Create 20 Content Ideas for Your Podcast, Fast!

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Hey Friend!

Have you ever gotten stuck knowing what to talk about on your podcast? Do you ever find yourself running out of content ideas? If so, you are not alone. In fact, this is the number one issue I’ve found my clients face. In this blog and podcast episode, I give you my top tips and strategies to plan your content and create 20 new content ideas in 20 minutes or less! It’s so simple and quick that you’ll never want another method. 

20 Content Ideas in 20 Minutes or Less

Why plan your content?

First, why do we put so much time and energy into creating content? Creating content, particularly in the form of a podcast, is a great way to create an organic, evergreen funnel that acts as the first touch point for people to find you. It allows you to grow an engaged and authentic audience that you can convert to email subscribers, new leads, Facebook group members, and ultimately purchasers. The secret is to have fun and authentically communicate with your audience through quality content on your show which is why we need to plan out what we’re going to say. 

Plan your content strategy:

Grab some paper and a pen, or a blank doc on your computer or phone, and get ready for a simple, fun brainstorming exercise! Remember, this content doesn’t have to be for your podcast; it can also be used for video, blogs, or even social. To start with, write 1-20 down your page, and add the content ideas to the list as we go. 

Problem solving content ideas:

Step 1: Write down who you are serving (who do you plan your content for?)

Write a couple of sentences about your niche market. For example, my avatar is called Lola (I named her), and she’s around 35-37 years old. She’s got three kids and is trying to start and scale an evergreen, organic, online business, but she wants to do it authentically, not using ads.

Step 2: What problems does your ideal listener face? These are great content ideas!

Next, write down ten problems that are keeping your person stuck. There should be ten issues that are affecting them right now. These might be words or whole sentences, whatever describes the issues the best.

For example, my person struggles with: 

1. Analysis paralysis; she over analyzes everything.
2. Fear of judgment; if she goes all-in on her dream, who will judge her? Is she going to fail?
3. How can she create revenue? She’s desperate to make money before cultivating trust.
4. What medium to use? Should she do video or podcasting? 
5. Believes she needs a stellar website and email marketing to build her audience (spoiler, false!)
6. Unwilling to invest in herself, she doesn’t want to get help, courses, or coaching to learn what she needs to know
7. She is overwhelmed and overworked, making it hard to create the time and space her business needs.
8. Afraid to ask for help from her spouse and others 
9. Comparisonitis, she is constantly comparing herself to everyone else’s success
10. She has no idea how to partner with God and His plans for her business

You don’t want to go all tactical then all emotional and then all resource driven. You want to sprinkle your content ideas around and embed them together.

– Stefanie Gass

Step 3: Write out a solution for each of those 10 problems

Next to your list of problems come up with a solution for each one. How can you help your audience overcome that specific problem? 

For example, problem #9 on my list is comparisonitis. So I might do an episode on how to beat comparisonitis, put your head down, and get to work. This episode could be for Youtube or on my podcast; pick the best platform for you. I love podcasting, but what really matters is the content and speaking to something which helps your avatar.  

Congratulations! You’ve completed your first 10 content ideas.

Emotional content ideas:

Step 4: Write down three emotions your avatar is feeling

Now we are going to dig into the emotional side of our person. What is our avatar feeling? We’re aiming for negative emotions, things we can help them with. 

For Lola, I know she is:

1. Overwhelmed
2. Defeated 
3. Unmotivated 

Step 5: What solutions can you offer them?

How can you help? Next to the emotions, write down your solutions to the things she is feeling. How can you help her to navigate, heal or grow? How can you take her from a negative emotional space to a more positive space? 

For example, to combat Lola being overwhelmed, I could do an episode on three simple hacks to beat overwhelm. It might include; asking for help, implementing a morning and evening routine, and beginning to time block. 

Or, if I’m trying to stop her from feeling defeated, I need to help her have realistic expectations. So I’d do an episode on super-fan calculations (this is one of my actual episodes) to help her know how many sales to expect each month. I’d also plug my podcasting course, Podcast Pro University, because I know that the solution for audience creation (part of battling defeat) is creating a podcast. And once you’ve got your podcast, you can embed your marketing into your episodes. 

Commit to playing the long game for the most profitable business!

You’re not going to make money overnight; the entrepreneurial process is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Building a profitable business takes a lot of time, energy, and effort. That’s why podcasting is incredibly critical! It allows us to grow an authentic audience, build trust and a relationship, and eventually give us a platform to market and sell products to our super-fans. 

It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to build a profitable business.

– Stefanie Gass

Congratulations! You’re now up to 13 episode ideas.

Content ideas about your passions:

Continuing down our list, next to numbers 14, 15, and 16, on the left side of the page, write down three things you are super passionate about that can help your avatar. These might be tools, resources, books, people like a coach or mentor, a program, a planner, a journal, etc. Pick your top three things, people, podcasts, or books that you are passionate about and know will help your audience. 

Next to each item, write down how you can propose it in a way that benefits both you and your avatar. 

For example, I’m super in love with my Seasons of Soap Bible study. It’s been so incredible I KNOW that my Lola needs it. I might do a mini-episode on Bible study made easy, explaining why I love this study so much. An example of this is Devotionals, Bibles & Spending Time with God! Where to Start!

Or you could do a book review of your three favorite books you read recently. When I’ve done this, I gave a recap of the books and explained how they impacted me. 

Congratulations! You now have 16-episode ideas.

Ideas on how to make money on a podcast:

For ideas 17 and 18 we are going to pick two things that make you money while solving your avatar’s problems. 

Some suggestions are: 

• Coaching: do you offer coaching services that you could advertise? 
• Affiliate marketing: can you be an affiliate for your favorite course, app, or even Bible study? 
• Program: Do you run a program that would solve your audience’s problems? 
• Course: Have you created a course that could help your avatar? 

If you only have one option, don’t worry; just write that down. If you don’t have anything to make you money (or only have one option), it’s a great idea to look into becoming an affiliate for someone. I’ve done plenty of episodes on this; check out these to get you started: 

Should You Affiliate Market a Course or Create Your Own? 

How I Made 4K in Affiliate Revenue Last Month! 4 Steps to Ramping Up Your Affiliate Income

Imposter Syndrome, Get Over Fear, Affiliates, Batching – Podcast Live Q&A

How to create podcast episodes that make you money: 

If you offer coaching, you could frame the episode around why investing in yourself will 10K your profit. You could also include an idea of the value of investing in ourselves and pitch your coaching services. 

When talking about offering a course, Podcast Pro University, for example, I might do a topic on the number one way to drive a thriving organic audience which is podcasting. I spend the whole episode talking about podcasting and pitching my course during the show. 

The easiest way to make money podcasting is to have super-specific episodes to what you do and what you offer; it makes it tons easier to add in your offers. That being said, you can lightly promote what you sell in most, if not all of your content, but it is important sometimes to have an entire episode on what you offer as implementation. It doesn’t matter if it’s coaching, a course, affiliates, or a program. 

Congratulations! You’re nearly there; that’s 18-episode ideas.

Use upcoming dates, holidays, and seasons for content ideas:

For your last two content ideas, think about what upcoming dates, holidays, milestones, or goals you can get your audience excited about. 

In my market, two things are coming up. 

1. I’m speaking at an event on December 5th. I will start talking about the event and encouraging people to go. 
2. End of the year. This is a big one with end-of-year planning, goal setting, and vision casting. There’s a lot of work in wrapping up the old year and moving into the new. 

Other things to consider: 

• Do you have a launch coming up? If you do, start planning the content in the lead-up to support whatever you are launching. 
• Are there any upcoming events your audience participates in? This could be actual events like a speaking engagement or more general things like back-to-school or school holidays.
• What holidays are approaching? Christmas? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Is there some way this could link to your target audience? If you talk about crafts, maybe it’s Christmas decorations or Halloween crafts. Or, if you do meal prep, you might talk about holiday weight gain and how meal prepping can help. 

Finally, write these last two ideas on your page in your last two spots.

Congratulations! You made it! 20 content ideas ready to go! 

Bonus tip: Most profitable time to podcast (now that you’ve got your content ideas!)

January and February are typically the highest revenue months for podcasting. People are ready to get their lives together and start the new year well. They’re excited to spend money, making it a great time to launch, whether that’s your coaching, program, a relaunch, or a promotion. 

The best way to prepare for that is to double down on your podcasting funnel. If you haven’t started one yet, this is the best time! Things have started to slow down, and business tends to breathe a bit over October, November, and December. It’s a great time to use this content you have planned, batch out all 20 episodes, and launch into the new year with an evergreen audience growth driver. 

Your 20 podcast content ideas are ready for implementation!

So, there you have 20 planned content ideas to kickstart your planning. Mix these up and shuffle them around until you find a flow that works for you and your audience. You also don’t have to use these just for podcasting; you can also repurpose these ideas for other platforms such as blogging, video, or even social media. Just get out there and start creating content! 

What was your favorite or most helpful prompt? Let us know in the comments below. We love to hear from you!

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

P.S. Listen to podcast episode 216 for the full training on how to create 20 new content ideas for your podcast, blog, or video platforms in 20 minutes or less!

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RELATED EPISODES:

QUICK TIP: How to Know if Your Podcast Content Pillars are Working!

Imposter Syndrome, Get Over Fear, Affiliates, Batching – Podcast Live Q&A

Should You Affiliate Market a Course or Create Your Own?

How to Maintain Podcast Growth and Plan Content That Will Drive Momentum During Down Months!

Planning your podcasts and Creating a Content Strategy in 4 Easy Steps

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Are you ready to build a profitable online business in less than two hours a week, using podcasting?

Frequently Asked Questions

How much money does it cost to start a podcast?

Starting a podcast is inexpensive! You should invest in a cord mic like a Yeti and hosting software like Podbean. I would also follow a step-by-step framework like Podcast Pro University to launch a podcast with success. You’re looking at between $150-$700 maximum one-time investment to start a podcast!

What’s the best way to start a podcast?

Get clear on your niche, pick a SEO keyword-rich podcast title, get clear on who you’re serving and do some market research. Then, follow my free step-by-step plan like the one at https://podcastlaunchchecklist.gr8.com/.

Can I make my own podcast cover?

I do not recommend it unless you are a graphic designer. The art of your podcast is like the cover to your book. Want to be a best seller? Then you should invest in professional quality art.

What are the biggest mistakes podcasters make when starting a podcast?

When launching a podcast, people often make the mistake of having too large of a niche, not choosing an SEO specific podcast title, not being consistent, and overpaying for editing and equipment. Keeping it simple, streamlined and consistent is key.