They say first impressions are everything.
The time it takes a website to load, that spark when you catch someone’s eye across the room, the way the meal is presented before you even taste it, the feeling when you walk through the door of your dream home, and most importantly of all, that first sentence you utter when someone asks you to describe your podcast, or someone stumbles upon it online*.
* Ok, I’m guessing that your podcast’s first impression may not ACTUALLY be the most important of the above listed first impressions, but it often feels that way, right??
So how do you make sure you make a good first impression, and that the first impression you and your show give is consistent across all platforms that a potential listener might stumble across it?
The answer is actually surprisingly simple, in fact it comes down to 10 words.
Unfortunately, I can’t give you those words, you have to come up with them for yourself.
Confused? Ok, let’s just skip to the homework first and then I’ll explain.
Your goal is to come up a 10 word description of your show that distinguishes it from everything else in existence.
Simple right?
Ummmm, Why?
Ok, I know you’re busy and additional homework is the last thing you need, especially when it seems pointless like this, but stay with me for a minute, this is important.
You may or may not be aware that there are currently something like 500,000 podcasts in existence. That’s a lot of competition huh?
Actually, it’s not.
Most of those 500,000 do a terrible job at everything beyond coming up with content and recording it*. Most of those 500,000 are terrible at promotion. Most of those 500,000 are terrible at branding. Most of those 500,000 are terrible at marketing.
* Actually, a whole lot struggle with even that…
And whether it looks like it now or not, I can assure you that this 10 word statement you’re about to come up with is at the core of each of those efforts, and is absolutely necessary if you want to consistently catch potential listeners attention, and turn them into regular listeners, super fans, and maybe even customers.
But we’ll get to that later, first off we have to come up with the phrase – or vision statement as I like to call it – to begin with.
Crafting Your Statement
First off, let me say that the 10 words isn’t mandatory, I’m not going to call up Apple and have them take down your podcast for not complying with my arbitrary recommendation. But the goal is to have a concise statement, from which everything related to your podcast flows.
Example Time
Let’s start off a look at two examples from my own projects, one of my podcasts, Rain City Scoop, and this very blog you’re reading right now.
Rain City Scoop: An explicit-rated podcast about ice cream and the humans behind it.
This blog: No bullshit podcasting strategy for world changers.
So it looks like I was a little long at 12 words on the first, but came in at 7 on the second, pretty good I’d say.
Feel free to disagree with me, but I feel like in only a few words, each of those statements say a lot about the creations they represent.
That’s the point. That’s also the reason it’s hard.
Saying More With Less
When coming up with your own statement, you have to make your words count. Let’s look at some of the key words in my two statements.
In the first, explicit and ice cream are all you really need to know.
In fact I used to just describe it simply as “An explicit-rated ice cream podcast”, and you should’ve seen people’s faces light up when they heard that. It’s such a juxtaposition, a topic that seems altogether too innocent and childish to be made explicit. Hence the intrigue.
In the second, the word bullshit does the majority of the talking here, (hopefully) distinguishing the blog from the dozens of other button-down podcast advice blogs, podcasts, youtube channels, etc presented by techies with too little humour and too much self-respect.
Differentiating Your Show
You’ll remember that besides the 10-word guideline to crafting your phrase, the other requirement was for it to differentiate your show from everything else in existence. To do that, you’re obviously going to need to know what else is in existence first (or at least make a start).
I’m guessing you’re not the only podcaster covering your niche, and that’s totally fine*.
* Actually it’s a really good thing and presents a great opportunity!
Make a quick list of other podcasts, blogs, YouTube channels, books, or anything else you can find related to your topic and write down a similar short phrase describing what they’re doing with their platform.
Keep in mind that even if there are others covering the exact same topic as you, they’re probably not doing it in the same way you are*
* Unless maybe you’ve got a twin sibling, or worse yet, an EVIL twin sibling who undermines your efforts at every turn. Besides that though…
Your goal is to find the gaps in what the others are offering that your show can fill. This could be in the content itself, the language you use, the way you present the information, the fact that you refer to Star Wars every episode even if your show is about cake decorating…
Whatever it is, there is something that makes your show unique, and you need to not only uncover it, but promote the hell out of it. It’s amazing to me how once you’ve identified your differentiator and started to craft your entire brand around it, you grow into the gap you’ve created for yourself. But I’m getting ahead of myself, we’re going to talk about that in the next section.
When it comes to both differentiating your show, as well as conveying its message, in the end, your description is going to come down to one or two impact words, so start by making a list of words that feel to you to be at the core of what you’re trying to achieve with your show, and then craft the rest of the phrase around those words.
Applying Your Vision Statement
Speaking of the core of what you’re trying to achieve, we talked a couple sections up about how your vision statement will impact everything from your content to your marketing, which is one more reason why you want to get this thing as concise and accurate to your vision as possible.
Most importantly, you really need to believe in it.
Aside from simply capturing people’s attention and intriguing them enough to check out the show, your statement should be your own guiding light for every element of your show.
With every podcast related decision you make, you need to be asking yourself, “Is this true to my vision statement?”
Once you have your statement, you might (read: definitely) want to ask the following questions:
- Does my cover art convey the vision statement of my show?
- When someone first visits my webpage, is the vision of my show clear to them immediately?
- Do my show notes convey the vision statement of the show?
- Is any promotion I do true to my show’s vision statement?
- Is the show’s vision clear in my iTunes descriptions immediately upon reading them?
- Is the content I cover on my podcast and the guests I have on supporting my vision statement for the show?
Once you’re really cooking, you’ll also want to apply this test to any paid advertising you run, anyone you end up hiring to do anything related to your podcast, and on and on and on.
Content Disconnect
You’ll notice that I not only put the actual content of your show on the list, but I put it in BOLD! *gasp*
You might be thinking, “of course my content is in line with my vision statement. That’s what I based my statement on in the first place!”
In my experience, however, there’s a disconnect between the stated focus of the show, and the way the show is actually presented for a surprising number of shows. It’s worth it to actually listen critically through your show, asking with each episode if it holds up against your vision statement.
If it doesn’t you’ve got a couple of options. Change your statement to match the show you have, or make the necessary tweaks to your show to live up to the vision you’ve set for it.
I’d suggest the latter, but that decision is up to you.
Going forward, your content is the most important aspect of your show to have in alignment with your vision statement.
With every episode, you absolutely need to be checking back to your statement and asking if your guest and/or topic are in alignment with it. Occasional lapses in the consistency of message when it comes to your promotion are forgivable, lapses in your content are not.
Why Consistency Matters
Alright, so I hope it’s clear in most of my writing, but with any advice or opinions I share in my articles, I’m assuming that you’re aiming to make your podcast world class. You may or may not aspire to make a living off of your show, you may not aspire to make any money at all off of it.
But you want to make it the best product and brand it can possibly be.
And so it’s with that goal in mind that we’re going to talk about why the consistency of your message is crucial.
At its core, every element of your podcast, and everything you do related to it, should be serving the ultimate goal of your podcast.
Whether you’re targeting new listeners, or nurturing existing listeners, you want to be approaching each action with the end destination in mind.
That end destination is probably different for every podcast, but no matter what the end is, it likely doesn’t end with your listeners simply listening to your podcast. At some point you’d probably like a portion of your listeners to take a further step in their relationship with you, whether that’s signing up for your email list, reciprocal interaction over social media, or maybe even buying something from you.
The Return Of The Funnel: Know, Like & Trust
We’ve talked before on the blog about the necessity of viewing your podcast and the business around it in terms of being a funnel, with listeners entering the funnel at the podcast, and ultimately moving along a journey towards becoming customers.
If you’ve ever done any research on funnels, you’ve probably heard the term “Know, Like, and Trust”. Basically, this is the principle that before a lead (in this case, a new podcast listener) takes the next step in their relationship with you and your brand, they need to know, like and trust you. The more investment – financial or otherwise – that next step takes from them, the more they need to know, like and trust you.
So back to why consistency matters. Anyone who listens to your podcast long enough will undoubtedly get to know you, some may even like you, and some of those may even truly trust you. Huzzah!
But here’s the thing, inconsistency between your podcast and your offerings, how you present yourself on other platforms such as social media or your website, or any other public-facing facet of your show and business, can give your listeners to doubt your authenticity, and that trust can shrivel up fast.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that they think you’re out to swindle them, but these types of inconsistencies in messaging are more than enough to plant a seed of doubt, that maybe your offering – whatever it is – is not quite at the caliber that they had initially thought.
First Impressions Matter
Remember that in the above scenario we’re talking about listeners who already did know, like and trust you. Consistency is just as important when gaining new listeners as it is to moving them through your funnel.
If a potential listener hears you on another podcast, stumbles across your website, or is introduced to you in any other way besides your podcast, inconsistency in messaging might be enough to turn them off your show altogether when they listen and it’s not what they expected.
Fair or not, it takes a lot of work to overcome a first impression, whether that impression was downright bad, or just different from expectations.
Don’t put yourself and your show in a position where you have to do this, and always, always, always be running everything associated with your podcast through your vision statement and asking: Is _____________ a reflection of my vision statement?
While consistency isn’t everything (you still need to have great content, connect with your audience and so on), it will make your listener’s journey through your funnel as frictionless as possible, and limit the number of opportunities they have to doubt your authenticity.
Becoming A Visionary
Ok, so it’s time for me to assign you your homework for the week. What’s that? I already did?
Oh, right. Alright then, it’s time for you to actually go do your homework.
Lucky for you I’ve made it super easy for you, with a handy-dandy worksheet and all!
I’d love to hear what you come up with for your show’s vision statement, feel free to leave it in the comments section below this post and I shall give you a virtual pat on the back!
Also, I’d love to give a big thank you to Eric Nuzum from Audible who first turned me onto the concept of the 10 word phrase to define and differentiate any creative project. You da man!
Jeremy travels full-time, loves long-distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements. He believes that the way to grow sustainable businesses is by leading with heart, vulnerability, and helping your people be and become their best selves.
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