Coming Up With Podcast Episode Ideas (5 Easy Steps!)

Summary

This video focuses on the importance of planning the first 10 podcast episode topics or titles early in the creation process. By brainstorming ideas and refining them with tools like ChatGPT, creators can ensure their podcast has a sustainable foundation. The video explains how to categorize topics into content pillars, break ideas into multiple episodes, and select three strong episodes to launch with. The goal is to create a compelling start that attracts listeners and encourages them to become dedicated followers. Releasing multiple episodes initially helps engage new listeners and maximize impact.

Takeaways

• 🎯 **Importance of Planning**: Before starting a podcast, plan your first 10 episodes to ensure the show's sustainability and relevance.
• 🤔 **Brainstorming**: Start by brainstorming all potential topics or titles to generate a wide range of ideas for your podcast.
• 💡 **Utilize AI Tools**: Use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate additional episode ideas based on your initial brainstorming.
• 📊 **Categorize Ideas**: Organize your ideas into categories or content pillars to identify recurring themes and streamline your content strategy.
• 🔍 **Identify Patterns**: Look for patterns in your brainstormed ideas to create a cohesive and focused podcast direction.
• 📈 **Expand Topics**: Consider if any of your topics can be broken down into multiple episodes to provide depth and variety.
• 📅 **Choose Your First Episodes**: Select your first three episodes carefully to represent the overall theme and value of your podcast.
• 🌟 **Representative Episodes**: Ensure the first three episodes are representative of your show to attract and retain listeners.
• 📢 **Launch Strategy**: Consider releasing three episodes at once to hook new listeners and encourage them to explore more of your content.
• 📝 **Document Your Process**: Keep track of your brainstorming and planning process to refine your podcast's direction and content.

Q & A

Why is it important to come up with your first 10 podcast episode topics early in the planning process?

Coming up with your first 10 episode topics ensures that your show is sustainable and provides clarity about the overall direction of your podcast. It helps prevent releasing the wrong type of content and sets the tone for the show.

What should you do if you struggle to brainstorm 10 topics?

If you're struggling, focus on the main problem your podcast or business aims to solve. Breaking down the challenges your audience faces can help spark ideas and create engaging content.

How can AI tools like ChatGPT assist in generating episode ideas?

AI tools like ChatGPT can help you generate additional episode ideas by analyzing your audience and goals. However, it's important to refine your inputs and provide enough context for the tool to better understand your vision.

Why should you categorize your podcast topics into content pillars?

Categorizing topics into content pillars helps you identify recurring themes and ensures your podcast stays focused. It also makes it easier to create cohesive content and spot new ideas within those themes.

What is the advantage of breaking down episode ideas into multiple episodes?

Breaking down episode ideas into multiple parts allows for deeper exploration of each topic, creating more content and avoiding overwhelming your audience with too much information in a single episode.

Why release three episodes on your podcast’s launch day?

Releasing three episodes on launch day increases the likelihood of appealing to a broader audience, giving listeners more options to find something they like. It also encourages binge-listening, which can turn casual listeners into loyal fans.

What should the first three episodes of your podcast focus on?

The first three episodes should be representative of your entire show, with at least one episode explaining the premise of the podcast (if necessary) and others addressing the most pressing problems your audience faces.

How can the initial episodes help convert listeners into customers?

Having multiple episodes at launch increases engagement and leads to binge-listening. Listeners who binge content are more likely to become dedicated fans, and in turn, more likely to buy your products or services.

Why is it essential to think about content pillars early in the planning process?

Identifying content pillars early helps shape the overall structure of your podcast, making it easier to stay organized and consistent. It also ensures that the podcast doesn’t become too scattered by focusing on unrelated topics.

What is a ‘content pillar’ and why is it important for a podcast?

A content pillar is a recurring theme or category that ties your episodes together. It's important because it helps maintain a clear focus and allows listeners to know what to expect, while also offering flexibility to explore new topics within that theme.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Starting a Podcast: Brainstorming Your First 10 Episodes

The speaker emphasizes the importance of generating the first 10 podcast episode ideas or titles early in the planning process. They suggest that if you can't think of 10 topics, the podcast idea may not be sustainable. The brainstorming helps ensure the show's direction and prevents releasing the wrong content. The speaker shares their method of using a spreadsheet with two columns for topics and titles, and advises to write down every idea without judgment. They also recommend using AI tools like ChatGPT to generate more ideas after an initial brainstorm. The speaker discusses categorizing topics into content pillars to understand the show's focus and to ensure consistency. They suggest looking for patterns in the brainstormed ideas to create categories that can be revisited in multiple episodes.

05:01

📈 Structuring Your Podcast with the First Three Episodes

The speaker advises on the strategy for the first three episodes of a new podcast, which should be representative of the entire show. They argue that having three episodes available increases the chance that at least one will appeal to a new listener, potentially turning them into a regular listener or 'binge-listener.' The first episode could be an explanation of the show's premise, and the subsequent episodes should address significant problems faced by the target audience. The speaker encourages engaging with the audience to understand their needs and suggests that podcasters should not delay in considering the content for these critical early episodes, as it can significantly impact the show's success.

Keywords

💡Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio or video file series that users can subscribe to and download to listen to or watch at their convenience. In the context of the video, the term refers to the creator's project of starting a new podcast. The video emphasizes the importance of planning the first 10 episodes as it sets the tone and direction of the show.

💡Episode Ideas

Episode ideas refer to the topics or themes that will be discussed in individual podcast episodes. The script discusses the excitement and stress that can come with brainstorming these ideas, highlighting the necessity of having a clear plan for the initial episodes to ensure the show's sustainability.

💡Brain Dump

A brain dump is a creative exercise where one writes down all thoughts and ideas without filtering or editing. In the script, the presenter suggests doing a brain dump to generate episode ideas, emphasizing the importance of capturing every thought that comes to mind, even if it seems unpolished or incomplete.

💡Chat GPT

Chat GPT is an AI tool that can generate text based on prompts. In the video, the presenter uses Chat GPT to help generate episode titles and ideas by providing it with information about the podcast's audience and goals. This tool is used to stimulate creativity and explore different angles for the podcast content.

💡Content Pillars

Content pillars are the main themes or categories that form the foundation of a podcast's content strategy. The script describes how the presenter categorized their episode ideas into pillars such as mindset, high leverage assets, time, and tools. These pillars help to focus the podcast's content and ensure consistency.

💡Sustainable

In the context of the video, 'sustainable' refers to the ability of a podcast to continue producing content over a long period. The presenter stresses the need for a podcast to have a sustainable topic that can support many episodes, ensuring the show can thrive and grow.

💡Hollywood

The term 'Hollywood' is used as an analogy in the script to illustrate how the entertainment industry changes movie titles multiple times to find the right fit. Similarly, the presenter suggests that podcasters should brainstorm and refine their episode titles and topics to ensure they accurately represent the show's content.

💡Tone

Tone refers to the overall mood, style, or attitude conveyed by the podcast. The script mentions that the list of episode topics sets the tone for the show, implying that the topics chosen will influence how the podcast is perceived by the audience.

💡High Leverage Assets

High leverage assets are resources that yield a high return on investment relative to the effort or cost put into them. In the script, the presenter categorizes these assets, such as podcasts and YouTube channels, as content pillars because they are central to the podcast's focus and message.

💡Bingers are Buyers

This phrase suggests that people who consume multiple episodes of a podcast in a short period ('binge') are more likely to become loyal fans and potentially purchase related products or services. The script uses this concept to argue for releasing three episodes at once to attract and retain listeners.

💡Representative Episodes

Representative episodes are the initial episodes of a podcast that showcase the variety and quality of the show's content. The script advises podcasters to choose their first three episodes carefully to ensure they are diverse and appealing to potential listeners, reflecting the overall theme and value of the podcast.

Highlights

Coming up with podcast episode ideas can be both exciting and stressful.

It's crucial to plan your first 10 episode titles or topics early in the process.

Planning topics early ensures your show will be sustainable.

If you struggle to come up with 10 episode topics, you may need to rethink the show's concept.

Having 10 episode topics helps you understand the overall tone and direction of your podcast.

Starting with topics or titles prevents launching the wrong show direction.

Hollywood often changes the name of a movie multiple times—similarly, having a clear episode list helps finalize your podcast.

Categorizing your episode ideas into content pillars can reveal themes and help organize your show.

Consider breaking down large topics into multiple episodes for a more focused show structure.

Choose three representative episodes to release on your podcast's launch day.

Releasing multiple episodes on launch day increases the chance of appealing to a broader audience.

Listeners are more likely to become fans if they have multiple episodes to explore from day one.

Address the biggest problems your target audience is facing in your first few episodes.

Bingers are buyers: offering multiple episodes encourages binge-listening and engagement.

Refine your episode ideas using AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance and brainstorm more topics.

Categorize ideas into mindset, high-leverage assets, time, and tools to streamline content planning.

Launching with strong, problem-solving episodes helps position your podcast effectively.

Transcripts

let's be honest coming up with podcast

episode ideas can be exciting it could

also be stressful overwhelming

exhausting frustrating but if you're

starting a new podcast like I am right

now you're going to want to come up with

your first 10 episode titles or at least

topics as the very second thing you do

as you are planning your show by the way

for the first thing you do make sure to

go back to the video the day before this

in this

series so why is it important to come up

with your first 10 episode topics or

titles before you do almost almost

anything else first of all so that you

know your show will be sustainable if

you can't come up with 10 topics or

titles you probably need to rethink the

idea for the show because hopefully it's

going to go many many episodes and serve

you really really well second reason to

do this brainstorming of topics and

titles up front because if you don't

then you may end up releasing the wrong

show and I'm going to use Hollywood as

an example for this Hollywood famously

will change the name of a movie four to

five times until you at least know what

your first 10 episodes are going to be

about roughly it's hard to really know

what your show is going to be about so

that's why we want to do this so early

in the process and the third reason to

do this really early on in the process

is to get an overall idea for your show

your list of episode topics is really

what sets the tone of your show so once

you do that then finalizing your title

writing your description scripting an

intro It all becomes way easier but more

importantly the result will be way way

better because you'll have a better

understanding of what you're show is

going to be so let's come up with our

first 10 at least topics and or titles

for our new podcast using these five

steps I don't know why I came over here

and thought I was going to be one of

those cool whiteboard people I'm not I'm

going to go get nerdy in my spreadsheet

I like to have two columns one for topic

and one for title that way if I think of

a title first or I think of a title as

I'm going then I can drop that in there

so the first step is just to do a brain

dub just write down anything and

everything you've been thinking about

anything that pops into your head if

you're struggling with that at all if

this is for your business think about

the problem that your business solves

and focus on pieces of that because

nothing will get somebody's attention

faster than talking about a problem they

have looks at maybe yelling their name

but you get the

[Music]

idea all right I already messed this up

and I want to make sure you don't mess

it up um as you're doing this you really

have to approach it it's just write

everything down there's no bad ideas um

odds are because I'm filming this for

you watching I was probably more

self-conscious than I should have been

now once you've gotten everything out of

your brain everything down even if you

already have 10 take advantage of chat

GPT or your favorite AI tool of choice

so start by telling it about your

audience and your show then put it in

there let chat GPT do its thing so I

said uh podcast to help online

entrepreneurs hold up let's just pause

for a second I want you to know that I

took all the notes for you everything

we're covering in these videos to build

your podcast you can find it in our

profitable podcasters Playbook including

the chat GPT prompt that I use to

generate my episode titles so if you

want to download that get the link in

the description right now all right time

to get this awful Freeze Frame off of my

face let's chat GPT do its thing now as

I scroll through these I'm seeing what I

usually see with this kind of thing on

chat GPT is that it doesn't really fully

understand my vision for the podcast and

that's my fault I did not give it much

to go on so consider refining by telling

it more if it's not quite right so we

did a brain dump of all of our topics

and title ideas then we use chat GPT or

another AI tool to come up with some

more the third thing is categorize your

stuff into categories or content pillars

now I wait to do this until after I've

done my brain dump and use a little bit

of chat GPT because I want to look for

patterns there so I've gone through all

my ideas here and I've looked for themes

that I could do over and over again

places where they tie together and I

came up with mindset um High leverage

assets that's going to be a big part of

what this is about high leverage assets

meaning podcasts YouTube channels

webinars memberships things that the

return on your investment is much higher

what you put into it uh and then time

and then tools is the other one that

I've kind of come up with so that's

where I am for right now your categories

your pillars they're not forever but

it's really good to have an idea up

front what your show is going to be

about and make sure you're not focusing

on 85 different things now once you've

got your categories look at those and

see if any more ideas come out of that

that's the last part of step three step

four is start looking at your ideas and

see if you can break any of them down

into more than one episode The the first

time I did this earlier today my whole

Vision I think for the entire podcast I

was picturing in episode one when truly

it could be spread among multiple

episodes in step five choose what your

first three episodes are going to be if

you have a new show and I'll tell you

how here in just a second but I'm going

to release three episodes the first day

this show comes out which is October

14th I get nervous every time I say that

if it's after October 14th 2024 it's

already out you should be able to find

it here on the YouTube channel or I

didn't get there I want to release three

episodes at once but whether you do that

or not the goal is to have three

episodes that are very representative of

your entire show because rarely is

someone going to listen to one episode

and go oh my gosh I want all the

episodes I want to buy your highest

price thing like it this doesn't happen

that way but with three episodes imagine

you go to discover a new podcast there's

three episodes there well first of all

if there's three different topics

there's a much better chance that one of

them is going to appeal to you right and

then the second reason is if you love

that one you'll probably go ahead and

listen to the next one and then the next

and we always like to say bingers are

buyers so this is a really incredible

opportunity to turn somebody into a

raving fan literally the day your show

comes out so what do you put in the

first three episodes if you have an

episode explaining the show or the

premise of the show which not all

podcasts need in fact I think most don't

but mine is going to this time um then

that's going to obviously be episode one

and then other than that I would look

for the episodes that solve the biggest

problems that your ideal Cent client

customer member or student is facing

right now that's the thing that you want

to get out there and in front of people

what questions do you have about

launching a podcast let me know in the

comments and I'll make a video to answer

them our next step is not one that

podcasters tend to skip but they tend to

wait too long until they think about it

and do it and it's in the video on the

screen right now and if you're an

entrepreneur like I am this could

literally be the difference between your

show succeeding and failing so don't

skip it