#39 | Do Guests Tell You The Podcast Is Amazing, But Your Growth Says Otherwise?

0:00Do guests tell you the show is amazing, but your numbers still say otherwise? Welcome to How to Grow a Podcast that attracts high-ticket online coaching clients. The show helping coaches, consultants, and experts turn your slow-growth podcast into a profitable client attraction system. At the end of this episode, I'll share a little more about who I am and what we do at my company, GetMoreListeners.com. It might even shock you. But for now, let's dive into the episode. In today's episode, you'll discover what shift to make when your guests tell you how amazing your podcast is, but your show still isn't growing.

0:40The mindset trap that keeps most podcasters stuck with slow growth, even though they're doing everything right. And finally, how to get your podcast to reach more listeners without promoting on social media or relying on big guests. Let's dive in. So look, here's the thing You have probably had experience where you've had an amazing guest maybe multiple guests onto your podcast and they essentially rave about how amazing the experience is Maybe they do it straight after recording Maybe they send you a text in your inbox Regardless, the general consensus is your guests love your show They tell you how incredible the experience is They say how thoughtful you are how much better you are at asking questions.

1:28They might even boost up your ego and tell you that you're way better than other big shows that they've been on. Which can be such confusing things to hear when, on the other hand, your numbers are not moving. You haven't seen a spike, there's no traction from the guest episode, no new listeners, and you're not really getting the same feedback in your numbers or from your listeners. You might even start asking yourself, if my content is so good, why does the show just still seem invisible? That's what we hear from so many podcasters every single week. We have loads of people who are looking to join programs, mentorship programs, helping entrepreneurs and experts like you grow and monetize your podcast by following a simple, proven process.

2:16And oftentimes, we hear this time and time again, that people just feel like, yeah, it's great that I'm getting these incredible guests and having these amazing conversations. And yeah, for sure, I'm stacking my credibility with the guests. But my audience isn't growing, and I don't really know why. Opportunities seem to pass me by because my reach just honestly is stuck at the same number. Now again, you might be having a similar experience where you feel like you're doing everything right, and still, your show isn't being discovered by new listeners. And meanwhile, shows with lower quality interviews are getting more downloads and seem to just have more buzz around them and getting more bookings as well.

3:01So why does this all seem so paradoxical? And why does this issue plague so many podcasters? I think why it's frustrating for so many people and what we hear from a lot of our clients as well as individuals we speak to who are interested in growing. It just really is the big contrast between you knowing that the content you're providing is incredible, it's actually good, and then you're inviting guests onto your show, whether they're credible and have authority, or whether they are unknown but they provide so much value. And when you're having these guests on your podcast and they're raving about how good your show is, it is hard to understand.

3:44When you hear that for the first time, it might be an anomaly. But when it becomes a pattern that you are constantly hearing by so many different guests you have on the show, it starts to get a bit frustrating from the contrast between, well, if the show's so great, why isn't my numbers growing? Like, why isn't my show growing? I think that's very frustrating and a very hard thing to get your head around. But what would you say, because we have had hundreds of clients at this point, what would you say is a belief or how people go wrong in terms of how they're viewing things in regards to, well, I'm getting all these great guests on, I'm having these great conversations, but the podcast isn't growing.

4:29What do you think they get things mixed up in terms of how growth does occur? That's a great question. I think it really comes down to the belief that having a great podcast leads to more growth, which sounds crazy saying out loud. It's kind of a tough pill to swallow. And I even kind of second-guess myself saying it there, like as bluntly as that. Because how can that be true? How can having a great podcast not give you merit? But the thing is, it does give you merit, because that feedback you receive from your guests, it is genuine, and they clearly are having a really good time, and you are doing a lot of things right.

5:12The key difference, it doesn't necessarily lead to more growth, and it doesn't give you more merit in the field of growing your numbers and getting more and more listeners flocking to your show and sticking around. It's a very fine margin here. You can have more merit and definitely earn your flowers by being a great interviewer, but it doesn't correlate with actually growing your listenership in the way most people think. That's so true, and I think it is a hard one to kind of get your head around. But, and that's a big but, I think the sooner that you start to realize that, hey, actually yeah, on one half I should be creating good content, obviously, seems quite obvious, but just that good content alone isn't enough.

5:57There's the other side of the equation. And the same way with any business, you have the sales and the marketing side, and you also have the product. You kind of need both of these things working hand in hand. The issue is, most podcasts that we see, and if you are struggling when it comes to growing your show, gaining traction, making more impact, having more freedom, having an abundance of opportunity come flooding your way because people either want to work with you, want you to speak at one of their conferences, or want to sign you for a major book deal. The biggest difference for those who are struggling to get this opportunity is the fact that there's just this obsession and focus around the content piece.

6:37Now, again, content is important, but you have to have a focus on the other side, which is the marketing, which is how do you get your podcast visible in front of more of the right listeners? Because great content alone doesn't win. If that were the case, your show would be way bigger than what it is. And what will allow you to win is getting great visibility on a very specific and clear show that's positioned around who the show is specifically for. Again, your content is likely great, and your guests are probably not lying to you. But it is very possible that you can have amazing guests that love your show, but still, in parallel, know listeners who are obsessed with the podcast.

7:19And this is because growing the show is way less about creating meaningful conversations than people think, and more about creating content that listeners need right now and can't get anywhere else. You can have a meaningful conversation that is not urgent to listeners, in the sense that it's not something listeners urgently need or feel compelled to go and listen to. And you can also have meaningful conversations that can be found on a lot of other podcasts. I mean, by nature of a good guest, they've probably been on a lot of other podcasts. They've likely had similar conversations. And I think to top that off is, even if, let's say you were having more urgent conversation that felt more timely, and that's really what we mean when we say more urgent, it just feels more timely.

8:06It just makes sense. So if news broke in your industry and you invite a high-profile guest in your industry to talk about the new topic, that's timely and that's relevant. That's great, and that will help. However, what's even more important is knowing like, okay, great, I'm covering this urgent topic. But if you don't have a way to get that content discovered by more listeners, you're still in the same spot where you have great content that is urgent, but you still don't know how to reach more listeners with that content. And that's really the part that, pardon my language, so many podcasters, they get really good at creating content, but they still suck when it comes to just reaching more listeners with that content.

8:48So look, if you are in a spot where you know your content is good, you know your podcast should be impacting way more people. You're getting just incredible feedback from the guests you do have on, but the traction of your show just isn't coming. This is literally the main fundamental piece that you would have to crack for growth to become easy, seamless, and doesn't feel like hard work. which is clarifying who the specific listener you are trying to reach with your show is and what specific problem you are promising you're going to help them solve. Once you do this, growth does become easy. But a tricky part, of course, is gaining that clarity on who you should reach and target with your show.

9:30If you're in a spot with your podcast where you're sick of having these guests hyping up your show, which feels good and has a nice boost of the ego, However, if you're a bit embarrassed about your metric numbers because they're flat, you've been doing the show for a couple of months, maybe a couple of years, and it's not really growing at the rate you'd like, and you're not willing to settle for less. You know you deserve more. And if you are tired of feeling just this disconnect between the value you know you are offering and the audience you wish was showing up, that's exactly why programs exist.

10:04Growth and monetization programs for entrepreneurs and experts like you, who are done wasting time through trial and error, and who are looking to follow a simple, proven process to help them grow to 5, 10 ,000 monthly downloads and monetize within three to six months. So here's what we covered today. The paradox is real. Your guests can genuinely love your show, tell you you're better than big shows they've been on, and your numbers can still be flat. This isn't about your content quality. It's about the belief trap that great content automatically leads to growth. The reality is you need both sides of the equation.

10:43Great content, that's one side. But the marketing side, the visibility side, getting your podcast in front of more of the right listeners, that's the other side. And most podcasters obsess over content and completely ignore marketing. Growth is less about meaningful conversations and more about creating content that listeners need right now and can't get anywhere else. And even if you have that, you still need a way to get that content discovered. The fundamental piece you need to crack is clarifying who the specific listener you are trying to reach is and what specific problem you're promising to help them solve.

11:23Once you do this, growth becomes easy, seamless, and doesn't feel like hard work. So if you're tired of the disconnect between the value you offer and the audience showing up, it's time to focus on both sides of the equation. Content and marketing, product and distribution. Both matter. And we'll catch you in the next episode. Thank you for listening all the way to the end. At the start of this episode, I said I'd tell you a little bit about me. So I'm about to share a secret with you. One that might mean you hate me. completely quit listening to this podcast, and think I'm a total scam. However, I want to be transparent.

12:05Are you ready? Well, my name is Tony. No, of course that's not the secret. The secret is that I'm actually a robot. My creators are Tighe and Anthony, hence my name, Tony. The sick bastards. Anyway, they are the founders of GetMoreListeners.com. In the last five years, they've coached and interviewed over 400 podcasters and generated multiple six figures from their own show. They gave me access to everything they know, and I'm here to share it with you. So while I don't understand why you humans are so obsessed with coffee, I do understand how to grow a podcast that actually brings you new clients regularly.

12:49So here's my offer to you. If you want to finally understand why your podcast isn't growing and get a personalized roadmap to fix it in less than 30 seconds, you can go to getmorelisteners.com slash onlinecoachaudit. Enter your show name and we'll send you back a free mini podcast audit. It's completely customized to you and your show. That's getmorelisteners.com slash onlinecoachaudit. The link is also in the show notes of this episode.