Unlock Your Unfair Advantage as a Health & Wellness Podcaster

How can I stand out? You’ve likely asked yourself this many times, not just as a podcaster, but as an entrepreneur and a content creator. It’s really easy to quit before even starting when you think about all the competition that’s out there and the sea of content online. But the good news is that you can stand out because only you are uniquely you.

And today we’re gonna talk about how you can use your unfair advantage. To stand out in a sea of podcasts and grow your business. By the end, you’ll have at least one thing to feature that nobody else can copy. This is Profits through Podcasting where we help health-focused entrepreneurs generate leads and revenue for their businesses through podcasting.

I’m your host, Joel Oliver. So you heard the term in the intro there, unfair Advantage. And if you’re not familiar with this, well, it was popularized by a book of the same name and it’s basically a unique condition, uh, an asset or a circumstance that gives you, or, you know, your podcast or business, in this case, a significant.

Hard to replicate edge over your competitors. It’s something that cannot be easily copied or bought or matched by anybody else. So we’re not talking things like hard work or passion ’cause everybody can work hard. But more things of like exclusive access to something unique, personal experiences, insider networks or the connections that you have, specialized expertise or even flaws that become your signature thing.

there’s a related saying to all this that I like to use. What you cannot fix, you feature, which is where you actually take what could have been considered a flaw and reframe it to be something positive, right? There is always an angle. So we want to uncover yours in order to help you stand out and avoid blending in with all the other podcasters and entrepreneurs out there in your space.

And more important than just standing out. Is standing out to the people who matter. Okay? We don’t want attention for the sake of it. We want to be in front of the right people, and we want them to be coming and being your customers or listeners or whatever the case. So making sure that your ideal clients and listeners, when they discover you, they say, oh yeah, this is the person that gets me and can help you.

There’s just no doubt. So a key way of making this happen is leaning into the things that make you different. Maybe even those potential flaws, things that you previously wanted to hide or thought you had to cover up. Keeping all that stuff under wraps is going to make you blend in with everybody else.

That’s how we end up looking average and just being the same because we were hiding the unique things about us. If you take away everything that is unique about you and just try to exist as a person who gives advice and knowledge very. Milk toast style. Of course, there are other people doing that already and and doing it better, right?

So you’re gonna have a really tough time being compelling enough to catch anybody’s attention or have them realize that you are the right fit for them as well. Vulnerability is a fast track way to build loyalty and trust. So if you strip away all of that and you’re not really being, you, people are not really gonna feel like they can trust you or be compelled to really care about you much at all.

So with all that said, how can you determine what is unique about you to begin crafting your unfair advantage? First, ask yourself, what do people always comment on about me or with your podcast guests? What are they always saying that makes talking to you different? What makes you stand out?

What qualities are you known for amongst your friends or family or your clients even? And what do you personally admire about yourself? I think that’s arguably one of the most important ones there. What do you think is unique about you, or special or cool, you know? That’s something that would be a great sign that you should be highlighting that because no doubt there are more people out there in the world who would appreciate it.

To get a bit more specific here, maybe get your brainstorm session going. Think about these categories. Okay.

First of all, a personal story or journey like you overcame a disease or some adversity, or maybe you helped someone in your life who is struggling. No one can replicate your exact story. Only you have that. Next, a unique background or profession like a former athlete or a nurse in the er but was unhappy with limitations of the traditional healthcare system, that sort of thing. Uh, a a chef turned holistic nutritionist. What unique set of experiences do you have from a background, a professional perspective that make you unique?

Next personality or your traits. If you are introverted, you can likely have some very deep, thoughtful conversations. There’s nothing wrong with being introverted. Are you funny? Are you very curious or inquisitive? Do you go on a lot of tangents that end up uncovering some real interesting topics? Heck, do you just confuse your words a lot?

Do you mix up your words and say funny things? You know that’s funny in itself. That can be a unique thing that you could. Put front and center instead of being afraid of or ashamed of. There’s so many things to consider there when we look at your personality or traits that are unique to you. Next, your location and culture where you live or work right now, or where you have in the past or where you grew up.

This can all give you a very unique perspective. And just imagine if you are putting that front and center in the way that you talk about yourself, and then someone else hears that who happens to have that same experience. They wanna work with you ’cause they know this person has the answers. I grew up in this same type of circumstance and now I’m suffering from the same problem that this podcast host did or this coach.

And they’ve gotten through it. They notice the strategy. This is why all this stuff is very important. And finally, like I mentioned, the flaws. Turned features what you cannot change about yourself. So look at age. If you’re an older host, well, you’ve got wisdom, you’ve got credibility over the trendy, younger stuff.

Right. If you’re on a limited budget, well, you are raw, you’re authentic. You have no corporate red tape, there’s no boss telling you what you can or can’t say. It’s just you and your kitchen table. but if you don’t have any credentials, hey, I’m not a doctor, but I actually went through this myself and I’ve got firsthand experience.

You know, me personally, I’ve had a, a major heart surgery at 28 years old. Only I can describe that experience, right? A doctor can tell you. What they know and what it’s gonna be like and what they’re gonna do, but getting a perspective from someone who actually went through the surgery or, or the part leading up to it as well, and the signs and that whole process, you know, that’s a completely different perspective.

So I’m not downplaying the fact that I, I’m not a doctor, i’s not like I can’t talk about it, right? So think about all that stuff when you’re trying to uncover, what is unique about you and what is your unfair advantage or advantages going to be. Then once you’ve uncovered your unique unfair advantages, how do we then work this into your podcast once we know it?

You don’t wanna be talking about it every single episode for the entire time, but we’re gonna weave it in there. Of course. And you know, this is a great question because. we wanna have some amount of decorum as well, but still be authentic and be you and demonstrate your unfair advantage. Right. If you’ve got a particularly a dark sense of humor and your family finds it really funny at Thanksgiving dinner, but you’ve got a podcast giving business advice for chiropractors, well, there may not be, be much overlap and perhaps there, there doesn’t need to be.

Right? You want to find a balance. But to take that example further, let’s just say that you did. Bring up this insanely dark sense of humor on your chiropractic business advice podcast, you would really turn a lot of people off. But the ones who share the sense of humor, they would be really, really into that.

You know? So that’s the power of that type of thing. Just as I said, we don’t want to be. Too far one way or the other. But if you completely cover that up, well then what’s, what set you apart from anyone else Giving chiropractic business advice So you can see what the, the point of that whole thing is.

And maybe you do wanna weave a little bit of that humor in there, but not too much, you know? But you can certainly see from that example how it works. So we do wanna find the balance that’s gonna work for you, but. Don’t be too afraid to really consider that and think about how you can push the boundaries or what is acceptable for you to share that would make you stand out.

Okay. Now with all that. How do we actually weave this stuff into the podcast? We’ve decided what we are willing to share on the podcast or display about ourselves. How do we actually weave that into our episodes? Well, anything highly notable, you’ll probably want to include that right in your general podcast description, even if you can so people can see it, uh, in your trailer as well.

Like if you do have some sort of unique background. I’ve seen all kinds of this stuff before. Like I used to be a nurse and I left the ER because I. Wasn’t happy with the type of care I was able to give and now I’m doing this, that sort of thing. If it’s something really important, you can put that right there for everybody to see.

Then on an episode basis, a personal tie in. During your opening or every so often could be great. Let’s explain. This topic hits home because you know this, this happened in my house this week, or I went through this. You can even use your personal experience to create entire episodes from if things are just popping up in life and inspiring you, you know, or, or clients that you’re working with as well.

Your episode titles in Hooks, For example, why My Autoimmune Flare taught me more than any textbook. So you’ve got a personal story right in there, showing people something that you went through, and it lets them know that you went through that and perhaps someone looking for that advice is going through the same thing.

And that’s a great way to relate rather than just, here’s what you can learn about autoimmune disease, right If you’re doing interviews, how can your perspective change and influence the questions that you ask the guests? How does your background or experience in life with a certain thing, how does that change how you see things and the questions that you might be able to ask the guests that you have on?

And practice just being you. You don’t have to share things that you’re not comfortable sharing, but consider where that line is, like I mentioned, and you know, if you’ve traditionally been really reserved, evaluate whether it makes sense to open up a bit more. Whether that’s about your personal journey or showing your unique personality, whatever it is.

There’s almost certainly, more of a distance that you can open up that’s not gonna, the world’s not gonna end. You know, you’re not gonna die of embarrassment. It’s not gonna offend a bunch of people. We’re probably all much too restricted, much more than we need to be. And it’s holding back our results and keeping us from unlocking this unfair advantage that we’re talking about here today.

And you know, for a lot of people, even just being in front of a camera in a microphone causes them to put up a shield or a guard. You don’t even realize it. You know, you just, if you look back and see, oh, I’m not talking like I would be if I was just hanging out with my friends. And you know, that’s not necessarily a completely bad thing, but if you do an interview and you get on and see the type of person you are during a podcast interview versus when you’re just hanging out.

It’s probably quite a difference. So understanding what that is and finding the appropriate balance and just making sure that we are not being a victim of that, that mask that’s really holding us back. ’cause we’re just not being ourselves. We’re not showing those good sides of ourselves that would benefit and help us break through the noise more and stand out.

On our podcast and with the content we create and with the businesses that we run. So try to push the boundaries on that one when you’re in front of the camera and on mic, and you will get more comfortable in time, especially if you’re just starting out. And then for your promotion, like social media clips, look for clips from the episode that really highlight your unique qualities.

So if someone came across it, they would see, you know, I’m not just seeing another generic clip about something that’s purely informational. I got this person’s sense of humor here, or this story, their journey that they went through. You wanna highlight those things so people who come across it, you know, you have the biggest chance of them connecting with it.

Not just some generic piece of content, so keep that in mind. They’ll be able to understand a bit more about who you are, and you’ll have a higher likelihood of them connecting and wanting to come into your circle further

Okay. So we’re getting to the end of how to unlock your Unfair Advantage as a health and wellness podcaster, but I do want a few words of caution here First. Number one, you want a certain level of professionalism and you may have to test the boundaries with yourself and your audience to really figure out what works in terms of sharing enough to be unique but not oversharing.

So I alluded to that a bit throughout the episode. You want to find what is unique about you and not be afraid to display it, but also not push it too far where you’re actually having negative. Repercussions from that. So that’s kind of on you to figure out. But like I mentioned, there’s probably a good bit of room for you to go beyond where you are right now and you’ll still be perfectly fine.

And on that note, oversharing making the whole show about you, we don’t really wanna be doing that either. well even if it is a solo episode or an interview, focus on things like your transformation and the value that people can get from your story. Not. Just the story itself or the struggle, not just talking about yourself.

That’s not really interesting either. For a lot of people, there’s gotta be value in what you’re saying, so don’t just think of your podcast as a place for you to sit down and and spill about your entire life. Yes, there are ways to make that relatable and valuable to other people, but just. In itself, talking about your life isn’t necessarily going to be that.

Okay? So understand that you’ve got, it’s gotta be compelling. Great storytelling skills are really useful to have for things like this as well. So you can give value to people, you can be yourself, but you know how to hook an audience’s attention and keep them listening to you while you’re sharing your story and while you’re sharing that valuable advice. And finally, third word of caution here, thinking that you don’t have any unique or unfair advantages.

At all. I am sure that you do. It’s easy for people to say, I don’t know. I’m not that special. There’s nothing unique about me. Of course there is. You’ve lived an entire life. You have some reason that you’re sharing your knowledge or your opinions with the world. Ask your friends circle or your family, sit down and think, I guarantee you, you will find at least one, probably a lot more, and if you can’t come and ask me, I’m sure we could figure one out together.

So there you go. I wanna challenge you something before I leave here as well. Over the next week, write down your top three potential unfair advantages. Okay? So I just said if you think you don’t have any, you definitely do find three. Pick one to feature in your next episode or promo, and work that in in one of the ways that I mentioned in your episode.

However it looks, try to be more, more funny or whatever it is. Do that within the next week, and, keep that habit going in the coming weeks and months with your episodes and try to get some feedback on it. Assess on your own as well. And most importantly, just be you. Put yourself out there and then you will be enacting that unfair advantage that will help you Stand out in the sea of Health and Wellness podcasts out there.

if you want to dive further into how to stand out as a podcaster, check out my episode four episodes back. Uh, about the X factor. That would be a great compliment to this one as well. If you’re looking for help getting your podcast off the ground, ’cause you have something to say and you want to help, grow your business through podcasting and make connections, but you don’t want to be responsible for all the technical work and you don’t want to make a mistake, that’s where East Coast Studio can help.

Check out the link in our show notes, book your podcast, vitality Call today and we’ll talk soon.