Don't Diary of a CEO! Instead, Sugarhill Gang your podcast!

You've probably heard that Rapper's Delight by the Sugar Hill Gang was the first ever hip hop record.

Except it wasn't.

There was a gospel group called the Jubilees who actually recorded a rap style hit back in 1946.

And then he decided to destroy the land.

He spoke to Noah.

Noah stopped.

He said, noah, I want you to build me an ark.

I want you to build it three Cuban long.

I want you to build it big and strong.

And here's the thing.

Absolutely nobody remembers them because being first doesn't actually matter.

Being the one who cuts through, that does.

And right now, there are too many podcasters busy trying to be the next Diary of a CEO.

Spoiler alert.

That's never gonna work.

Welcome back to another episode of Podcasting Insights with me, the podmaster.

I'm Neil Valio, and today we're talking why copying your favorite big name podcaster is a dead end.

Instead, I'm going to explain to you how you can find your own Rapper's delight moment, that thing that makes your podcast impossible to ignore.

So here is the trap that so many podcasters fall into.

I'm just going to do my own version of Die of a CEO with a insert thing here twist.

But Stephen Bartlett already exists, sadly.

He's got marketing, muscle, distribution, and an army of fanboys and girls clipping his content for TikTok and all the socials, and you don't.

So if you try and play in his stadium with his fans, you're never gonna be more than the Primark version, the support act, the one everyone talks through because they're just not interested.

Now, don't get me wrong, you don't need to invent a completely new genre of podcasting, but you do need to bring something distinct that connects with your audience in the right now.

That's why Rappers Delight broke through.

They weren't the first to ever rap, but they packaged it in a way that made people of the time stop, listen and say, oh, this is something new.

And that's the lesson.

It's not about being first.

It's not about copying.

It's about knowing how to approach the same thing and cut through.

Here's the mistake that most podcasters are making all the time.

They think that being different means asking different questions, maybe going quirky, but it doesn't.

It's not about what you ask.

It's about how you frame that conversation.

Imagine instead of playing interviewer, you played co conspiratorial.

Instead of saying, tell me about your journey, you say, let's Assume I'm your most cynical customer.

How will you convince me you're not full of shit?

Or you strip away the pretense and start with, look, here's the elephant in the room.

Everyone thinks people in your industry are absolute shills.

What do you say to that?

It's not just a different question, it's a totally different posture, and it turns the conversation into something raw, real, and pretty difficult to replicate.

That is your rapper's delight moment.

Not a gimmick, a shift in how you are showing up as the host.

So your audience leans in and says, wow, I've never heard it done like this before.

If this has given you pause for thought, make sure you drop in through the contact form at Podmastery Co contact and let me know what you're gonna do.

If you to make your podcast have its rapper's delight moment, here's something you can try this week.

I'm calling it Flip the Format.

So, in other words, take one element of your show, the intro, the questions, the structure, and then flip it.

In other words, if you normally introduce your guest first, don't.

Instead open with the most surprising or controversial thing that they said.

Lead with the tension instead of the small talk.

Then check your retention rate data to see if you get a bump and let me know if you do.

So.

I've actually got two this week.

First up is Sarah in Bristol.

Hi Neil.

Your episode Love youe Haters Turning Critics into youo Podcast's Secret Weapon really hit home for me.

I'd just had a brutal Apple podcast review come in.

One star and a comment.

She sounds like she's recording in a tin can.

Normally that would have destroyed my week, but after listening to you talk about how critics can actually highlight your blind spots, I went back and I checked the audio for myself.

And sure, it turns out that my cheap USB mic is picking up way more room noise than I'd realized because I hadn't listened to many episodes.

I've upgraded, tightened my editing, and I'm looking forward to my latest reviews mentioning how much better the show sounds instead of sulking.

I do owe that grumpy listener a thank you.

And I owe you one too.

Cheers, Sarah.

Thank you so much for your email.

That's exactly the spirit.

Sometimes your haters do you the biggest favor, even if they don't actually mean to.

And then here's one from Colin in California, who I will disclose in full transparency.

Colin is a client.

I've known him for a couple of years.

Hey Neil, this is Colin True from The Rock Fight podcast.

You know, the podcast that aims for the head.

You can find us over at rockflight Co for anyone listening.

And hey, listen, I want to reach out because I was listening to your podcast that you had a couple of weeks ago about the haters and how you need to embrace the haters.

And I wanted to say this because in the past three days I've had four other incidents and it's almost worse than the haters or the critics because these folks are our, quote, helpful listeners.

These are those who send over unsolicited topics or ideas for the podcast or things that you should, you know, quote, consider or the things that you should talk about based off of a recent topic.

And I honestly struggle more with these emails than the haters because they are so well intended.

These are people who love the show, who really want to write in, but they're also very self centered.

This is the old, hey, this is the story I want to hear on your podcast and you should give it to me.

But it's because they're from a fan of the show that you really can't get that pissed at them for sending it in yet.

It's still pretty irritating.

It drives me fucking insane.

But it also brings me gratitude that they're listening.

It's a good problem to have, but it doesn't mean that I like getting those emails.

What do you think, Neil?

Yeah, this is quite a common thing actually, where people's babies are basically how they're presented to the outside world are questioned.

It's like literally like if you're walking your baby down the street in the pram and someone says, oh, your baby's cute, but you should be dressing them in slightly different clothing, it's going to hurt.

It attacks the central core of your insides.

I think the only way of dealing with that really is to just thank them for their feedback, acknowledge it, and come from a place of empathy where you know they're only trying to help.

They've got good intentions, but sometimes it comes off wrongly.

The important thing is at the end of it, you need to have them feel that they've done something nice and that it's been well received because otherwise they're going to get defensive.

And if you want to contribute in the same way that Sarah and Colin have in this episode, then make sure you drop me a voicemail or send me an email.

The URLs podmastery co voicemail Podmastery co contact.

So I hope you've enjoyed this episode.

And here's the big takeaway.

Don't worry about being first.

Don't waste time copying what's already out there.

Focus on being the one who cuts through the noise with your version of Rapper's Delight.

Thanks again for listening to Podcasting Insights with me, the Podmaster.

Make sure you're following the show.

Drop me your feedback and I'll catch you on the next episode.

Podcasting Insight.