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161: Mapping Out Your Podcast Journey with Host Kendra Corman · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome, imperfect Marketers, to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, kendra Corman.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Today I'm going to talk to you about something that is near and dear to my heart planning out your podcast journey.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: If you're thinking about starting a podcast, or you already have one going, taking time to map out your path is just so important.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: It creates a show that's going to stand out and resonate with your audience.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: So in this episode, I'm going to walk you through what I call podcast momentum mapping.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I'll share tips for envisioning your podcast dream and putting an effective roadmap in place to ultimately turn that vision into reality over the next 12 months or less, if that's what you're looking for Now.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: When I started thinking about launching a podcast, I had a lot of ideas swirling around, no clear direction, and that is why I had podfade with my first podcast.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I see this happen time and time again with my clients.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: We get into this excited honeymoon phase and then we get a little stuck on the specifics when it comes to developing the actual concept, planning episodes and getting the darn thing launched.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: That's why I called what I call podcast momentum mapping.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: It's a framework envisioning your show and critically mapping backwards over the course of a year, six months, quarterly, really.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: However, you want to plan for your show and you can understand the key milestones, action steps needed to make your podcasting dream of reality.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: This mapping process allows you to start broad and methodically work your way into specifics.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: So where do we start?
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Well, with the vision.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Right, the goals.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Where do you want to be?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: What does success look like one year from now?
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Get crystal clear on your concept, your target audience and what value you intend to consistently provide.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Again, the value, consistently Okay.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Outline your 12 month goals for the number of episodes, downloads, reviews, etc.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Once you have a vivid vision of your future podcast, work backwards month by month and ask what needs to happen to make these goals achievable.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: We tend to underestimate how long things take, right, so build in more time than you think to hit these targets For developing 12, 20 episodes in a year.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I'd map out at least two episodes per month.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Right, that would technically get you to 24.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But it takes longer than you think.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: And one month you're going to go on vacation or you're going to get busy.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: So, again, plan to map out two episodes per month for your planning.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: And then I want you to drill down into specifics each month planning, episode topics, scheduling, guest interviews, applicable, refining your editing process, identifying potential road blocks and how you're going to tackle those if they arise.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: The key here is to be proactive.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I find this momentum mapping process energizing and clarifying.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: It makes launching and maintaining a show over time feel far less daunting when you break it down into achievable what I call monthly sprints, and you can, of course, correct as you go, still keeping your long term podcast goals clearly in focus.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Ultimately, this holds you accountable to make consistent progress, even when other priorities are competing for your time and attention Again, like maybe that vacation in August or you're working remote and don't have your podcast studio or microphone available.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Now you might be struggling with this concept, and that's totally okay because you're like work backwards, planning what?
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: So let's think about it as like your business goals.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So if you start thinking about your business goals for 2024, you start with your annual goals right, if you're like me and then you break them down to quarterly goals, then to monthly and then even weekly and daily goals right, depending on the type of business that you have.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: It can really allow you to see something that sounds unattainable, makes it much easier to reach.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I do this in my business and again, I think you should do it in yours, not just for podcasting.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: So if you like numbers, like me, let's think about it this way you want to hit $100,000 in sales this year?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: So divide that by four.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: It sets a more reasonable goal $25,000 a quarter it's more attainable, right?
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Then divide that 100,000 by 12,.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: You only have to really do $8,333 a month.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: That's a really doable number, right.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Now if we change it up and go down an email marketing path, let's say you sell mostly digitally through your email list Great idea.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Let's start with that revenue goal.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: How many sales do you want to hit that?
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: This year?
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Most people assume a 2% conversion, but you might have a higher one, and so now you have to think about how many people do you need on your list to hit that goal.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Subtract out your existing list and that's your list growth.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: So if you need 50 sales, because your average revenue is 2,000 per sale, you'd need a total of 2,500 people on your email list.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: If you already have 1,500, this year you only need to increase your list by 1,000.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: That's less than 85 people a month.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: That's actually less than 20 people per week.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Seems a lot easier than that.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: 1,000 or 2,500, or I just want to make this money sales right.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: So having those goals and breaking them down backwards makes everything more attainable.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: It gives you a plan that's doable and it can help you keep your energy up so that you don't encounter podcast phase.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: That's how your momentum mapping works.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: So if you're struggling to get the momentum going with your new or existing podcast, I highly recommend spending some time on this backwards planning.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: It's going to help you identify gaps, critical next steps and it's going to give you and your podcast renewed intention.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: That's all for this episode of the Imperfect Marketing Podcast.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to grab the free downloadable momentum mapping template over at KendrickHormancom or at KendrickHormancom slash momentum.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: It's going to help give your podcast plans clarity and focus.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I so appreciate you turning in today.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review with your key takeaways.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Have an amazing rest of your day and I'll catch you later.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye for now.