In this episode, we dive into picking a topic and niche for your podcast. More at www.bemovingforward.com.
Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Part 1: Poshmark update – inventory report feature
As I mentioned last week, I’m continuing to work on Poshmark, growing my dad’s online presence. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m continually amazed at the new features the platform has been adding to enhance its CRM functionality.
If you’re running a Poshmark store and growing it with new inventory, then you’ll definitely want to take advantage of this new feature. You can now order an inventory report.
To access: Go to your Account Tab > My Seller Tools > My Inventory Report
Poshmark will generate a spreadsheet with your inventory including title and category.
As we’ve grown our store to close to 1000 listings, one of the challenges we face is making sure the inventory is current and accurate. Since my dad’s primary business is a brick and mortar store, we have to stay on top of which items sell in-store that we also have listed on Poshmark. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been doing inventory spot checks and cleaning up listings that have been sold in-store that we missed or squashing duplicate listings (items we’ve accidentally listed twice).
As you grow your Poshmark business, inventory management will become an important part of your daily and quarterly routine. Start early by making sure you tag items with style or code numbers. You can add these to the inventory spreadsheet that you now have access to or incorporate into the listing name so it automatically appears.
Unfortunately, inventory description is not included which is where we usually tag items with identifiers. Still, having a quick way to generate an inventory list is fantastic and a must for any Poshmark seller.
For more on Poshmark, check out the full mini-series available at:
Part 2: Picking a topic and niche for your podcast
Today, we’re going to dive into picking a topic for your podcast. If you followed last week’s episode and assignment, you should have come up with an exit of how many episodes your show will be and episode length so that production fits into your already busy schedule.
But, we haven’t figured out what you’re going to podcast about!
I recommend, follow an exercise I talked about for the book writing mini-series.
Ideation
Start by writing out on a whiteboard or large sheet of paper all of the topics you’re interested in and a list of skills or hobbies you’re really good at. See if you can find a nice cross match.
Example 1: you love The Game of Thrones and are really good at sewing. You might cross-reference the two and come up with a show about the costumes on GOT.
Example 2: you want to launch a business podcast but that alone is very generic. If you also love to cook, cross-reference the two and you may come up with a unique spin such as what people eat and drink or their general meal habits in different business environments.
The weirder and the more offbeat the better. These days, the podcast landscape is so crowded that you’ll likely find 50 shows already on GOT or business development. Try to identify a unique niche, a kernel that is your own.
Iterate, iterate, iterate
Now that you have your topic, take another piece of paper or start over on your whiteboard. Put the topic in the middle and start drawing out branches. Bubble out the different issues, questions, subtopics within your main one that you want or could talk about. If you picked a topic you love, this should be easy. If the topic was so-so, you’ll run out fast and hit a wall. If that happens, start over until you find a topic you really like.
Your topic should look like a wagon wheel with spokes coming out of it from all sides with lots of different issues, questions, and thoughts. Many of these can be translated into specific episodes or episode sets.
Why are you doing this?
Make sure to write out some goals for doing a podcast. This is a good spot check to make sure you really want to commit to doing this. Try to have several strong ones that will keep you motivated.
Tip: making money or building a large following are fine but have goals beyond that. If those are your only two goals with launching a podcast, stop and do something else or come back when you have other goals that motivate you. Fun, personal satisfaction, continual learning or sharing your expertise are just some additional goals that are attainable, doable and will keep you engaged in the long game.
Homework
Start the ideation process. Narrow down a topic, ideally one that blends a passion with an expertise. Iterate it out and list out some big goals that motivate you to launch this podcast.
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Part 3: What I’m reading
How Not To Die Alone by Richard Roper (****). Although the title sounds morbid, it’s really a delightful and surprisingly light-hearted novel set in London. The story revolves around Andrew who works as an inspector or assessor for people who have passed away, helping find their next of kin and making funeral arrangements. He’s also living a lie, telling his office mates that he’s married with a family when in fact, he lives alone. He meets Peggy, a new person who joins his workplace, and the two share some chemistry. Things get complicated as the two are drawn to one another. A complex, fun, and moving story.
Books by John
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