80: Tips for Building a Bond With Your Podcast Audience
One of the reasons podcasting is such a powerful lead generation tool for a coaching or consulting business is because of the bond it allows you to build with your audience.
Unfortunately, I've noticed that a lot podcasters aren't taking full advantage of this power and they actually end up doing things that can alienate their audience members instead.
So, in this episode, I'm providing you with some incredibly quick and easy-to-implement tips for building a bond with your audience that will help you convert them from listeners to paying clients.
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Transcript
Welcome to podcasting for coaches. I'm Britany Felix and I'm a podcast launch consultant who specializes in helping coaches and consultants utilize the power of podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and generate new leads for their business. I realize not every new coach or consultant can afford to hire someone to help launch their show. So I created this podcast as a way to guide you through the process of launching and utilizing your very own podcast to help you grow your business and reach a new audience of adoring followers and potential clients. If you're ready to get your voice and podcast out into the world, head over to podcasting for coaches.com to learn more. Welcome to Episode 80 of podcasting for coaches. In this episode, we're going to talk about how to build that extremely valuable audience loyalty with your podcast listeners inside your podcast episodes. And the reason I want to get that specific with it is because I am not talking about like building your community and whether you're going to have a Facebook group or an email list, or you're going to build your community on Instagram, none of those things. So it's all take place after the episode has ended, or before the episode has even started. But I want to talk about building this loyalty inside your episodes themselves. Because there are a few things that I've noticed a lot of podcasters don't necessarily keep in mind whenever they are recording their content. So one thing that I hope that you have picked up on by now, and that you enjoy about this show is that it feels like you and I are having an actual conversation. And the reason for that is because we are I just can't hear you. But in my mind, you're here, sitting across from me, we're having a coffee, okay, I don't really drink coffee, but we're having a nice drink. And we are just chatting about these things. And I'm talking to you as if you were sitting in front of me and I am explaining an answer to a question that you had the question being whatever the topic of the episode is. And this is something that a lot of podcasters don't do when they record. So they either write out a script, and then just read it, and it is what it is, if it's a solo show, or if it's an interview, they just have a conversation with their guests. And that's it. There's this giant wall in the conversation where you or you and your guests are on one side, and then the listener is on the other. And that makes them feel like they're eavesdropping on a conversation, rather than being a part of it themselves. So if you really want to build this emotional connection with your audience, if you really want to have them feel like you are one of their best friends, you're their go to person, they rely on you for this information, you have to make them feel like you know them, and you were speaking directly to them. So how do you do that? I'm going to break down a few ways that you can do this, right now. For starters, stop saying you guys, or the people listening or the audience or the listeners, all of those things lumps every single person into one giant group. So it feels like you're talking to a roomful of people rather than one individual person. So it's another thing I hope that you have noticed that I have said on the show, as I say you I refer to you directly. Yes, you listening to this right now, I am speaking to you. And that's what you want to do for your audience as well. So even when I'm doing my interviews, and I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means I don't expect you to be you're going to slip up and say, you know, to the people listening every so often in your episodes, it's just gonna happen. But for the most part, become conscious of this and start to say, you or you listening, if you're in the middle of an interview, and you're wondering how to tie this in? How do you address the audience directly? When you're having a conversation with another actual human being and like you're having a real conversation, all you have to do here is just every so often when the guest says something really poignant. Take a moment to step back out of that interview, come back out of that conversation and just say, when are you listening? I really want you to pay attention to this because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so in that moment, it's kind of like a jarring thing for them are like, Oh, wait, she's talking to me now. Okay, I need I need to pay attention here. So it helps bring them into the conversation with you in the guest. And if you can prep your guests on this ahead of time, you don't want to freak them out by any means. But if they are an experienced podcaster, you can say okay, here is exactly who my audience is. So if we could just keep that in mind once we have this conversation and maybe actually address them and answer questions specifically for them during the interview, that would be great. And if they can't do that, if that's intimidating to them, no worries, you can do that for them. So reassure them of that. Okay, another way that you can do this is by asking them questions and actually giving them a moment to respond. And then after you give them that moment, acknowledge what their response probably was. So if you've asked a leading question where they are probably like, yes. Oh my god, yes, thank you, I needed to know that, then have a response, as if they just said that give them time to literally say that, because I don't know about you. But when I'm listening to a podcast, I definitely talked to myself, actually, I talked to myself all the time. But that's a whole other story. When somebody says something really powerful, or ask me a question, when I'm listening to a podcast, I verbally respond in real life. And so when they give me the time to do that, it feels like they're honoring my response, it feels like they're giving me time to actually be a part of this conversation with them. And then when they acknowledge what my response probably was, it just makes me feel like they're actually hearing me, even though the logical part of my brain knows that they're not. Now obviously, this can backfire. Because I'm sure all of us have had instances where somebody's like, Oh, well, have you ever done this? And we're like, no. And they're like, Yeah, me too. Totally doesn't work. But by now, I hope that you know, your audience enough to be able to anticipate their answers. And the people who it really resonates with the people who give you the response that you actually want, are the ones that are going to end up, you know, eventually hiring you or purchasing from you. So another thing that I want to hopefully have you stopped doing is saying things like, well, let's move on with the recording. Or before we started recording this, we talked about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Obviously, the audience member knows that as the recording, they know that they're not stupid. They know how podcasts work. But it's just one more reminder that takes them out of the moment. And they're like, Oh, yeah, that's right. This was recorded. I wonder when that sort of recorded, was it recorded months ago, like, it just gets them out of that moment. So instead, just replace recording with the word conversation. Because even if you're doing a solo episode, I'm still having a conversation with you. And you are still having a conversation with your audience. So you can just say, well, let's, let's go ahead and move on with this conversation here and talk about blah, blah, or Yeah, you know, before we started having this conversation, did it. And it really just helps kind of keep the overall illusion, I guess, of them being a participant in it, and not just an eavesdropper. Another thing that you can do to help them feel super connected to you is, and this is so cliche, and I am sure that as a coach or consultant, you are so sick of these phrases, unless you still use them and you love them. There seem to be two polar opposite camps here. But calling things a tribe, or a community instead of audiences or groups, helps things feel just a little bit more comforting and nice and cozy, because then they feel like they're part of something bigger, rather than just some random audience member or just some member in a group who is, you know, never ever going to be paid attention to. But when they're a part of your tribe, and a part of your community, it just feels so much more loving. And it feels like a nice warm hug, which is what you want your audience to feel, if you're going to prep them to eventually hand you money one day to work with you. And along the same lines, to take that one step further. even give your audience members a name, give them something that they can refer to themselves as and that you refer to them as. Now, I don't have anything here for this because you guys are coaches and consultants. And I know that I don't have some cutesy little name for my audience members here. But I do have that on my other podcast, which is called gruesome gossip. It's like a true crime, creepy, morbid stories kind of thing. So the exact opposite of this show. But we call our audience a gruesome gossipers. And if you are into podcasting, which I would hope that you are, since you're listening to this, you probably heard of john Lee Dumas. He calls his audience Fire Nation because he has a podcast called entrepreneurs on fire. So his audience is Fire Nation. Then you have Marie Forleo, I'm sure that you've heard of her, she has her signature program B school. And anybody who goes through that is referred to as a bee schooler, and that's how they refer to themselves. Every time I see somebody promoting this, every year when she does her, you know, annual opening, or whatever it is, I don't really pay attention to it. But every time she opens us back up, you always see people in the comments. Oh, I'm a B schooler also. And Yay, nice to connect with fellow B schoolers. So they have that name. And then to take this away from business and podcasting. If you're a total Harry Potter nerd like I am. We're called potterheads. And then you have of course, Grateful Dead. They're called deadheads. And then if I say the word juggalos. I am sure that anybody who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, like I did, will instantly know I am referring to fans of the group, Insane Clown Posse because they have this name that they identify with. So it helps your audience identify themselves with something that's connected to your brand, something that you have created for them. So when you can get your audience to to actually identify who they are with something related to your brand, that is huge. That means so many things for your business and for you being able to generate revenue from your podcast and your community. Okay, another thing that you can do is give your audience members shout outs, and honestly maybe even feature them. So I have a client who does this, she reads new reviews that she gets, when she gets a new review. on Apple podcasts, she reads it live on the show. And that actually gets more people to leave the review because her audience knows now that if they leave the review, with their name, and their business name and their URL, she's going to give their business a shout out. She's a business coach. So she'll give their business a shout out on her show. So it's kind of like a little incentive for them. And it also helps her a little bit now, if you have listened to multiple episodes of the show, you probably know, I do not think that ratings and reviews are the end all be all it is a waste of a call to action most of the time. But this takes it a step further. This gets her audience engaging with her it gets her testimonials use on social media, and that lets them feel connected to her. One thing that a lot of podcasters forget is we're so used to listening to podcast now. We don't really like think anything of it. We're connecting with other podcasters. We're so engrained in this world, that we don't realize that a lot of people who are just getting into podcasting for the first time see us almost as celebrities. And I know that sounds insane. And it sounds a little bit egotistical and narcissistic. But honestly, it's true. I have had people who when I showed up in a group to answer a question, they have like fangirled over me answering that question. I have had people at conferences where I am in the middle of a conversation with somebody else, and they literally walk up to me and they're like, Oh my god, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I just had to come meet you and say hi. Like, that is one of the biggest ego boosts in the world. It's so amazing. So when we give people a shout out on the show, it's that same level, they're like, Oh my god, they just said my name and a podcast. And this is so cool. And they're gonna share it with their friends. And they're gonna feel so connected to now I have another client who does this with a thing that she does is actually a website called like, buy me a coffee, I'll have a link to it in the show notes. And it's just a way for people to do like a one time I think they have recurring but basically donations to the show, and hers instead, because her show is all about like alignment and mindset and intuition and manifestation, she actually called her hers in alignment drink instead of a coffee. And so whenever she has a listener, donate and alignment drink to her, she gives him a shout out on the show. So maybe consider doing something like that, or, in my very first podcast that I ever had living unconventionally, I actually every so often would bring a member from my Facebook community, either onto the show, or I would just do like a spotlight of them. Like I would gather some information on them about their travels, kind of like a little questionnaire or survey, and then I would talk about them in one of my episodes. And I know that they were always really excited when I did that as well. Okay, so the last way that I'm going to mention that you can help build loyalty and connection with your audience inside your podcast episodes, is something that I actually just did for the second time recently. And that is having like a q&a or an AMA style episode. So this is where your audience gets to submit questions directly to you. And then you not only give them a shout out on the show, but you answer their specific question. And bonus, this actually will give you topic ideas for future episodes. Now, if you don't want to do a full episode for this, maybe you're not quite at the level where you have an audience that you can gather enough questions for a full episode. You can always just do this like one question at a time. So at the end of every episode, maybe you just answer a one listener provided question. And that's just a part of your regular format. Okay, so those are some very quick and easy ways that you can build audience loyalty and connection right inside your podcast recordings. And then of course, get them to join you on another platform where you can continue that connection and take it even deeper. So I'm going to take a moment here to plug in how you can do that with me. And that is of course by connecting with me on Instagram. I am at podcasting for coaches. I do have a Facebook page as well I don't do very much with it. Honestly I mostly just started it so I could get analytics on Instagram. But it is there if you want to reach out to me on my Facebook page just search for podcasting for coaches. And then of course you can always just send me an email Brittany br it a ny at podcasting for coaches calm. Okay, and so now that that portion of the episode has wrapped up I want to mention one thing really quickly here at the end of this episode that is completely unrelated to podcasting. So bear with me, and please forgive me that but I do know that everyone listening to this episode right now should ideally be a coach or consultant you should have your own business or beginning ready to start your own business. If that's the case, I want to personally invite you into a program that my own badass, amazing business coach is doing this coming week. So if you're listening to this in real time, the day it goes live, you have basically until I think like Monday morning to sign up for this three free day training, where she is going to be talking about how to do a 24 hour secret sell out of your program. So if you're launching a program, a course a service, anything that you want to sell out, she's going to be showing you how to do that without launching this giant huge marketing campaign. It's the exact opposite actually, crystal and Davis is her name, I have been working with her for a few years now she has helped my business so so so much, because as you know, as a coach or consultant, we have our own zones of genius. And mine is not actually necessarily the business side of things. So I need her to help me with this. And for me to just get out of my own damn way. Because I do that all the time. And I'm sure you can relate to that. If you want to join this program, again, totally free. I am an affiliate for crystal. I do like to say that because I believe in 100% full transparency, because she is my business coach. I do love her. So of course, I have no problem recommending her to others. And I absolutely have and I will continue to do so. But again, this training here, if you want to sign up for the 24 hour secret sell out is totally free. So you don't have to like worry about that. The link will be in the show notes for this episode on all the various platforms if they allow hyperlinks and of course in the show notes on my website, which you can find by going to podcasting for coaches. com click on the podcast tab in the main menu and then go to episode number 80. Thank you so much for joining me and I will see you back here next week, where we are going to talk about what you can do if you've been rejected by Apple podcasts. Thanks have a fantastic week. And that wraps up another episode of podcasting for coaches. If you'd like to connect with me further, you can do so on Instagram at podcasting for coaches. If you know it's time to finally get serious about starting your podcast, go to podcasting for coaches comm and click on the work with me tab in the main menu to learn more about my one on one launch consultation packages or my self paced online course. And I look forward to seeing the podcast that you create and put out into the world.