You know, I gotta tell you, whenever I first started this whole podcast online business thing, there are certain things that I thought would probably get me more excited and like, Oh my gosh, I can't wait to share that. But I have to tell you, it's usually the nerdy behind the scenes that just really get me fired up. It's because I love hearing those two like, it's one of my favorite things that I love to devour from other content creators is like, tell me about your
behind the scenes. So today, we're going to talk about something a little behind the scenes that we've touched on before, but we're just going to go deeper. And that is your communication plan for your podcast. So let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast where we teach entrepreneurs how to start launch and market their podcast. I'm your host, Krystal, Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me
today. Because if you've been trying to figure out the world of podcasting, think of this show as the time saving shortcut you've been looking for. So let's get right to it, shall we?
So of course, the very first question is, what is a communication plan? Like, what are you even talking about? And we're totally going to get to that, because I understand that this whole thing is kind of a loaded question, right? Like, there's so many different angles that we can take. And we really do need to unpack a lot of them. But I just want to tell you, like, there's basically two camps of people here. If you are a beginner podcaster, who just doesn't know like your like communication?
What what are you even talking about, I need to have a communication plan, too. Don't freak out, it's okay. But you do need to pay attention because you need to have one of these. And it will make promoting your podcast talking about your podcast and engaging with your audience that much easier. If you figure this out from the very beginning. Now, the other camp of people is if you're a seasoned podcaster, and you've never thought about this, you've never even talked about
like, what, what is the communication plan? Like? What are you even talking about, you need to do some brainstorming as well. Because this can make all the difference in the world in how easy it is for you to market your show. Like right now, if it's a hard and it feels really hard, and there's a lot of friction, and you're like this doesn't come natural to me, or this is really where I struggle, then pay attention, because some of what we're talking about today has to do with
marketing. But also it has everything to do with creating that deeper connection with your audience, which is what I know so many of you are after, right? Like I can't even tell you like I think about all the different varying levels of my podcast communication plan and how I engage with my audience. And if I imagine for a second, which this is kind of like a nightmare, right. But if I just imagine that all of those went away, and I no longer had any pieces of my communication plan,
I'd be in real trouble. I would because it's not just one piece that I heavily rely on, there's multiple layers of my communication plan that help this podcast be successful every single week, and really show up, right, like, I can show up behind the microphone with the right content for the right audience every single week, only because my communication plan works really, really well. So now that you kind of have like a broad sense of what that really means. Let's go a little bit
deeper. Right? So what do I actually mean by a communication plan? Like, let's just start with the basics and throw an actual definition out there. And the first way I want you to look at it is let's break it down to like the very basic principles of marketing. That's really like, like, let's just pretend this is marketing one on one. And the question would be, how will your potential audience hear about your podcast? How are they going to know about it? How are they going to hear
about it? And you're like, well, Krystal, you know, I created it, and I put it out. It's on Apple podcasts. It's on Spotify, like why do I actually have to tell people about it? And this is where so many people miss huge opportunities, huge opportunities, because people will tell me Well, I created the podcast Isn't that enough? And while I do think that creating incredible content And showing up every single week is like a huge accomplishment accomplishment in and of itself.
But you have to go a step further. If you don't tell people about your content, you most likely will stay in the same place every single week, you're not going to have a lot of opportunity for growth, if you're not the one, promoting it, talking about it and actively engaging with your audience or seeking new listeners.
So back to the question, how will your potential audience hear about your podcast? Here are a few
things to consider. Will it be word of mouth like this is actually something that I've seen a lot of podcasters doing lately in their either self sponsored ads, or just little plugs call to actions within their episodes, they'll say, Hey, you know if you know someone who loves to talk about this topic, too, or that would really appreciate, you know, hearing this discussion today, text them this episode, or tell them about this episode, like word of mouth marketing is
still one of the most popular, most effective ways for your content to really make an impact. I mean, think about it at the end of the day, where did you hear about this podcast? Right? Did someone tell you about it? Did you find out about it in a Facebook group? Did someone email you the link and say, Hey, you need to check this out. Think about where you are seeing and receiving some of the content creators that you're following right now.
Is it word of mouth? Because that is still so freaking powerful? Like I cannot even tell you how simple it is and how it's often underrated. Because it's so simple. People are like, Oh, that's just too simple. Like, wow, that's obvious. Why would I tell them to you know, share it with somebody else? It's not that obvious. And it is that simple, though. So this is something that if you're like, Oh, that sounds good, write it down, write it down. If you need to
take notes. I'm gonna have all the things that we talked about today in the show notes. So KrystalProffitt.com/episode272. That's where you're gonna find everything we're talking about today. But I really want you to just ask yourself, how am I going to reach this potential audience? So word of mouth is one.
Social media I feel like this one is more obvious, right? Because it is for free. And I should always, always start singing, I do it a lot more on the potty report. I don't know why I'll just like, get into like I the way that I started episode, the basically, I burst into song. And it's probably terrifying. And I'm sorry, because I really can't hold a note I can't. But you got to just make it fun from time to time. And social media is free, y'all. It is free. You can
post on there. I can't even tell you how much traction and how many potential listeners I get my podcast and from in front of every single week on Instagram, on Facebook and on LinkedIn. Those are the three places on social media where I show up, do you notice I didn't say on Twitter, and tik tok and all these other places that I don't show up on a regular basis, because that's not where my audience really is. That's not where they're
hanging out. And it's not a place that I am like, actively working on, like figuring out how can I show up on social media in front of all the people and all the places and all the things? Don't do that to yourself? Ask yourself if you're just getting started, if you don't really have an audience established anywhere, pick one social media channel and say, this is where I'm going to show up and show up every single week and talk about your content. Talk about your content, say,
you know, here's the behind the scenes. This is why I chose this topic that we talked about this week. Or here's the behind the scenes of why I picked this guest and why I thought that would be a great fit for the show, like find little nuances of your content to share on social media. Because I can tell you and this is one of my pet peeves. Forgive me. I'm stepping up on my soapbox for a second. You cannot just keep saying over and over again. Go listen to my podcast. Go listen to my
podcasts. You should really listen to my podcast go check it out. Go check it out our apple podcast you should really listen to it. Why is no one listening to my podcast? I need more people listening to my podcast. I really need people focused on my content. I see this all the time. Like all the time, and it drives me bananas. B A Na Na s y'all I just talked about singing and I told you I like that was one I couldn't resist though. Come on going. I know hollaback girl, you
know gwynns too funny. Okay, yeah. But I just like, it drives me bananas when people do this because you all that is not marketing. That is not marketing, just saying you need to listen to my content, you need to listen to my podcast, you need to do it you need that is you desperate and begging for people to listen to you to hear you. And it shouts, desperation at its core. And if
you're like, well, what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to say, if I'm not supposed to say listen to my podcast, this is where the marketing principles of really understanding what your audience wants, what they need, or the things that would get them excited, like these are where those things come into play. And you need to understand these. That's where your communication comes in, when you can have this two way communication of
understanding what your people need. And then you could say, Hey, I know you're struggling with creating a deeper connection with your audience. Well, you should listen to this week's episode, because I'm going in depth on a communication plan that can really set you up for success. That way further down the line, whenever you have a big ask that you want to make of your audience, you know that they're actually listening, and you're not just talking out to avoid? Do you see how that's
different than just go? Listen, my ladies episode of the podcast. Okay, great. Thanks. Bye. And I understand like, I think a lot of people are kind of, I don't know, like, I think that we feel like marketing is very self serving. And a lot of people tell me, I don't like talking about myself, I don't like making it sound like I just want people to look at me and do all these things. And I'm like, nope, you've got marketing all wrong.
That's not what it's about. It is about serving your audience adding value, but you have to know how to communicate that to your audience. So I'm stepping off of my soapbox for a second, I may be back, I'm not making any promises that I won't get back up here. But when it comes to social media, you have to do more than go listen to the latest episode of my podcast, take it a step further and tell them why tell them how it's going to add
value to their life. So then they have a higher probability that they're actually going to go check it out.
Okay, the next way, you know, let's go back to the question, how will your potential audience hear about your podcast, there's paid advertising, this is something that I really don't want new beginners even thinking about or messing with, unless you're an actual, like Facebook ads, social media, ad experts, or you know, Google Ads really well. Don't even think about this, don't don't waste your time, I really don't want you to, because you're gonna waste your
money. If you don't know what you're doing. You're going to waste your money, your time, your resources, and I just, it's too stressful. Maybe this is just my opinion, it's too stressful to wonder if your ads are working, and then have them
fall flat. Because ads, from what I've learned about running several 1000s of dollars in ads, over the course of probably the last four years, I've learned that if you don't have a strategy, and you don't have a plan in place to really make an impact, and to run ads for a while, not just for one day and say, Oh, you know, it worked, it didn't work, you have to let it run its course and you have to be willing to try it out. You have to
be willing to gamble a little bit. I'm not gonna lie, like sometimes running ads, or like gambling, you have to say, Okay, if I, you know, put $100 on the table, and I never see that money back, I have to be okay with my ad not working, or I have to be okay with my ad skyrocketing. And you know, doing all these incredible things. But it is one of those things at the end of the day that you can't always predict how it's going to work. paid
advertising is an option. If you get it, you understand it and you know how it's gonna work. But it's not something I recommend for brand new online business owners brand new podcasters or someone that's never done it. Okay, let's just take that one. Let's just like grab it by its tail and pull that one off the table and say not right now. Okay, let's put that in our back pocket. Well, we'll come back to that one later. Because it's not something I want to focus on. I want to
talk about word of mouth. I want to talk about social media.
And then of course, your email list. And I actually have a podcast episode. If you're like your email list, what are you talking about, I have a few podcast episodes and great resources on building an email list with a podcast what that looks like how to create freebies, like how to actually make your email list work for you and how you can use it to promote your latest pieces of content. And that is really kind of a multi layered approach as well with your email
list. You can do a lot with having an engaged email list. But at the end of the day, we're talking about how to reach a potential audience like these things like everything I just mentioned, these are all at the very top of the
funnel, right? These are people that either don't really know who you are or how amazing content is because they're just now getting into kind of like your orbital your atmosphere, you're, they're gonna learn by like just being around you, but they don't know who you are, they don't know the quirks of your content yet, they don't really know exactly what it is that you do. But maybe they're drawn to you, maybe they saw your social posts, and they're like, Oh, my gosh, they make the best
reels every single week. And they're so funny. And I want to go check them out, because they like, they just look really interesting in their content, I want to go see more about their podcast. So all of those are the top of your funnel, or you could call it the top of your communication plan. But then when your audience does come to know you and your content, right, they're coming to listen to your podcast, maybe engage with you on Instagram...
How can you take it one step further, right, this is like the second layer of your funnel. Have you ever seen those graphics, right, where like, you have a funnel, and I always think of like what you would put oil in a car, right? So you have like one of those funnels, and at the top, you have the highest level possible. And that's where the most
people are, right? Like, there's the potential for you to reach those people with word of mouth, your content, social media, like all those things, it's all your free stuff, most of the time, that is what the very top of the funnel is going to be. And then you go one layer down. And this is still probably a free layer of your content. But it also is more than just a passive listener on your show. This is where you get people on your email list or to sign up for your Facebook group. And they're
actually engaging in two way communication. And to me, this is the most important piece of the
funnel. Because if you can get people from the free stage, or just kind of like actively or sorry, passively, not really paying attention to your content, they're like, Well, listen, the podcast, but I don't care about the Facebook group, I just listen to what they have to say, and then I go on about my life, I don't engage with them, I don't follow them on social media, I'm not, you know, like we're not connected anywhere else, then that person at the very top of the
funnel isn't really going to be somebody that's going to buy your book, when you launch it, or sign up for your live event that you're going to do you know, two years from now, or be interested in anything that you have to sell or offer them, they're not going to be interested in your membership, because they're never going to know about it because they're not taking that next step
with you. So the next step with you, is, like I said, getting on your email list, following you in your Facebook group and hanging out and they're actually engaging in two way communication.
So where will you have the ability to not only share content with your audience, but actually engage with them? Do you remember we call this our communication plan? This is like, I feel like we're laying it out like Kevin Malone style. Home Alone. That's his name, right? It's Kevin Malone. Yeah, it's Kevin. I'm just thinking, Kevin. Yeah, I think that's their last name. But I'm thinking about like him, laying out that map where he like, has his strategic plan of how he's going to take
down the bad guys. Well, I want you to imagine like rolling out your communication plan, like, how are you actually going to engage with your audience? How are you going to talk to them where it's not just you speaking into a microphone, and you're like, Well, I hope somebody hears this this week. No, don't settle for that. Don't settle for just creating podcast content, and then wondering, well do someone here I know someone heard it, because I can see downloads, but who listened to
it? And what did they like it? What did they think? Do they want to hear more things like this? Instead of asking yourself these questions, actually ask these questions to your audience. This is how the communication plan works. Because the more you focus on this, and the more you really understand your audience, I promise you, okay, so here's three promises I can make to you. If you really focus on your podcast communication
plan. One, you'll feel confident that you're not just talking out into a void to it will be easier to create content, because you'll know exactly what your audience wants to hear and how you can best serve them. But three, you will feel more confident the next time you go to talk about something that you're really excited about whether it's an affiliate promotion, or you're selling your own thing, or you're thinking about writing a book and you're just like, Oh my gosh, like I'm
really excited. I hope that my audience would like this. Well, you don't have to hope anymore. You can ask them. You can just straight up, send them an email and say, Hey, would you be interested in this, or you can ask in your Facebook group, or you can you know, however you decide to create a community around your podcast, you're going to have confidence that they're going to be engaged there. Be ready to listen to everything you have
to say. Okay, so ask yourself the question, Where can I have the ability to engage with this two way communication with them. And this is so important to figure out, like I said, if you're brand new podcaster, this, like pay attention to this, you
need to ask yourself these questions. Even if you've never even recorded your very first audio clip, you need to think about this now, because the more you think about it, the more you get comfortable with the idea that this is something you need to do, the more it's going to become a priority. Once you get your podcast up and running, or maybe it's something you want to start thinking about and start working on before you even launch your podcast. Either way, I'm cool
with it, but you need to think about it. And for seasoned podcasters, if you've been doing this for a while, and you're like, Oh, this has been on my to do list, it's time to bring it to the top of your to do list. It's like let's not sit around on this anymore. You need to really focus on how am I
going to communicate with my audience? How am I going to take it a step further from just having them as passive listeners to actually engaging with the people that listen to my show, at the end of the day, because when it comes to time, whenever you want to make those calls to action, it's just going to be a lot easier. And it's going to be a lot more effective, if you already know the place that you can reach them.
But I wanted to tell you a little bit more about communication plans and how I learned about them. And that's actually one of my mentors, Marie Forleo. If you've never heard of her, you should google her. Like she does incredible things, amazing things, but she has so many amazing marketing ideas. And that's really where I get super excited. Like I said, like I love nerding out on all these things that I had no
idea would get me so fired up so excited. But the way that you engage with your audience and how you show up online, like I've learned so much of this from her and she's doing a free training right now, that's all about the six essential steps to a thriving profitable business. And guess what one of them is your communication plan. So she has a an approach to it that just really kind of expand your mind on how you can be consistent and how you can show up to inspire and instruct the people
that are in your community. And I want you to go check it out. So I want you to go to KrystalProffitt.com/mariefree. KrystalProffitt.com/mariefree, go check it out. This is a three video series that she's releasing and the first one is available now you can go check it out, and I want you to really pay attention to how she talks about the communication plan but also she goes into how to create a website that sells and doesn't sec, this is another one that I know this audience really wants
to know about. Y'all have asked me about websites before we've talked about them before. I want you to go watch this free training because it can really expand your thoughts on how this can work for you. So go check it out. KrystalProffitt.com/mariefree this free three video training series is going to be so good and I want you to go check it out. So go check out everything we talked about today. One more URL, the show notes is where everything's going to be.
And there's also going to be a link to Marie's training. KrystalProffitt.com/episode272. But that's all I have for you today. So I hope you are motivated and inspired to create a podcast communication plan that's going to work for you. But as always remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.