Solo Episodes: The Key To Growing Your Business & Influence
I don’t know about you, but as a listener I absolutely LOVE solo episodes. I think that they are a must-have in any type of podcast. This episode style doesn’t need to be highly scripted, but when done intentionally it yields amazing results for the podcaster: it gives a glimpse of the host’s true personality, it creates space for the host to shine in their expertise organically, and it is a phenomenal way to establish a more intimate relationship with the listener.
First things first: get out of your head
Despite these benefits Podcasters still struggle to build the confidence to do ‘a solo’ and the reasons range from suffering from impostor syndrome, to thinking that they’ll sound salesy, or that they’ll end up rambling. But you may say ‘But Ana, I’d run out of things to say’! Sure, you may think that, but when you’re talking to your clients, do you also run out of things to say? No, right? So one way to shift your mindset is to ask yourself: ‘How can I solve my listener’s problem with the knowledge that I’m uniquely qualified to solve?’, or ‘What is something that I’m very passionate about in my area of expertise and that I can talk extensively about ?’ These two questions have one thing in common: you take the focus out of your ego, and you place it on fixing your ideal customer’s need.
About 70% of professionals suffer from impostor syndrome, so that’s why it’s important to keep your podcast’s purpose somewhere visible where you plan the content and record. Keeping an eye in your goals will help you stay motivated and confident before pressing ‘record’. Keeping customer reviews or testimonials close will also help you remember that you’re an expert that is providing value to your listener.
For more on how to overcome impostor syndrome, click here to read and watch our interview with therapist Monica Denais.
Plan your show for sustainability & influence
A lot of the coaching and strategic work that we do focuses on creating content pillars and crafting good episode ideas to help place the podcaster as a thought leader in their industry. Think of solo episodes as an answer on steroids to one specific question.
We believe there are 4 main reasons why you should stick to ONE topic per episode: information retention, content sustainability, organization and SEO. The first thing to consider is to not pack too much in one episode, otherwise it WILL feel overwhelming to the listener - 3 to 30-minute episodes work very well and tend to be to the point. The second reason is that if you don’t plan strategically, you will burn through episode ideas faster, and then may struggle to come up with episodes that your audience wants to consume. The third is all about creating a ‘library of content’ that you can direct your audience to: instead of answering emails sharing the same information time and time again, you can use shorter episodes to really provide a personal and expert answer to your audience’s problems. This will also help you build trust with them (which we will address later in this article). Lastly, for the fourth - SEO - Google will give preference to website pages displaying multimedia content, which include audio podcasts. Also, search results now highlight content published on audio platforms as much as they do for YouTube videos so you won’t be falling behind if you’re releasing an audio-only episode!
Personality, quality time and flow
People will want to do business with you because you’re you. The results you deliver, the values you live by, your demeanor, how you manage your clients’ expectations - that’s all part of why people choose to work with other people. A podcast is an opportunity to have uninterrupted quality time with your listeners, talking about the things that you are an expert / that you’re passionate about without a guest distracting them from your personality. Multi-host or interview-based podcasts can really hinder your ability to fully control the conversation’s flow and messaging.
Solo episodes are very helpful if you don’t like to or struggle with selling your services. Through audio (or video) you’re able to showcase why you’re an expert, using your personality and knowledge, in an environment where the client is already warm to getting help to fix their problem!