â One show. 17 different hooks.
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Hi friends, One of the most frustrating situations as a podcaster is this: Youâve got verifiably great contentâwhich you know based on regular listener feedback⊠But you canât for the life of you figure out how to talk about your show in a compelling way. And so you end up stuck in a situation where once people listen, they binge through your entire back catalogue and become superfans of the show⊠But getting people to listen in the first place is like pulling teeth. This is the exact situation one of my clients, Matt, was in when we first connected. Matt is the host ofThe Maverick Show, a travel podcast he'd been running for 7 years, that could be described as follows:
The Maverick Show is a global travel podcast featuring intimate, unfiltered conversations (often over a bottle of wine) with digital nomads, worldschooling families, women and diaspora storytellers, and human rights advocates who share real travel stories that are funny, moving, and deeply human.
Stylistically, Matt thinks of his show as âThe Tim Ferriss show for travelâ â think long-form, wide-ranging, in-depth conversations about travel. Now, from the outside, the show sounds interesting enough. But if youâre familiar with the travel category, youâll know that there are dozens of shows that all employ the same format (long-form interviews) to interview the same types of guests (travelers, digital nomads, world-schooling families, etc). In other words, Matt was in the same situation as many hosts struggling to grow their shows:
Meaning his growth was always going to be capped at some small percentage of the generic âlong-form travel interviewâ audience. The situation was particularly frustrating for Matt since he and I have a mutual friend with a very similar show... But gets roughly 25x more downloads (and earns multiple six-figures a year from sponsorships). The difference? Our friend started his show way back in 2013, when he sucked up market share and built momentum as one of the only travel shows in existence. And as is always the case, you can't beat the incumbent simply by doing the same thing they did. Which is why Matt came to me for help. After completing an X-RayAudit of Mattâs show, it was clear that while the content probably did deserve more than the ~1,000 plays/ep he was currently getting, there were a number of issues that were holding the show back The packaging (show name and cover art) were obvious growth-killers. But the bigger underlying issue was clearly the show concept. In a crowded space with big incumbents, plus a growing number of newer, more slickly packaged shows from major travel brands like CondĂ© Nast and National Geographic, an undifferentiated long-form interview podcast that you needed to listen to several hours of to get and see the value in⊠wasnât going to cut it. Mattâs problem, like all long-form podcasts, is that while listeners come back to shows based on the quality and experience of the content⊠Listeners click into and click playon shows based on the showâs hookâa split-second, subconscious assessment they make almost without thinking. The show either grabs them or it doesnât. Simple as that. Mattâs challenge then was this: Find a way to wrap his existing focus and format in a premise that differentiated the show and grabbed potential listeners immediately. To reiterate: Matt was not interested in changing up his format or subject matter. Simply weaving in a premise that made the show more marketable. With this goal in mind, Matt got to work. Over the course of several weeks, I challenged Matt to come up with as many potential concept ideas as he could. And Matt didnât disappoint. The first 5 or 10 were pretty generic, slight variations on his existing concept and pitch. But when I pushed him to expand, something clicked. On the next weekly group workshopping call for my 1:1 clients, Matt showed up with 9 new potential concepts. Then, the next week, he showed up with 8 more. Theyâre not all great, but there are at least a handful that Iâand other folks who were on the callsâimmediately gravitated to and which I think have serious growth potential. While Matt hasnât yet pulled the trigger on which new concept heâs going to run with, heâs given me permission to share the list of potential concepts heâs brainstormed, which you can read through below. Keep in mind that most of these donât require him to reinvent his show. Most of these concepts are still long-form interviews with long-term travelers, digital nomads, etc⊠Just with a way sharper, hookier premise. And a whole lot more growth potential. Have a read through Mattâs concepts, then hit reply with which one or two stand out to you.
âBelonging Elsewhereâ is a travel podcast that explores how people construct identity and community in places far from âhomeââand what it means to belong in a globalized world.
In each episode, hear travel stories of self-discovery, evolving identities, building solidarity, and reclaiming space.
âBorderless Conversationsâ is a travel podcast where each episode explores the politics of place through intimate dialogues with travelers, migrants, and digital nomads who are rewriting what it means to belong across borders and identities.
âElsewhere, I BecameâŠâ is a travel podcast where in each episode the guest completes the sentenceââElsewhere, I becameâŠââand shares how 3 particular places transformed them, opened them, or helped them reclaim part of themselves.
âRewriting the Mapâ is a travel podcast with fresh takes on place-making and global imagination where in each episode guests share how they are challenging inherited narratives and reimagining geographyâfrom Afro-diasporic repatriation to queer cartographies of freedom.
âNeither Here Nor Thereâ is a podcast that explores the liminal spaces of belonging, migration, and movement where in each episode the guest reflects on feeling caught between geographies, cultures, or life stages and explains how they navigate both the existential and political dimensions of the nomadic lifestyle.
âCartographies of Selfâ is a podcast that reframes geography as autobiography where in each episode the guest âmapsâ the places that shaped them personally and politically.
âBecoming Borderlessâ is a travel podcast that where in each episode the guest traces how they unlearned nationalism, broke through cultural silos, and began seeing the worldâand themselvesâdifferently.
âHome Is a Verbâ is a podcast that reimagines home not as a place but a practice where in each episode guests unpack how they construct a sense of rootedness while in motion.
âBorderless Storytellingâ is a travel podcast that fosters nuanced storytelling from marginalized or misunderstood perspectives where in each episode guests share travel journeys that resist or complicate the national and identity frames imposed on them.
âGeographies of Becomingâ (A) is a travel podcast about how landscapesâurban, rural, and ancestralâshape who we are. Through layered storytelling each guest reflects on how particular geographies have challenged, healed, or redefined them, as personal evolution is fused with the power of place.
âGeographies of Becomingâ (B) is a travel lifestyle podcast where each episode tells the story of a long term world traveler who became who they are by leaving where they were. Across countries, crises, love stories, failures, and awakenings, the guest traces how each place shaped a different version of themselvesâand what they now understand about identity, belonging, and the world.
âTravel Stories from the In-Betweenâ is a podcast where guests reflect on living between borders, languages, cultures âor between versions of themselves. Emotional, unexpected, and profoundly human, each episode centers travel stories that challenge mainstream narratives to showcase the power and purpose of living (and finding belonging) âbetween worldsâ.
âFound in Translationâ is a travel lifestyle podcast where guests reflect on what theyâve gained~~ânot lostâ~~by navigating cross cultural connections around the world. Human, humble, and often hilarious, each episode fosters nuanced storytelling and celebrates the beauty of connecting across difference.
âThe Atlas Reimaginedâ is a travel podcast where every guest explores specific pieces of the map based on meaning: places that liberated them, broke them, or opened their eyes. These long-form interviews chronicle the cities that changed them, the borders they crossed, and the ways their worldview shifted as a result. Each episode draws out insights about our world and explores immersive travel as a catalyst for both inner and outer transformation as the atlas of their life becomes a new geography of meaning.
âWandering with Purposeâ is a podcast that explores long-term intentional travel as a means of self-inquiry, activism, and impact. Through their travel stories, guests reflect on mobility as a conscious act of becoming and a means of global solidarity, rather than just a lifestyle aesthetic. Like a personal travel memoir in real time, each episode unpacks years of traveling by people who werenât just wandering aimlessly or running awayâthey were walking toward something.
âRooted in Motionâ (A) is a travel lifestyle podcast featuring guests whoâve let go of traditional societal anchors to travel the world. In each episode guests share travel stories and reflect on how theyâve built rootednessânot in one place, but in relationships and valuesâwhile living itinerant lives. Learn how travel can be used to re-discover your sense of self and how identity, meaning, and community can be constructed across ever-shifting geographies.
âRooted in Motionâ (B) is a narrative podcast where each episode chronicles how the guest built meaning, community, and valuesânot in one place, but across years of world travel. Guests share the personal evolution behind their nomadic choices, and the rituals, people, and principles that kept them grounded through change. If you want to hear me break down what works and what doesnât about these various concepts, you can check out the recording from one of the calls where Matt presented these concepts here. And if you're interested in my help to sharpen your own show concept , starting next week, Iâm running a 4-week concept development accelerator program. It's called Craft Your Killer Concept. Here's how it will work: First⊠Weâll start by understanding the Concept Mechanics and listener psychology behind how podcasts actually grow⊠and the specific Conversion Triggers your podcast must contain to turn listeners into buyers. Next⊠Weâll analyze your market to identify your unique âwedge opportunitiesâ to gain a foothold as a must-listen show for a segment of the market⊠and develop a personalized rubric of how to position your show to grow fast (no matter how crowded your category). Then⊠Iâll help you rapidly develop several dozen concept ideasâranging from small but powerful tweaks to your existing show to radically different angles youâve never consideredâwhich youâll then whittle down to a handful of your favourites for audience testing so you know with 100% certainty that your new concept is marketable, all based on a clever, single sentence pitch. And finally⊠Weâll take your top three concepts and flesh them out into an engaging, easy-to-make episode template, weaving in your core brand messaging, Conversion Triggers, and a series of listener attraction and retention hooks. The result? By the end of four weeks, youâll have dialled in a truly killer show concept that is primed to become the go-to show in your niche (and a major revenue generator for your business). This is the first time Iâm teaching this material in a group program, and I want to make sure everyone gets significant personal feedback and support from me. For that reason, Iâm placing a strict cap of just 10 spots available in this group. The deadline to enroll is Tuesday, February 10th, at 11:59 PM Pacific. Or when the 10 spots fill up. Iâve put all the program details on the product page below. Check it out here: đ Craft Your Killer Concept. If you have any questions, hit reply and send them my way. Iâll be reading and responding to all of them.
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