Podcast Listing Mistakes Every Podcast Producer Makes (And How to Avoid Them)
You've published your podcast and you smugly admire it in the many podcatchers you’ve submitted it to.
Despite all your hard work, you're probably missing out on a ton of interview requests from journalists, authors and other podcasters simply because your podcast listing is confusing and hard to understand.
The way you list your podcast depends in large part on what fields the podcatcher provides. However, you can control this information in the way you edit your ID3 tag when you create a new podcast each week.
Stop missing out on interviews that could bring a ton of new subscribers to your podcast. Instead, follow these tips to ensure that it's easy for journalists, authors and other podcasters to find your podcasts so you never miss an interview opportunity again.
Lead your podcast title with the episode number. Some podcasters will remove older episodes from their server to make way for new ones. If you're one of those podcasters who do this, most podcatchers will no longer list the removed podcasts in their directories. That means that to the interviewer, instead of seeing a long list of your podcasts, they may only see 5 or 10. The interviewer may make the assumption that you're new to podcasting and will move on to another podcaster. By including the episode number in your podcast title, you alert the interviewer that you're an old hag at this podcasting thing.
Artist name should be yours, not your company's. It's very difficult to understand who WantAPodcastNow.com is. Instead, use your first and last name in the artist field when editing the ID3 tag. When entering your details in a podcatcher, include your first name and last name in the creator/host/producer field. That way, people can find you quickly using the search tool in a podcatcher's search engine.
Make the album name your email address. Nothing is more frustration for an interviewer than having to click through dozens of pages just to find an email address. Make it easy for the interviewer to contact you by using the album field in the ID3 tag for your email address. The interviewer will be grateful for this convenience, plus you lessen your chance of losing that ounce of free publicity.
Keep your description short and sweet, please. In some podcatchers, only the first 10-words are visible to a podcast listener. Therefore, make these first 10-words count. You should liken it to your 30-second elevator pitch and use language that will entice the person to subscribe to your podcast. Put your copywriting skills to work.
Ensure that your podcast is listed in the right category. Just because one category gets more traffic than another, it doesn't mean you list your podcast there. Your goal is make it easy for subscribers – but more importantly interviewers – to find you based on your expertise you portray in your podcast and they can only do so if it is in the right place. Choose the right genre in your ID3 tag, and then choose the right categories when you list your podcast in podcatchers.
Add a photo. Interviewers will judge your podcast by its virtual cover, so include a professionally designed, thumbnail-sized photo with your podcast listing. The interviewer will get the impression that you’ll be an ideal candidate based on that image alone.
Leesa Barnes, Chief Divapreneur, helps consultants, virtual assistants, professional organizers and coaches pull clients to them using a podcast. Leesa's advice is based on her experience producing and hosting a podcast where she saw a spike in subscribers to her ezine list and signed up a few new coaching clients, all without scheduling any complimentary sessions. Her audio program called Podcoach Your Way to Success: Secrets for Coaches on How to Use a Podcast to Market Your Business & Gain More Clients contains worksheets and exercises to help any coach set up their own podcast in as little as 4-hours.
Go to http://www.podcoachyourwaytosuccess.com and sign up for her free ecourse that will teach you how to use a podcast to grow your coaching business and pull clients to you.
