Coach Jeff prompted me about Twitter - he needed to know how to make twitter work for him. As our conversation continued it became evident just how much Jeff really needed to know.

Coach Jeff told me about his need for a primer on Twitter – he’d signed up, he used it occasionally, but he knew he didn’t get the best out of it. Even the easier concepts like replies and direct messages were a challenge. My assumptions were blown out of the water, and we’re working to create some content specifically around how to get started with Twitter.

I needed to ask myself : How close am I am to Twitter?

It’s really important to be able to answer that question because the more familiar you are with your content matter, the less sharp you get at asking the right questions and driving out assumptions.  By knowing this you’ll be able to free up your creativity and unblock your thinking.

I discovered that I was very close to Twitter.

Twitter was a tool that I grew up with, and that I’ve watched evolve. It’s second nature to me, and even though I don’t tweet that often, I could explain some great ways to get community participation and drive engagement using it. For me the basics of twitter need no explanation – they’re intuitive right? Wrong!

Ian Kath from the Your Story podcast had a similar experience. He outlined on previous episodes of Podcasters’ Emporium how when he started podcasting he only just knew the basics of finding his way around a computer. He had a similar experience where what most would consider easy tasks, needed to be broken down into even smaller pieces of information. He needed instructions that are broken down into smaller steps that are clearer to follow.

But the whole exercise got me wondering how much else I just assume people know. How much content do I rule out of shows like Podcasters’ Emporium because I think it’s too basic, or people will already know that? How much great content gets buried because of my assumptions?

I’m working hard to drop assumptions about what people do and don’t know, so that I can release my creativity, and start reaching outside the box for fresh new content.

I thought I’d share this journey with you because I figure I’m not the only one inside the box.  The boxes might be different, but the outcome is the same. 

Consider the assumptions you make now… how are they affecting your creativity?

I recently read an article by Angela Bray on propodder.com that suggested podcasting success came through running it like a business. The article pointed to the highly successful Keith and the Girl podcast and suggested ways that they have been successful. I agree with the idea that a podcast can be run like a business, but felt that I could build on this article to help you get a better handle on the steps to success.

I have to confess, I was puzzled by the opening lines of the article:

“Podcasting is fun because the truth comes out. According to Keith and Chemda…
No boss = nobody tells you what to do = freedom to say whatever you want to say
It is empowering to say what’s on your mind.
If you put a mic in somebody’s face for long enough, they will eventually be completely honest.”

The first thing that really smacks me in the face is the statement about podcasting is fun. No boss, equals nobody telling you what to do and the freedom to say what you want to say. In the business world saying what’s on your mind without any filtering can lead to a cease and desist order or worse according to Social Media lawyer Gordon Firemark who recently wrote a book on how to keep podcasters out of jail.

I’m not sure about whether putting a microphone in someone’s face for long enough will cause someone to become completely honest. It will probably succeed in making them mightily crapped-off!


Developing a passionate audience is much more than talking at people via social media channels, and getting them to promote your show. A passionate audience are those people who actively involve themselves in your show, and share your show because they love what you do. That is more about the techniques you use to engage your audience, more than what features you give them access to on your website. Taking a personal interest in your listeners and making them an active part of your show – wherever you can – is a great way to engender the type of passion that will really make or break your show.

I certainly wouldn’t be worth arguing the point that podcasters need to have a social media presence and a way to stay in touch with your audience, but building a passionate community around your show is an entirely different matter altogether.

Treating your podcast like a business is important and building a listener community around great content is key. Like any business, your podcast will have a bell-curve life-cycle to it. As you begin and you have a few listeners you will be able to personally interact with each of your listeners. It would be impossible to have a personal connection when your listener numbers reach 10,000.

So too, the services and the way you monetize your show will change over that time as well. With the smaller number of dedicated fans, you may choose to use donation tools to draw in some regular income. If you have quality content that is niche enough then people may be willing to pay you a regular small amount to keep producing it. The key to donations is audience involvement. If you can involve your community in the vision and what you want to do, then they will happily donate if they can share your vision.

A great example of someone who has done this very successfully is Cliff Ravenscraft of Generally Speaking Podcast Network – he has a whole raft of fans who share his vision and directly give towards his income. The key to Cliff’s success is sharing his vision of becoming a ‘full time’ podcaster, explaining what was required monetarily to support his family and be able to podcast full-time. He then asked people who felt called to contribute regularly. Sure, he had the tools to accept the donations, but the way he approaches his audience is key to the success he has had in building a serious income from the network of shows he produces.

If your show is reaching into the thousands of listeners, then you have a potential opportunity to offer your audience to advertisers. Now there are pros-and-cons to this activity, primarily because your audience may think that you’ve sold them out. You need to be careful about the way you introduce advertising or in-show promotion and make sure that your audience understand why you are doing it, so that you keep them engaged and on-board with your change of direction.

If you are offering advertising on your website, then make it easy for people to buy. Using Paypal means that they can pay on your site, and by using form submission software or plugins, you could even take the advertisers banner directly after a successful sale. With your first steps into advertising, it’s better to start small than overshoot the mark. Make your show a bargain to advertisers first, and then as demand grows you will be able to adjust your advertising prices to match.

Google Adsense creates a way for you to place advertising on your site. Joining Adsense is free, but recent studies show that the effectiveness of online advertising has dropped by as much as 25% from 2010 to 2011. This direct drop means less revenue in your pocket.

Online stores can be a useful way of generating more revenue, but you need to have a really clear brand to make that happen. Often – and in my experience – online stores selling merchandise that requires shipping don’t do as well as you might think. With a significant audience, selling digital content like ebooks and audiobooks – like internet astrologer Jessica Adams – will see you drive a healthy revenue through your site.

But before you launch into producing your first digital content – think about what you’re working with. You will need to have an established reputation and a significant audience before digital downloads are going to reap benefits for you. They key is to create content that does not expire, that you create once, and deliver many times. That way you can keep selling that content for years, as web visitors discover it.

And finally let me leave you with this thought which I was reminded about by a fantastic Brisbane based podcaster called Ian Kath from the Create Your LifeStory podcast… to be a successful podcaster, you need to put significant effort into your podcast blog.

Blogging creates the words that search engines ‘read’ and rank your site by. If you are just publishing the audio content, then you will not be successful in drawing large numbers of people to your site through search engines like Google.

When you blog, describe in detail what’s in your show using phrases and keywords that people might use search for the content you’re putting on your site. It’s simple Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) but according to Ian it brings you a whole lot more website traffic courtesy of search.

So yes, use these tips and run your podcast like a business and you’re bound to go a long way.