158 | The Benefits of Niche Focus: Essential Podcasting Tips for Building a Loyal Audience

[00:00:00] If your podcast is a general discussion show, but you always find yourself talking about a particular topic that you love, well then maybe you need to niche down your podcast.

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[00:02:06] Get 15% off by using promo code POTTASTIC. That's Riverside.fm where your podcast sounds as good as it should. So I just got back in a town from New York City. It was an amazing trip all the way out there on the East Coast.

[00:02:24] Experiencing an East Coast like New York summer, it was pretty hot and I think about it. But I got a chance to do all the amazing things you can possibly do within New York City. Even going over to Coney Island to ride that classic Cyclone Wooden roller coaster.

[00:02:42] It was amazing. It was well worth the price of admission. And while I'm out there in New York City doing all the sights and all the tourist stuff you could possibly can do in the city,

[00:02:53] I was taking lots of pictures with my iPhone. I think with the family of us we put all of our photos into a group like iPhone photos folder. And that folder I believe had somewhere in the ballpark of a thousand photos,

[00:03:08] not including any of the footage that I shot with my GoPro camera. I took around the city and the different sites and things. We went to the Statue of Liberty. We saw the Empire State Building. We caught a Mets versus Yankees baseball game while we're out there.

[00:03:23] That was amazing. I got to ride this subway for the first time ever. Lots of cool things we did while we're out there. And it got me thinking that possibly maybe since I love traveling so much and I love documenting all this stuff so much.

[00:03:36] And I love content creation so much. Why don't I start a YouTube channel based on video, like vlogging, travel blog, traveling, things like that. Now nothing is set in stone. This is just an idea that I had. I kind of had this idea for a while.

[00:03:54] But when it comes to travel, you see these travel YouTubers and all these travel content creators. It takes time and money, lots of time and lots of money to be able to even do something like that.

[00:04:08] But whether you are a YouTuber doing video-only content or an audio-only podcast like this one right here, you have to decide who is my target audience? Like who is this for and why would they listen?

[00:04:25] A lot of shows fall into the trap of creating a general discussion show. It's a show with friends talking about fun stuff we do or we like to talk about. It's a general discussion show or even maybe if you do interviews, like if you're an interview-only show,

[00:04:42] you will interview a variety of people from all walks of life talking about a variety of things. You could have, I don't know, maybe an author on one day. You could have a sports expert on the next day.

[00:04:53] You could have somebody who's a doctor one day or something. The list goes on and on. People do it all the time. And for some reason that style became incredibly popular. And I think a lot of the blame comes to listening to regular morning radio.

[00:05:12] I listen to a ton of morning radio. In fact, when I started the Chris and Christine show, I try to outline and mimic the morning radio style. That's why the show kind of sounded that way and it kind of flowed the same way

[00:05:25] because I was trying to mimic what I heard on morning radio. They have to keep you engaged and entertained for the morning drive or even a few minutes in the morning.

[00:05:34] They know that not everybody listens from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. every single day all the way through. They know that and they're competing with all the other local morning shows that are on at the exact same time.

[00:05:49] So morning radio is constantly playing this game of, look over here, look what we got. Look what we got. Check this out. This flashy thing here. This new thing coming up here. Check this out. Flashy, flashy, flashy.

[00:06:00] Because in that moment, they know they only have a few minutes, maybe a few seconds to catch your attention to get you to listen.

[00:06:08] Podcasting is not like that at all. A listener finds your show either word of mouth or through something on social media that caught their eye or maybe they're mentioned in an article or something like that. But it's definitely something that was in your podcast.

[00:06:27] Something that your podcast is about talking about a topic that they care about, that they want to learn more about. That's how they discover your show. That's how they find your show. Listen and subscribe.

[00:06:39] So today we're talking about the value of niche podcasting or even with YouTube too. We're not discriminating between YouTube but this is about podcasting.

[00:06:49] And today we're talking exclusively about having a niche podcast rather than the general talk about general things to everybody, anybody that walks on Earth kind of a show. Then you are going to have to understand what it means to have a niche podcast.

[00:07:06] Now, niche podcasting basically means that your show is going to be different than the general discussion about anything and everything. When a listener comes to your show and they press play on your show, they already know what they're going to expect.

[00:07:23] They already know a general idea of what the topic is without even have to read your title of your episode. That is niche podcasting.

[00:07:32] So if I was going to create that YouTube travel vlogging show, then I would have to decide what kind of stuff would I film and where would it be about and how would I niche down the content.

[00:07:46] Now, I could film beach city stuff. I could film desert city stuff. I could film possibly old towns, new towns, major cities, off-the-grid cities. If I narrow it down, there's a good chance it would find my unique audience.

[00:08:05] And that is the benefit of having a niche down show. You increase listener loyalty and engagement because whatever it is you are doing is specifically what they're looking for. This also creates amazing opportunities for monetization and sponsorships.

[00:08:24] It's also easier to establish an authority and credibility, especially if you are the one doing all the content. Not you bringing in a guest who is the expert.

[00:08:38] If you are the expert and you niche down within that topic, they come to you because they know that you are focused, that you can deliver amazing content just by yourself without a crutch of a guest.

[00:08:53] But just you can deliver amazing content around that particular niche that they came for. Okay, so you're saying, hey Chris, I already have my show. I want to narrow it down.

[00:09:05] I want to niche it down. But I've been doing the show for 200 episodes right now the same way. What do I do? How do I take that and narrow it down because my show is so broad already?

[00:09:16] Well, don't worry. We're here to help you out. Here's what you got to do. Step one is you have to physically review your current content. Well, that sounds like a no-brainer, right?

[00:09:27] But what you're going to do is you're going to analyze past episodes and identify common themes or topics. There's a good chance even though your show is a general discussion show talking to everybody and anything about everything,

[00:09:41] there's a good chance a lot of those episodes are going to sound very similar. It's also a very good chance a lot of those episodes might have very similar topics. And while you're looking at your current existing podcast formats,

[00:09:55] you also can look at listener feedback and engagement metrics to understand what resonates most with your audience. Find the episodes that have the biggest numbers, the biggest download numbers. And maybe the episodes that have people saying, hey, I really liked that episode. It was a great one.

[00:10:14] I know it takes a lot of work if you have like 300, 400 episodes to go through, but it'll be well worth it if you can go through and find out which episodes people actually like, because those are the episodes that possibly you should be making.

[00:10:28] Now, feeding right off of that, you also want to identify your own passion and expertise. And you can't say that I don't know anything. I'm not good at anything. I'm not passionate about anything. That's why I bring everybody else on. I don't believe that at all.

[00:10:45] If you bring people on, there's a reason why you bring them on as a guest. And if you can figure out what you are good at, the things that interest you particularly, you want to reflect maybe on topics that you are most passionate about and most knowledgeable about.

[00:11:00] You got to know something about something and consider how these topics align with your current content and audience interests. Okay, so once you have that figured out, I guess the hard part really is trying to figure out which niche your show should be in.

[00:11:17] So what you probably should do is actually brainstorm potential niches. You know, maybe create a list of possible niches based on your passion and expertise because you can probably whittle down with the things that you were into.

[00:11:33] Like say for example, you're into comic books or maybe you're into tennis or whatever, things of that sort. There's got to be a way to whittle down your show into a particular niche. Maybe research the market and evaluate the competition.

[00:11:48] Listen to other shows and see if there's actually a demand for the niche that you're good at. If you know there's a million shows that talk about the latest Marvel movies or Star Wars movies or things like that,

[00:12:02] but you like movies, there are a lot of sub-neashes within the movie industry. Just today I was watching the making of Independence Day, the movie because I just watched it last night because last night was the 4th of July.

[00:12:18] And I remember that they used a lot of miniatures in that movie. I think the whole movie was all miniatures, very little CGI, which is incredible if you watch the special effects today. It still hold up pretty well.

[00:12:31] And the YouTube channel that I watched that on was not a general everything, everything video show. It was a niche down video on a particular channel that dealt with movie model making because that was what I was interested in.

[00:12:49] That was what I typed into the search bar in YouTube. Now sometimes when we think if we niche down too small or too narrow that we actually run out of things to talk about because if you go down too low,

[00:13:03] you can go deep on a particular topic but there's only so many of those topics to go around because you kind of like eliminated everybody else. So you kind of want to ensure that the niche that you were talking about has enough depth to sustain long-term content creation.

[00:13:20] So here are some examples of transforming general podcasts into niche shows. So the first example I have here is let's just say you have a general tech podcast to a cybersecurity focus.

[00:13:39] If the original format is like broad discussions on various technology topics, the new niche could be focused exclusively on cybersecurity including interviews with experts, latest trends and practical tips for businesses. Now this is a niche down show going from general discussion to laser focused.

[00:14:05] The next example I have here is let's just say you're in a fitness but you have a general like fitness podcast. Everybody's fit, let's all work out general stuff podcast and how do you niche down that? Well, for example, you can make it a plant based nutrition focus.

[00:14:25] If the original format like is general fitness and wellness discussions and how do you work out and how much you bench and how far you walk and blah, blah, blah.

[00:14:35] Then maybe the new niche to be dedicated to plant based nutrition featuring recipes interviews with nutritionists and success stories like I lost all this weight doing this eating like this. Here we go. So the last example I have here is basically like a general one.

[00:14:57] You see this one a lot and that is the you got a general business podcast like my podcast is called the general business with Chris podcast show or something like that.

[00:15:09] Now you want to take that general podcast, a general business podcast and maybe change into a startup success stories focus. If the original format is like broad discussions on business entrepreneurship just the surface level stuff.

[00:15:28] Maybe your new niche could be let's focus on shared detailed startup success stories because everybody loves a good startup story. Maybe have interviews with founders of businesses and have in depth case studies. So are you ready to rebrand your podcast here is how we make that physically happen.

[00:15:55] This is the planning and execution of that transition from general show into a niche show. So the first thing that you got to do when you rebrand your podcast is you have to physically figure out what's it going to be called.

[00:16:11] What's the tagline that reflects your new niche. You got to update the artwork. I know, I know you've already paid somebody to do it. You've already, you know, got all this work done. You got all that different stuff.

[00:16:25] But if you're serious about actually niching down your show and rebranding it, you're going to have to come up with a brand new intro. And outro. Now the next thing you got to do is you got to physically communicate this with your current audience.

[00:16:40] Your current audience hopefully will stick around with you when you do niche down your show. But the reality is that some of them may drop off and some of them might come in that are totally brand new.

[00:16:50] Inform your existing audience about the change and explain the reasons behind it because one thing you want to do when it comes to your audience is that you do not want to confuse them about your show. Please inform them.

[00:17:05] Highlight the benefits that they will gain from listening to this new branded show. Moving on to content planning. If you are going to niche down your show, you have to develop a content calendar with topics and guests that align specifically with your niche.

[00:17:27] Perhaps maybe you should plan out the first few episodes to ensure there's a smooth transition. It may feel a little weird. It may feel a little different. It may feel a little more structured, but that's good because you are going to niche down your show.

[00:17:43] Now the next thing you got to do and worry about really is the marketing and promotion. Well, that's obvious with any of this kind of stuff.

[00:17:53] If you leverage social media, maybe if you have a newsletter for your email or maybe collaborations with other shows to help promote your new focus, your new niche,

[00:18:04] that will get the word out because people come to your show because they are interested in the thing you're talking about. Engage with niche specific communities and forums to attract those new listeners.

[00:18:18] So if your show is going to be specifically about the new Star Wars show, and I'm talking Star Wars everything, I'm talking about the brand new show that's on Disney Plus, whatever it's called.

[00:18:29] I don't watch it, but whatever it's called, you want to find forums that specifically are about that show and get people to come there because that is what they're into. That is what they're looking for. Now this all sounds great.

[00:18:42] This all sounds amazing, but there's always a catch. There's always a downfall. There's always problems anytime you make a big move like this. And I think change is really scary, especially if you've been podcasting for 500 episodes the exact same way to completely change your format,

[00:19:03] to completely change everything and niche down is quite scary. I totally get it. It's always nerve wracking to venture into something completely new because there's a few things you really have to concern yourself with when you do niche down your show.

[00:19:19] And that is dealing with initial listener drop off. What? Yeah, I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you are doing an interview only podcast, there's a good chance that was already happening.

[00:19:34] You see, when you interview a particular guest, those guest fans or people that are interested in that guest go to your episode. They press play.

[00:19:44] They listen to that episode, but there is a highly likelihood they don't stick around for the next guest because the next guest is somebody that they're not interested in talking about a topic they don't care about. So why would they stay for the next guest?

[00:19:59] But if you niche down your show, those who are particularly interested in the thing that you're talking about, they are going to come and stay for the next one and the next one and the next one because they came for that particular content.

[00:20:16] Another challenge you may encounter is maintaining consistency and quality. If you completely change your show, totally different format, totally different stuff and style and all that stuff. It's very important to regularly have content updates and maintain a high quality of production throughout your entire show.

[00:20:38] If you use a particular microphone, a particular setup, a particular camera, you get all set up, keep everything the same. But it sounds great and everybody loves it the way it sounds there.

[00:20:48] Then keep it going into the new style of your show and to ensure that your show delivers value content and quality to your listeners. Just ask them what they think of your new content. Some may hate it and some may love it.

[00:21:04] But the ones that do love it, you want to find out what they love about it so you can do more of those things and create an amazing podcast for your true target niche down audience.

[00:21:16] So here are some things to consider if you decide to niche down your general everybody show. Is to think about what are you into? What are you good at? What do you enjoy talking about on your show already? Find those cool things you like to talk about.

[00:21:32] Find the people that you like to have on and what are the things that you like to talk about? Then you need to figure out what niche that falls into. It's not about having all the listeners, it's about having the right listeners.

[00:21:46] Hey, thank you so much for listening all the way to the very end of this episode. I do appreciate you giving me your time today so I can talk about podcasting with you.

[00:21:55] If you want to get a deeper personal conversation going, you always can hit me up on social media. Links for those on my website, podtasticaudio.com. And you keep on making your amazing podcast for those amazing listeners of yours. And until next time, happy podcasting.