Podcast is the New Blog: Expanding Reach and Connection through Podcasting

• Podcasting is an excellent tool for expanding your reach and connection with not only your existing audience, but new audiences, too.
• In 2013, 7% of Americans would have listened to a podcast in that week, in the given week that they were asked, and in 2023 that number was 31%. That’s a huge jump in a relatively short amount of time. And that number is just going to continue to go up and up.
• According to Buzz Sprout, which is a podcast hosting platform, there are 90 million weekly listeners of podcasts. And of those 90 million listeners, 66% of those listeners have an average household income of $75,000 or more. So there’s a lot of purchasing power in podcast listenership.
• The average podcast listener listens to 8 podcasts per week!

What Can a Podcast Do for Your Business?

Showcase: 

Having a podcast as one of your business offerings is another great way to establish yourself as an expert while communicating about your work in a long form, dynamic format.  

You can showcase your personality, too! In addition to your business offerings, this is what sets you apart from others in your industry. 

Connect:

Connection is gold. When you record a podcast episode, you are taking that time to connect using long form content. You’re sitting down with somebody that you may have not otherwise made time for in your schedule, or who wouldn’t have made time for in their schedule for a conversation about your work, your interests, and your life.

Your customers are also connecting with you by becoming your listeners. They become your community, so you can ask what they are listening to, for their feedback, for them to connect with you and provide conversation to ultimately benefit your business.

Extend & Sell:

Podcasting is also a way to connect by extending someone’s attention span for your idea. If you get someone to listen to your 30-minute podcast, even at 2x speed, that’s at least 15 minutes of them listening to you talk about whatever your topic may be. 

Use this attention to extend what you’re selling to your customer base or potential audience. There are a few ways you can do this: ads offering a free download for lead generation, indirectly selling by mentioning other avenues of your business through storytelling, or flat out demonstrating what it is you actually are selling. 

4 Fundamentals for Taking Your Podcast from Idea to Published

Planning:

Planning the first step you’ll want to take when you’re beginning your podcast journey. Ask yourself these questions in the process:

1. What format do you want it to be?
   1. Do you want it to be an audio only podcast? 
   2. Do you want it to be a full video podcast?
   3. Do you want it to be a hybrid where the full episode is published in audio form and you use video clips from the recording for promotion.
2. When and where?
   1. How often are you going to drop episodes? Don’t overpromise. A biweekly schedule is a great place to start.
   2. Where are you going to be recording? Virtually or in person?
3. Assessment of Circumstances
   1. Will you be hosting guests?
   2. How much time can you devote you your podcast? Take into consideration time to plan with guests, record with guests/solo, edit, publish and promote
   3. How much money will you invest? There are lots of ways to do things for free, but like anything, what you put in is what you get out.
   4. How much support do you have? Who in your camp is going to be the cheerleader who’s going to help you through those sticking point moments?
4. What are you selling?
   1. Are you selling your business offerings? Showcasing your knowledge? Interviewing guests? Outline the goal of your show.
5. The Brand Plan
   1. Are you going to tie your your podcast directly to your business name or are you going to come up with some other name so that you can hopefully get people who aren’t necessarily already bought into your brand? 
   2. Is your podcast name something that’s identifiable and easily searchable? 
   3. What will be your cover art and overall brand presence on social media?
   4. What music will you be using? Music really can set the tone for your entire show.

BONUS TIP: Create a one second elevator pitch to tell folks what your podcast is about. Be thoughtful with your descriptions, too, to make sure that someone can really understand what your podcast is about.

Recording:

Now that you’ve got a plan, it’s time to think about the recording process. Consider the following:

1. Physical Equipment
   1. You’ll need a microphone and headphones – these are two of the most important things. There are great USB options for microphones, and headphones come in all shapes and sizes.
2. Capture the Audio File
   1. You’ll need a recording device. That can be directly to your computer, on a recording device, even right to your phone. 
3. Physical Space
   1. Find somewhere that is quiet without distractions. It doesn’t need to be a padded, traditional studio, as editing software will remove a lot nowadays. 
4. Store the Audio File
   1. Will you upload everything directly to your platform? Do you need to invest in Dropbox or Google Drive? Where will you keep things organized?

Editing and Publication: 

1. To Edit or Not to Edit? That is the question.
   1. Lots of people don’t edit. They grab the audio file and they put it online. It all depends on capacity
   2. If you’re able to edit, it’s recommended to do so. 
2. Improve Sound
   1. Use audio editing software to remove room noise, adjust volume between speakers and more, providing an overall more professional sounding podcast.
   2. There are tons of free software options out there. A few examples include Hindenburg or Garage Band (Mac OS). 
3. Clean Up Filler Words and Gaps/Edit for Conversation
   1. Adjust timing in conversation, remove things like filler words and more.
   2. Descript is a great tool for this – and is as easy as just pressing a button. 
4. Host Platform and RSS Feed
   1. There are many to choose from and most are free.
   2. The main differences include the publication tools and the analytics that you get on the back end. 
   3. One suggested option: ANKER (owned by Spotify). It also produces an RSS feed, which is the distribution URL that allows you to put it on many different platforms. 

Promotion:

There are so many ways that you can promote your episode, promote your podcast, and in turn promote your business using the content that you create for your podcast on social media. 

1. Creative Content Ideas:
   1. Static graphic to preview the episode
   2. Static graphic announcing publication
   3. Audiogram with an audio clip from the podcast over a static graphic. 
      1. Basically a Reel/TikTok with a static image, but using the video format. They don’t perform as well as actual video of the people, but it’s still another way that you can use content. 
   4. Use relevant b-roll footage over an audio clip from the podcast.
   5. Reel/TikTok of actual recorded video interview/podcast episode
      1. Add captions and/or your logo
   6. Static graphic with a quote from the episode.
   7. Face to face videos on Reels or Stories talking about various takeaways from the episode
      1. This is great evergreen content!
   8. Guests – get them involved and create relevant content that they’ll want to share! 

More Resources

• Link to Jamie’s Presentation Deck
• Photo Recap of the event, thanks to Alex Killian