On superficial stats & personal presentation style

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This is Podfluence, the show that helps you grow your

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influence and income with podcasts.

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My name is John Ball and my mission is to help you, the self-employed

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business coach, to grow your influence and income now so you could have a

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continuously thriving coaching business.

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We've probably all had the experience of being unfairly judged by one superficial

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aspect of ourselves that felt unfair.

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You may also have felt at times that other people don't get

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your definition of success.

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It's very easy to get focused on the wrong metrics, and it happens

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all the time in podcasting.

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Most people think podcast downloads are the be all and end all metric, but that is

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blinding us to the reality also, now that most podcasts are recorded with video, how

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should we be showing up for recordings?

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In this episode, we're taking a fairly shallow dive into vanity metrics and

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vanity in general, as one of our seven deadly sins of podcasting series, I'm

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going to be answering whether downloads are the best measure of podcast success,

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and if it's okay to show up to podcast recordings, even virtual ones in your pj.

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If you have your device handy right now and you are listening on Apple Podcasts

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or Spotify, do me a quick favor and make sure you hit the plus sign at the top of

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the screen to make sure you get all new episodes of Pod fluence as they drop.

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So pop in your EarPods and let's get started.

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Welcome to Pod Fluence.

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It is perfectly normal to want to look for guidance as to how well something's doing

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or whether you're doing the right things.

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and often we would look to compare ourselves to where other people are

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and where we think we would like to be.

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And so often we want to know like, how many people are following you online?

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How many people are listening to your podcast?

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How many people are buying your programs or books?

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How many people have the faintest idea who you are, right?

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, I don't blame you.

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Most of us naturally want to know those things.

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Maybe you would like to know those about me as well.

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I'm not sharing all of that here.

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However, it's normal and natural.

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Maybe even sometimes validating.

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If you are looking for podcasts to guest on or maybe even sponsor, you

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don't really want to be wasting your time on shows that only get around

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five to 20 downloads per episode.

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Do you or do you.

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We're coming back in this episode to the series on the seven Deadly

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sins of podcasting with number four in the series, which is Vanity.

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And I felt it is perhaps most useful here to take a look at

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vanity metrics and how much they matter, whether they should matter.

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And also we'll steer things a little bit into the personal presentation

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side of vanity, both good and bad.

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To recap the seven sins so far.

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Number one is gluttony or self-indulgence.

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Number two, selfishness.

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Number three, ignorance.

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Number four, vanity with five, six, and seven on the way.

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All the way back in episode 1 0 7 of Podfluence, I chatted with, uh, best

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say she didn't really like being called an influencer, Whitney Lauritson,

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We chatted with her about the power of influencer marketing through

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podcasts and one of the things that came up there was that even though

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Whitney herself has a large following by many people's standards, some

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big potential sponsors would still take a look at her metrics and walk.

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She rightly points out that they're missing something very fundamental, which

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is that she has a smaller audience than some other influences in her space, but

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her audience is highly engaged and the majority of much larger audiences are not.

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I get to regularly speak with podcasters who have pretty small followings.

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Heck, I'm one of them myself, and I can only agree with Whitney that I would much

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rather have an engaged small audience than a disengaged large audience.

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This same thing came up in a conversation with Bob Gentle episode one 50.

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That he views his show as a success because it positions him well in his

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market and has given him the ability to connect with some amazing people.

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He actually doesn't care that much about the size of his audience, just

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about making a good show that's valuable for the audience that he serves.

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Podcasters sometimes get too focused on vanity metrics when the real

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treasure is in the quality of the content and the engagement of the

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audience, especially for shows that are not purely entertainment based.

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The reality is if you are a podcaster who has 20 or less downloads per episode,

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your audience is mostly people who already know you rather than people who found.

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. That doesn't necessarily mean that a small audience is still not valuable

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to you unless it really is just a few close relatives tuning in.

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I sometimes think the desire to get into the top charts of podcasting is something

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that may actually prevent many podcasters from ever achieving their goals.

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What I mean by that is that most new podcasters who start shows primarily for

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brand marketing are trying to go from zero to Joe Rogan overnight, and they'll only

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see their show as a success when they're nipping at the heels of top podcasters.

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But for most of us, that's not attainable.

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If we take a look at someone like Jordan Harbinger, who's the host of the

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Jordan Harbinger's show, he didn't start off with a show named after himself.

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Jordan earned his podcasting stripes with shows like The Art of Charm, which

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still runs, but now without Jordan.

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He achieved a level of notability that allowed him to put his name

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in the title, even if you haven't heard of him, although I do highly

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recommend checking out his show.

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Trying to go directly for a top podcast, but when you have no experience and no

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industry or celebrity status is close to impossible, and it possibly reflects

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the level of unearned self importance that social media has cultivated in many

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people, thinking that their thoughts and their comments on anything, are

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of any importance or relevance to anyone outside of their social circle.

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I think for people who are willing to go through the lengthy process

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of learning how to be a good show host and give an audience in a

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particular field, what they really want are far more likely to succeed.

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But few people want to take that slower road, which is why so many people

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start shows and don't get past several episodes because their illusion of

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going viral, of instant podcast fame and audience just doesn't happen.

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The rude awakening many people get in life outside of the social media bubble

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is that nobody is eagerly awaiting your opinion, and for the most part,

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no one cares about your hot takes.

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You're just pissing in the wind or shouting into the void.

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I've given talks around the world on why business coaches and speakers

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should appear on podcasts and should probably start their own podcast too.

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And there is one question I can always rely on being asked.

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, which is about monetization.

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How do you monetize a podcast?

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Well, how do you monetize any business, make a good product that people

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will want to buy, solve a problem.

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If you apply that same philosophy to podcasting, you

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pretty much on the right track.

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Being on podcasts, much.

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Public speaking requires you to hone your craft so that people

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will want to listen to you and would even pay to hear you speak.

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I am certain, some people will disagree with me here, but the showing up and

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improvising strategy is for amateurs.

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When you step onto any platform, real or virtual to speak, you cross what some

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people have named the expert threshold.

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Perhaps that's because so few people are willing to put themselves in the position

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of being the person on the stage speaking.

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Perhaps it's a little like the way we give more gravitas to things

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we read than to things we hear.

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We work on many assumptions, and one of those assumptions is that people

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who get up on a stage speak, know what they're talking about and have a certain

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level of credibility to be allowed up on that stage in the first place.

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New public speakers are quite often very earnest, very sincere, especially when

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the subject is a technical or scientific.

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But professional paid speakers will generally be able to tell you that the key

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to success as a speaker is to make sure that you entertain as well as educate.

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Jeremy nicholas, my guest in episode 59 said it very well that you need

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to be able to make people laugh if you want to get well paid as a speaker.

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How much of that do you ever hear from any podcast guests?

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The Great Bard, William Shakespeare knew well enough that even

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tragedies require some comic relief.

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Even if our subjects are dry or super serious, people can't, and

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often don't want to deal with that level of intensity for too long.

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and I do think this may be part of the reason why so many comedy and satirical

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news shows have done so well over recent years because we're more willing

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to be educated about serious topics when they're packaged as entertainment

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rather than serious documentary style.

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My guest, Lee Carter, on a recent episode of Podfluence speaks to this

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a little in terms of how intensity tends to push people away and gets

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them to put their defenses up.

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Whereas some lightness and some humor, especially self-deprecating humor are

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more likely to draw people closer and open up channels of communication.

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Now, you don't need to be a laugh riot or standup comic all the time.

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But you're gonna be remembered more and probably liked more if you

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are able to raise a few smiles and laughs in your media appearances.

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If your goal is to be something of a media personality in your

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area, this is gonna be essential.

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It may take some time to develop the skills and the confidence to

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do this well, but that is hopefully what you're here for, to get into

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that process knowing that there is no instant fix, or magical solution.

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Now, I said we'd talk about visual image as well, and so what about that?

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Well, even though most podcasts are audio only, many do record now with video

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and we'll use clips to promote the show.

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This does mean that you shouldn't show up through a recording in

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your dressing gown or pajamas.

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Your professional image should be maintained as much as possible,

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even if the only person who's gonna see you live is your guest or host.

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That doesn't mean you need to be in full business attire the whole time, un,

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unless that is your professional image, and even then you could probably safely

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move to a more casual version of it.

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When it comes to how we publicly present ourselves, we do at least need to show

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that we make an effort to look our.

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For me, that usually means brushing my hair and beard, wearing my work

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clothes, which for me is smart casual, blotting, the excess oil from

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my shiny forehead and making sure that I am regularly well groomed.

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Now, your routine is likely to look a little bit different, but I present

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myself in my media profiles as someone who is not overly serious and likely

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to be a fun guest or a fun interviewer.

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Now my good pal, Annie Ruggles does this incredibly well to the point where people

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generally know that they're gonna have a great experience being a guest on her

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show, or having her as a guest on theirs.

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Your ability to entertain is gonna be directly relatable to

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your desirability as a guest if you are a known thought leader.

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Also, being a well-known expert does somewhat lessen the need

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to be entertaining as well, but it's still a good idea.

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One of my all favorite examples of someone hitting the perfect blend between

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education and entertainment is a Ted Talk from the Late and Great Sir Ken Robinson

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called Do Schools Kill Creativity.

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And if you've heard it, fantastic, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

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And if you haven't, do go and check the link in the show notes and take a watch.

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Take a listen.

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It's highly worthwhile watching.

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And his talk is memorable because the humour and his serious points

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are far more palatable when served in that entertaining format.

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In fact, we barely notice the seriousness at all, but consider the incredible

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contrast of going from humor to seriousness in terms of making a point.

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It creates a powerful moment, and you have the potential to

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create moments like that too.

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If you're wondering what five, six, and seven will be of the seven deadly sins

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of podcasting, you can get a heads up on that by making sure you check out some

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past issues of the Podfluence Weekly newsletter, where you will definitely

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find all of that and you can subscribe on LinkedIn or through beehive, and you

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will find the links in the show Although the article for number seven isn't out

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at time of this recording, my plan is to release the podcast episode and the

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article for that on the same day, so they will coincide with each other.

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Something I wish I had started doing from the start with that series,

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but you know, get there eventually.

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My hope is from this episode, you at least understand that vanity

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metrics aren't the be all and, and all that there are potentially

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more important things to consider.

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How many downloads a podcast has is not a measure of its success.

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There are many other aspects that can make it a success for you.

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And the same is true of your podcast guesting experience . Think about how

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you're showing up visually as well, that you want to make sure that you

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have an image that you are projecting out to people and that you want to

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stay somewhere in the scope of that in all of your media appearances.

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Next episode, I'm gonna be bringing you an interview.

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In the meantime, I would encourage you to check through some of the

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recent episodes of Podfluence.

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Maybe you can go a bit further back in the catalog I'm happy to share with you that

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the Podfluence newsletter has now broken the 400 subscriber barrier, something that

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I've been hovering around for a long time.

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It's a small success, but it's a big one for me.

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And, certainly very happy to see those numbers creeping up and up

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and we'll will keep doing that.

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I do feel that the weekly consistency that I'm able to achieve now

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is helping to make that happen.

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So thank you for those of you who are subscribed for that.

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And if you're not ready, do come and check out.

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And that's just the LinkedIn subscriptions, right?

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I'm not even counting anywhere else, in those figures.

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But that's it for this week's episode of Podfluence.

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I hope that wherever you're going, whatever you're doing, you'll

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have an amazing rest of your day.