c+p digital

Conversion driven digital marketing agency, focussed on creative content.

Podcasting

How to name your podcast

by

A podcast name is often the first indication about who you are and what your show is about. For that reason, your show’s name is kinda sorta ALL-IMPORTANT. Spend some time on it, and woo-woo as this sounds, pay attention to the signs, symbols and metaphors that resonate with you.

A good podcast name should be descriptive and creative, giving potential listeners a peek at what to expect as they dive into your latest episodes.

That is a TALL ask 😁 One that requires a great deal of concise articulation and depth of story.

Here’s a bit of map on how to get to a good podcast name

  1. Use Metaphors: Begin by thinking of ways to be creative. The content market is cluttered. Podcasting has less that one tenth of the creators that YouTube has, but there are still approximately 3M podcasts. A creative name will take you far. Make sure to employ market research with peers, co-workers – they will have opinions that will help you. 

     

  2. Resist the “branded podcast”: When it comes to names, putting the benefit or at little hook front and center will serve you well. Too many podcasters resort to a branded podcast. These come off sounding strictly promotional, and brand’s messaging focussed. While there are some branded podcasts that exhibit the same storytelling qualities of a well thought out podcast, that aligns with the brand’s mission while serving its customers, they are few and far between. 

     

  3. Brainstorm with a peer or spend some thinking time and write down all your ideas: Start by writing down ideas. Use post-its. Write each idea on a separate sticky note. Give yourself an hour for just ideation in a group.
    Next, organize and group things together. Take those sticky notes with name ideas and group them. Ie: on the wall, move notes around to organize similar names. You’ll end up with a few narrowed directions. Pick no more than 3 to search and test. 
  4. Cross check ownership availability for the names you are considering: Once you have a few directions you like for your podcast name, make sure the name its available. You would be surprised at how many other podcasts could have similar names to the ones you are thinking. Especially if you pick a category specific naming system like “The B2B Sales podcast” you might find that there are already a few variations of that name out there.
    Remember ownership goes beyond making sure the name is available in the podcasting realm. If it is, apply for a trademark of the name. Then check for, and lock down the right URLs for future podcast oriented content and monetization. What this also does is avoid having people buy your URLs and hold them hostage. 
  5. Don’t be overly clever: While creativity is super important, you still want to make sure that what the name of your podcast  is communicating the solution that your podcast is going to provide. Overly cryptic names are also avoidable. Stay in the middle. 

  6. Do you need to consider a sub header for clarity?: Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t need a sub headline. Especially if your name verges on the super creative, it might need a tag ling to anchor it. This line may not need to be a part of your name and any logo unit you design. You could use it exclusively when you’re introducing each episode. Use the title and then the sub header, to explain what people are about to hear.

Looking for a more detailed podcasting resource? 

My name is Susan Diaz and I co-host 2 podcasts, The 4am Report, a top 25 ‘Canadian marketing podcast’, ranked just below marketing demigod Neil Patel. And ABCDEI, an inclusion podcast that is focussed on unlearning bias, one alphabet at a time, like children would. ABCDEI is a top 5% podcast, globally! 

You and I both know once is chance, twice is a pattern right? 😁

We’ve leveraged the success of these podcasts, as well as the podcasts we deliver for top brands as a podcast agency (c+p digital), spanning B2B across finance, future of work, marketing, and tech, to bring you the 101 primer on launching and running a ‘top 25’ podcast in your industry. 

Building podcast infrastructure that pays is available on-demand! It’s full of easy podcast wisdom, frameworks, checklists, workflows and tool suggestions that will serve you if podcasting FOR YOUR BUSINESS is on your plan.

The key to explosive content

by

Hello and welcome back to 🎙The 4am Report🎙. We’re going back to our roots, with a micro episode that’s filled with no fluff, super-important advice. Quick and easy for you to digest (nom-nom). Because, as we roll into the fourth quarter, you need to focus on getting things done so you can start planning for 2022. 

So, without any more ado, we decided to repurpose some of our hits that will give you the best advice on how to do that. Complete with our zero-fluff promise. 

via GIPHY

On the show, you’ll hear more about the anchor theory and how to use it get an explosive amount of content, making your planning as easy as 🥧🥧🥧!

via GIPHY

About this anchor thing. If you haven’t heard us talk about it yet, check out this pretty self-explanatory visual below. 

Let’s break it down. Say you have a piece of content. A podcast, a blog post, a report or virtual recording. Surely you can break it up into a few points.

Now, stop and think of the four formats:

❶ Written format
❷ Audio format
❸ Video format
❹ And, the graphic or image format

Last, but not least, think about where your anchor piece falls – and use the other three formats to expand upon your anchor piece – highlighting some of the best bits from your long-form content.

We also discuss:

  • The Three Bs: Budget, Bandwidth, and Burnout
  • The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

👂Tune in to the episode to learn how the anchor theory have explosive results for your content, while freeing you up for that all-important planning stuff👂. 

Want to chat more about your marketing concerns (or any of your content!)? Give us a shout at C+P Digital – we would love to help!

 Plus, if you’re losing sleep over a particular marketing/business related problem or if you would like to suggest a guest on the 4AM Report, let us know.

You can find us on Apple Podcasts – subscribe to us – you won’t regret it!

And as always, sweet dreams😴…well, hopefully!

EP133 4 Plays to get your Podcasting Mojo back

by

Are you falling out of love with your podcast because you’re not seeing results or not using it to the full? Or maybe you’re just bored of the same old, same old. In the words of Bobby McFerrin: 🎵Don’t worry, be happy🎵, because we’ve got four plays to get your podcasting mojo back:

  1. Get your podcast seen and heard by integrating it on your website 
  2. Utilize good writing (and spin that podcast into as many pieces as you can)
  3. Change up your format (how about a panel?)
  4. Use the material from your pipeline 

🎧Tune in for more great tips and get that podcast mojo going 🎧

#125 – The Holy Trinity of Podcast Hooks

by

Want to get people hooked on your podcast? The Holy Trinity of Hooking tells you how (in our trademark style, because if your mind went there, you’re our people).  On this episode of 🎙The 4am Report🎙 we dive into the 3 ways you can make sure your podcast is memorable:

  1. Up your visual 
  2. Rethink your intro 
  3. Ditch the fluff

🎧 Tune in for more! 🎧

The Benefits of Daily Stand Ups

by

Welcome back to 🎙The 4am Report🎙. We have a Mara Svenne back on the show to talk about the benefits of Stand Ups🧍‍♀️🧍️. Not the funny ones (usually).

via GIPHY

Disclaimer: We love funny at c+p digital, so don’t be scared to use a little bit of humour to make Stand Ups fun. Some of our Stand Ups have featured onesies and terrible puns(ies)🤣🤣🤣. 

With our shifting workforce and the likelihood that we’ll continue to be virtual or hybrid for a while still, team Stand Ups (aka short, focused, and productive meetings) are incredibly useful right now.

Let’s face it, it’s so easy to miss emails or forget to respond to something. A Stand Up is a collaboration tool that reduces emails in your inbox, and helps teams work better and more efficiently. We use Stand Ups as a productivity tool for our team at c+p digital.

Mara is an agile coach and facilitator, who works with many software and management leadership teams. We worked with her on a large content audit a few years ago, where she introduced us to the value of virtual daily Stand Ups to help manage the multiple moving pieces of the project. Here’s some of the key benefits of Stand Ups:

Short, sweet, and focused

According to Mara, a Stand Up is a daily 15-minute planning meeting of what’s going to happen and how to help each other. “It’s not a status report, it’s, ‘here’s what I’m working on, I’m making good progress’. ‘Or here’s where I’m struggling’. ‘Or I might need somebody to help me with this, because I don’t understand this area of the work’. ‘Or I’m missing something, can you help me get that information so I can continue’. The idea is that you’re continually checking in with each other to see how the work is going.”

Keeping things moving

“Ideally, you actually stand up. because it forces the time box to be 15 minutes because nobody wants to stand up for an hour. And it gives the energy in the virtual room because you’re all standing up.” As Mara relates, key decision makers and executives are present to move things forward. And if somebody has an idea, you park that for after the stand up. “So right after the stand up, you say, Will and Susan need to meet with Mary, the rest of you can go to finish your work. And you guys stay behind to talk about the question or challenge or ideation in depth.”

Getting your priorities right

“What’s important about today that you want to accomplish today. This is about going through a whole project plan for the next six months and when this is happening.”

Multitasking is a myth. 

“Even women cannot multitask, no matter what they say! Your brain can only do one thing at a time. So, finish that and get to the next most important thing. It’s worth saying, ‘I’ve got two things. I can’t get both done today. What’s the priority?’”

via GIPHY

In this episode you’ll find out why you need to lay the groundwork and establish team norms to build that trust within the team – so that you have each other’s back.
You’ll also learn some key time management tips used in Agile, like Scrum and Combat (for more on Combat listen to Getting Sh!t Done with Mara Svenne). 

Tune in to learn more about how to support your team, build relationships and prevent burnout by making extra time to talk and be there for each other (often before or after the Stand Up). 

And if you need more convincing before you hit play, Mara talks about how focusing on the things that are closest to being done, gets things done. Along with the value of retrospective Stand Ups, so you can “inspect and adapt as you go along”.

Want to chat more about your marketing concerns (or any of your content!)? Give us a shout at C+P Digital – we would love to help!

Plus, if you’re losing sleep over a particular marketing/business related problem or if you would like to suggest a guest on the 4AM Report, let us know.

You can find us on Apple Podcasts – subscribe to us – you won’t regret it!

And as always, sweet dreams😴…well, hopefully!

#119 – The Benefits of Daily Stand Ups with Mara Svenne

by

A 15-minute meeting where you actually stand up? Mara Svenne is back on the show to tell us about the benefits of daily Stand Ups for collaboration, productivity, and efficiency. Learn why:

🧍‍ Stand Ups are short, sweet, and focused
🧍‍♀️️‍ A facilitator helps keep things moving (along with the presence of key decision makers)
🧍‍️ Parking an idea can be strategic
🧍‍♀️️️ Stand Ups help team members get clear on their priorities (and so much more!)

Plus, you’ll get some of her top time management tips used in Agile, like Scrum and Combat.

🎧Tune in for more!🎧

About Mara

Mara Svenne is the founder of mPath Facilitation and works as a group process facilitator, scrum master and agile coach, primarily in the financial services industry.   Mara is an IAF Certified™ Professional Facilitator, a past board member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), and a 2017 Gold winner of the Facilitation Impact Awards.  Mara has facilitated project team start-ups and retrospectives, management strategy sessions, and vision /mission sessions for non-profit boards and start-ups.  An active and Distinguished Toastmaster, Mara believes in the power of conversation to help individuals find their voice and create a shared path to success.   To more information, please contact: mara@mpathfacil.com