Gimmicks Are Great, But Is the Real Substance There?

If you have long followed my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast – listened to the show, read the free weekly e-newsletter, and/or followed its official Instagram account – you know that I go out of my way to highlight when I’ve hit a milestone episode, either by its number or an anniversary.

Heck, it was two months ago that I publicly celebrated having hit one thousand episodes hosted in my podcasting career.

This all fits in nicely when I go out on speaking engagements and combine my being a publicist with my being a podcaster when I encourage people to use gimmicks to heighten awareness of these occasions.  I’ll show a picture of a cake decorated by a bakery, with the podcast logo on top and an episode or year number written along with it.

Since it’s professionally done, it obviously looks fantastic.  But what about the substance, meaning, not the taste and flavor of the cake, but what I’m actually promoting, which is the podcast itself?

I see lots and lots (and lots) of social media users putting up some content that (duh) is meant to get your attention in a wee bit of an over-the-top way.  We all want as many eyeballs as we can get on our posts, yet me posting a picture of myself speaking at the monthly Florida Podcasters Association meeting is something I hope people will merely have a typical curiosity about.  But, even though, like Bruce Wayne, I too am Bruce W., I’m not wearing a Batman costume in the hopes of drawing people into the post.

Going to that extreme is too over the top and ultimately has nothing to do with whether I’m a good speaker, what I was talking about, or if attendees found value in the meeting or not.

Let’s face it, we have all seen the video that pulls you in either from a clickbait thumbnail or by starting off seeming interesting, only to ultimately disappoint us and have us exclaim, “Awe, c’mon.  That’s all?!”  We are expecting a return on the time we invested in watching the video.  We don’t want to be sucked in only to find that we’re going to be let down.

Let me be clear that I understand how much competition there is, everywhere.  Whether you’re a YouTuber, a songwriter, a podcaster, an author, a filmmaker, an entertainer – the list goes on – there are countless others doing what you do, so you’re obviously looking for a way to stand out.

I’m thinking of college students saying, “How am I going to get any experience if you don’t hire me to give me experience.”  In other words, if I say to just let the content speak for itself and never mind gambling on some gimmick just to try to lure people in, you’re going to say, “But how do I get them to my content to see/hear my talent in the first place?”

Mind you, this isn’t all about social media.  Think of the guy or gal on the stool at the restaurant who wants people to pay attention to them singing instead of audience members talking to the people they’re eating dinner with?  And consider the book that sits lonely on a bookstore shelf, hoping a reader will pick it up.  Yes, you can post about these things on social media, but you’re promoting talent, not “like my post because I’m good at posting.”

Imagine a chef and/or a new restaurant being shown in a TV interview, a newspaper article, a magazine feature, and on a foodie website.  There is great anticipation because everything seems so appealing, yet the big day comes and the patrons go home disappointed, scurrying for their phones to post on Yelp that the food tasted as though it might as well have been a fast-food joint.  By no means did the results match the expectations.

I can put up all the social media posts or write in my free weekly e-newsletter about having hit a milestone, but if the podcast itself doesn’t entertain listeners and make them want to come back each week, then what good was all the hype?

Here is another application of my using the expression self-audit.  Are you committing the above infraction?  Are you willing to ask someone who will be honest with you if what you’re delivering matches the window dressing you’ve put over it?  Don’t react out of emotion.  Think rationally – both about this challenge as well as if change might be needed.

Now a Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.