Planning Out Content

Niall Mackay: [00:00:00] Do you struggle to plan out your podcast content? Or do too much. Find out the sweet spot in this episode with Brian Biedenbach from Good Podcasting.

 

Niall Mackay: Welcome to Smarter Podcasting, where I help you build your podcast and connect with your community. I'm Niall Mackay, The Podcast Guy and founder of Seven Million Bikes Podcasts.

In this episode, we're going to be talking about the importance of planning out your podcast content and how it can help take your show to the next level.

If you've ever found yourself struggling to come up with new content, fresh ideas, I'll take a new direction for your podcast. Well, then you're in luck because today we're going to cover all of that with Brian Biedenbach.

He's going to be sharing some valuable insights on how to plan your content effectively. We talk a little bit about podfade in this episode podfade it's when a podcast episode just disappears after 10 episodes. This happens to anywhere from 50 to 75% of all podcasts. i'm sure you knew of a [00:01:00] podcast that started you really enjoyed it and it suddenly stopped and this definitely It was a big thing that happened during the pandemic everyone was stuck inside so everyone started making podcasts and then the all stopped suddenly once they could go outside again. Which makes sense. I want this podcast and everything i do to help you not only make 10 episodes but to make 50 or a hundred whether you're starting a podcast for the first time or you're building an existing one. And if You've already got one i want to help you take that podcast to the Next level. Brian shares with you how to plan out great content using content buckets, What they are and how to fill them. So let's go talk to Brian I'm so excited to share this with you there's so much valuable information in here. So let's go check it out.

 

Niall Mackay: So Brian, thank you so much for joining me. We've obviously talked previously on your podcast, good podcasting, and then I've just used that episode on a previous episode of Smarter Podcasting where I realized I just sound like a [00:02:00] stereotypical Scotsman. I'm talking about how to podcast on a budget and just living up to type that Scottish people are cheap.

 

Niall Mackay: planning out content, it's something that I, I do a little bit, but I've not done a lot because I'm more a fly by the seat of my pants kinda guy, and I like to just get things done.

So when we talked about talking about planning out content, I was really excited because I know the listeners are gonna get a lot of value this, but mostly I'm being selfish. I'm gonna get a lot of value out of this. So Brian tell us and your strategies for planning out content.

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, so I probably go the other way and I probably plan too much. Uh, and I'm learning to fly by the seat of my pants a little bit more. Um, you know, I tell the story, uh, often on my show that, uh, the guy that he's back co-hosting with me now, chase Wagner, this co-hosting good podcasting with me, was the guy that I started podcasting with.

And we would go back and forth because I would have a scripted out episode. And he's like, what are we doing? We just need to talk. [00:03:00] Just tell me what the topic and we'll go. And it frustrated the heck outta me. Uh, and for him, I was frustrating him, right? Because I was so like, organized and structured. He's like, I don't wanna say that.

And, you know, so anyway, uh, yeah, I, you know, planning out content is something that I need to, I need to do to make myself feel like I'm ready to enter into a show. So, whether that's future planning, like having, you know, a month or two months worth of. Episodes that I know what I'm gonna do. So even I can promo next episode when I'm finishing up one episode or it's like bullet points for this particular episode.

Like I just have to have a, I tell people it's like a roadmap for me. Like I know where I'm starting the conversation. I know where I wanna land. Maybe not the person's answer, right? But the question I want to ask. And so if I have a map, have the conversation kind of mapped out, it's easier for me. So if we get off script, we take a detour, we can come back and I know where, where we're going.

So planning out my content is [00:04:00] super important to me just to help me stay focused, even as we kind of riff and talk back and forth and kind of go on detours here and there. So, yeah.

Niall Mackay: It's interesting. There's just two different types of people. Well, there's many different types of people, right? And there's one type of peop, one type of person. So, uh, I, I call this, I learned this in university, it's called like paralysis by analysis.

And elite level athletes have it where they overanalyze, you're pointing to yourself.

Well, uh, it's, it comes from elite level athletes where they, um, if you overanalyze your performance, and it can be any sport, archery, long jump running. You can look at how you take off for a hundred meters race and you're looking at your foot and you're trying to analyze, you know, without my foot by one centimeter, I'm gonna get a better takeoff, and then I'm gonna get half a second off my performance or a a a 0.01 second off my performance.

But then you end up thinking about it so much, you paralyze yourself and you do none of that and your performance gets worse. And there's like a bell curve of [00:05:00] that, of, um, where's, where's the sweet spot? Um, I'm somewhere probably near the front where I, I try not to think about things too much and just get it done, and it's something I always talk to my clients about.

I talk about it in my course for me, and I'm one of, I'm a different type of person. I just want to get things done and I want other people to get things done. So I, I really want people to avoid that paralysis by analysis, where they're worrying about what equipment to buy, how to buy it, how much it's gonna cost.

They're worrying about how they're gonna plan out their episodes. How many episodes do they plan out? How do they do it? And they end up doing nothing. And, and a year goes by and five years goes by and they still haven't started the podcast. So this is a good conversation cuz we are somewhere in the middle.

When you're planning out your episode, let's start off by, uh, 10 episodes ahead, five episodes ahead, where do you sit and plan out? And then let's break it down into pair episode.

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, so when I'm working with clients, cuz I do similar work as you, you know, working with clients, getting them started and editing and [00:06:00] doing the post-production for them, I really want them, if it's a new person, I really want them to have 10 episodes scheduled or an idea because statistics are showing that.

I think last time I looked just a few months ago, like I think 48% of podcast titles that are on Apple podcasts have less than 10 episodes. And so people get into it. They haven't thought far enough ahead and pod fade hits in a major way because there is work that goes into it. And just because you have a big idea and you start talking, you know, you get two episodes in and go.

I said everything I wanted to say, I thought I could say more. Right. Um, so there's whatever the reason is, there's all these barriers and obstacles that people don't get to that 10th episode. And when you get to the 10th episode, you can get to 50 a lot easier. And you get to 50, you get to a hundred, right?

So I'm thinking in terms of, at least on the front end, let's get at least 10 episodes planned out. Am I always 10 episodes planned out? Absolutely not. No. So,

Niall Mackay: that's like the dream, right? I tell [00:07:00] myself that as well, and I'm gonna plan out, I I, I did plan out 10 episodes for this show, so we'll see. You how that goes. Like, um, but that's the dream number, right?

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah. Yeah. And so I always like to be at least have ideas of shows that are coming up. So I may not, I won't have 'em sketched out until probably typically, honestly anymore because I'm working with Chase, who is more fly by the seat of his pants, and I've learned to adapt and he's learned to adapt to me a little bit that we'll throw topics out, and I'll talk about kind of how we come up with those.

We'll throw topics out, and then we'll meet for about an hour. Before we start recording, and we'll sketch out each episode because we already have the topics kind of in mind, uh, that we've had some time to, to think about Right. And process through. So yeah, when I'm, when I'm doing that, it, for me, it always goes back to like, I don't wanna, we don't want to spend a lot of time here necessarily, but I always think about what, why am I doing this podcast?

Right? [00:08:00] I always think about who's my audience. And I have to do this for every show, Niall really. Um, and then understanding what, what's the value that I'm bringing to my audience. So my podcast is good podcasting, as you already mentioned, very similar to, to your show here that we're doing. And so I'm always thinking, I'm talking to that person that is wanting to start a podcast.

And there's all sorts of things we can talk about, right? Uh, when it comes to podcasting, am I gonna do an episode about EQing your sound to a, a beginner podcaster? Probably not, but in the back of my head, that's always a topic, right? So I'm like, ah, let's save that for another time. Another podcast potentially, right?

We need to talk about beginner things for beginner podcasters. So those are kind of the three things that I'm always thinking through, filtering through is why am I doing this? Who's my audience and what value do I, can I bring them?

[00:09:00]

Niall Mackay: Did you hear that? That is amazing advice. Make sure you copy that down. Those three things that you should do for every single episode.

Why am I doing this? Who's my audience. And what value am I giving them? No matter what your podcast is about. If you make sure that every episode follow those three things. Then you're doing something right. Listen more for Brian. He has some amazing tips.

 

Brian Biedenbach: And so once I get past there, you know, uh, so many people, I, I've heard this in different places.

I wish I could quote where it actually came from, but the term content buckets is, is the term that I've been using as I think through. Kind of how to plan this out. And really those content buckets for me are, it goes back to why am I doing this? Who am I doing it for, and what value do they offer? So my show is about helping new, new [00:10:00] people, new podcasters, create, launch, and grow their podcast.

So those are kind of my three content buckets. Uh, a bucket for. All the information to help someone create a podcast. What I, what I mean by that is, um, everything from designing your cover art to your title to. You know, what kind of the, the topics are gonna be. So creating the podcast to launching the podcast.

How do you get set up? What are the apps you need? What are the, what's the technology you need to really get out there and launch and start building that audience? And then the grow bucket is what are the things you need now to, now that you're off and running, how can I help you continue to grow?

 

Niall Mackay: This is absolutely fantastic, and I'm definitely gonna be stealing this. I'm, I'm writing down notes as you, as you're saying this, so tell me then, how do you fill those content buckets?

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, so that's [00:11:00] where just all the ideas come from. So if I have an idea, I'm writing notes down. If I have an idea, I'm typing it in my. A document on my computer if I'm eating lunch with someone who's asking questions and I'm like, oh, that's a great question. I'm, maybe I'll do an episode on that. So I'm constantly logging ideas and a actually, it, it really just comes down to, um, what bucket does this idea fit in?

Right, and so I mentioned EQing, your sound, right? It's something that I love to do as I edit and produce podcasts, but it's not something a new pod podcaster needs to know how to do. So I have the, this topic that I'm like, where does this fit? Well, it probably doesn't because I know who I'm talking to, what I'm about and what value.

That's value that they don't need yet. So it doesn't fit in that bucket. So it's almost like there's a filter, right? That does this topic fit in here? So the topics really, like I said, just come [00:12:00] from, you know, things that trip me up sometimes when I'm setting someone up with a new podcast. So let's say for example, just recently I was, uh, working with the client.

We had recorded four or five episodes already, but we hadn't published anything yet. And uh, I just told him, I said, set up your. Apple Podcast connect account, right? Get that set up. I'll set up your host site, we'll get the two tied together and we're off and running. Well, he didn't know how to set up his Apple Podcast Connect account, right?

And so I was like, okay, let's, let's sit down, let's walk through it. And we couldn't do it over the phone cuz there was something that just kept getting in the way. So I was like, let's meet. Right? And it was something simple that I had done a long time ago that a new podcaster would sit down and go, I'm really frustrated with this.

I'm not even gonna do a podcast or I'm not even gonna put in an Apple podcast. So it's things like that as I work with new podcasters that come up that because I've been doing this so long and I've been on the platform so long that I did a [00:13:00] long time ago that I forget. So a lot of my ideas are generated just from conversations with clients, honestly.

And, and then again, so my co-host Chase comes on. And I've done all the backend work. So he's the one, he's on a microphone and he and I go back and forth. We've got good rapport and good chemistry, and we laugh a lot. And we joke a lot, but he doesn't know the inner workings of mixing the sound and coming up with the topic.

So he actually brings a lot of content, brings a lot of questions. As someone who. Really isn't a professional podcaster, he's just joining me cuz we have a lot of fun doing it. And he's good on the mic, right? So a lot of my questions come from him. So these are, again, I'm just talking in circles I think.

But ideas are coming from everywhere, from my own experience, from my clients' experience, from my co-host asking questions. And it's just a matter of which bucket does this fit in. So we'll go through and we'll do. An episode on something related to [00:14:00] creating your podcast, and then maybe the next episode is something related to, now that you have a couple episodes, how do you get those out there?

So we'll do something on launching your podcast. And so that's kind of how I fill those buckets. Topics come from everywhere.

 

 

Niall Mackay: I hope you're getting as much out of this as me. I'm absolutely loving what Brian is telling us here. So now you have your three buckets.

Why am I doing. Who's it for? And what value am I going to give the listener? Now, when you're planning out your content, just think about how am I going to fill each of these buckets, write down as many ideas as you can think of as much as you can write them all down and then see, where do they go? Do you fit those buckets?

Then you're going to be able to create great content for your podcast. Brian's not going to share something really, really important with us. He's going to give some tips, the tools that he uses and the tech that he uses to plan out his content.

[00:15:00]

Brian Biedenbach: then I look at, uh, you know, three other things that I, I think through is tips, tools, and tech is what I, what I call it. And that's, It's kind of the, the tagline that I use on my, my YouTube channel is we, it's tips, tools, and tech for, to help you create a better podcast.

And so tho that's another layer of filter filtering these topics is, okay, I've got a tip on how to do a great podcast interview. Where does that fit? Which bucket does that fit in? So what. What episode or what topic do, do we cover tools, I talk about apps and websites that are beneficial for new podcasters to think through things like descript that you and I talk about a lot about.

So anyway, so, and then the tech is, you know, just the equipment and technology. So, uh, anyway, so I got a couple layers of processing how to take this idea that's out here kind of. Just in space somewhere and get it to an [00:16:00] episode that really makes sense for that audience,

Niall Mackay: I think that's great advice for any podcast, what it's on. Uh, cuz a lot, someone may be listening and they're not making a podcast about podcasters. We are, we are being very incestuous here and we are two podcasters talking about podcasting on a podcast.

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah.

Niall Mackay: Uh, and, but someone listening who's is doing a podcast not about podcasting, I think there's still so much value in that and finding that content.

That no matter the the niche of your podcast or the topic, I think it's very easy to do what you just said there, and I do it where you think of something as being, uh, almost cellular. You're like, yeah, I mean, that's so simple. Like of course everyone knows how to connect to Apple Podcast or and just recently I saw on a website somewhere was like, oh, we'll help you get your podcast on every platform or something like this. Or it was like a blog post. I was like, yeah, that's so simple. Why? Why would you need help with that? And I mentioned it to my wife and she's [00:17:00] like, cuz everyone, not everyone knows how to do that.

And I was like, oh yeah. So similar to you what you are saying, there's something that we think, cuz we've done it so many times that we know how to do it. And I've ha I have actually had to help clients get registered on Apple Connect and things like this. And so there might be, I think it's really easy no matter what topic or format or niche you have.

To think like, oh, well I know all of this stuff so everyone else knows it. And really having to think about, well, what do my listeners need to know about and what do they want to know about?

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, I think that's the key question, right? Is what do my listeners need from me and what, what can I, what information or what education or can you know? Do they, are they just looking to laugh, right? Uh, are they just looking to be entertained? Can I make them laugh? Is that my promise? So, you know, what do they need and what can I deliver?

And then as you think through your topics and your content buckets, right? What, what fits that? That I can deliver on that promise every episode. So I just taught a, a podcast [00:18:00] workshop this weekend to give you a good example. And, uh, it was an eight hour workshop. It was a long day Niall, and we spent the first half of the day talking through this sort of thing, like designing your podcast, creating your content, and I, you know, people were just, They looked a little antsy.

Some looked a little bored cuz they had microphones in front of 'em and MacBook Pros in front of 'em. They wanted to record cuz that's, that was the promise of this workshop is you're gonna go home with a finished product, it's just gonna be a trailer episode, but you're gonna go home with a finished product.

Then we spent half the day talking about content and then we got to lunch and a couple of the guys that were there came and said, you know, this isn't at all what I expected. This workshop to be. And I was like, oh no, you paid to be here. Oh, right. And they were like, but I've never thought through any of these questions.

This is exactly what I needed. I can figure out how to use a microphone. But I've never thought through these questions. [00:19:00] And I was like, oh, who? The point is, you know, you talk about, or I talk about these content buckets and how do you. I gave you my example of how I use them, but we walked through, I said, I don't want to, let's make up one today, a fictional podcast so you understand what this looks like.

So we did a podcast called Bad Dog, right? And it was a podcast for dog owners who just aren't good at it was kind of how we described this podcast. And you know, not that. It's coming from experience. Um, but anyway, so we were like, what would those content buckets be? And so we talked about things like bad behaviors, um, annoyed neighbors, like how do we handle our neighbors that are annoyed with our dogs?

And then how do we get better as dog owners, right? And so those were kind of the content buckets. And there's all sorts of things you can fill in there. And you don't need three, you can have two, you can have five, whatever. But that was the idea, is to help people think, don't just use my example, that's about podcasting.

What is your podcast about [00:20:00] and what are the buckets that you can start filling with all these topics that you already know or you wouldn't be wanting to start a podcast in the first place. It's just a way to organize thoughts really.

Niall Mackay: That's so helpful, so useful.

 

Niall Mackay: You mentioned about using tools and apps, so, uh, we've already talked about it on this podcast. If you haven't listened, go back and listen to the episode about using AI to boost your podcast.

I use AI now for almost everything. I, I used AI for things. I didn't realize it was using it like I've been using descript for editing for so long now, and I didn't even think about that being an AI driven technology. And it just seems so natural now for me to click a button and I get a transcript. I don't even think of that.

And then I have to remind myself, like when I started that you had to pay somebody a lot of money to physically listen to your episode and transcribe it. And now it just is done [00:21:00] by technology. That's where technology, like, you're like, oh my God, this is, it becomes so normal. So I have used ai, uh, chat, g p t specifically to help me plan out content.

So I train it, give it the information about the podcast, about me, what it's about, and then say, you know, give me some content ideas. And it spits out these ideas, and you're like, yeah, that, that, that's amazing. I could have come up with this, but it would've taken me maybe an hour. You've just done done it in 30 seconds.

Now tell me where are you on the AI scale? Are you using it? If not, and and what tools are you using to help you plan out content?

Hey, sorry to interrupt this episode, but really quickly, I do have to give a shout out to Descript. So if you don't know already, I am an affiliate partner with Descript. And if you go to my episode on my blog about how to monetize a podcast, if you want to learn more about affiliates, you can do that.

It just means that if you sign up for Descript or any affiliate product, I'll get a small commission for that. And you get no extra charge at all. One of the reasons why i became an affiliate with Descript is because [00:22:00] it literally revolutionized podcasting for me. but The studio sound literally means that i can record right here in my living room. And it sounds like we're in a studio i can edit out all the filler words i can go through and add compression, EQ i can add video, GIFs, Everything you're seeing and hearing is from Descript. The link is in the show notes go check it out there's a free version on there you can try it out for free if you're not already using it and if you do sign up you'll be supporting the show because I'll get a small commission so it's a win-win for everyone all right let's go back to the episode

Now tell me where are you on the

AI scale? Are you using it? If not, and

and what tools are you using to help you plan out content?

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, well, what people might not know is that Niall is purely ai. Like this is an AI hosted podcast. Uh, no, not true, So I am just dabbling with ai, so I'm kind of on the scale of, if you're [00:23:00] like a hundred percent in, I'm probably 25% and I'm moving more that way. I have found it very helpful. I just recently started using descript again. Uh, thought I'd give it another go, and I've been really impressed, honestly. Um, so I'm using AI for more. I think that, you know, the, the tools that I use, I, I think just simply are notes, a notes app on my phone, a, a notebook, just writing ideas down. Um, I typically always have my iPad with me.

So just some, some way to take old school notes as you have ideas or, cuz there's so many ideas, there's so many questions I get if I don't write it down. I lose it. Right? And I forget. So don't lose sight of just old school technology, pen and paper. When you have ideas, write it down if you don't have another option.

Uh, but I have gone the route of chat, G p T and A. Again, same thing that you mentioned, typing in the name of your show, the description of your show, and just saying, Hey, give me [00:24:00] 20 podcast topics. For new podcasters. So that's a pretty broad one. And I could get about 12 decent ones out of that, right? That I, I have to filter through, like, does this fit my audience?

Does this fit in one of these buckets? If, if not, I'll throw it out and maybe come back to it later.

Niall Mackay: I love what you said there, and I think this is where people need to embrace ai, but realize it's not going to replace what you do. It's just going to speed it up so much.

So you mentioned there that you know, you put it in, it gives you the ideas, but then you still have to filter it and you still have to be look at my buckets and be like, okay, where does that fit in What bucket? So it's no, it's nowhere near, and I don't know if it'll ever get to this stage, and I don't think we would want it to.

It's not going to be like you just press a button and it creates a podcast or you know, I use podcast marketing.ai to create marketing assets. It's not at this stage yet where it's gonna create, you're gonna upload your podcast, you press a button, and suddenly it's gonna post it on social media. Maybe that will come, but I think.

You're always gonna want to double check it. It's always gonna [00:25:00] need that human level. So I think anyone who is, who is weary of ai, there's obviously much bigger conversations to be had about AI in the world, and we're not gonna get into that. But for your podcast, uh, and for my business, it has sped up everything using AI and I, I can't recommend that enough.

Brian Biedenbach: Yeah, 100%. So I just listened to your episode on, uh, ai and so just new insights for me, even in the ways that you're using it, was really helpful for me. Uh, so I'm, I'm diving in a little bit more to figuring out how to use AI a little bit more. So let's say it's just for, maybe, you know, we're talking about planning out content, right?

Um, so maybe it is, I'll get a list of topics. Right from chat g p t, I'll filter 'em, I'll put 'em in these buckets and I'll go, okay, which one do I want to do? And so then I move it to a, uh, more of a planning app. I use Trello. Uh, I don't know. Are you familiar with Trello? Um, it's, it really, it, it's, uh, [00:26:00] a project management.

It's a free app or a free free website. You can get an app on your phone or whatever. And it's project management, but I, I don't use it. Well, for project management, all I do is to organize my thoughts. So you drop a, you know, I have a, a list of, these are ideas. These are ideas that will be videos. These are ideas that will just be audio podcasts and then, The, these are ideas that I've filmed, I've recorded, they're done and they're over.

And so you just create these little cards, these electronic cards. I put the title of, let's Say, how to Get Your Podcast on Apple Podcast Connect might be the title of one. And then so that it's, the title's really clear and then you click on it and it expands and you, I just put notes in there. So I may not record this one for, you know, a month or two, but when I come back, I have really good notes of.

I know where to find it and I know the notes that I've had and maybe I've learned something since I wrote those down and I can [00:27:00] add to it and build it out. So do I do it well? I don't know that I do it really well, but those are some of the, the simple tools, free tools that I use just to try and organize my thoughts so when I sit down again to press record, I know where I'm going with this particular episode cuz I know I've been thinking about it for a while.

Niall Mackay: Perfect. It's so, uh, uh, I hope people listening, they see themselves. Either they're gonna be like, yeah, I'm Team Brian, or I'm team Niall, or they're gonna be somewhere in between. Probably best, uh, to be more like Brian, I would say. And I love the

Brian Biedenbach: know about that.

Niall Mackay: I love. The old school, you said like, oh, just taking notes.

But it's overlooked by even people like myself, anyone who's like me, they're probably not doing that. So that seems so simple, but such a fantastic piece of

advice. think we both have notebooks in front of us tonight, right? We're both talking taking my notes right now. Exactly.

 Make sure you follow Smarter Podcasting [00:28:00] wherever you get podcasts, obviously Spotify, apple Podcasts, all of that stuff.

You can check out my website, Seven Million Bikes dot com. the blog on there. We're updating that every week with more and more information, so that will hopefully be able to help you out on your podcasting journey.

 Now, if you are just starting out and you're ready to start sharing your story and launch your own podcast, Don't let fear, lack of knowledge, or any of these technical barriers hold you back. I started a comprehensive course called How to Start a Podcast. Get your voice out and share your story that will help you take the first steps towards creating a successful podcast that reaches and resonates with your audience.

You'll also gain exclusive tips, tricks, and a whole host of things, including things like a guest prep form, an intro template, show notes template and, and way, way more that will help you stand out from the crowd and grow your. You can get all of this today and you can start your [00:29:00] podcast now . The link is in the description for this episode.

So thanks very much and I'll see you soon. Cheers.