Welcome back to another blog, people! Today I’m tackling a controversial topic.
When it comes to podcasts, you want to listen to podcasts that bring you the most value. Was just listening to Pat Flynn about hosting guests on podcasts, and I believe that 98% of podcasts out there in the world don’t value the listeners time.
If I look at my podcast, that’s why it hasn’t grown in three years. I kept scratching my head saying, “how come it’s not getting more popular?” This happened shortly after launching my ESL podcast, which toppled charts and insane amounts of attention within the first few months — still growing as I write today.
It’s because each podcast has a theme and teaches a specific facet of the English language. I give an eternal preview, give target vocab/grammar, and sum it up at the end with a blog. My personal development podcasts, however, doesn’t have that. Often times I talked about my problems in all of 2016 with very little value.
Now, I’ve been bringing different podcasts on that have themes, interviewees that speak about specific subjects, and I have actionable steps that I put in at the end, as well as assessments.
And what happened? Well, I’ve made more money on my podcasts the last two months than the previous 18 months (when I first turned on monitization).
Now that we’ve cleared that up, what about audio books? Well, you heard me recommend scribd, but how am I able to juggle both of them? Well, if you look at the majority of podcasts, a lot of them are recycled. Gary Vee, who I very seldom listen to anymore, recycles a lot of his videos that I already know about. I’ve graduated from that.
Tom Bilyeu, who I believed peaked at the beginning of Impact Theory, has ridiculous ads smack down in the middle of his podcast. I think that’s the absolute worst marketing strategy. On top of that, Lewis Howes’ pre-roll agitates me, just as Jim Kwik’s does, so I find myself speeding through the first five minutes to avoid it.
I’m telling you not from a complaining standpoint, but a listening standpoint.
HOWEVER, when it comes to audio books, all you have are the respective table of contents at the beginning and that’s IT. This puts a huge smile on my face, because I know what I’m listening to. For instance, there’s a book featuring Napoleon Hill interviewing Andrew Carnegie and I’ve gotten more from the first 5 chapters of that audio book than I’ve gotten from any Grant Cardone, Gary Vee or Tom Bilyeu podcast all year!
Books have an insane amount of knowledge, and without them — the majority of these entrepreneurs wouldn’t exist.
- Find an audiobook that you need help with.
Example, there are specific blogs that are viewed relentlessly on my blog. Why? The unbelievable amount of value it has. It was out of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits book. So, from a marketing standpoint, I wanted to review another Stephen Covey book, not only that, but I needed to learn more about myself and trusting people.
So, I got the Stephen Covey’s Speed of Trust, and now those blogs are skyrocketing.
Find an area of your life that you need help with and focus on that area through audio books.
2. Podcasts will become a saturated market, so keywording things you want to learn about online and seeing the figures you like might ultimately help you.
With Gary Vee suggesting to 10 million of his followers to make a podcast, if you’re not branding the hell out of yourself with hashtags at the moment, you’re in trouble. But if you’re looking for one, I suggest going for audio books first because again, you will learn a hell of a lot more in books.
3. Don’t research top podcasts; research top books.
Think and Grow Rich, Laws of Success, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, How to Win and Influence People, these are just a few. Find the audio form of these, grab a notepad and start writing. This is exactly what my sidekick does, Luke Burrows.
Arsenio's ESL Podcast 
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