Episode 061 | 4 secrets to a profitable podcast in 2024

INTRO: I'm Viv Guy, seven figure business owner turned online mentor on a mission to help struggling coaches and course creators to navigate the rollercoaster that is running an online business so that you can attract dream clients and hit your enrolment and sales targets every single month so that you can reach six figures and beyond.

If you're ready to create a thriving and profitable podcast to accelerate your audience growth, engagement. and sales. Tune in each week as I throw back the curtain and share all the insider secrets I've learned from 20 years of entrepreneurship. You'll learn how to market, sell, and grow a thriving, sustainable online business in a way that's fun, makes you money, and allows you the freedom to thrive.

This is Podcast Sales Made Easy.

Whether you have an [00:01:00] existing podcast or are thinking of launching one this year, you're going to want to know how to set up your podcast so that it drives more sales. Now there are four secret ingredients needed to achieve this, and yet nobody is talking about what they are and how they function together.

And what happens when one or more of these are missing? Welcome, welcome friends. This is the first in our four part mini series talking all about the secret ingredients that are going to help you make sales from podcasting. There are four things that must function together in order for us to make sales within our business and to effectively and consistently make sales using our podcast for our business.

Thank you for listening. Now I was chatting to my sister this week, and if you don't know, both my sisters live in Australia, my nephews and nieces are in Australia, Um, and she was complaining about a [00:02:00] jigsaw set someone had given her for my two year old niece. And there were pieces missing from this jigsaw, and then there were bits from another jigsaw, all in the same box.

It was all like a mishmash of pieces. And she was saying that, like, it's really annoying when you get midway through. only to realize that A, not all the pieces are there, and B, there are pieces that don't even fit in that jigsaw. And obviously, what's a two year old gonna do? Because she's not great at jigsaws at two.

She's trying to bash pieces from jigsaws that don't even fit the main jigsaw, pieces of the wrong pieces, into that, like literally just hammering them with a fish, trying to get them to fit. And she's never gonna get to the finished result, to the finished picture. And it's frustrating and she's frustrating when mommy says like, Oh, it's, it's, you know, we can't finish it ED because it's not all there.

And the same goes in business. Like, you know how frustrating it is when [00:03:00] you can't get something to work. And I see this all the time when I hop onto calls with people who are struggling with their sales. It's like they are trying to put and fit pieces together that maybe are not the right pieces. And they've been like bashing away at them, trying and trying and trying and persevering to try and fit these pieces that are never going to fit.

Or, it's like they've got missing pieces, and they just don't know where they are, they can't find them, so they don't know what's missing. They don't know what they're looking for. And it's really frustrating. In fact, I was making, let's, let's just talk about this in another way. I was making a laksa the other week, if you've never made laksa, it's delicious.

Uh, it's a Malaysian dish. I got midway through cooking, only to realize I was missing some ingredients. I was missing the coconut milk. And that's really frustrating because I was midway through and I couldn't get to what I wanted, which was, the finished result, my [00:04:00] dinner. So, we all know how frustrating it is when you don't have all the pieces.

So today I want to dive in and talk about what that first key ingredient is to your podcast, to your podcast sales funnel that is going to help you on your journey to making sales. Now that first key ingredient that converts listeners into leads is captivating content. Now, before we can dive into the structure of what makes for captivating content, the episode structure, the content frameworks, the language patterns that we want to include, we've got to go deeper first.

Because I want you to think of your content as a house. And a house only stands up and stays up Because it's built on good foundations. And that's where we first have to look. Before we start looking at like our content [00:05:00] frameworks and things like that, we need to look to our foundational messaging. Why?

Because messaging is the heart of your business. It is the backbone. It is the thing that keeps it, that makes it work. Without a beating heart, you know, without your messaging, nothing else will function. Nothing will work. And this is the part I see people skip so often. So often we go, right, I'm going to start a business.

I need to put content out there. Or, I need to create an ideal client avatar. And so often people have been taught, you know, come up with a list of 100 things about your ideal client avatar. Where do they shop? What kind of house have they got? What kind of car do they drive? What perfume do they wear? So on and so forth.

One of the names of their kids. Um, it's irrelevant, right? That stuff is not relevant. What we want to get down to, what we need to look at, is [00:06:00] What is going on for your ideal client? What are their problems? Because everything that you create, your offer, your webinars, your podcast content, the things you're going to talk about, it is all going to come from your messaging foundations.

And that first thing is starting with understanding your ideal client's problems. And really understanding them. And we're going to talk more about this in a moment. Now, I just want to talk about the three things that every business needs in order to be successful. And they are relevance, credibility, and value.

And you're going to hear me talk more about these in future episodes. But the first thing, the most important thing we have to get right, and this is where our messaging comes in, is we have to have something that is relevant. We have to have content that is so [00:07:00] relevant for our ideal clients that they can't help but sit up and pay attention.

Why is relevance so important? Because if people don't sit up and pay attention, then we haven't even managed to, to sort of invite them into our world. If they don't recognize that something is for them, or they can't instantly say that's for me, that's for Auntie Sue down the road, then we've already lost, we've already fallen at the first hurdle.

So the first hurdle is ensuring that people can instantly identify that what you're talking about, what you offer, what you're saying is right for them. And that's where the first part of our messaging foundations come in. So often what happens is we see people talking about the solution or the diagnosis of what's [00:08:00] going on with people.

And that's how people are approaching their marketing. That's the type of content that I see people putting out time and time again. And it's totally understandable. I mean, heck, You have spent years training and learning and becoming the master that you are of your craft. You have invested hours and hours and hours, spent thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds or dollars, learning and becoming the best at what you do.

And because of that, we can become really removed from our clients in the sense of actually what's happening for them right now. We get really dialed into talking about this, the problem, the diagnosis. Ah, I see, yes, you've got a confidence problem. Oh, yes, I see you've got, um, a problem with your chakras.

Okay? And we start talking about that. But we forget [00:09:00] what's going on for them right now. We forget to speak to where they're at right now. So we don't captivate the attention. We don't grab that attention and get people suddenly sitting up in their seats and saying, Oh, this is for me. Imagine being stranded on a desert island.

You're cold. You're hungry. You're thirsty. You've been there for five nights and you've been trying for five nights to light a fire. You've been trying to catch fish in the sea, but you can't. You've been trying to, like, harvest rainwater and it just keeps failing. You're really fed up, you're frightened, you're lonely.

Now imagine someone comes along and says, Hey, oh, you're lonely, you're frightened. I've got a solution that's really going to help you. But someone else comes along and says, Hey, [00:10:00] I bet you've been here for five nights now and you've really struggled to get a fire going. And, let me guess, you've not been able to drink for three days, and you've, I bet you're really hungry because you don't know how to fish, and, you know, turn a stick into a fishing rod.

Spear. Think of Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away, if you've ever watched that. That's the kind of picture I've got in my mind. Tom Hanks, in a plane crash, ends up alone on a desert island, stranded. He doesn't know how to light a fire. He's really thirsty, and he's really hungry. So he ends up drinking coconut milk, which is a laxative, I believe, in large quantities.

Eating coconut. And you see him standing on a rock trying to catch fish at the beginning, and he doesn't have a clue how. Underly. Fast forward to seven years later with him literally like, spear in the water, catching a fish. Anyway, back to the two people that have come along. Who, who are you going to sit up and pay [00:11:00] attention to and listen to?

Yeah, so imagine one on the left, one on the right for you. Person's saying, oh you're frightened, you're overwhelmed, I've got a solution. The person's saying, hey! I bet you haven't been able to light a fire for three days, and you're starving, and you've not been able to catch a fish, and, you know, you've tried, no matter what you've tried, or you've tried X, Y, and Z.

That's the person you pay attention to, because you're like, whoa, they, they, they know exactly what's going on for me. That's me. That's me they're speaking to. Versus, hmm, am I overwhelmed? You know, yes, of course you're overwhelmed. That is a, that is one of the, the, the impacts, you know, and effects of what is happening.

That is the sort of sum of, if you put all of that stuff together, it is, you know, you can package it in a package, in a box, in something called overwhelm, but actually we need to unpackage. We need to bring out the, like the specifics and they are, you're hungry. You're thirsty, you are cold because you can't light a fire, you don't know how to fish, and you don't know how to [00:12:00] make a rainwater harvesting system.

So it's the person who comes along with those specifics that's going to get you sitting up in your seat saying, They're speaking to me, I'm going to pay attention. So what we see is, so often, the content that's being put out, the foundational messaging elements are missing. We're not grabbing the attention and the confused mind says no.

So if someone has to say, Oh, hang on. Hmm. Am I feeling overwhelmed? Or, well, yeah, I'm overwhelmed, but so what? You know, whereas if we say this, this and this are happening, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's me. That's me. That's me. We're not confused because instantly we know that's me that they're speaking to.

And in his book, Building Your Story Brand, by Donald Miller, he talks about how if a human has to spend time thinking and [00:13:00] considering, it's, we're burning energy. And our brains are, we have to make around 35, 000 decisions every single day. That's how many decisions the human has to make, the human brain has to make.

So decisions become automated. So many of the decisions, think about brushing your teeth, you know, going to the toilet, getting dressed to an extent, you know, you know how to put on your pants, your socks, so on and so forth. Things become automated. You don't have to think about how to make a cup of tea, you just do it.

And that's because our bodies, our brains need to conserve energy, okay? The body does not want to expend unnecessary energy. We are genetically programmed still from the days of when we were in tribes and when saber toothed tigers were a risk and a threat and we were going to be eaten alive, we had to conserve energy [00:14:00] so that we could instantly react, run, get to safety.

And so we are still programmed genetically on a level to do that and to conserve that energy. So it's so important with our messaging, with our content, that we are not asking people to expend energy thinking. Think about Mark Zuckerberg, he does, he wears the same clothes every day because he does not want to have to think about, he does not have to want to expend energy.

Considering what to wear and if people have to consider is that me? Am I that? How do I know I'm that? How do I know if I'm overwhelmed? Hmm, could I be overwhelmed? Maybe I am. I don't know. What does overwhelmed look like? Versus I'm hungry, I'm cold, I'm thirsty. We want to take that decision, like fatigue, that energy [00:15:00] expenditure process out of it.

It has to happen so, so quickly. And 90 percent of the problem with your content getting overlooked right now, not converting, is because it's not hitting that relevance trigger. That relevance lever is not being pulled. Now, if you're sitting here thinking, Hmm, Viv, yeah, I think I've got a, uh, a problem here with, with my messaging, um, and that foundational clarity piece, and you think I want you to take a look at my business and where the leaks are within your funnel, right?

From your messaging through to your sales mechanisms, I'm inviting you to hop on a totally free call with me and work on it. Take a look at what's going on for you right now and identify where the holes are within your business and what gaps need plugging and how we can do that. And if you want to hop on one of these calls, [00:16:00] just head to vivguy.

com forward slash apply. And let's go through this. Let's literally look at your entire funnel right from messaging to sales to see what's going on. So, how do we actually get people to realise that what we have is relevant for them, without them having to consciously think about it, without them having to burn those calories and expend that energy?

That's where we need to get speaking to the subconscious. Remember, automated decisions, speaking to that subconscious de mind, de mind? Speaking to that subconscious When we can speak to people on a subconscious level, when their brains do not have to expend energy thinking is this for me? That is when we hook people in.

That is when we capture that attention. That's when instantly they can hold their hand up and say that's me, that's relevant for me, [00:17:00] or that's Auntie Sue down the road. That's totally her. That's relevant. That's her. I can instantly see that that's her. Now, that's amazing. Once we have captured that attention, it's like, imagine you're a shop owner and you've captured someone's attention.

So we've now captured their attention. We've got them saying, Yes, that's me. And that's what we want to do instantly with the type of content that we are putting out there. It has to get their attention, but that's not enough. Because attention spans are short. So we have to then build in, and with our podcast, that's what we want to do is utilize and build out captivating episode content so that listeners are hooked.

And there are seven elements involved in creating captivating episode content. Why is this so important? Well, number one, we want to retain listeners. Because you've done this [00:18:00] work, you've got people to the point now of discovering you, clicking on your show. They start to listen. But if they're suddenly thinking, this is not for me.

How do I know this is for me? There's too much decision fatigue going on. They're gone. They're going to go and listen to someone else's show. Or they're going to go and read another social media post. They're going to have a look at some other content. So we want to retain listeners. We want to keep them in your world.

because we want to grow your audience. We don't just want to maintain your audience numbers, your listeners, your downloads. We want to be growing. So we have to strategically connect your messaging to your content. And content is not just your podcast episodes. Content is everything at every step of your funnel.

So content is your sales mechanisms, your webinars, your [00:19:00] workshops, your challenges, content's, your email content, content's, your podcast episodes, content's your lead magnets, your opt-ins. Content is the interviews that you give as a guest. There are so many areas. Content is everything. So we have to build out a content ecosystem, but it all starts with your foundational messaging.

Now, I had a client, Charlotte, who I worked with several years ago, and Charlotte was really, really struggling to attract the right types of clients. She was getting time wasters, just not, not people who were the right fit for her service. She was doing work that really wasn't lighting her up. She was working one to one, so she had that luxury of being able to obviously, you know, tailor her services, but she was getting a lot of people.

Coming to her for the type of mindset work that wasn't really the work that lit her up. It wasn't the type of work that she wanted to be doing. [00:20:00] And when she started working with me, the first thing we did is we really got dialed in and specific. And as soon as we did that, she was attracting dream clients.

She launched and she messaged me saying, My God Viv, I've got like these amazing clients. I am so excited. I love it. And the next thing I've got messages coming through saying, Woohoo! Hit 10k months and I'm only two weeks into the month. And she said to me one day, Viv, it's like I suddenly, you know, realized I was missing a piece of the jigsaw.

She actually said to me, It's like I stuck my hand down the back of the sofa and found that missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. That's what it was like when she dialed this in. And imagine this is just one step on that journey. Just one step. And there are three more elements we need to bring in. And messaging [00:21:00] is just the foundation of our content.

But when we get this right, when we get this level of clarity and specificity, That's when you bring in your dream clients. Your clients get results because you're bringing in people who want a very specific result. And you start to hit consistent revenue. Your conversions go up at every step of your funnel.

Right from the people coming into your world, coming in to listen to your podcast, coming into your email list, downloading your opt in, your freebies. Right through to those who show up for your webinar, who sign up, register, attend, book in a call, buy your product, whatever it is at the end. And that is what I want for you.

And that is what I want your podcast journey to do with you and your experience to do for you. Now look, if you love [00:22:00] what you've heard today, I would love for you to connect with me on Instagram and I'm at Viv. Guy. That's at Viv. Guy. And I'd love for you to share with me your biggest takeaway while you're at it.

I know nobody likes to take the time to do these things, but not many people realize how much your reviews help other people who are really struggling in their business right now to find this show. So if you loved what you've heard today, it would mean the world to me. If you would take a moment, literally 15 seconds at most to tap the five stars and write a sentence and let me know.

And when you let me know, I'm going to enter you into a free draw where you can win a free 90 minute mentoring call with me, which we draw on a monthly basis. All you've got to do is message me, send me a, uh, a DM with your screenshot of your review and we will enter you in the free draw. 90 minutes, my eyes on your [00:23:00] business.

Now, join me for the next episode where we'll be going into ingredient number two. Ingredient number two for your podcast sales success. So until then guys, remember, let's get the needle, needle moving in your business. Go out, dare to try new things and experiment, do the thing and review the results. Dare, do, review.

You've got this guys.