Podcasting is experiencing tremendous growth, but how can you generate leads from podcasting? In this day and age, it is getting harder to find success through traditional channels such as Facebook ads, webinars, and nurturing your email list as people are becoming disengaged. This is where podcasting comes in, as it is an opportunity for you to be your authentic self and connect with people on a deeper level, and really provide people with massive value on a regular basis.

In this episode of Marketing From The Trenches, I speak with Charley Valher of Valher Media and ask him to share with us his specific strategies for generating leads from podcasting. Be sure to tune in to the whole episode for a more in-depth discussion about the topic.

About Charley Valher (2:46)

• Early adopter of Facebook ads
• Grew an agency that was running 7-figure Facebook ad campaigns
• Early adopter of outsourcing
• Co-founded an outsourcing company with annual 7-figure revenue
• Started buying and selling other businesses
• Launched Valher Media in 2019

Traditional Marketing Channels Not Working (4:44)

• Facebook ads worked really well in 2017 and 2018, but at the start of 2019, numbers dropped while costs increased.
• Webinar registrations have been decreasing.
• Lead magnet opt-ins have been decreasing.
• Show up rates have been decreasing.
• Email open hates have been decreasing.

How Podcasting Will Look In 12-24 Months (10:26)

• Spotify has recently invested $500 million in acquiring companies that deal in podcasting.
• Google is going to be indexing podcasts and showing them in search results.
• Apple announced iTunes will be creating a podcast-specific app.
• With better tech and better connections, more and more people are listening to podcasts on their daily commute.
• Video podcasting will be the next big thing in podcasting.

What Should You Know Before Starting A Podcast? (13:53)

• Use a podcast as a growth engine for an existing business
• Be prepared to invest 12 months of time to gain traction, then reap the benefits of compound interest.
• Releasing one episode a week is the best way to start.
• Episodes that run for between 20-45 minutes have the best success.
• Record your intro after the interview is complete so you can really highlight some of the golden nuggets that listeners will receive by consuming the full episode.
• Set aside 1-2 days per month and record all your episodes during that time, and create a month's worth of content in a day.

How Do You Decide What Content To Make? (19:14)

• Make content your audience wants to consume!
• Use Buzzsumo or Ahrefs to find out what content is performing well.
• Use Google Keyword Planner to find out what people are searching.
• Email your list and ask them what they would like to learn more about.
• Research Quora and Reddit to find out what topics people need help with.

What Equipment Do You Need To Start A Podcast? (25:35)

• Webcam - Logitech C920 or C922, or Logitech Brio.
• Microphone - Audio Technica ATR 2100.
• Recording video - Zoom.
• Recording Audio - Audacity.

Note: This is a bare-bones approach that, at the time of publication will cost around $200AUD.

How Do You Edit Each Episode? (28:01)

• Recording the episode is the easy part, editing it well is the most important step.
• Someone needs to adjust and balance the volume, and run a high pass over the audio.
• Use a syndication platform such as Omny to distribute each episode across iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, and more.
• Create ‘show notes’ that tell a potential listener what the show is about.
• Create an image thumbnail with the title of each episode.

What Are The Best Ways To Reach New Listeners? (31:02)

• Recording video is the simplest way to stand out from the crowd.
• Make trailer/teaser snippets for social media, then link to the full episode.
• Publish each episode in full, natively, on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
• Boost each episode to your target market.
• Retarget to people who have already consumed your content.
• Only feed traffic into your funnel from people who have consumed your content.

How Can You Grow A Podcast Organically? (38:00)

• Invite industry leaders to be a guest on your show.
• Reach out to other podcast owners and pitch them to be on their show.
• Use guest appearances on other shows to build backlinks to your website.
• Look for big names who are launching a book, as they will want to appear on shows to talk about their book.
• Stack all these approaches (even stack paid and unpaid) on top of each other to create even more leverage.

If you are interested to learn more about how your business can profit from podcasting, then visit valhermedia.com for more. See you in the next episode!

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