How to Become the McDonald's of Your Podcast Genre

When you think of overweight people eating bad food, probably one of

the names that comes to your mind is McDonald's.

Well, today, first of all, I'm gonna tell you what does McDonald's have to do

with podcasting and why they're so popular.

Welcome to your Podcast Consultant. Small lessons

with big value. With more than a

decade of experience and millions of downloads, this

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work with you. He's your podcast consultant,

Dave Jackson. If you're trying to lose

weight, you probably should tune out now because I'm gonna

talk about McDonald's. And I don't know about you, but if I think

about McDonald's, I find myself wanting McDonald's.

But you know and I know that, well, that's not the healthiest thing

to eat, and they're not really known for

their customer service or friendly help. Although, I will say the one at

the end of my street is getting much better in that department.

And, why the heck then are they so

you know, there are better options, probably even cheaper options. It

used to be, well, it was cheap, but not anymore.

And we have been tricked into thinking it's

fast food, but time yourself. The next time you leave the

house, start your, you know, timer on your phone,

drive to McDonald's, wait in the drive through, get home,

come in, and sit down to eat and see how long that is. And my

guess is you probably coulda microwaved something much cheaper

and much faster and probably better for you.

So what does McDonald's have to do with podcasting,

Dave? Why are they so popular? Well,

there's one thing. They are consistent. I

have traveled all over the US talking about podcasting,

and there are times when I'm like, well, I'm looking out the hotel

window, and there it is, the golden arches. And I was like, well,

okay. I do like an Egg McMuffin.

Not so not such a fan of the hash browns because that is just a

sponge in grease, I'm pretty sure. But I'll take a Egg McMuffin.

And that's the thing. It doesn't matter if I'm in California or

Iowa or New York or New Jersey or Florida.

If I go into a McDonald's, I know what I'm gonna get.

And if they have something I like, like an egg McMuffin,

I'm gonna get it. And the other thing they

have that you can't get anyplace else

is McDonald's fries. I laugh every time I see Burger King

or Wendy's. They're like, hey. We've redone our fries

again, and we did a taste test. And people are saying

they're better than McDonald's fries, and then you go, oh, really? Because you you

gotta know. There's that knowledge gap that we talk about. You're like, are they? So

what do you do? You go through Wendy's, you get it, and you go, oh,

these aren't as good. In fact, these are just the same old soapy crappy Wendy's

fries. Yeah. So the only place you can get

McDonald's fries is McDonald's. And for the record, those are

really not healthy for you. I forget. I saw a report where there's, like,

91 different ingredients. You think it'd be, like, potatoes

and salt, and it's not. There's a whole bunch of stuff in

those. And then the other thing, they pump their coke full of

oxygen or something, and then it's served at a really, really

cold temperature. And that, again, is

something you can't get any place else,

and that's important. And it's hard to do if you think

about it. It's hard to come up with content that nobody else has thought

about. But if you can do that on a consistent

basis, you'll become the McDonald's

of your genre, And people will

be pulling into your golden arches to get your stuff, but it

doesn't happen overnight. And it takes a little

experimenting to find out what's the best thing. Even McDonald's fries,

they, back in the fifties, they practiced a curing

process which converted the sugars to starch. And that

process involves storing potatoes at a warm temperature for

several weeks. And then, they introduced the potato

computer, which is, developed by Luis

Martino, thank you, Luis, to calculate the precise cooking time for

fries based on the fluctuation of oil temperature

during frying. That is a seriously wild science

project. So I say this that as

much as we all joke about McDonald's, there are some characteristics

that keep us coming back. It's convenient. It's

everywhere. So your show should be in Apple and

Spotify and Amazon and Iheart and Audible and all those

other places so it's convenient to find. And then when

people see your logo and your artwork, they're like, oh, I

haven't had that in a while. And then once they get your

content, just like that Coke and those fries, they're gonna be

like, I want more of that. So the

next time you see McDonald's, think, how can

I make my show so good like

McDonald's fries that people will always have room

for more? Now if you need help with your

podcast, that's what I do. Whether it's planning,

launching, growing, monetizing, I can help

with all of those. The website for me is podcastconsultant.com

if you wanna hire me for some 1 on 1. But I'm here to tell

you the best plan is to go to school of

podcasting.com/consultant. That package comes with

unlimited 1 on 1 consulting along with all of my courses

and the amazing School of Podcasting

members. Check it out. Go to school of podcasting.com

slash consultant. I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters.

It's what I do, and I can't wait to see what we're gonna do

together.