You don’t need to spend money to be perfect. All you need to do is, keep doing it repeatedly!
Before you say you cannot, think again!
My marketing journey began long back when social media wasn’t the thing. The term “Promotions” had nothing to do with social media. It was all about showing up in front of people who were searching on search engines.
The two ways, I could do it was either by organically ranking on search engines or, by paying to show up in the “sponsored” section.
So when social media became the “thing”, I wasn’t really up for it. Sharing personal photos and information wasn’t the most comfortable thing for me.
But, then I created an account everywhere – Facebook, Twitter and a bunch of others. Not because I was planning to use it but because everyone and their dog was talking about these.
Then as survival in marketing became difficult and I had no choice but to adopt the new norm.
So, I started with Twitter which was the safest. All I had to do was post some text. In less than a year Twitter became overcrowded with marketers and “SPAMMERS” who, the GURU next door advised on moving over to Facebook.
And I did. But I never realized that I had made the switch until I got the first comment on a photograph of my daughter that I had posted on Facebook.
“Oh! this is a nice place. You can get compliments too”, I thought.
Then it was Facebook for the next few years, not just for marketing but for connecting with long lost friends and other people I had known.
It was all going fine until one day, marketers became fed up with Facebook’s algorithm changes and decided that it was no more the place to market unless you wanted to run ads.
I was used to the ritual by that time. So switching over to another social media wasn’t going to be difficult. Or, so I thought.
And I switched over to Instagram.
The next few days, I scrolled through Instagram to check on the kind of content that was being posted there.
By the 3rd day, I had made up my mind.
“This wasn’t something for me”, I told myself. “I cannot dance around or, make all those faces or, even act like these people do”.
I didn’t go back to Instagram for the next few months.
Fast forward it to today and when I see my Instagram timeline, I am nothing less than shocked.
There is a reel or, a video with everyone of those things that I had once said that I wouldn’t be able to do (except obviously the dancing around, which too I might do sometime. Who knows!).
And I had done everyone of those things as if I was a PRO.
What changed and how did I became a so-called “PRO” at something I once felt I would never do?
When I look back at my journey in marketing and read through every one of those blog posts I had written over the years or, watch the videos I had created, I could see the transition.
The transition from an internet surfer to a self-proclaimed creator.
Crude meaningless articles with no real thought flow had given way to articles that were structured and followed every one of those copywriting rules that the Big Copywriters talk about.
My confidence in looking at the camera and talking, had gone up, up and up, in my videos.
That’s exactly what happened with Social media as well.
What I reluctantly did once, had became more of a natural thing for me.
And what did I do that brought about this change?
Nothing!
I just kept doing it over and over again.
James Collins talks about something called as a “The Flywheel effect” in his book “Good to Great”!
While that is in context of how companies go from Good to Great, that “flywheel” effect is something you can see in pretty much everything.
For that matter even in content creation.
When you push to start the rotation of the flywheel, there is a considerable amount of effort involved. You might even feel that you won’t be able to make it rotate.
But you try and push the wheel.
Slowly the flywheel moves and you somehow complete the first rotation.
You then, put in the same effort to make the flywheel rotate again and then for the next few rotations.
With every next rotation, your effort reduces and you find it less difficult to rotate it.
When you keep doing it, after a certain number of rotations, you find that you can effortlessly make the flywheel rotate.
And you realize that, something that you had difficulty starting off with, is running pretty easily and smoothly.
It is the story with every one of the things we do in content creation, including in Podcasting.
The beginning is the most difficult. But when you keep doing it consistently, you find that the effort required to do it has reduced and that things that you felt you might never be able to do, is coming naturally to you.
“Consistency” in content marketing, is always spoken about as something that will ensure that you stay in front of your audience.
But the other side of the story is that “consistency” will help you get your flywheel moving and ensure that you graduate from one level to the other, albeit unknowingly.
So, before you say you cannot, think again.
It is just a matter of pushing the flywheel to start the rotation.
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News you should know
Youtube shared this video a couple of weeks back on how podcasters can benefit by uploading podcasts on Youtube. What is noteworthy is the last statement in the video where “Erica” says “we will keep you updated as we develop new tools for podcasters on Youtube”. This along with the fact that a study showed a decent increase in video podcasts, should be “tonic of encouragement” for podcasters who were worried with discoverability.
Buzzsprout annouced “Buzzsprout ads”, which is a marketplace where you can buy podcast promotions across the 100K active shows on Buzzsprout. If you have a promo audio and some budget, then you can get additional ears for your show by promoting it using Buzzsprout ads.
You will like these links
This article on podcasting equipment is a good guide for anyone wanting to look at equipment.
If you are looking at make a great sounding podcast, then this article with some nifty recording tips can help you.
Questions from the reader
This week’s question was from an Instagram follower, Devaki –
Do you need to sound-proof your room before you can start recording for your podcast?
It isn’t uncommon for podcast aspirants to be overwhelmed with all of the information on the internet.
Search for “podcasting tips” and you will find a ton of articles. And each one of them will have something that is sure to overwhelm you.
Sound-proofing is one such advise that is impractical and absolutely unnecessary.
Podcasting isn’t about setting up a home studio. While you can do that, if you have the budget, it isn’t something that is required.
Some of the best podcasts on the internet are recorded in the bed-rooms and study rooms of the hosts using a simple microphone.
If you have a content idea that can hook an audience to listen to it, then you are already 50% ready. Then, all you need is a good microphone and a place where you can sit comfortably and record.
That’s it!
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” — Benjamin Franklin
Recommended Reading
Thinking fast and slow – This book by Daniel Kahneman is a must read if you want to program the way you think. One of the best books on decision making, this will help you with practical techniques on how to think smarter to make the best decisions
The Power of Habit – This book by Charles Duhigg is about developing the right habits. This is a very simple book without the difficult researches and results. It is a guide that you can easily follow to develop or, build the right habits in you which in turn can help you achieve your goals in life.
Note – Some of these are affiliate links and I might earn a commission if you choose to purchase using these links, but that would be at no extra cost to you.
That’s it for this week,
See ya again in the next edition,
Dilip K
P.S. If you would like to connect with me or, read more of my writings in the form of blog posts, then you can visit my blog about Podcasting Tips.
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