something

like they'll have a link that
says, Did you like this episode?

Here are two other episodes that
you might like. And I think that

is genius, and it keeps
listeners listening at the

least. Make sure people know how
to learn more about you and how

they can follow you on other
platforms and ask them to

subscribe to the podcast, and
that sounds so Elementary, there

needs to be something in your
sign off, or in your pre

recorded sign off, that says,
make sure you subscribe to the

podcast. For more episodes like
this, we need to remind our

audience what we want them to
do, and think about how much

more likely you are to listen to
a podcast that you subscribe to.

So make sure that you're
encouraging your audience to

subscribe to your podcast. Being
aware of new listeners and

casual listeners is the best way
to turn someone that would have

just listened to one episode or
a couple episodes of your show

into a fan of your podcast.
Speaking of fans, what about

fans? I'm talking about the
audience members that are

listening to every single
episode of your podcast the day

that it comes out. How are you
making content with these

listeners in mind? Because while
we need casual listeners to turn

into fans, 80% of your listens
are normally coming from 20% of

your listeners. So how do we
cultivate that 20% the first

thing is understanding why
they're coming to your podcast.

I feel like I say this on every
episode, but you don't have to

remake the wheel. Someone is
normally a fan of something

because they know what to
expect. Think about your

favorite restaurant, I bet it's
your favorite, because you know

what to expect, whether you're
thinking about it or not. They

do an amazing job. The food is
consistently delicious. You love

what they do, and they do it
consistently. We have to be more

like our listeners favorite
restaurants, meaning we have to

be consistent. If you are
putting out a variety of the

same content over and over and
over and people are loving it,

that is not a sign that they are
bored or that you need to change

something up. It is a sign that
you are doing something right.

And again, this is why it is so
important to have your eyes on

the analytics of your podcast.
What are your download numbers?

What is your episode retention
rate? Are you consistently

getting new followers on Spotify
and Apple podcast and the other

platforms that you track? What
do people like to hear from you

don't be afraid of these
numbers. I know so many

podcasters that are terrified to
look at their downloads. The

numbers are your friend. Because
think about this. Let's say that

you had an episode that only got
100 downloads when you normally

get 1000 downloads on new
episodes. Well, what was that

episode title? What did you talk
about? What do those episodes

that normally get 1000 downloads
have in common? These are all

things that we can find out from
the analytics. And it is so

important for you to know this
information when you are turning

a casual listener into a fan and
keeping them a fan. If you need

help figuring this out, I have a
one hour strategy call that is

perfect for this. The
information for booking will be

in the episode description, and
something else to consider is

how you are cultivating your
community outside of this

podcast, I'm working on a full
episode on building a community

around your podcast so make sure
that you're subscribed. But how

are you creating a place where
people can talk about your

podcast and get excited about
your podcast. Are you connecting

people with the podcast and with
each other? Because that is

where the real magic is. You can
have fans, you can have people

that love your podcast, but the
true magic will come when the

people who love your podcast are
able to find each other. Any

good brand strategist will tell
you that the magic isn't in the

brand or the company or the
podcast. It's in how you create

a community that identifies with
your podcast. Listening to your

favorite podcast is a status
symbol. It's something that we

talk about with other people.
It's a. Connection point, and

that's why I say that is where
the real magic happens. You need

to know how you are creating a
community around your podcast to

have fans of your podcast. So
we've talked about casual

listeners and we talked about
fans, and that leaves us with

one group of our audience to
talk about, and that is our

customers. So working with
podcasters, this is probably the

most forgotten group of
listeners, and although most of

my clients, this is their number
one priority, is to get in touch

with these customers, it's kind
of out of reach. So that's why I

go back to the beginning of this
episode where I say most of us

are not making episodes and
podcast content for the true

intention of our podcast. And I
know it's scary, I know it is

not the easy road out, but if
you're creating a podcast for

the intention of growing your
customer base or reaching new

clients or making money of any
kind, you need to make a podcast

that fulfills that mission. So
how can we do this more

effectively? First of all,
making content that positions

you as the authority on a
subject. That's what I do every

week with this podcast. I come
in here to position myself as an

authority in podcasting. I know
for some of us, this is going to

take some internal belief in
ourselves, maybe even lying to

ourselves. Well, let's just call
it a fit, maybe even fibbing to

ourselves. We've all heard about
imposter syndrome, and you might

be patient one of imposter
syndrome, but you have to get

out there and start showing up
as the person that you want your

clients to see you as because
having a podcast is such an

outstanding tool in business and
marketing and personal branding,

but you have to use it
correctly. So step one is show

up as your authentic self and
believe in that self. Step two

is know what your audience wants
to learn about and how you can

effectively help them learn
that. So let's say that you're a

leadership strategist, and you
help mid to high level managers

improve in their role. What do
these executives need? What is

already being provided from
podcasts in your market. How can

you answer questions that they
didn't even know to ask. How do

you position yourself as the
leader in the industry and the

go to resource in this niche,
especially that second part, how

are you positioning yourself as
the go to resource in this

niche? Step three is have an
offer. That's what so many of us

are missing. If you want to turn
a listener into a customer, you

need to have an offer, and
preferably three offers, one at

a low introductory price point,
one at a mid price point and one

at a high price point. These
offers should be a natural

extension of what you talk about
on your podcast and what

listeners are coming for. So
explain a problem in an episode

and then pitch your service as
the solution no matter what you

do have an offer, and
consistently pitch it on every

episode and put it in every
episode description. Our

customers need to know what they
can buy, where they can buy it,

and why they should buy it. And
you as a podcast host, you have

so many opportunities. All three
of these points can be easily

covered in every single podcast
episode. So the next time that

you sit down to record a podcast
episode, I want you to take a

moment to think about these
three listeners, the first being

the casual or first time
listener, how do we capture

their attention and turn them
into a fan? For our fans, how do

we consistently provide them
with the podcast content and

community to keep them engaged?
And then finally, what about our

customers? How can we
effectively position ourselves

as the industry leaders and
create offers that are an

extension of our podcast? If you
have questions about how to

better reach and convert these
three segments of your audience,

I have a one hour strategy call
that would be absolutely perfect

for you. The information for
booking is linked 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

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start making money on their

podcast.