The Most Effective Strategy For Podcast Growth: Guest Appearances Or Content Improvement?

Dave Jackson (00:00:00) - Someone asked in a Facebook group, what should I prioritize more being on other shows as a guest or my own show? As you might guess, I got some thoughts on that.

Mike Russell (00:00:17) - Welcome to your podcast consultant, Small Lessons with Big Value. Now he wants to work with you. He's your podcast consultant Dave Jackson.

Dave Jackson (00:00:31) - So young back.

Dave Jackson (00:00:33) - Asked hi, should podcasters prioritize guest appearances on other shows or focus on improving their own content for growth? And my answer is both. Because if we think about this, let's say I really do my research and I figure out what shows to go on, who really have the audience I'm trying to attract. That's a great strategy. But if I put all my effort into that, and I do this great appearance as a guest on someone's show and they come over to my show and the information is somewhat know, exciting. Yeah, that's not going to work. And consequently. If I spend all my time making sure my show is amazing, but I don't promote it, well, that's going to grow slowly as well.

Dave Jackson (00:01:28) - And I always say the equation for podcast growth, or at least for downloads, let's go that route. It is value in the episode multiplied by smart Promotion. And you might say, well, what is smart promotion? That's going to where your audience is. And then letting them know about your podcast. It's not going to do much good to promote the Death Metal podcast in the knitting group. Now, there may be the occasional knitter that likes death metal, but I'm going to kind of go out on a limb and go, maybe not all of them, though, as I think about that. And you go, great, Dave, what is value then? And for me, value starts where all things start with podcasting. Who is this for? Who is this podcast for? And I'll give you an example. If you say, you know what, Dave? You're right. I was going to do it for everyone. I'm going to do a podcast just for widows. Okay. But you still have to realize there's a big difference between Jill, who lost her husband at the age of 38 in a car accident, and Mildred, who lost Harold at the age of 97, to this thing called natural causes.

Dave Jackson (00:02:52) - Because if you start to do an episode that's like, hey ladies, let's talk about getting back out into the field. I'm not sure Mildred's down with that. So when you really know who your audience is and more importantly, what they want, then you can give it to them. Have you ever. As I record this. It's November and we're already just getting smacked in the face with Christmas commercials. And I'm like, it's literally like the day after Halloween and it's just nothing but Christmas all the time. And I'm just kind of like, ugh. But have you ever gotten a Christmas gift that you have to really put on your best Oscar winning performance? Like, oh, thank you so much, I love it. And in your head I'm like, I am never going to wear this or use this or whatever it is. And then you actually get a gift that you actually do love. Think about the difference of how you feel. Think about the difference how you feel about the person who gave it to you.

Dave Jackson (00:03:52) - Like, wow, they really know me well. That's how we want our audience to feel that, wow, this person gets me. They understand what I'm going through because they gave me exactly what I wanted. So make sure your show is amazing. And then. And that's where I would start. Dave, I've only got time to do one of these. Then make your show amazing and let Google and all the other way, social media, all those things that bring in a trickle of traffic. And when you do enough of those, you get a steady stream. But I would start with your show and then go out and start promoting it on other shows as a guest. Now, if you need help with this, I'll put a link in the show notes about interviews, how to do interviews, how to be a guest, things like that. I did kind of this all encompassing episode on that on the School of Podcasting. I'll put a link to that. But I've also got a course at the School of Podcasting on all things interviews as well as Content Is King, which kind of addressed both of those items, and you can find that again at School of Podcasting.

Dave Jackson (00:05:01) - Com use the coupon code consult consult. So use that coupon code that'll save you on either a monthly or yearly subscription. And of course that comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. So if you're worried about that and it also comes with unlimited one on one coaching with me, I'm Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting. I want to be your podcast consultant.