What are the best branding practices to establish your podcast as a thought leader in your industry?

If step 1 is to define your niche and audience, then step 0 is to start with why. WHY are you podcasting in the first place? ... If you're answer isn't bigger than your own personal hopes, desires, and dreams, then it's not big enough. You have to show up to make a lasting impact in the lives of other people. And not even at mass level, you're WHY has to be to serve the one person who needs you most. (Do for one what you wish could do for all!) When you've got your WHY for podcasting really narrowed in, you can better define your niche and who your audience, in the form of ONE is. (This is your avatar) Get your heart and mindset aligned on who you're going to help, the rest comes much easier!

Begin by defining a clear and compelling brand identity, including a distinctive logo, podcast cover art, and consistent color schemes that align with your industry and message. Craft a memorable and succinct podcast name that reflects your niche. Develop a professional and engaging website or landing page that provides additional resources, show notes, and information about your expertise. Consistently promote your podcast on social media platforms, emphasizing thought-provoking content, industry insights, and engaging visuals. Collaborate with influential figures in your field for guest appearances to enhance credibility. Finally, encourage listener interaction,feedback,and participation to build a community around your thought leadership

As the saying goes, "If you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one", it's the same with thought leadership! Have your target audience in mind while you are creating your podcast content, so that when they see your content they'll think you are speaking to them specifically, they'll feel seen and the connection will start to build even more from there.

Embedded in the word “thought leader” is "leader". But the thing is, leadership as a podcaster doesn’t mean you have to be highly acclaimed. It also doesn’t mean you need to have hit a certain annual revenue number in your business or have reached certain podcast stats to lead. And most importantly, leadership doesn’t mean you need to exhibit certain qualities or characteristics in order to be considered someone who has leadership. There is no right or wrong way to embody thought leadership or leadership in general. That said, we each have our OWN way of being a leader. So the question is: What is your style of leadership? And then, what body of work will you need to build via your podcast to demonstrate your style of leadership?

Show up everyday Even when you don’t want to That’s your brand Many won’t show up everyday Be the 1% that do will win in the long term

Our initial logo had a simplistic design. As our commitment to the podcast grew, we sought the expertise of a professional in logo design. During this process, we carefully considered the colors, consulting the color wheel for guidance. For example, we associated red with energy, passion, and love, while orange conveyed feelings of happiness, creativity, success, and enthusiasm. Blue was chosen for its associations with loyalty, confidence, and wisdom, while purple symbolized nobility and power. The color pink was chosen to evoke a sense of softness, calmness, and comfort.

Choosing a memorable name and logo for your podcast involves a blend of creativity, relevance, and branding strategy. 1) Be Unique and Memorable 2) Easy to Spell and Pronounce 3) Check the Availability of the name you want 4) Create a Logo That Resonates with your audience 5) Consistency in Branding: 6) Get Feedback: Share your ideas with a small group for feedback. This can help refine your choices. Remember, your podcast's name and logo are the first things potential listeners encounter, so make them count!

A few things to remember when creating a podcast show name and logo: - Searchability: Consider how your target audience will find you through this name - Brand consistency: Both should align with the overall brand of the podcast - Conciseness: Keep the title short and to the point, this helps with it being memorable too (aim for 3 words max) - Originality: You want your podcast to stand out, so start with the name and logo! - Clarity: Make sure that what the podcast is about is clear through the name and logo

Don’t try to be too clever with the name - fun spelling doesn’t translate well to audio and can make you hard to find. Instead use a name that is easy to remember. This especially helps when you’re a guest on other shows trying to build your audience. When creating a logo, be simple but not generic. Using headphones or a microphone doesn’t say anything about your brand.

Naming is everything. Your name doesn't have to be clever, it has to tell me EXACTLY what your show is about. Don't get cryptic, don't get cute. People won't stick around long enough for that. Be direct with what your show is about. Examples: "The Higher Ed Marketer" "Toolbox for the Trades" "Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO" All of these titles tell your listener exactly what the show is about and will let you filter and sort out the people who you want to listen to your show. Remember, most podcasting is VERY niche, and even the 3 shows above have very small ideal audiences compared to mass appeal and mass market podcasts. Find your niche audience by broadcasting what you're about with the title. Everything else is gravy.

The key word here is Identity. Identity means individuality or uniqueness. How do you make your podcast more unique? You add your own flavour to it consistently, eg. Your theme music, specific sound effects (helps with immersion), branding elements, editing style and pace, etc.

Creating a consistent audio identity for your podcast, brand, or project involves several key steps: 1) Define Your Brand's Personality 2) Select a Signature Sound or Theme 3) Use a Consistent Voice 4) Standardize Intro and Outro 5) Consistent Editing Style 6) Align with Other Brand Elements: 7) Review and Evolve Above all, consistency is key in building a recognizable and memorable audio identity. This consistency helps your audience feel a familiar connection every time they hear your content.

When starting my podcast in 2017 I made it a goal to interview Larry King. Fast forward to 2019 and I had the privilege of interviewing the legend himself. When thinking about this question, I can't help but this about Larry King's audio identity, his voice is recognized all over the globe. After I interviewed him, my interview approach changed and I started becoming more comfortable with my "audio identity" which in my opinion, is the most authentic version of yourself. Don't overthink this part of the process, when you first start your show you're going to be uncomfortable. That's where all of the growth happens! My best interviews started after 100+ episodes, granted I started my show at 17 years old. I'm rooting for all of you!

Others have said it here as well, Content is king. Your name helps, your sound helps, but at the end of the day, your show has to be relevant and interesting to the people it has attracted to listen. It needs to make them go out and want to talk to others because of the value they've received from it. Make sure that there are concrete takeaways, especially in the business niche. Summarize them in your episodes, your show notes, and make sure that your even tell your listeners as a host what you feel is a key takeaway.

I'm not at all convinced that name, logo, and audio identity are valuable parts of establishing though leadership. For thought leadership content is clearly king. Say things others don't say. Bring on valuable guests that no one has heard of. Make predictions. Remind people that you made predictions. Take a queue from the pundits on TV. They're often wrong but never uncertain and never ashamed of how wrong they were. Take a stand for things.

One of the biggest challenges with content these days is that people constantly trying to emulate someone else and regurgitate other people's content. The best approach for your content, specifically a podcast should be 100% authentically YOU!

As Rick Rubin says, "create content for yourself, and then maybe others will like it too," During each of my 500+ interviews I always have my audience in mind, but I also focus on creating the content that I would like to listen to. Still to this day I book all of my guests, resulting in an organic motivation to learn more about every individual I have on. I'm a firm believer in allowing your podcast to grow with you. For example, when I started running marathons I interviewed dozens of marathoners, which resulted in a new lane of content for my audience. Every conversation ties back to business, but this allowed me to deliver valuable content based on what I'm personally focused on. Create content relevant to you.

Our show initiates on BlogTalkRadio. I suggest submitting your RSS feed to various other podcast platforms. In the past, only a few platforms existed, but today, the options have significantly expanded. Some examples include well-known platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Radiopublic, TuneIn.com, Ubook, PlayerFM, Castbox, Listen Notes, Podparadise.com, AnchorFM, iHeartRadio.com, PitchPodcasts.com, United Podcasters, Podcast App, & Audible! Some stations have the capability to automatically pick up your RSS feed. According to ZenCast, syndicating your podcast offers three primary benefits: reach, convenience, and revenue. Reach pertains to the potential audience size reached through the various distribution channels for your podcast.

First and foremost, get your podcast on YouTube and all the main podcast audio platforms, then promote every single episode you create on social media. How? Through high-retention short-form clips. This is the main way to attract an audience organically in this day and age. Leverage platforms that your audience actively use, eg, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube shorts.

In 2024, I believe that every podcaster needs to be putting out 3/5 pieces of short form content for each podcast you release. If you have an interview, ensure that you're asking each guest to do a "collaboration" post with you on Instagram. I've done this with some of my top guests including Robert Greene, and we've garnered millions of views on each clip. This wound't have happened without collaborating with my guests. Will that happen every time? no. Can you create more growth opportunities through collaborations? Absolutely! Wishing you and your podcast an incredible 2024!

Make sure your podcast is accessible on all major podcast distribution platforms. While Apple and Spotify are the primary channels, numerous other platforms, often provided by podcast-hosting companies, are also available for submission. Distributing your show to more platforms increases its visibility, attracting a larger audience. Additionally, these platforms help index your show on search engines. As a general rule, the wider the distribution of your podcast, the better.

Think about the kinds of content that exist at other points on the journey from discovery through to subscription. Populate those spaces. If your clips aren't enough make other kinds of content. Consider writing and publishing additional material.

In order to deliver value, you must understand who you'll be delivering value to in the first place! Understand your audience, so that you can tailor the type of guests that you bring on, the topics you discuss and the elements you include to them!

Create micro-content for each episode you publish. On average, each episode should have 3-5 clips that you can share on social media to help promote the show and that episode. Doing this also solves a lot of your social media content challenges.

I think it's worth reminding you that if you're "leading" you'll be going in directions people aren't expecting. Henry Ford once famously said that if he gave people what they wanted he'd have invented a faster horse. This is all a way of saying that if all you give your audience is what they're expecting you'll never be leading them.

Be unlike everyone else and incorporate originality into your podcast. You don’t need to create something every other podcaster is making. In terms of genre, try experimenting with stand up comedies or fictional podcasts. A lot of podcasts are more on the informative side with topics and guest speakers. Yours do not need to have that formula. Do genre podcasts like my sci-fi/detective limited series. Or you can build a short story-based podcast with different shorts every episode. All avenues are available in the podcast industry. Stand out with something uniquely you.