Maria Hogan gives a tip about year planning for your podcast

Maria Hogan: 00:00:01

Hi, my name is Maria.

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I'm a podcast producer for my own

business, Creatively Contenting, and

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today I'm going to give you a tip about

planning your podcast for the year.

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I work for myself, helping to make

podcasts for businesses and individuals

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who want to make an impact with

their audience through podcasting.

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I work on each part of the podcast

production process, from idea creation and

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guest acquisition to editing and right up

to the scheduling, the completed episode

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and repurposing clips for social media.

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How I got into podcasting

is a bit of a mix of things.

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I have been working in podcasting for

about two years independently now, but

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I'd also worked on podcasts when I was

a production assistant a few years back.

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I studied business followed by a

master's in journalism, and once

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finished I was lucky enough to

get quite a variety of experience.

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I worked as a production assistant in a

media production company, which is where I

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first saw that I could use my journalistic

skills in a more business environment.

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And at the same time I was training in a

newsroom in a radio station, while also

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producing a weekly current affairs show.

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And then I was also working as

a researcher in another station.

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And...

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Around that time, I also started working

in a youth organization creating content,

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which is where I kind of learned the

impact that good content can have when

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it reaches people at the right time.

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So I loved everything I was doing,

but I was just out of college

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and wanted to see the world.

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So I went to Canada, took a job in finance

while I just figured out what to do next.

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And after a while, I really missed radio

and realized that with the skills I had

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developed and the knowledge and stuff

through my work experience, um, that

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it kind of put me in a position that I

could start producing my own podcasts.

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And I was really, really happy to be back

working with content again and absolutely

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loved it and kind of things escalated.

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I started producing more podcasts

and it just became something I

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could do as my full time job.

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And the fact that I can do it from

anywhere that has Wi Fi and help

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businesses and individuals to make

an impact, just makes it better.

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It's just, yeah, perfect for me, I think.

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So one thing I love about podcasting

is that it's a really intimate medium.

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If a podcast is done well, it feels

like you're kind of having a chat

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with a few friends rather than

listening to some sort of report.

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Um, I think this is what makes

podcasting a really amazing marketing

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tool for individuals and businesses who

are trying to establish their brand.

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When a podcast is genuinely

providing value for the listener,

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they are a lot more likely to feel

a personal connection faster than

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people would if they're reading a

blog or seeing social media posts.

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but I do think with this privilege

that podcasting affords us, we also

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have to be really careful to not

take advantage of it and respect.

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intimacy and that trust people

form with the podcast host.

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So, my big tip for podcasting is to

plan your year of podcasting now.

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So that you, you can relax and actually

enjoy your podcast throughout the year.

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so how to plan a podcast for the new year.

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I am a really big spreadsheet fan.

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So I recommend using one for planning

your content for the entire year.

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And then in a document, I write my

internal and external kind of notes

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of how I'm going to plan for the year.

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So in the internal category, I

break it down by goals for the

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year and personal milestones.

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So by setting your goals for the

year, it's going to kind of dictate

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some of the other things, like, for

example, if you want to grow your

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listenership, you're going to want to

consistently appear on other podcasts.

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So that would be in your external goals.

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Um, your personal milestones could

be something like your 50th episode

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or a certain number of downloads.

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Obviously, you can't really

tell when you're going to hit a

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certain number of downloads, but

you can have a plan in place.

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And then as you're approaching

that, you know, to just.

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Like fall back on that plan that you set

at the beginning of the year, because

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you probably have a fair idea if you're

going to hit X many downloads in a year.

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Then under external, under the external

category, I have holidays, awareness

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days, weeks or months relevant to

your niche, events in your niche

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and other podcasts you would like to

appear on or partner with in some way.

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So think about the kind of content

you would do based on these things.

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Like making a target list of guests

and events that you would like to

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speak at or reach out to as well as

other podcasts that you might want

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to speak at or partner up with.

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You can find me at www.

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creativelycontenting.

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com and you can see all my

links in the show notes.

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Thanks for listening to Podcasting People.