Day 6: Proof of Concept

Today we discuss how to find proof of concept for your podcast topic and how to research the world of podcasts that your ideal listener indulges in. We also cover how to study your competitor's podcasts.

Steps for Skill Mastery:

1. Quickly identify proof of concept
2. Create a podcast map
3. Study your competitors

Step 1: Quickly Identify Proof of Concept

Start today by googling your podcast topic. Is there someone who is already talking about what you want to talk about on your podcast? If yes, then you just established a quick proof of concept that people actually want to hear about this subject.

Continue to look at specific examples of people discussing your topic on other platforms like:

• Itunes
• Spotify
• Youtube

Then write down 5 people from theses platforms who are talking about your topic and creating content about it.

Activity: Write Down Content Creators

Write down 5 specific people creating content about your topic

‍

Bonus: If you have an existing audience, try holding a clubhouse or twitter spaces to see if your audience resonates with the content topic before creating an entire podcast about it. This resource will help you get started.

Now let's dive into the world of podcasts to see the entire landscape of what your ideal listener indulges in.

‍

Step 2: Podcast Mapping

Now it’s time to look at the world of podcasts your ideal avatar listens to. We want to know all the podcasts that could possibly have your ideal listener and what other influencers are speaking to them already & how they are speaking to them.

Activity: Create a Podcast Map

Follow the steps below to start mapping out podcasts your ideal avatar listens to.

1) Google one of your ideal avatar’s favorite podcasts or a podcast that has similar topic to yours

2) Click on the iTunes listing for the podcast

3) Inside the listing, scroll to the bottom to the section called “You might also like” and click “See All” on the right

4) Screenshot those podcasts and put them into a word document

5) Now click into one of those other shows and repeat the process until you have several screenshots of the world of podcasts your ideal avatar listens to.

6) After getting several screenshots you should have a pretty clear picture of the podcasts they listen to and content they like. You can start mapping categories and podcast in those categories based on the themes you find.

‍

Now that we know the landscape of all the different podcasts our ideal avatar likes to listen to, we can begin studying them for further insights.

‍

Step 3: Study Your Competitors

Look at your podcast map and identify some of the podcasts that occur most frequently. These podcasts are competing for your ideal listeners attention. So we want to study them and understand what they are doing to grab your listeners.

Activity: Identify Your Competitors

Write down 3-5 of the most recurring podcasts from your map that your ideal avatar listens to.

‍

Now let’s study these podcasts by looking over their listings and listening to their content. Ideally you should choose the ones that are close to your topic and maybe 1-2 outside of your topic for some variety of perspective. Takes some notes about each podcast you listen to and what you like & dislike about the style of their podcast.

Activity: Study Their Content

While studying these podcasts, here are some good questions to take notes on:

• What is their presentation style like?
• What format, frequency, & length look like?
• How do they name their podcast, episodes, etc?
• What does their description say?
• What does their podcast artwork look like?
• What kind of guests or content is on their show?
• Do they have sponsored ads?
• What are they saying in their intros and outros?
• What kind of music do they have?

‍

These notes will help us to differentiate our podcast as we continue to develop it.

‍

Skill Lesson Mastered

Demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson by applying it to the above activity. If, and only if, you have a full understanding and have mastered the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson, select the next lesson in the navigation.