This Week On Pod Theory, I’m looking at ways you can develop a deeper connection with your podcast audience, the biggest mistake I made when I started podcasting, what is podfade and how you can avoid it, what the most successful podcasters do every day, and Pod Theory’s first-ever roundtable discussion about the impact COVID-19 has had on podcasting. Check out all five of this week’s episodes below or find them on your favorite podcast app today!

Episode 56: 4 Ways to Develop a Deeper Connection With Your Audience

Podcasts allow you to establish a strong connection with your listeners. The stronger that connection, the more trust they establish with you. The more trust they have, the more they’ll recommend your podcast to others, leave reviews for your podcast, answer calls to action, and support your brand in whatever capacity they can.

With millions of podcasts jockeying for a listener’s attention, building the strong connection you need to increase loyalty is not an easy task. In order to get the results you desire, it’s important to stay on the cutting edge of your listener’s needs…and to go the extra mile to establish a deeper connection that will keep them coming back to your show without thinking twice.

In Episode 56 of Pod Theory, I’m sharing four tactics that go beyond the “status quo” of connecting and take your relationship with your customers to a new level. These strategies will not only help you stand out in a flurry of competing brands and podcasts, they’ll allow you to connect in a way that increases your audience’s buy-in AND gets you direct feedback so you can continue improving upon your efforts.

Episode 57: The Biggest Mistake I Made When I Began Podcasting

When it comes to podcasting, mistakes happen. No matter what point you’re at on the podcast experience timeline, chances are excellent you coughed up the ball at some point along the way. And that’s OK. It happens to all of us!

Mistakes are learning experiences. When you make one, it’s up to you to see where you went wrong, evaluate what you could’ve done better, and make sure you file it away so you can do better the next time. You can’t change the past. But you can dictate how you handle things in the future. If you didn’t experience a mistake, you’d never know how to improve and succeed when you’re faced with a similar situation down the road.

In Episode 57 of Pod Theory, I share the biggest mistake I made when I began podcasting and the story that goes along with it. As I reflect back to that period, I’m happy things went the way they did. Why? Because I learned from my mistakes and I became a better podcaster for it. I’ll also be talking about how you should handle your mistakes when it comes to the production of your podcast.

Episode 58: 4 Ways to Avoid Podfade

What the hell is “podfade,” you ask? Well, up until just recently, I never realized it was a term. But the definition of the term is exactly why I started this podcast and shifted the efforts of my business to helping professionals produce a better podcast.

On Episode 58 of Pod Theory, I’m breaking down what podfade is, as well as helping you understand why you want nothing to do with it. In addition, I’ll be sharing four ways you can avoid experiencing podfade with your show and ensure your efforts serve you and your brand for the long haul.

Episode 59: The Most Successful Podcasters Do This…

A successful podcast doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of thought, strategy, execution, and a ton of hard work. As a podcaster, you’ll learn that each episode you produce comes with its own set of challenges, including but not limited to finding a guest, preparing questions, researching topics, scheduling, recording, post-production, publication, and marketing.

As I’ve preached on past episodes of Pod Theory, the more you know what lays ahead as you get into podcasting, the less surprised you’ll be as you make podcasting a major component of your content strategy.

On Episode 59 of Pod Theory, I’m talking about what the most successful podcasters do to produce a high-quality, consistently engaging show. This will give you an idea of the importance of time management for your efforts and not shorting yourself in the areas where your attention is needed the most.

Episode 60: Podcasting and COVID-19 – A Roundtable Discussion

The coronavirus pandemic has rendered one of the most significant impacts on society in the last century. The results of this impact have seen businesses close, processes change, and, unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people die.

COVID-19 has forced us into home schooling, working from home, and, as podcasters, finding new ways to create content. If there’s a silver lining to be found in all of this craziness, it’s how we’ve been able to implement technology into our practices to ensure we stay connected and keep the podcast content coming.

Welcome to the first-ever roundtable discussion on Pod Theory! On this 60th episode of the show, I am joined by fellow podcasters to discuss the impact the pandemic has had on podcasters, some of the positives that have been uncovered through these difficult times, and where we all see the podcast medium going in 2021 and beyond.

I am happy to be joined for this roundtable discussion by:

Simon Okelo – Host of the African Father in America Podcast – find it on your favorite podcast platform! Also, you can connect with Simon on Twitter.
David Rosen – Host of the Piecing It Together Podcast (as well as a few others he’ll discuss on today’s show). You can find Piecing It Together on your favorite podcast app. You can connect with David on Twitter and all his shows at bydavidrosen.com.
C. Peter Clough – Founder of the International Podcast Alliance, an organization designed to support and help podcasters grow and succeed. His new podcast will go live in January. You can connect with Peter at podcastalliance.org and on Twitter, too.
Steve Scheboth – Co-Host of the Hop Nation USA Podcast. Hop Nation is available on all podcast platforms and can be found on Twitter and Instagram @hopnationusa.