Teams in all industries use podcasting to power up their marketing efforts. Yet, because not everyone can be a podcasting expert from day one, companies like ProudMouth do a roaring trade in helping their clients get the most out of the medium. ProudMouth’s go-to method for all budding broadcasters? Mind mapping! Their tool of choice? Of course… MindMeister. In this informative case study, we learn how ProudMouth has used the world’s #1 mind mapping software on the road to success, then discover their tips for podcasters, teams and more.
Helping creators manage their marketing channels is no small task, and using podcasts to get the word out about your brand or point of view has turned into a lucrative vertical. Just ask Kirk Lowe, co-founder of ProudMouth, a robust Influence Accelerator Platform that helps businesses develop their podcasting content.
Four years ago, the company pivoted from a straight marketing directive to focus exclusively on podcasting: a visionary move given the recent explosion of podcasts worldwide. Together with co-founder Matt Halloran, the team of 27 has doubled in the last 18 months to become a $2M+ revenue enterprise: all thanks to podcasting’s popularity as a business tool (and a little help from MindMeister).
Mapping the Path to Growth
What people don’t realize about podcasting is that it’s just like writing a book. You can’t just wing it.
The path didn’t come without its challenges, with MindMeister playing an increasingly important role in helping creators who were creatively blocked.
“Mind mapping has been a pretty big part of my business, specifically as I work through strategic decisions. It lets me be my best as an ideator. I used to use a whiteboard, but I exclusively turned to mind maps for managing my creative flow.”
Kirk observed that his customers could be some of the most original and engaging people, but without a method to help the creative process, they would fall short more often than not when it came to getting their podcasts off the ground.
“Podcasters need to organize their thoughts, otherwise things get really difficult. In industries where influencers have emerged, these individuals with exploding audiences sometimes don’t know how to write, no less get ideas for their content.”
Kirk knows what he’s talking about: his team manages over 100 podcasts across the U.S. and Canada. Working with influencers and business leaders alike, he finds that the biggest hurdle is often the fear of coming up with topics to record. Prior to finding MindMeister over a decade ago, he was increasingly frustrated with the rigid functions of the desktop-based mind mapping software he was using. Other tools created mind maps that were gated behind the software rather than stored on the cloud, limiting how and where his team could open a mind map in case an idea came about.
Letting Creativity Flow
MindMeister allows podcasters to figure out if an article has merit and create flow.
As a longtime MindMeister user, Kirk turns to the organizational calm of his mind maps to help the creative process, especially since ProudMouth’s customers run the gamut of industries. He says:
“If you want to be a good podcaster, the most important thing is being organized. The caveat to that is that the worst thing to do in podcasting is be over-organized. The formula to successful and engaging production is to be human. You sometimes need the ability to go into a conversational direction that isn’t scripted. MindMeister allows podcasters to figure out if an article has merit and create flow. If you focus on key points, you can create flow.”
Kirk and his team use ProudMouth’s proprietary workflow method BOVA (brainstorming, organizing, validating, and assigning) in tandem with mind maps to get to the meat of each session with clients. Throughout this workflow, the ProudMouth team uses MindMeister to organize their clients’ thoughts into an easy-to-understand map. He noted that most clients realized they didn’t need ultra-detailed scripts filled with jargon so long as the content flow that was written down was easy to understand and that all the editorial pieces were being touched.
“There are certain things I do that mind mapping makes easier. For example, when I brainstorm with new clients, they’ll confess they don’t know where to start. I always turn our initial ideas into a mind map using MindMeister. Even if we can’t see the wood for the trees to begin with, we can always turn it around and get to a solid editorial workflow within the first hour.”
Did you know that you can link MindMeister and MeisterTask so that you can assign tasks directly from your mind maps? Turning ideas into actionable tasks has never been easier!
Map Like No One is Watching
Visually seeing the organization of something is infinitely easier to comprehend.
Kirk says that part of the creative process involves not judging what comes out at first pass. His philosophy is simple, yet powerful: let things out without the ego policing ideas. At ProudMouth, this works as follows:
- Start a brainstorm mind map (alone or with your team) that includes all ideas, without editing.
- Organize the recorded thoughts and look at connections between them.
- Validate each point with the client – questioning whether ideas are solid and whether they’re organized in impactful ways.
- If the podcast should be a multi-person conversation, assign roles. The most important part of a conversational flow is understanding who takes which beat.
Interested in how MindMeister features can help your ideas and business thrive? Take a look at our features list online!
“If I’m creating a podcast with my business partner, we use MindMeister to guide us through the podcast in real time while we’re recording. Visually seeing the organization of something is infinitely easier to comprehend, especially if you’re glancing at a script. It has to be fluid.”
Want to read more on podcasts and mind mapping? Have a look at our blog!
Branching Out
Mind maps also serve other purposes for the ProudMouth team. Kirk says that each producer purposely files topic-focused mind maps so that anyone on their team can easily go into the appropriate mind map to find the information for a summary:
“If you use Google for your professional documentary needs, you should be using MindMeister. Imagine if you could use a mind map to audit and frame documents that were in multiple, simultaneous locations. With MindMeister, it’s not a dream but a reality.”
And that’s not all. Kirk has some advice for other industries:
“Other industries should use mind maps. I meet so many business owners and politicians who struggle to organize their thoughts without realizing how useful a mind map could be for them. One area that astounds me is coaching. I don’t know why coaches of various sorts don’t use mind maps in their careers. They are so focused on the psychology of coaching that they struggle to visualize their knowledge for their clients.”
ProudMouth’s team are such fans of MindMeister, that starting November 1, 2021, they’ll have a how-to video within their PodRocket Academy teaching customers how to use MindMeister. Kirk says, “There’s no one teaching the basis of marketing and how podcasting is the core of that. Podcasting will be as important as having a website. It’s an incredible form of communication.”
Creative Block? Let’s Sort It
Whether your team is struggling to develop ideas or can’t manage the power of their creative genius, MindMeister can help. With our award-winning tool, you can add structure, clarity and color to any project. You can even get started today: go to www.mindmeister.com, sign up (or sign in) and get mapping! With our wonderful, newly-revamped tool, you’ll have your first mind map looking beautiful in minutes.