Episode Planning Masterclass

Who is this for?

Understanding Perspective

Your perspective is your personal point of view and is defined as how you see, feel, and approach the world.

It's a fancy way of saying bias.

We all have them. It is fundamental to how we filter out the things we don't like for the things we do. It helps us quickly determine what we love, hate, want, or need.

When we start designing a podcast, understanding our perspective or biases on our chosen topic is an important factor in identifying our audience.

These are the people who also identify with our perspective and enjoy the insights we create based on our point of view.

In podcasting, we call these people our target audience.

Knowing Your Who

While your purpose is internal to you, your perspective is external. It is the reason you give your audience why they should listen.

Unfortunately, too many podcasters never stop to consider their target audience. Instead, they start podcasting by jumping straight into buying a microphone, purchasing media hosting, setting up an Apple Podcast account, and thinking about all the money they’re going to make.

They never stop to understand who they are building a podcast for in the first place or why it’s important to get your who correct.

I strongly believe that without defining your who, your podcast will drown in obscurity. In other words, a podcast that is for everyone is for no one.

That’s why knowing your target audience is an essential element to building a successful podcast. It is your compass out of the dark forest when you get lost and don't which way to go next.

Knowing your target audience gives you direction.

Finding Your Target Audience

To illustrate how to find your target audience you need to get crispy with who you think is your ideal listener. This is to say that the more defined you can make this person the better you will be at creating episodes they will enjoy.

First, my purpose and perspective have already helped me make some big decisions about my core topic and my point of view on my topic. This means I have already narrowed my focus for who this will be for, and who this will not be for.

Next, you refine my perspective so that it is crystal clear. To make this super crispy you make a decision and pick a side.

To do this you simply have to declare this decision this way:

• This podcast will be for those who agree with my purpose and point of view.
• This podcast will not be for those who disagree with my purpose and point of view.

See? Simple.

You might be saying, "Didn't we just eliminate half of my potential audience this way?"

Maybe. But they were not going to listen to you anyway. Why? Because they don't agree with your point of view. They are not worth chasing because they are not your target audience.

Only those who do agree with your point of view are your target audience. Focus on them and on what they might want from your podcast!

Finally, you need to niche down.

This is the process of taking all the people that agree with your purpose AND your point of view, and then filtering most of them out by focusing in on one, very narrow sub-set of your topic.

Here are some examples of niching down:

Example #1: History

• Your Purpose: Preserving American military history (Keep Good Alive)
• Your Topic: Telling the Union side of American Civil War military history during the Overland Campaign of 1864
• Target Audience: Military History enthusiasts, American Civil War history buffs, and history teachers/students studying the American Civil War.
• Niche Target Audience: American Civil War history buffs interested in the Overland Campaign of 1864

Example #2: True Crime

• Your Purpose: Investigating cold/unsolved murder cases of women in Fort Worth, Texas (Right a Wrong)
• Your Topic: Investigate a specific cold case, an unsolved murder of a woman in Fort Worth, Texas in 2001
• Target Audience: True Crime enthusiasts, Amateur detectives, people who live in Fort Worth, Texas
• Niche Target Audience: Amateur detectives in Fort Worth, Texas

Example #3: Business How-To

• Your Purpose: Learn how to build a successful gaming software company (Improving a Life)
• Your Topic: Talk to only Founders/CEOs who have built successful gaming software companies over the past 5 years.
• Target Audience: Entrepreneurs, other Founders/CEOs, gamers/game developers, and those starting a software business.
• Niche Target Audience: Those starting a game development company

Changing Your Niche

Niching down can be very daunting to first-time podcasters. It's normal to want to be open to a larger number of people.

Don't do it.

Focusing on your narrow topic will help you attract more true fans because of how narrow your niche is, not despite it.

Additionally, a narrow focus puts your podcast in a space with less competition. When fewer podcasts are talking about your topic you have a better chance of being found.

Once you've established an audience, you will naturally discover ways to broaden out from your narrow topic or find that your audience is full of suggestions.

However, these are principles, not rules. Some topics don't have much competition while others don't have competition that is taking the other side. You have free reign to decide how broad or narrow you want to be.

But remember that the more narrow -- the more crispy -- you are the easier it will be to find your target audience.