If you already have a successful, popular podcast, then you already know the power of podcasting to create an audience, to build credibility, to make connections with the movers and shakers in your niche and to sell a lot of product.
Think about this: When you have a podcast, you are in your target market’s ears for 20 to 60 minutes. This is intimate, one-on-one time with no interruptions or competition for their attention. You can create personal (PERSONAL!) relationships with your audience in a way that the written word can never do.
If you want to…
• reach an audience
• sell products or services
• make crucial networking connections
• build a business
… and you don’t already have a podcast, I’d like to suggest that right now is the ideal time to start one.
It’s like that saying, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is right now.’ Maybe the best time to start a podcast was a year ago, but today is nearly as good because unlike almost any other medium, there is still tons of room for you in podcasting.
Five years from now? You’ll either have hundreds of episodes in your pocket and an audience of several hundred thousand (millions maybe?) or you’ll be kicking yourself HARD because you didn’t start a podcast this year.
Have you noticed how popular podcasting is becoming? If you had doubts before, surely by now you realize that podcasting is here to stay.
• At the time of this writing, there are over 2 million podcasts and over 48 million episodes.
• 37% of the US population listens to podcasts every month.
• Podcast listeners listen to an average of 7 different shows per week
• 93% listen to all or most of each episode
Maybe you’re waiting to podcast until you ‘feel ready’ – whatever that means. But here’s the secret every podcaster knows: Almost no one who ever started a podcast was truly “ready”. In fact, you have the same level of experience as almost every other new podcaster out there. That’s because you know how to TALK, and if you can talk, you can do a podcast.
A few short years from now everyone and their dog will have their own podcast. But if you start podcasting NOW, your competition will be about 2-5% of what it will be in a few years. That means it will be 20 to 50 times EASIER to build an audience now than it will be later.
How do you get started?
Maybe you should do a bunch of research, buy some podcasting how-to courses, and take the next year to ‘figure it all out’. Yeah. Because that always works, doesn’t it?
If you take that route then a year from now you will be exactly where you are today – no podcast.
I’d like to suggest a different method, one in which you simply jump in and get started. No muss, no fuss. You just do it.
It doesn’t matter if NO ONE hears your first few broadcasts. Those are for practice anyway. But the point is to get started NOW, to figure out what you’re doing, and a month from now you can have a legitimate podcast with a real audience.
Your first few podcasts can be for practice while you learn. And learn you will. A month from now you can have podcasting experience under your belt as well as a growing audience. Stop thinking about podcasting and just start doing it.
Need more motivation?
Check out this list of podcasting facts from PodcastHosting.org:
• 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
• 50% of all US homes are podcast fans
• 55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast
• 37% (104 million) listen to podcasts at least every month
• 24% (68 million) listen to podcasts weekly
• 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans”
• 51% of podcast listeners are male, 49% female
Age of listeners:
• 12-34: 48%
• 35-54: 32%
• 55+: 20%
• 41% of monthly podcast listeners have household income over $75K (vs 29% for US population)
• 25% of US podcast listeners have a 4-year college degree (vs 19% of US population)
• 51% employed full-time (vs 44% of US population)
Do you sell anything in your business?
Yeah, stupid question 😊
Check out these advertising stats:
• 81% of podcast listeners pay attention to podcast ads
• 63% say they sometimes or always ignore TV commercials
• 66% sometimes or always ignore digital ads
• 61% sometimes or always ignore billboards
• 59% sometimes or always ignore radio commercials
• 60% of podcast listeners have bought something from a podcast ad
• 72% of people who have listened to a podcast for four or more years have made a purchase
• 54% are more likely to consider the brand advertised (only 7% are less likely)
You might think you need expensive equipment to create a podcast, but you can start with just your smartphone and upgrade later. Here’s everything you need to know about podcasting from your smartphone: www.rode.com/blog/all/How-To-Record-a-Podcast-on-Your-Phone
You can even use a service to handle all of the podcast details for you, so that all you have to do is the actual podcast. Just search for “done for you podcasting” and you’ll find a variety of options. As long as you can speak, there simply is no excuse anymore for not podcasting, while there are plenty of reasons to start your own podcast today:
• Podcasts capture your audience’s attention. The same person who won’t read a 10-minute blog post will often listen to a 60 minute podcast.
• Podcasts create a personal experience. Listeners hear your voice and get to know you on a deeper level than with text.
• Podcasts help you build and maintain connections. You can feature guest speakers on your podcast who are industry experts. They create your content for you, and you build a networking connection with them.
• Podcasts build your credibility and positioning in your niche. If you want to be known as a leader in your industry, start a podcast and bring on experts. The key is providing valuable content, fresh ideas and making it fun and interesting for listeners.
• Podcasts make money. Real estate agent turned entrepreneur John Lee Dumas earns $46,000 a month from his podcast, Entrepreneur on Fire. He does it charging sponsors to be featured on his podcast as well as promoting products and services.
Are you convinced yet? I know podcasting sounds scary. What if you say stupid stuff? What if you can’t think what to say? What if, what if, what if… remember, there’s something called EDITING which allows you to remove anything you don’t like.
See? No more excuses.
One last thing: Here’s a quick list of even MORE reasons for you to start podcasting this year and yes, this MONTH:
• You will build relationships and customer loyalty.
• You’ll enjoy the fun of using running jokes and themes with your audience.
• It’s easy – far easier even than you think.v • Listeners can listen whenever they like, even at 3 in the morning.
• Subscribers get episodes downloaded automatically on their devices.
• All you need to get started is a smartphone, internet connection and software. A laptop is good, too, but not required.
• No one can SEE you, so bad hair days, messy offices and pink polka-dotted pajamas don’t mean a thing.
• You can build your audience.
• Improve conversions through trust. I’ve seen podcast regulars buy products based solely on the recommendation of the podcaster, no sales copy needed. A survey of 300,000 podcast listeners found that 63% of them bought something a host recommended on their show.
• Talking is easier than writing. Far easier. SO MUCH easier.
• Your audience can hear your emotions. It’s not easy to make emotional connections in writing, but it is through speech. Listeners know when you’re happy, when you’re upset about something, when you’re laughing, when you’re serious and so forth, and it helps to build connection. Why did people fall in love with Oprah? Some say it’s because she allowed herself to become deeply emotional on air, creating a bond with the audience that lasts to this day.
• Authority. If you want authority in your niche, you need to either create videos that feature yourself, write best-selling books or do podcasting. If you can do two of those, that’s optional but even better.
• Money. Sell advertising. Take on sponsors. Promote your own products. Do JV’s with your guests. There are tons of opportunities to make money with a podcast.
Can you really afford not to have your own podcast? I don’t think so…
