Why You Shouldn’t Be Competing with Teens for Attention on Tik Tok

by Graham Brown

How do you build an audience for your message if you’re on the wrong side of 30 years old and in the business of influence?

There’s Tik Tok of course.

But most of those 15-year-old content creators will get more views that you with less resources than you. And if you “Dad dance” like me, you do not look cool. So, to spare myself and the users, I’m not on Tik Tok.

And that’s not a bad thing.

Because when it comes to playing the Casino of Attention, the House always wins.

Tik Tok gives you a lucky streak of views, Tik Tok takes them away again.

[joebox]

That’s a frustrating game that you can’t contol, and you’ll lose as much as you win. What you need to build are assets that last forever, not “shorts” that disappear into the social media firehose for ever.

That’s why my chosen strategy to create thought leadership is podcast guesting.

And here’s why:

1) Podcast Guesting Means SEO Backlinks

Podcasts often include links to a guest's website or social media accounts in the episode description or on a webpage dedicated to the episode. Each time I am featured as a guest on a podcast, the host, as well as platforms like Apple and Spotify, create a web page with my name, the topics discussed, and links to my websites, www.GrahamDBrown.com and www.Pikkal.com.

Appearing on one podcast per week results in 52 discoverable episodes per year. These backlinks can help to increase the visibility and authority of a website, which in turn can improve its search engine rankings.

Building a personal brand is a marathon not a sprint.

Yes, it’s going to take time to start ranking as “that guy” but if you had started this 5 years ago you’d be enjoying the benefits of investing in your brand.

2) Podcast Guesting Means Increased visibility on social feeds

Seeing me consistently appearing on 52 different podcasts with different hosts across your social feeds is great social proof.

• “You know Graham?”
• “No, which Graham?”
• “You know, podcast Graham”.
• “Oh yeah, he’s ‘that guy’ on my social feed”.

That small piece of attention real estate in the mind of your audience is valuable.

Be “that guy” doing “that thing”.

3) Podcast Guesting Helps You Reach Targeted audiences

Audiences today don’t value Leaders based on the size of their following. They value Leaders on their depth.

68% of execs surveyed rated business thought leaders based on their ability to engage and influence their audiences, whereas only 23% rated them based on the size of that audience.

The problem lies in Attention, or lack of it.

You see, the average person unlocks their phone 110 times a day.

Even that word “attention” comes from the latin “tendere” which is the root of modern English words like the muscle “tendon”. Like the muscle, attention is stretched.

Without attention you cannot influence. Without influence you cannot lead or change the minds of your audience. Attention is the new currency of leadership.

To earn their attention you need to something to somebody not everything to everybody. You need to focus on a highly targeted and aligned audience that “gets” your message.

By contrast, TikTok is for broadcasters. This is where people fail at the Thought Leadership game because they bet against The House. You might get a lucky streak (or a “hot hand” as gamblers say) with a few social media posts but tomorrow you’re back to the baseline. In the Casino of modern attention, over the long term, the House always wins.

Podcasts are narrowcast media. They cater to specific interests or industries, which can help to attract a targeted audience to a guest's website. If you’re a Coach, you could choose between Executive Coaching, Sales Coaching or Life Coaching podcasts. You can go even deeper into Leadership Coaching or Performance Coaching. Every audience is distinct. And 200 listeners who are passionate about Leadership Coaching are far more valuable than 20,000 Tik Tokkers who stumbled across your short. Build your audience one person at a time.

4) Podcasts Allow You to Maintain your Peak State

When Podcast Guesting works well, it feels like flying.

Imagine your value as a hot air balloon: instead of trying to forcefully lift it by yanking on the burner, you just need to release the sandbags holding it down.

Often, the "work" involved in creating content can get in the way of our natural ability to connect with our audience. We get too weighed down by the effort of making it happen or editing our message to fit a disinterested audience, preventing us from reaching our full potential.

Hosting your own podcast or creating content on TikTok can be time-consuming, with tasks such as video setup, editing, captions, and deciding on what to talk about.

When you are a guest on a podcast, the host handles most of the work, allowing you to focus on connecting and having meaningful conversations. With the help of a team like Podcast Guesting Pro, you can have your team reach out to hosts, negotiate talking points and even manage your schedule and bookings.

By finding a good podcast that caters to your target audience and a knowledgeable host, the experience stays in that “Peak State” where you perform the best. Peak State really means touching that human experience where you feel connected and in “The Zone” or as psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote “Flow”. These are conversations you have perfected with your clients, prospects, and partners on a daily basis.

5) Podcasts Create Authenticity

Machines and teenage content creators may be able to produce audio content, but they cannot replicate the authenticity of a conversation between two individuals who have known each other for 15 years in the industry.

They are not able to understand and address the specific concerns and challenges faced by buyers, partners, and employees in the same way that someone with experience and knowledge in the field can.

Authenticity actually means “original”.

With the rise of ChatGPT, AI, ML, Deepfake and numerous filters we are struggling to know what is real and what is not. All we know is that there are some things that are hard to fake like a real connection, a real conversation.

What podcasts allow you to do is turn Expert Mode OFF and Empathy Mode ON.

The depth of a podcast conversation combined with the alignment of the audience to the message allows you to lean into their specific problems rather than moderate your experience to reach mass acceptance.

This is where you create thought leadership – not through title but authenticity. A thought leader in their Peak State is someone who has my attention. And the personal who has my attention is the the person I’m listening to now.

And who am I listening to now?

That guy who understands my problem more than the next one.

6) Podcast Guesting is an Effective Way to Perfect your Storytelling

I’ve talked about the Extrinsic motivations for podcast guesting – thought leadership, social proof, authentic content and SEO.

Let me explain.

In the past, starting your own podcast was the best option. However, today, there is a more efficient alternative – taking advantage of existing podcasts through Podcast Guesting. This approach allows you to benefit from the advantages of podcasting without the effort of developing your own audience from scratch. With over 5 million podcasts currently available, there are numerous micro-audiences that can be reached with your message.

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