What is a Podcast?
Simply put, the podcast is a digital audio file that people can download on a computer or a mobile device to listen to it.
It’s is a recording of the audio discussion on any specific topic, like technology or travel, that can be listened to.
The best thing about the podcast is that it doesn’t require listeners’ attention like a video or a blog post.
It can be listened to on the go while commuting to the office or even while working.
Why choose podcasting?
According to research, 42 million Americans listened to podcasts every week in 2017, and this number is steadily growing every year.
For business owners and marketers, podcasts provide an excellent way to connect with their target audience and potential customers.
When people hear you speak one on one people connect with you more intimately.
Podcasting can also help you build a reputation from scratch and position yourself as an authority in your niche.
Meg Brunson, a work from home mom and a blogger, launched the FamilyPreneur podcast in 2018, since then it has helped her to double her business revenue.
Hassan Osman of Writer on the Side mentions that his book sales have tripled since his podcast’s launch.
There are many such examples, where you’ll see that people have used the potential of podcasts to increase their business revenues, and you could also become one of them.
Who is this ideal for:
If you love talking, and can perfectly share your knowledge while talking, then podcasting will suit you.
What skills will you need:
Podcasting is all about talking to the audience in an engaging way.
You’ll need to learn the skill of talking to your audience in an engaging way while sharing your knowledge.
How much money will you need to invest:
You’ll require most of the investment for procuring the podcast necessities if you already don’t have them.
You’ll require a computer, voice recording and editing software, a microphone, and a headphone at the bare minimum.
If you already have a computer, getting other things would cost anywhere between $300 minimum to $1200 maximum.
How much time is required to get started:
Despite being easier, podcasting still requires time.
You’ll require time for preparation, dealing with mispronounced words or wrong sentences, editing, post-production, etc.
Good podcasters achieve a 4:1 ratio – four minutes of work for every minute of content. This means a 15-minute podcast can take up to an hour.
But practically time required will broadly vary on your experience and expertise.
Some helpful tips:
1) Choose a podcast niche that suits you
Niche-focused podcasts ultimately get a lot more followers than those that don’t.
This is because when you cover a specific niche, you’re able to present yourself or your brand as an authority.
For instance, if you want to be known as an email marketing genius, then you can start an email marketing podcast.
Whatever niche you eventually decide on, you can easily position yourself as an expert by sharing highly valuable tips and techniques with your listeners.
Now, let’s dive into some of the tips for picking the right podcast niche.
Step 1: Write down your interests and passions
What are you passionate about? What topics interest you the most? What industry are you most knowledgeable about?
Come up with a list of 5-10 potential niches.
This step is crucial because if you choose the wrong niche, then sooner or later, you’re going to lose interest in continuing your podcast.
You’d run out of ideas to keep your show going.
Your disinterest and lack of passion are going to be evident in your show.
People are astute listeners – most of us can tell when someone’s passionate about a topic or not.
So, if you want your podcast to succeed, then you need to get this step right.
Step 2: What problems can you solve?
Write down the problems you can solve in each of the potential niches you’ve identified in Step 1.
You can come up with possible problems off the top of your head (it should be easy if you know the topic).
But if you need more ideas, then there are tons of resources you can check online.
You can go on Quora or Yahoo Answers and check out what kind of questions people ask in your potential niches.
Visit forums and social media groups as well.
These places provide lots of free information for anyone willing to look!
You can even use Google Suggest and other keyword tools to determine if people are searching for solutions to specific problems.
Step 3: Figure out your competition
Whatever niche you decide on, you’ll most likely have some competition.
Now, there’s no need to be afraid if you want to go after ‘saturated’ or high-competition niches.
Figure out what everyone else is doing and see if you can come up with your own angle!
That ‘angle’ will be your edge. It will help you stand out from the crowd.
Check your competitor’s podcast.
How many followers do they have? What topics are they covering? Do you think you can one-up them and do a much better job?
Step 4: Choose the right niche
With that said, the information you collected in Steps 1-3 should now give you an idea of your perfect niche.
You probably have your gut telling you which niche is right for you.
Whatever it is, the vital thing to note is that you MUST enjoy talking about your topic.
Otherwise, you run the risk of losing your motivation to continue with your podcast a few weeks or months from now.
To sum up, take the time to figure out the right niche for your podcast, and you’ll be increasing your chances of success later on.
2) Brand yourself for success from the start
Branding is so much more than just choosing an awesome name for your podcast or designing the perfect podcast cover art.
Branding is essentially how you want people to know your podcast. Build your brand just right, and you’ll reap the benefits for a long time to come.
Identify your podcast’s mission and vision
It’s essential to identify your podcast’s mission and vision when you’re just starting.
Knowing these will allow you to create the right kind of content. Before we go any further, let’s define what mission and vision statements mean.
Your mission statement outlines your podcast’s goals and how you intend to achieve those goals.
On the other hand, your vision statement is what you want your podcast to become in the future.
In short, your mission statement is all about the present, while your vision statement is all about your podcast’s future.
With that said, you need to make sure every episode you publish is aligned with your mission and vision.
This is how you build your brand. This is what you want to be known for.
Establish your podcast’s voice and personality
You’re unique, and there’s no one else like you.
You don’t want to sound like anybody else but yourself. You’re your own unique brand. So, how do you do that?
Well, you can start by acting as naturally as possible.
When you’re recording your episodes, speak like how you would in real life.
No one will censor you, though, depending on your audience, you may wish to exclude some choice words from your vocabulary.
Unless, of course, you want your show to be known as the profanity-filled podcast on craft making or drop shipping or whatever your niche is!
You can also come up with a catchy tagline for your show. Think of a tagline that will represent your show well.
Be unique. Be creative. Bring your voice and your personality to each of your episodes!
Consistency matters
Your branding activities shouldn’t be limited to your podcast.
In fact, your brand should be consistent across all platforms you use.
Whether it be your blog, your YouTube channel, or your Facebook fan page, your branding should remain consistent.
You can use your podcast cover art as a banner on your website, or you can use it as your profile picture on social media.
The point is that you don’t want people to feel a certain disconnect when they find you on other platforms.
You want people to recognize your brand wherever they go!
Build a community around your brand
People love the feeling of belonging to a community.
If you’ve ever listened to John Lee Dumas’ podcast ‘Entrepreneurs On Fire,’ you’ll notice that he addresses his listeners as ‘Fire Nation.’
That’s branding in action right there!
You can follow the same strategy once you’ve built a nice following for your podcast.
Building a community around your brand allows your listeners to feel like they ‘belong.’
You build a relationship with your audience; you make them feel special.
Now, this is made possible when you do your homework upfront; that is, you take the time to know who your listeners are.
When you do this, you’re able to provide the right solutions to the right people!
3) Plan your podcast episodes with a purpose
If you don’t want your podcast to run out of steam, then you need to take the time to plan your podcast episodes for the weeks and months ahead.
When you plan in advance, you’re able to basically get a bird’s eye view of your entire podcast’s content strategy.
You can quickly check if you’re still on the right path to fulfilling your mission and vision or somehow gone off the road.
If it’s the latter, then you can make the necessary adjustments so that your next episodes fall within your show’s niche.
Commitment is key
Seriously, one of the significant roadblocks to many a podcast’s success is the lack of commitment.
You don’t want to be one of those who lose hope and motivation when facing some obstacles.
If you don’t have a specific goal in mind for your podcast, well, there’s no better time to come up with one than now!
What are you hoping to achieve? Do you want to use your podcast as a marketing vehicle to get the word out about your brand?
Or are you looking to turn it into an extra income stream?
Perhaps you want to use it as a platform to generate highly qualified leads for your business?
Settle on a goal for your podcast and commit to it.
Without commitment, your plans will be all for naught. So, get your head around it because podcasting is no easy thing.
There’s a lot of work – and planning – involved.
Without the right mindset, your podcast is not going to last very long.
Organize your content
Here are some tried and tested techniques to get your content organized.
There’s a reason why editorial calendars have been around for ages – they work.
For content creators like podcasters, bloggers, publishers, etc., a content calendar can literally mean the difference between success and failure.
Whether you work alone or with a team, a calendar will help organize your content and your life!
Now, there are plenty of different calendar apps you can use, both free and premium.
However, one of the best ones you can possibly use to organize your new show’s content is Google Calendar.
All you need is a Google account (and who doesn’t have one of those, eh?) and you’re good to go!
Brainstorm episode topics
For brainstorming, you’re going to need to set aside a reasonable amount of time (and preferably some quiet) to get your brain working.
You can brainstorm alone or ask your co-host(s), your team, and even your guests to help you out!
There are several brainstorming techniques you can use.
For group brainstorming, you can ask each person in the group to come up with ideas regarding a specific topic.
For solo brainstorming sessions, you’d need to get creative so that you can think outside the box.
If you’re a visual type, then mind mapping may be the right technique for you.
You can show relationships between various ideas. You can then come up with themes that you can discuss in several episodes.
Again, these are just some ideas to help get the ball rolling.
Write an outline or script for each episode
Some people use outlines, while others prefer scripts.
You can’t go wrong with either method. Having a structure in place for your episodes will help you get into the groove of things.
It will be easy for you to flow from one point to another, one question to the next, etc.
You’ll lessen the instances of needing to put your microphone on mute so you can think of the next thing to say.
While you’re certainly free to edit your recording, just know that you’ll save a ton of time in the editing process by working off a structured outline or script.
4) Launch your podcast
Here are some tips you can follow to launch your podcast like a rocket ship.
Podcast directories
The first thing you need to do is submit your podcast to various directories.
Some people may say you only need to be on iTunes or Apple Podcast and Google Play.
Still, the truth is that if you want to reach as many people as possible, then you need to be where your listeners are.
That means submitting your show to Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, SoundCloud, and more.
It’s not like you’re going to spend an entire week doing this! It’s just a few hours’ work, and the potential ROI could be immense later on.
Your personal network
You can promote your podcast in many different ways, but you don’t need to look very far in the beginning.
Look at your network of family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances.
Your personal network is essential, not only to help get the word out about your podcast but also because they can be the first ones to leave reviews.
As you know, we live in a review-driven world where people are more likely to follow a brand if they see positive reviews.
So, please take a deep breath and start reaching out to everyone in your network and ask them to leave an honest review or rating on your show.
Interview experts
People love being recognized as ‘experts.’
So, if you know of anyone you think can add value to your show, then reach out to them and ask if they’d be willing to be interviewed.
Now, there are all sorts of ‘experts.’ Some experts have a lot of followers, while others are just getting started.
It would be best to interview experts with an established and loyal fan base at this point in your podcast.
Why? Because if those experts promote your show to their followers, then chances are, they’re going to check you out, too!
A number of them may even decide to follow your show if they like your content.
5) Grow your audience
If you want to grow your podcast as fast as possible, then the first thing you need to do is be consistent.
Whether you publish episodes weekly, bi-weekly, or even daily, you need to be consistent about it.
The more people listen to your show, the hungrier they’ll be to consume your value-laden content!
They’ll expect your new episodes on days you promise to publish. They’d incorporate listening to your show into their routines.
For instance, if you publish a new episode every Monday, your followers will be expecting a new one to appear on their favorite app on Mondays.
They’ll be tuning in to your show every Monday on their way to work or while they’re taking their dog out for a walk.
Sooner or later, it’s going to become their habit. And that’s a good thing because it means you’ve got a loyal following!
Reviews and ratings matter
Trying to get people to follow a podcast with no ratings or reviews – or worse, negative reviews! – will be a bit like pulling teeth.
It’s going to be difficult.
This is because nowadays, we’ve become so dependent on other people’s reviews that whenever we see something that hasn’t been reviewed yet, we become hesitant even to try it out.
The same thing goes for new podcasts.
You’ll rarely come across people who will willingly listen and follow a new podcast without any evidence of it being good.
So, do make it a point to ask your listeners to rate or review your show.
Hold contests
One of the easiest ways to grow your audience is by holding a contest among your listeners.
The contest can be for several things – you can hold a contest for the best review, the most creative post on Facebook, the best tagline for your show, etc.
Your contest should be designed according to what you want to achieve.
If you want to get more reviews on iTunes, then let that be your goal.
Think of ways you can get your listeners actually to take the time to review your show.
Your giveaway or prize should be something valuable to your listeners to make it worth their while.
For example, if you’re selling an online course, you could give the winner free access to your course!
Promote, promote and promote
According to experts, you should only spend 20 to 30% of your time on content creation, and the rest needs to be spent on content promotion.
As a content creator, you want your voice to be heard.
You want your target audience to benefit from your podcast; you want to help them.
If you’re not getting through to the people you want to help, you need to rethink your marketing strategy.
But, how do you seek out your target audience?
Well, first of all, you need to know who your target audience is so you’d have an idea of where they usually hang out.
For instance, if you’re targeting the younger generation, you’ll probably find them on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, etc.
But if you’re targeting the older generation, then they may be hanging out elsewhere. They could be on Facebook, on Pinterest, forums, etc.
Once you’ve identified where your audience mainly hangs out, you need to find ways to reach them and put your content in front of them.
How to make money:
When you’ve grown your podcast audience to a respectable number, say 5,000 to 10,000, you may now start thinking about monetization.
The following are some of the best podcast monetization options you can implement.
1) Advertising and sponsors
There are good podcast specific ad networks that will connect you with advertisers.
Here’s the list.
Midroll
AuthenticShows
To join them and get ads, you need an audience of at least 5k a month.
Many podcast hosting companies also have their ad network. You can join them if they suit you.
2) Affiliate Marketing
Promote other niche related products or services on your podcast and earn commissions on every purchase made from your efforts.
Create an “ad” spot in your podcast to promote affiliate offers. Or naturally integrate product mentions in the podcast.
To determine that the sale has come from your podcast promotion, ask users to use your specific coupon code at the checkout you’ll receive from the original product creation.
3) Courses
Many popular podcasters create their own online courses to teach in-depth about the topic they talk on their podcast.
You can promote your online course on the podcast and earn money as people sign up.
4) Services
Offer your expertise in your niche as a service to help others achieve their goals for a fee.
For example, if you’re an expert blogger and run a podcast on blogging, you can help listeners of your podcasts build their own blogs for a fee.
5) Premium content
Premium content can be anything you want. You can get as creative with this as you can.
The following are some common ways that popular podcasters use to offer premium content.
In-depth interviews with experts
Podcast videos
Ad-free podcast
Live episodes
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