Why and How to Start a Podcast – Digital Nomad Presentation [Lemnos, Greece June 2016]

How & Why Start a Podcast

OUTLINE

  1. What is a Podcast?
  2. Why Start a Podcast?
  3. Why Am I Qualified to Teach You About Podcasting?
  4. The Basics of Podcasting
  5. 8 Tricks I’ve Learned from Podcasting
  6. iTunes Ranking Hacks
  7. Can I Monetize my podcast? Here are 7 Ideas
  8. Q&A

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  1. What is a podcast?
  • Ipod + broadcast
  • Radio program essentially … audio
  1. Why Start a Podcast?
    • “For every 2,000 bloggers covering a topic there’s 1 podcaster and for women it’s 7,500 to 1. If you want to stand out from the crowd – podcast.”  Rob Walch  V.P., Libsyn
  • Personal & Business Benefits
      • Grow industry authority
      • Position you as the expert
      • Network like crazy (great excuse to talk to people ‘higher’ than you without feeling awkward or like you are a bother — potential way to meet other strategic partners, mentors, and friends)
      • Improve your speaking & interviewing skills
      • Content production that is easier than writing or shooting videos
  • According to Edison Research, here are some stats about the listeners of podcasts:
    • Podcast listeners are highly educated and affluent.
    • Podcast listeners already bring digital media into their cars with them (increased listening opportunities with full attention). With AppleCarPlay becoming standard in new models, more drivers will be flipping on their podcast stream on the go than ever before.
    • Podcast listeners are highly engaged in the digital world through social media.
  • Podcasts are the only way to consume information where you can multitask.
    Driving, working out, showering, etc…it’s harder (or impossible) to read a book or watch a video. There is more time in the day to consume podcasts than any other type of media.
  • Monetization is possible.
    Industry standard pricing is based off of number of downloads per episode if you do commercials/sponsorships. For example, John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur On Fire made $86,000 LAST MONTH in sponsorships. He is the superstar in the space, so this is not to paint the picture that it is easy.
  1. Why Am I Qualified to Teach You About Podcasting?
  • Managed the content marketing and social media for IMA Leader – the official podcast from the Internet Marketing Association with over 1,000,000 members around the globe
  • Started Podtent Marketing with host of IMA Leader in January of this year and we have 4 clients, all of whom hit iTunes New & Noteworthy in their respective categories.
  • I launched my podcast in late April called Copy That Pops and have published 12 episodes and have all interviews done for release through August. About 1400 downloads so far.
  1. The Basics of Podcasting
    • Decide on a show type, theme or topic, name, artwork, etc… build it all comes back who is your AUDIENCE?
      ….If you could pick the best listener and multiple them a thousand times…who would they be? What would they want to hear about?

      • IMA Leader’s audience is a corporate marketing professional who wants to learn and stay up to date with industry thought leaders
      • Copy That Pops’ audience is the entrepreneur with some experience who wants to take her efforts to the next level to drive more traffic and convert more people as email subscribers and clients.
      • Inspired by Imua’s audience is those developing medical devices and need support taking their idea from concept to viable product in the marketplace
      • Landscape Podcast’s audience is young professionals in the landscape industry who want to expand their knowledge and network in the field
  • Equipment & software you need
  • Minimum:
    1. Microphone / recording device                                                         catch your voice
    2. Headphones                                                                                          let you hear guests
    3. Audacity, Garage Band (mac), Adobe Audition (mac/pc)           edit
    4. Skype (free)                                                                                           interview guests far away   
    5. Ecamm Call Recorder                                                                          record your skype calls (mac)
        MP3 Skype Recorder                                                                             record your skype calls (pc)
    6. hosting service like Libsyn ($5+/month)                                        hold the audio & distribute
    7. itunes account (free)                                                                            get in front of apple users
    8. podcast player plugin for your website (free or paid)                  get linked up on your website
        (I use Pat Flynn’s Smart Podcast Player)
  • On the go..there’s an app for that: http://bossjockstudio.com/
  • Want to get fancier? Blue Yeti, ATR2100, H4n Zoom

Mentions from Audience I need to figure out myself!

  • Overcast?
  • Perssitant? (live fivrr)
  • Fivrr…add on wikipedia

5. 8 Tricks I’ve Learned from Podcasting

  • Get organized!
      1. Folders for audio files (google drive …. dropbox)
      2. Decide on a way you are going to name files
      3. Google spreadsheet that tracks all guests you have published, recorded, and scheduled. Don’t keep it all in your head.
      4. Write out a master checklist of everything you want done for each episode…from research and interviewing the guest, to sharing it on social media, to putting it on YouTube. (could be google spreadsheet or Asana or Trello, or something!)
  • Batch your work.
      1. I interview only on Thursdays unless a guest really can’t make it work.
      2. I invite guests to book with me in waves
  • Repurpose your content
      1. Tweets, instagram posts, facebook posts, linkedin, add an image with the audio and put on youtube, have the show transcribed and publish as a blog or as a content upgrade, take that text and have it turned into a SlideShare PPT
      2. Use platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer, and MeetEdgar to plan and repurpose content
      3. Write a blog about something covered in the podcast …use the audio to inspire more content
  • Get your audience to engage with you
    1. Invite them to message you on social media (be specific)
    2. SpeakPipe…they can record a short audio message that you can use on the show or as feedback for how you are doing
    3. LeadDigits from LeadPages … people text a word to a number to get something free and are added to your email list
    4. Drive them back to your website (and the shownotes on your website)

**Think of your podcast as another tool to build an audience and drive traffic to your ma,ing money making piece of real estate that you control…website.

  • Don’t launch with less than 3 episodes on ‘live’ & get shows ‘in the bank’
      1. If someone finds your new show and all you have is 1 episode…they can’t get a good feel for your stuff and likely will bounce….plus if they want to binge a bit to get a sense of the show, you are missing out on easy ‘downloads’ by not have a few ready for them right off the bat
      2. You will hit fatigue and get busy…so you never want to be recording a show at crunch time. That’s a fast way to burnout and stop. Get ahead!
  • Delegate when possible
      1. You can hire someone to do anything from post production, to social sharing, to inviting interview guests for you!
      2. Just make sure if you hire a VA (I got one from OnlineJobs.ph) ( to be crystal clear about what you want and have clear details written out for them.
      3. Use Fivrr or 99 Designs for help with graphic design….intro/outro audio voice….
  • Entertainment #1. Educational #2.
      1. If you do interviews, listen to your gut
        1. ….are you getting bored? Your audience likely is too…redirect the convo.
        2. ….are you confused? Your audience is too…ask clarifying questions.
      2. Make sure that what you put out there either entertains or educations or both. If not, there is not really a point for it.
      3. As a listener, I like specific tips and actionables…but make sure you know your audience
      4. Prepare questions in advance and then try to put them aside and really be present in the conversation so it sounds like a real conversation
  • Sound Tips
    1. Don’t face a wall (it echoes)
    2. Try to avoid recording in a room with hardwood floors and no curtains or furniture
    3. Don’t use computer or phone’s “speaker phone” setting…echoes and poor sounds

6. iTunes Ranking Hacks
In general:
1. Keywords in description

  • Make description catchy, interesting, enticing to your target audience
  • Think “SEO” and like a copywriter / advertiser
  1. Take advantage of the 8 week New & Noteworthy Period
    1. Get all friends and family to subscribe, rate & review your show
    2. Prepare links and a few “share ready” short messages to send to your guests when their show goes live and invite them to share
    3. Publish AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN in the first 8 weeks. (this increases downloads)

** The more you can take advantage of this first 8 weeks, the higher your overall ranking will be in itunes and more people will find you who are just searching in itunes

  1. Guest to invite…does NOT have to be the biggest names in industry… look more for mid-size people who will share your show once live…that gets the most impact and often their audiences are more niched and matching yours
  2. Think 80/20 Rule…. Spend 20% of your time creating the content and 80% of the time repurposing it and sharing it across platforms to reach more people
  3. Try submitting your show…linking back to your website…on StumbleUpon and Reddit (where appropriate…don’t spam or you will be quickly banned)
  4. Publish consistently so your audience sees you are reliable and here to stay.
  5. Shout out listeners and tag them on social media to further pull them in and get them to want to share

7. Can I Monetize my podcast? Here are 7 Ideas

Short answer: Yes.
Is it super easy? Depends.

1. Commercials

Libsyn offers an advertising service directly within their platform. They will help you find advertisers willing to pay you for commercials the like ones above.

Companies like Midroll perform similar services and you can always work with advertisers directly and eliminate the agency in the middle…. Companies like Wendy’s, HBO, Square Space, Audible, Dunkin Donuts, Protor & Gamble, etc

Participation in this most traditional form of advertising generally requires a podcast have 10,000 downloads a month.

2. Partner Sponsorships

If your audience lines up directly with theirs, you can offer them a valuable way to reach new prospects.

The advertiser generally pays a flat price per episode or per month regardless of how many downloads the podcast receives.

3. Content Sales

Your podcast should be an engine that helps you build white papers, ebooks, courses, guides, mentoring programs, and other forms of education that you can share with your audience.

4. Crowd Funded

Patreon — for example: Daily Tech News Show with Tom Merritt earns $15,180/month from 4,785 patrons

5. Premium Membership

You can provide unlimited access to everything you do – early podcast releases, bonus podcast content, courses, guides, white papers, templates, etc. – for a specific price each year or month.

This offering requires a consistent platform – like Infusionsoft with Customer Hub – but it can be a great way to build a dedicated audience while also driving revenue.

6. Affiliate Revenue

Use affiliate links to things you mention in your show and put them on the ‘shownotes.’ For example, in the last episode my guest the CEO of Social Media Worldwide mentioned the book Laptop Millionaire so I used an Amazon affiliate link on my website.

7. Referrals

When you meet people in your industry, ask them if they have a referral program. Most companies love talking about these programs because it means you’re thinking of sharing their services with your audience.

Building up a quality referral business can drive a lot of passive revenue into your organization while your audience benefits from your links to quality companies.

Please email or social media message me with questions! Love the DNX Camp! xx