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The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E686 - How To Improve Your Podcast Intro Right Now - A Music Lesson for Podcasters
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Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. It's Dave. Nice to have you here with us. If this is your first time participating in the show, welcome. Nice to have you here. And as. As you come through the door and you look around, you see all these people gathered around in, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, is, who are all these people? Right. Yeah. Who are these people? These people around you are the best people in the world. That's who these people are. How do I know? Well, I've met many of them. And as listeners of the show, we as a community embrace people who are pod curious, who are thinking, I think I'd like to do a podcast, or I think I want to get better at being a podcaster. And our group, our lovely ensemble of podcasters, all part of the how to Podcast family, we love to support our fellow podcasters. So if you are looking for a community and you're like, ah, I hate podcasting by myself, I. I got it to let you know, podcasting is not a solo sport. It's not. You're. You're at home, you're by yourself. Everybody rolls their eyes every time you say pod the word podcast, like, ugh. And you're like, I wish there was somebody I could talk podcasting with. I could just nerd out with, I could commiserate with, I could share my. My struggles with. I could share my wins. I wish there was a place. There is. You're here. You're here right now. Welcome, welcome. This is it. You found the right place. All those other podcasts about podcasting, as good as they are and as terrible as they are, this group here, this podcast is for you. And I'm glad you're here. Thank you for pressing Play. I want to talk to you about how you can improve your podcast intro right now. Like, right now. It's simple. It's a short episode today because I want you to go and put this into practice today. Today I want you to make your next intro better. And I'm not saying that my podcast is perfect, but if you follow this saying and have this in your brain, I think your next intro is going to be better. Try it. Let me know. I've been a musician now for, at the time of recording, 46 years. And in 46, I feel old. In 46 years of playing music, I've recorded in studio, I played on stages, I've been on the radio and television. I have music on Spotify, which is fun. Yeah. And it's great to do music. It is the most fun thing ever. To be creative in public and in the studio, it's like the coolest thing ever. To have something that comes from your brain through your fingers into an instrument note to the world, into somebody's ear holes is awesome. And just to. To have a piece of you live in the world like that, it's kind of like having kids making music. It's really, really amazing. So as a musician, one of the things we like to say, and if you're not a musician, you maybe never heard this, if you are a musician, you probably have said this is. Is like basically around the idea of just get to the point, like, get to the thing that people want. And one of the best things in music is when you listen to a song is usually the chorus, because the chorus is where everybody stands up, raises their glass, sings and sings along. And most people know the words to the chorus. Maybe not all the words to the entire song, but at least the chorus, because it's catchy and it sticks with you and it gets in your head like a little ear worm and it will leave you. And the sooner you can get to the chorus, the better because that's where everybody connects. That's the spot. That's the sweet spot in the song. Some bands actually start their songs with the chorus, which is really interesting. The saying is, don't bore us, get us to the chorus. Don't bore us, get us to the chorus. And I love it. That's. That is the. That's the whole thing around an intro for your podcast, whether you have music or not. Don't bore us, get us to the chorus. Don't spend three and a half minutes going through all of the things you want to talk about ahead of the episode. You have a small window of time to get anybody to be convinced to stick around for your show. And the longer you wear out that intro and make it longer and longer and longer, the less likely people are going to stick around for the entire podcast. And that's where people start walking away from your show. And that's where you lose listeners. That's where engagement drops, and that's where you get disappointed and you pod fade and quit your show. All because maybe all because you didn't catch people's attention from the beginning in your podcast. You didn't capture the moment. You didn't convince people that your show was worth putting their phone away for. They hit play and they're like, do I stay or should I go? Right? Don't bore us, get us to the chorus. Okay, so what Songs start with the chorus. First thing, no verse. The music starts right into the chorus. What do we got? Paul Simon, Slip Sliding Away, the Beatles, she Loves you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Sweet Dreams Are Made of these by the Eurythmics. Shout, Tears for Fears, Help the Beatles, Any way you want it. Journey, Song two, Blur into the Groove, Madonna, One Week, Bare Naked Ladies, Rehab, Amy Winehouse, Dancing Queen, abba, Paradise City, Guns N Roses. How about Dolly Parton's Jolene? How about How Sweet it is to be Loved by you, by Marvin Gaye, Give a little bit. Super Tramp. Let's. How about Mary? Mary from Run DMC, edge of 17, Stevie Nicks, Eleanor Rigby, the Beatles, Love in an Elevator, Aerosmith, Janie's Got a Gun, Aerosmith, Carry On, Wayward Sun, Kansas Aeroplane, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bye Bye Love, the Everly Brothers, Kings of Pain, the Police, One More Night, Phil Collins, Bad Blood, Taylor Swift, Good Lovin, the Young Radicals, on and on and On. These are all songs that began with the chorus. So don't bore us, get us to the chorus. It is the, the thing that gets people into the show again. Think about your podcast on YouTube. Now on YouTube you have a microsecond to get anybody to go, yeah, this is for me. And people use splashy things on the screen. They use all kinds of sounds and little hooks, weird thumbnails where you look like you have a shock to look on your face like, oh my gosh, you can't believe what happened. And it's all about tricking people into hitting play like and coming to your, your channel. You have a microsecond on YouTube. You don't have much longer on a podcast player either. A little bit more than a microsecond. But you gotta get somebody to go and make a buying decision, right? If we go shopping the store. I worked in retail for many years and I worked at the office and we designed the store and where, where everything goes in the store and why it goes where it goes and how the shelves look and where, where the milk is and where the eggs are. And that cereal is the height of the kid in the grocery buggy. Where they're sitting in the seat there facing you as you push the cart. When they look to the right or the left, the kids cereal is right at their eye level. Why? Because it sells more cereal. We plan all this stuff out, everybody, just so you know, that's why we do these things. And there's a plan. We have a plan to what we're doing these Things that we do, these tricks that we do in the store help with the buying decision. And as a podcaster, we are in this, the business of selling people on our show. We want people to come stay, connect and continue listening. When you put things at the beginning of your show that detract from people sticking around, it impacts your retention rates. People are anticipating value. They saw the title of the episode, they know your show, they binge your show, they listen to every episode of your show or is the first time they've ever come through the door. They're making a decision in those first few months microseconds about whether or not this is for them and if they don't feel like you're talking to them, they might not stick around. I encourage people through this podcast that you should treat the intro of your podcast and focus that intro on new people who don't know you yet. Talk to them. Talk to them. Even though people will listen to your show and have listened to many episodes, they're okay with you talking to the new people. So a quick explanation, what's the show? Welcome people to the show. Acknowledge that there are new people coming to this episode. Even though this is episode 686 of the how to Podcast series, I still want to welcome my new listeners because this might be their very first time hearing some guy named Dave from Canada. I want to make sure that I welcome them. Don't lose sight of that. Treat your intros as focused on new people and treat your outros as focused on your long standing, long term, committed listeners who your ride and dies. They will stick with you no matter what and they love what you do. So talk to them at the end of the show. Acknowledge them. Do you have a course? You have a book, you have a call to action. You have a next step, next logical step that benefits them. Not just you, it benefits them to take this next step. That's why I like pathway to engagement instead of call to action. It's it, it's a pathway. It's a little gentler than forcing them into acting on something that you want them to do. We want to encourage them to take the next logical step that helps them on their journey. That's what we should be doing at the end of the show. Beginning of the show, focus on new people. End of the show, focus on the people who love and adore you and your podcast. You're going to see better retention rates if you simply get to the point sooner than later. I think based on all of the people that I've helped in podcasting to date. Based on my nine different shows, I think that the sooner you get to what you've promised to your audience to deliver, the better. So forgo the chat about the weather, forego what you had for dinner, forego how work is going. If it has nothing to do with your content, you can save that for the end. That works really well at the end because I know and love you as a podcaster. I'm already committed to you, and I'm not making a buying decision, a listening decision in the first few minutes of your show. And if I come to your show and it's about accounting and you're talking about baseball and the game last night, I. I didn't come here for that. I'm intentionally coming for what you've promised to deliver. Please deliver that. And I will stick around. So don't bore us. Get us to the chorus. And by doing this, you're going to capture a great audience. You're going to capture and garner the attention of the people who know and love you or have just found you for the first time. Focus on that. Build up your. Your intros and make them meaningful, make them impactful. Maybe start with a question, start with a story, start with something that makes people lean in and go, this is my human. This is my podcast. And by doing this, you're going to see greater results than I think anything else. For hooking people into your show. YouTube is a microsecond of content to get people to say yes. An audio podcast or a video podcast, you have a little bit more wiggle room, but not much more. Don't delay your intros. Don't put all this in front of people. Don't ask people for the. For an engagement on your first date. Just show up, give value, win them over with the amazingness of who you are and the content on your show. And then you can then offer up something that's going to benefit them, not just you. And that's how you're going to get better in your podcast intros. Right now. It's a musical lesson for podcasters, and I hope that it strikes a chord with you. And we are all in harmony on this, and we make beautiful music together as podcasters. Thanks for being here. So here at the how to Podcast series, we love to hear from you. You might think that we get a lot of feedback, man. We don't. We don't get a lot because people just feel like, why bother? Like, why does Dave really care what I have to say? And I do. I Actually do really care what you have to say. I love your input. I love hearing from you. And we've started a survey for our listening audience, which includes you right here, right now. And I'd love, love, love for you to head over to HowToPodcast CA and you'll see our survey right there on our website and take a few minutes, come through, answer the thoughtful questions we're asking of you to make the show better, not just for you, but for everyone. Your feedback is really going to help shape the show. And I selfishly just want to hear from you. So if you're thinking Dave probably already knows what I think. I don't. I really don't. I'm not good at reading minds. My wife will confirm that completely. So I. I don't really know what you think of the show. I don't know if you like it, if you like how long the show is, how long the episodes are that Dave's doing 365 episodes in a year. Oh, my gosh. Like, I would love to hear from you and get your thoughts on this very show right here. So head over to HowToPodcast CA, click on our survey link. It's also in the show notes for every episode in the most recent episodes. And I'd love to hear from you. So as a listener of this here very show, your feedback can make this show so much better. So much better. And I'm not drowning in emails and voice messages and speak pipes and buy me a coffees right now. So I'm putting the ask out to you right now as a listener of the show and you're still here that you take a moment, head over to our website, click the link in the show notes for any episode, and go to our survey and let us know your thoughts about this show, how it could be better, and what you love and what you're like. Dave, can you stop doing this? That would be really helpful. Thanks for being here and being part of the how to Podcast family. See you over at howtopodcast CA Talk soon. Thanks for being here. Bye. You're still here. Amazing. This is good. This is good stuff. I, uh, want to just encourage you. I'm going to be doing an episode of this coming up soon here on the how to Podcast series around getting yourself in the right categories when you h. Have your podcast set up on your podcast hosting site, Buzzsprout, Captivate, Spotify for creators. Those are the three I use. But whatever you're using there, when you set up your show, you have the option to pick categories which are like file folders, they're like labels. And you're putting your podcast in the right label. The quick win here for you. You can pick like business and that's a category, it's a big category and there's a lot of traffic in the category, a lot of podcasts. But if you go one level deeper into that category and instead of just picking business as a whole, maybe pick business and then pick the subcategory of marketing under the banner of business. Why is this important? When you pick that subcategory, you are automatically also included in the main category. So don't waste your category selections by going big. Go smaller and you gain the ability to not only be in the smaller category of marketing, you're also then under the category of business, you get a two for one deal simply by going one step deeper. So don't just go with the big name, go deeper and also play with your categories. Play with them. Look at other shows in your area, in your genre, in your niche. Niche for My American Friends and look at what they have their category set at. When you go into the right folder, the right category, the right label, you limit the amount of competition because there's a smaller amount of people in that group than there is in the master larger overarching category. So go. We talk about getting niche with our podcast niching down for My American Friends, also niche down and niche, your category selection for your podcast so that you're easier to be found by the people looking for your show. Don't make it hard, make it easier by going a step deeper into the category. And don't just pick the easy thing, the overarching big category. You're going to be competing with everybody. Go deeper, narrow it down and you'll maybe you'll actually find your audience will be able to connect with you better. If you have any questions, reach out to me at any time. HowToPodcast CA thanks for being here.