Validate your Podcast Idea
You’ve got an idea for your podcast, you have thought about it for ages and Hey… It’s the new year, I’m going to finally start this podcast! But have you validated your podcast idea?
Many people fall down as they don’t think about whether the idea will work, whether the fans of your topic would listen to a podcast, or if the format would work for their audience. This can lead to burnout early on in your pod-llife.
Just a note to say, we are not saying that validating an idea is necessary for ALL podcasts… If you are simply recording a podcast which is ‘family updates’ as an mp3 to send to loved ones, then validation may not be necessary. Although, it might still be worth checking if your loved ones want to know about Little Jimmy’s first tooth, or even find out if they know how to listen to an mp3.
And in-fact those two examples are exactly what we mean by validation.
A couple of things to bear in mind…
Don’t ask your friends and family what they think!! (unless you are creating a podcast for your family)…. More times than not they will tell you it is a nice idea, because it is coming from you and they don’t want to rain on your parade. Get input from strangers, online communities, and most importantly people that are already in the communities that are fans of your topic or subject area.
Have a birds eye view! When you have ideas, try to stand up and reflect on them from an impartial viewpoint. It is very easy the make assumptions or only look for one view in your research of an idea simply to justify it. If you have an idea that you love, BUT all signs point to it being a bad idea… Don’t ignore those warning signs! Step back, take a walk, write the idea out in a different colour… anything that lets you step away from the idea, disconnect your passion and analyse it with a birds eye view.
How to validate your idea:
- Survey audience – questions on social, using an actual survey like surveymonkey, or even social media “polls”
- Research what else is out there. If there aren’t competitors are you looking hard enough? Who are the subject authorities? What blogs or books are there out there for the topic. Is there evidence to show people want more on this topic?
- What communities are out there for this topic. If people are engaging in communities and fans have set these up, it gives a great indication of the passion for it.
- Release a ‘minimum viable product’ …..
An MVP is something that a lot of marketers use, however it can easily be something that you can create as a podcaster. Before you get an expensive microphone (which you probably won’t need) or before signing up for a $20 a month podcast hosting site… Record something on your smartphone, make it low cost but great content. Then simply put it out there in communities on a free platform, maybe as a Facebook video or on youtube. Somewhere you can test the water with your idea, before you pay out money.
And that’s exactly what this process is… Test your idea with people who would actually listen before you invest loads of: Time, Money, Blood, Sweat and Tears!
If you have any more questions on this, do let us know. Join the free Facebook Podcasting Community called PodTips.