Since a very young age, I have been in-tune to format and presentation of content and obsessed with duplicating it.

Podcasting for me seemed like nothing at all when I found out about it. I had been obsessed with radio since a very young age. From commercials to announcers, talk shows and live broadcast events, format has always been my obsession and I imitated and duplicated it constantly. It carries over into television to, paying attention to advertising, documentary formats and many other genres for that matter. Even thumbing through magazines and looking at layout, copywriting, content and even ads, as well as billboards and other advertising, I feel like I had a full doctorate in marketing by the time I left high school. And it carried over into everything I do now.

The big payoff of my early education: editing

You probably thought I was going to say “content” and may have been surprised with my emphasis on editing. Admittedly, the first few radio commercials I purchased, I not only insisted on writing them myself, but was involved in writing the copy and recording as well. I even watched closely as the editor literally “spliced” the magnetic tape real to edit the content for flow and timing, yes, before the digital age. So I learned to organically produce and create content. So when digital editing came along, I didn’t even have to read a single instruction. What was there before me was obvious. And I edited my first digital content like a pro.

My editing skill has led me to spend hours on some of the shortest episodes, creating sometimes miraculous results in cleaning up errors and mishaps, double-speak and even making nonsensical content make sense. Overall, editing is there to clean up the track and improve flow, but it is also to make sure the overall interview or other content tell a story overall. As a writer and ghostwriter, as well as someone who writes informational and commercial content, I found myself at the advantage to edit.

The lesson to be learned? Editing and format are being done perfectly already. Immersing yourself, not in classes, books, courses and masterminds, but in observing what the big players are doing, and really finding what works best can be the best lesson. Not everyone is in-tune to this, nor do they want to take the time to be. That’s where people like me come in. Studying the at-work habits of the best and duplicating them, or getting the best to do it for you are the best options.

The best podcasts hold this in common. Make it your standard and you’ll have a smash hit, or at least a potential one with the right promotional campaign.