As we approach the end of our first year of the Leveraged Business Podcast, I’d like to take a few minutes this week to talk about ways you as a podcast listener or article reader, and hopefully a subscriber, can help the show succeed going forward. If you’ve heard of animation shorts, well this is a podcast short 😀

PREFER TO LISTEN?

Let me kick off by letting you know, in case you don’t, that I have a dedicated page on my website for the show – it’s at jayallyson.com/podcast and includes everything you need. You can also get there with leveragedbusinesspodcast.com.

On that page, you’ll find a fancy podcast player, a way to subscribe to the iSuccess newsletter to get updates, and summary list with links to the show notes page for each episode. There are sections where you can submit a question, apply to be a guest, and find out more about support for creating a more leveraged business.

Right, next then, I’d like to explain a little bit about podcast reviews and why they’re so important and what you can do to support me to keep going with the leveraged business podcast.

I’m going to give a quick shout out to some of the amazing people who have taken time to leave me a review for the podcast.

And I’m so grateful because if you don’t already know this, let me tell you that ratings and reviews are super important to help the podcast to be more visible in podcast directories.

More visibility means more people find the show, listen, subscribe, share and we keep growing, gathering speed and impact more business owners, entrepreneurs and professional practitioners to grow and scale whilst you find leveraged ways to live your life.

I don’t pretend to know and understand how the algorithms are configured for the directories. But Apple Podcasts certainly appears to reward shows that get new subscribers, ratings, and reviews by giving them greater visibility in iTunes or the app.

And it’s exactly the same with book reviews and how Amazon highlights your book based on sales, ratings and reviews.

Reviews create social proof, and potential new listeners might decide whether to listen or subscribe (or not!) based on what others are saying about the show.

So, although reviews aren’t the be-all and end-all, they are important.

Beyond the algorithms for getting found, positive reviews help keep us motivated. It’s like a virtual pat on the back for all the work that we do. And of course, whether it’s a book review or a podcast review getting great reviews is very very nice. I put a lot of work into my content for each episode. And for the interview episodes, I spend a fair time finding great guests, researching everything, and planning out the questions.

And let me be frank here. Sometimes you can go through periods where you feel like no one is listening. Then you get a thank you email or a 5-star review from a listener pops up, and it reinvigorates me and reminds me why I do this, week in week out.

Of course, I want to be clear about one thing, getting podcast reviews goes way beyond fanning the flames of my ego. If you listen to the show or read my articles or my book, you know I’m not that ego-focused. I’m all about helping people get great strategies into play, so your business works for you, and doesn’t feel like it’s throttling the life out of you, know what I mean?

The whole work smarter not harder comes, from my work in process improvement, but importantly from personally experiencing burnout because I didn’t get my work, life, ambition and self-care in balance.

Right so next, let me tell you that despite having a big list, social media and the interconnectedness of the digital arena, getting listeners to leave reviews is pretty darned challenging.

I’d like to take a moment here and say thank you to everyone who has taken time out to write a review and support the show.

I want to give a special shoutout to some of our podcast reviewers. Here’s what they said in their review on Apple Podcasts (read their review). Thanks so much to everyone, it means a lot, and every review helps.

If you’d like to receive a shoutout on a future episode, leave a review for the show in Apple Podcasts!”

Here’s how you can leave a review, because to be honest, they don’t make it easy! There’s a few hoops to jump through, so I’ll try to make it as straightforward and quick for you as possible. I know this can put you off if you’ve never done one before.

In your browser, on phone, tablet or desktop, type in ratethispodcast.com/getleveraged and you’ll see the Leveraged Business Podcast come up. You can pick the player you listen on and get exact instructions on how to find the ratings and reviews section.

Because you know every podcaster needs your help in getting the word out about their show so here’s me saying:

Can I, please have some love from my listeners?

Please take two minutes to write up a review!

Leave reviews on Apple Podcasts and if I read out your review on the show, I’m going to send you a special promo code to get the audiobook edition of my book Leveraged Consulting in the Digital Age for free – just make sure you’re subscribed and email me a screenshot of your review.

Go to reviews.leveragedbusinesspodcast.com and click the Ratings & Reviews link to get to the right place.

And if you’ve already read (or are reading) the book in paperback or on kindle, in exchange for a book review if you’re not fed up hearing my voice every week on the podcast, I’ll gift you the audiobook AND a free one hour digital roadmap consult worth £250 (~$300).

Or of course, you can pay it forward and pass the code to someone you know can benefit. Click here to write a book review and once it’s approved and live on Amazon, email me that screenshot to support@jayallyson.com (make sure you spell it right so it gets to us).

Thank you so much – every review counts!

Finally, I’d love to hear from you about what will make this podcast better. So I’ve created a short survey about the show – just 7 questions – as a way to capture your ideas. Â