There’s no secret sauce to helping anyone learn anything. You see the burning flames of passion for the subject in their eyes, flash a mirror at them and they’re one step away from achieving the incredible things they deserve.
When I’m helping people understand the power of podcasting for themselves and their customers, I follow a really simple process that uses the mirror principle to define their reasons for jumping into this brave new world of communications.
I need to understand the:
- Business today. How did you get here, exactly? What’s going on today? What are your favourite products and services? How about your customers? Is there a difference between the two? Do you know?
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Audience factoids for bbc.co.uk. Who knew the childless made up such a big proportion of its users?
Audience (let’s keep it simple here – we’re talking communities, whether for commercial or other ambitions). Who are they? Where do they hang out? What do they like to do? You can start this journey using Alexa.com, and the results will probably startle your client if they don’t already have the detail.
- Resources. Who have you got available to work on this project? Is it something you can outsource if necessary? Can you get your customers in to help? Most people ignore the opportunity of customer participation in podcasting. There’s no stronger voice – and the voice is precisely what you need to bring these efforts into sharp focus.
- Commitment. How ‘into this’ are you? How devoted will you be? Are you planning on a series – in and out, or do you want this to be a repeated, episodic adventure where you can whip the audience into a frenzy with your incredible commitment to their future as well as yours? Do you want to package your podcasts to sell, or to create strong relationships based on value and generosity?
- Objective. What’s in this for you?
- Business tomorrow. Describe to me how your business looks once your podcasting, in concert with other communications and marketing ideas coming to fruition, will look. This is desperately different to objective since the way your biz will be shaped and appear is wildly in contrast to what you actually want out of this game.
Now you’ve read this checklist, do you see how it applies to any project you work on in tandem with a friend/client? You have to start at the beginning, and there has to be an end. Only the plotlines change – the ultimate goal, success, is the constant.
Why not use this process next time you work with someone, on anything? Substitute ‘business’ for ‘group’ or ‘product’. You’ll be amazed at how working to a plan like this can make big changes to how efficient and effective you are.
We wish you massive success.
