Podcast Marketing Radio

The listener journey is the backbone to the success of your podcast. This is the process that takes someone from the market you serve, to discovering your brand (or podcast), to becoming part of your audience, to taking that next step to becoming your customer. In this episode, I break down each of these components of the listener journey to help you become more aware of how this works and what you can do to better move your listeners along the path.

Are Looking for a podcast host to help you distribute your podcast to all of the major platforms like Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, and more?

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Browse https://elmlink.co/jakethepodcaster (Jake's top podcast resources) to help grow YOUR brand with podcasting.

Content, content, content. That's what it's all about these days, isn't it? As a small business owner, you know that creating content is your way of connecting with your audience and customer base. Content allows you to get your message out in front of your audience on a variety of platforms and creates a space for connection and engagement.

But is your content converting? Is it helping you land those high-ticket clients? Ashley Fernandez joined us on this episode of Podcast Marketing Radio to tell us all about creating content that attracts your ideal client. Ashley is the host of her own podcast show, "The No Fartin' Around Show," and works with marketing professionals to close sales without a single sales call.

Ashley is all about the specifics. Getting down the clear and specific vision for your ideal client, your content strategy, and how to make sales. Let's dig into some of her top tips for those who want to maximize their marketing and sales conversions.

Connect with Ashley Fernandez

Facebook: @withashleymae

Instagram: @ashleymaefernandez

Website: http://www.ashleymaefernandez.com (www.ashleymaefernandez.com)

Email: [email protected]

Resources mentioned on this episode

Check out Ashley's podcast, "The No Fartin' Around Show," which is available on all major podcast platforms.

Ashley's Facebook Group, "No Fartin' Around" has training resources and content for high-ticket sales strategies. Join the group here. [Link "here" with https://www.facebook.com/groups/withashleymaefernandez (https://www.facebook.com/groups/withashleymaefernandez)]

Ashley is currently offering a four-month program that includes both one-on-one consulting and weekly group coaching sessions. Participants dig into where they currently are with their content, receive feedback on it, and work to identify and market to their ideal high-ticket clients. If you are interested in joining, reach out to Ashley by sending an email or Facebook message (details above).

https://elmlink.co/jakethepodcaster (Access our top resources) for podcasting entrepreneurs.

Head over to the website for full show notes!

Sales can be a polarizing topic. Some people don't want to get near sales, salespeople, sales strategies... while others live and thrive on it. Our guest for this episode, Donald Kelly a.k.a. the Sales Evangelist, falls into camp #2. He has built a successful podcast and business coaching and training others to get their sales down to a process that is effective and successful.

We're lucky to have snagged Donald to join us on Podcast Marketing Radio to share a bit of his wisdom with us. Whether you are sales-adverse or already love it, Donald's advice is gold. Here are some of the top takeaways from our conversation:

Key Takeaways

Be interesting so others are interested

Focus on the basics

Strategically use the guest-facing monetization strategy

Break sales conversations into smaller ones

Create something that your ideal customer wants

Connect with Donald Kelly

Twitter: @DonaldCKelly

Instagram: @DonaldCKelly

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/donaldckelly (www.linkedin.com/donaldckelly)

Website: http://www.thesalesevangelist.com/ (www.thesalesevangelist.com)

Resources mentioned on this episode

Donald is giving listeners of Podcast Marketing Radio free access to his course, TSE Sales Foundation. Click here to access this awesome content on all things related to effective prospecting and sales!

Resources for Small Business Owners

Need help managing your podcast? Get started with The TriPod Lab for a complete end-to-end Podcast Workflow System, Virtual Team Marketplace, and Content Scaling Playbook. [Coming November 2021]

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This content is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you click thru and buy, we'll receive a small commission. Thank you for your continued support!

What if we told you that it is possible to work less while increasing both your productivity and your creativity? Don't believe us? Take it up with Joe Sanok, our recent guest on Podcast Marketing Radio. Or, just read on to discover some of his top tips to make it happen.

Joe is not only the host of his own wildly successful podcast, The Practice of the Practice Podcast, but manages 18 podcasts with his team and has trained over 200 more to do the same thing. Joe is also the author of "Thursday is the New Friday," a new book that explores how working less can help you become more productive and creative in the work that you do.

We covered a lot of ground with Joe in this episode: creating quality podcast content, tips to engage an audience, how to manage a podcast, and what the four types of sprinters are (productivity sprinting, that is).

Here are some of the key takeaways from our conversation.

Quality leads to podcast growth

Podcasts exploded over the COVID-19 pandemic. More people were at home with extra time on their hands, and so a lot of people took the leap and started their own podcast. But, as Joe points out, there was a huge decrease in the spring of 2021, a year after the start of the pandemic. Many of those new podcasters burned out and weren't able to keep up the momentum.

So, what does drive podcast growth? How can you continue to reach your audience and reap the benefits of podcasting? How do you avoid pod-fade or burnout? Ultimately, podcast growth is determined by podcast quality. Quality in content and in connections. It is important to focus on creating timely, relevant content that answers the questions your audience is asking. It's also about connecting with others in your industry and space who can add value to your podcast.

Joe encourages all business owners with podcasts to ask the question: what do my listeners need? What are they willing to buy from me? Then, create an asset that you can monetize—an e-book, course, consulting, etc.—and determine how many you need to sell to make a worthwhile profit. Be in tune with your audience so that you are creating content that is valuable and worth something to them. Focusing on quality will help your podcast grow and achieve success.

Engaging your audience in the Implementation Age

People will often refer to the current time period as the "information age." Joe believes that we have actually moved past that and are into the "implementation age." Our audiences and listeners have all the information they could ever need and, instead, need help to take that information and implement it in a way that helps them achieve their goals and desires. This can be done through resources like emails, ebooks, or courses that show them exactly how to implement what you are teaching.

Once you have an audience tuned in to what you're sharing with them, the next step is to actually include your audience in your content creation. Reach out to them and invite them to ask questions. You can incentivize this by offering perks or exposure through your podcast. By creating your content directly around what your audience wants to know, you are providing immediate value, but also building trust and loyalty with your audience.

Managing a podcast with productivity hacks

Managing a podcast is a lot of work, with a ton of moving parts. Joe and his team manage 18 of them, and so you best believe he has some tips and tricks for how to manage it effectively! Joe recommends implementing the following strategies to manage a podcast:

Know what your time is worth. Think about all the tasks at hand and what each of them earns by way of revenue. Then, focus on those tasks that earn the most money, and are the things that only you can do (i.e. acquiring new customers or coaching clients). Outsource the rest of the tasks to people who can do it for less money and/or less time.

Think of creative solutions to get support. Joe shared with us how he reached out to the local...

Here we are—the first episode of Podcast Marketing Radio! This is a space for small business owners to learn about how to start and run a podcast. And to start, we’re looking at the why behind it all. Podcasts are both a tool for your business and an extension of your business. They are part of your marketing toolkit. And like any marketing effort, it takes commitment.

To use podcasting to help your small business, you need to invest time, effort, money, and energy into it, just as you would any other marketing effort. Put your full effort into it and, in doing so, treat your podcast like your business.

Determine your “why”

Like your business’ vision, mission, and goals, you need to get clear on what your podcast is all about. Crystal clarity on your “why” behind a podcast will help you gain direction and focus as you move forward.

The first step is to be honest with yourself and truly understand why you want to take on the commitment of a podcast. Focus on getting your vision and your business synched up. Take some time to be introspective and hone in on the “why.” This can look like spending time in silence or meditation, or just focusing on what is important to you and your business. A podcast is an extension of your business that takes time and effort—put in the early work to gain clarity so you can keep moving forward.

With that “why” in mind, let’s turn to some of the benefits of podcasts. These benefits can help inform your “why” and show you the potential that podcasts have. There are four ways podcasts can help your business: they can help you grow your network, grow your knowledge, grow your brand, and grow your profits.

1. Podcasting helps you grow your network

It is likely that you have mentors, inspirations, or even heroes in your field—people you would love to meet and rub shoulders with. People you are dying to ask just a few questions if only you can get a moment of their time. One of the top benefits of podcasting is that you can invite guests to your podcast and make those all-important network connections.

Whether you are hosting guests on your own show or being interviewed on someone else’s, podcasting gives you the chance to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation with industry experts. You can skip past the gatekeepers of high-level leaders and invite them directly onto your show.

Most podcasts range from 30-60 minutes, but there are also the pre- and post-show informal chats and conversations. There can be a variety of opportunities from this networking: mentorship, potential clients, and important strategic partnerships.

2. Podcasting helps you grow your knowledge

A business owner has to be a lifelong learner. If you’re listening to Podcast Marketing Radio or reading this now, you’ve already made an important step to continue to pursue further knowledge. Diving into the world of podcasting is an excellent way to continue to grow in your industry expertise.

Think about it—you are hosting top industry professionals on your show and you are in the driver’s seat! You can ask the questions you want and steer the conversation in a way where both you and your audience can learn and grow in knowledge. One guest (who you’ll hear from on an upcoming episode) shared with us that he charges $1,000 per hour of counseling. His appearance on the podcast is akin to that hour of counselling… for free! Take advantage of the time you have with industry leaders to learn and grow as you converse with them.

3. Podcasting helps you grow your brand

Growing your brand is an obvious “why” behind starting a podcast. You are a business owner with an important product, service, and message to get out there. A podcast can help you reach broad audiences and increase your brand recognition.

The thing that is special about podcasts is they are the most repurpose-able type of content out there. One podcast episode can be repurposed into blogs, social media, video, and other forms of content. Put in the hard work

The day is finally here—launch day! You've recorded the content, syndicated your podcast, developed your other assets. The last thing to do is to actually launch your podcast: it's go-time. You may be feeling both excited and stressed, hopeful that things will go as planned and the podcast will successfully launch.

But how do you launch? You can't just put it out there on the internet, cross your fingers, and wait for people to download and listen. Recall Episode 1 of Podcast Marketing Radio—we discussed treating your podcast like a business, investing time, energy, and resources into it. The first step to do this is with your launch, carefully considering how you are going to go about it.

Before getting into the launch strategies, we have a few tips for you. Prior to Podcast Marketing Radio, we launched two other podcasts; the first ranked in the top 200 on Apple Podcasts and another that hit the top 100. Needless to say, we made a few mistakes and learned some things along the way. So, we're here to share a few tips with you as you prepare for your own podcast launch. Then, we'll dive into three effective podcast launch strategies.

Launch Tip #1: Record and organize before announcing the launch date

You're excited, we know! But before you rush to publicize your launch date, make sure you are setting yourself up for success in advance. We recommend recording your initial launch content and getting all assets in place before you announce your podcast launch date to your audience.

Even if you think you're giving enough lead time, say a few months, a first-time podcaster is inevitably going to have some kinks to work out. It's likely that you'll record and re-record as you get used to the sound of your own voice or the recording process. It's likely to take longer than you think. Developing assets such as your intro and outro, graphics, or promo materials can also take a long time. So, get these things in place before setting a date to launch. Unless you are one of the lucky few who seem to thrive under tight deadlines, budget adequate time to get out ahead of the inevitable challenges.

Launch Tip #2: Give yourself two weeks for podcast syndication

Syndication is a fancy word for getting your podcast out there. It allows Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or other platforms to publish and make your podcast available for listeners. To syndicate your podcast, you need a podcast host. There are a few different options (listed below) and each of them will syndicate your podcast at the click of a button within their software.

This isn't all that hard, but it can take time. Apple Podcasts can take a few hours or a few weeks to approve a new podcast. The last thing you want is to be late on your launch because Apple hasn't approved it yet! So, give yourself at least two weeks to go through the approval process. It's important to get that Apple approval, too, because it's the platform you can build your downloads, reviews, and rankings on.

Launch Tip #3: Don't work on Launch Day

Your podcast launch is important. You have put time, resources, and energy into creating it. Give your podcast the attention and celebration it deserves by clearing your work calendar on that day. Instead of the typical meetings, emails, and other daily tasks, take time to focus on your podcast. Instead, network and get the word out about the launch, connecting with listeners and supporters. And, above all, celebrate!

Any new podcaster will do well to implement these tips as you prepare for launch day. Now the question becomes: how? How do I launch? There are three strategies you can choose from. Let's look at each one in-depth.

"Tell Everyone" Launch Strategy

If this one sounds simple, it's because it is. The "Tell Everyone" strategy requires you to tell everyone about your launch. It's an effective way of getting the word out there with no additional resources besides your time.

Brainstorm a list of your colleagues, supporters, friends and

Podcasts are an excellent marketing tool for business owners. That's what Podcast Marketing Radio is dedicated to proving! They are such great tools because they allow you to connect with your audience, provide real value and content to help them, and broaden your revenue streams.

But, many small business owners feel daunted at the prospect of starting a podcast. After all, podcasting is a new skill set for many and involves serious effort and commitment. Luckily, there are experts like Jason Cercone who are willing to help us out. Our conversation with Jason on this episode of Podcast Marketing Radio was full of different tips and tricks for up-and-coming podcasters. We specifically honed in on the idea that showing up as a guest on already-established podcasts is the best route to get into podcasting yourself.

Jason shared a bunch of information and tips on why being a podcast guest is so beneficial and how you can go about doing it. Here's a round-up of his top tips:

1. Provide value through podcast appearances

One thing that is so great about podcasts is that they are a medium that facilitates real conversations and meaningful content. As a business owner, you have valuable knowledge and information to provide to your audience—solutions for their problems, tips to help out, and industry expertise.

When you go as a guest on another podcast, you can share that with an audience, establishing yourself and knowledgeable and trustworthy. So, when you end an interview with, "If you're interested, come check out my own podcast," the listener is more likely to do so. This is a vastly different way of getting your name out there than through social media, which relies on small bites of information over the in-depth conversation.

Social media certainly has its place, but it comes with ever-changing algorithms and moving goalposts. This makes it challenging to connect with and grow an audience. Podcasts, however, allow you to provide education, information, and entertainment, to help you effectively reach your specific audience.

2. Do your research and find the right podcast

Okay, so maybe you are convinced that getting on some podcasts is a good idea. The next step is to find the right podcast. You could send a mass email a bunch of podcasts to see if they'll host you, but this is kind of like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Instead, have some real thought and deliberation behind what podcasts you want to partner with.

To determine the right podcast to collaborate with, do some research. Search for shows in your industry or space, listen to a few episodes, and learn about the host. What is the goal and direction of the show? Is it aligned with yours? Podcasting is about connecting to an audience, so do you share a similar client and listener base? Part of this due diligence also helps see the quality and mission of the podcast. Some hosts are, frankly, not prepared for guests. They don't plan ahead and the interviews can be all over the place. As you do your research, you can better pick out quality podcasts that align with your own mission and values.

It's important that you are choosing strategic partners, not just whoever will have you.

Showing up as a guest on random podcasts doesn't do much to help grow your own audience or connect with your ideal client or customer!

3. Build rapport instead of pitches

You've done some research and identified a handful of podcasts that align with your own mission and values. Next is pitching! Well, kind of. Pitching yourself—or guest presentation, as Jason prefers to call it—is really about building rapport.

In your research to choose podcasts to approach, you would have listened to a number of their episodes. Use this as a point of connection. When you reach out to introduce yourself, refer to a specific part of a podcast episode and share why it connected with or inspired you. Then, having established that positive rapport, suggest a future...

Money is not a four-letter word. Money is simply a resource that allows you to continue to do things you love and care about. When it comes to podcasting, looking into how to make money is a necessary part of the process. Money should be viewed as a resource that can be re-invested into your podcast and other business functions. Should making money be the sole focus for your podcast? No. Does it need to be included in your planning and execution? Absolutely.

Creating and running a successful podcast takes time, energy, and resources—it's an investment. Therefore, if you aren't making money out of it, it becomes an expensive hobby. And, like any time-consuming, challenging endeavour, this can quickly lead to burnout. You might look at the time and effort you are spending and ask, "Is this even worth it?"

Making money is important, you get that. So how do you go about making money from a podcast? It's important to understand that the podcast is not the mechanism to make money, but the bridge. It leads to different opportunities and revenue streams to put those dollars back into your pocket. While there are a lot of creative options, we'll cover the four main strategies to monetize your podcast: sponsorships, affiliates, your own products and services, and guest collaborations. Each strategy is a unique way that you can get paid to talk shop!

Strategy 1: Sponsorships

We'll start out with the strategy that requires the most time—the long game for money-making through your podcast. Sponsorships are when a company pays you to promote them via your podcast or other business channels. To be honest, we are not huge fans of sponsored podcasts here at Podcast Marketing Radio. They can absolutely work for some people and businesses, but they need to be handled delicately and are challenging to execute well.

If you do choose to go with sponsorships, tread carefully. Throwing ads into the middle of a podcast episode can be disruptive to listeners, lowering the overall experience. It's also important to ensure that sponsors are aligned with your listeners' needs. Sponsorships can take a few different forms though, such as bundle sponsorships. These will "bundle" your different platforms—podcast, website, social media, etc.—to promote the sponsored material.

The reason sponsorships are a long-term strategy is that it requires your podcast to hit a certain number of downloads to really be worth it. Sponsors payout on a CPM (Cost Per Mille, or thousand) basis. So, you might get $20 per 1000 downloads or listens, but this doesn't start making you real money until you have a sizeable audience in the tens of thousands. Building an audience takes time, and therefore, so does earning money from sponsors.

Strategy 2: Affiliates

The next strategy takes less time to earn money from than sponsorships and is a more subtle way of earning revenue by promoting other companies' products and services. Affiliates are partnerships with other companies, where you can earn a commission on products or services purchased by your audience through the affiliate link.

Tons of companies offer affiliate programs. Many software programs will offer excellent commissions, sometimes up to 40%! Amazon also has an affiliate program that has large earning potential. The problem with affiliates is not finding an affiliate partner, but choosing the right one that will connect with your audience. It's important you are choosing targeted items that your audience needs and will benefit from. This makes it easier to naturally include the information in your content but also offers genuine value to your audience.

Strategy 3: Products and Services

Affiliate relationships help you sell other people's products and services, but we can't forget about your own! After all, that's why you are in business and starting a podcast at all. You can use your podcast to reach a wide audience and meet their needs with your tailored products and services. There are so many different...

There are so many podcast platforms and resources out there. You might have heard of some of them—Apple, Spotify, Google... ring any bells? Some of them are big players, attracting millions of listeners. Some might say the market is saturated for podcast listening platforms. But how about podcast interacting platforms? That's a whole other story. Melinda Wittstock's new app, Podopolo, is just that: a platform for podcast creators and listeners to interact with each other.

In our conversation for this episode, Melinda acknowledges the saturated market, but also that none of the other players are doing what Podopolo is. This innovative app uses the best features of social media, gamification and incentives, and high-quality content to both drive social impact and to empower and enlighten people. Podopolo represents what innovation can do for the podcasting world.

Melinda is no stranger to innovation as a five-time entrepreneur, building seven and eight-figure businesses in media and tech. She is also no stranger to podcasts. Her own podcast, "Wings of Inspired Business" was ranked #8 in Entrepreneur Magazine's top 20 business podcasts in 2020.

We sat down to talk to Melinda about Podopolo and her general thoughts and ideas on podcasting for small businesses. She gave us a lot of insights into how podcasts can be a tool for connection and social change. Let's look at some specifics about Podopolo and its impacts on the podcast world.

Podopolo nurtures interaction for podcast listeners

You know that moment when you are listening to a podcast and you have an "Aha!" moment? We've all had that. What happens next? Well, you might tell a friend or family member about it and tell them to try and scroll through to minute 21:23 and hear it for themselves. You might try to post about it on Facebook or Instagram, or you don't do anything and hope to remember it in the future.

Podopolo seeks to bridge that gap for podcast listeners. The interactive platform actually allows you to clip a bit of audio and share it publicly or privately with other people in your network! Those "Aha!" moments from a podcast become a real conversation starter. Podopolo also provides recommendations tailored to your interests, allows you to keep up with friends, and engage in the conversations being started by podcasts.

It's a platform for interaction between podcast listeners and hosts. In a way, it's a social media-like place for the podcasting world. But, unlike a lot of social media, podcasts offer greater depth of thought and inspiration, so Podopolo seeks to elevate conversations and interactions, focusing on what is positive, empowering, and honest.

Podopolo sets up a virtuous cycle of content recommendations

If you want to increase exposure and grow your audience, the algorithm is king. It's through an algorithm that our podcast platforms "learn" what we like and will recommend similar options. But, there is a known downside to this—algorithms can take the listener into an "echo chamber," where they become further entrenched in their ideas, unable to see truth or value in another viewpoint.

Podoplo seeks to tackle this problem by carefully building its recommendations algorithm. Not only will it recommend things that you like, but will add in surprises—content you may not have found on your own that will actually inspire and help you grow. As you engage with a variety of content and the conversations around it, you continue to be connected with your community and seek out new ideas and viewpoints. This creates a virtuous circle, so to speak, rather than the echo chambers present in other social media platforms.

Podopolo utilizes gamification for engagement

Engaging with your audience is the ultimate goal for a small business owner looking to connect with their audience. Listeners want to feel engaged, too. At times, podcasts can feel one-sided, with the host communicating their ideas to the listener, with no chance for feedback....

If you've listened to a few episodes of Podcast Marketing Radio, you know that our goal is to help small business owners through the power of podcasting. Our guest for this episode, Eric Brotman, is the perfect example of how a business can be transformed when you make the leap into the world of podcasts.

We were lucky to hear Eric's story—a story of chance, really. Eric is a financial advisor and was not familiar with the world of podcasting, digital media, or even building a brand and audience. He visited a FinCon conference back in 2017 and spent some time wandering the aisles. Through conversation and connection, he decided to start appearing on some podcasts as a guest. After getting connected with a team to help land podcasting opportunities, Eric was a guest on over 20 shows.

He loved it and decided to jump in and start his own podcast. Since then, Eric's financial advising business has grown into three businesses, he's published a book and numerous free resources, and is currently in season four of his podcast, "Don't Retire... Graduate!"

So, just what is his secret to success? Eric was gracious to sit down with us and chat about some of his tips, tricks, and insights for small business owners getting into the world of podcasting. Here are some of the key takeaways:

Podcasting leads to other revenue streams

A podcast does not make money in and of itself. It is not the mechanism for making money, but rather a bridge to different revenue streams. We go over this in detail in Episode 3 of Podcast Marketing Radio, so go and check that one out.

Eric was able to open up different revenue streams because of the platform and audience he built through his podcast. While putting out valuable content, he connected with people and realized what kind of products and services they needed. This resulted in him writing and self-publishing a book as well as many free resources like online classes and worksheets. These assets help earn money, either directly, or by bringing additional clients into his financial advising business. He was also able to open a consulting business and media company with the podcast momentum!

Start where you are and get some help

It's pretty normal to feel nervous about being recorded, and putting yourself "out there" for people to listen to. While Eric has always enjoyed public speaking, he also shared how important it is to keep the mindset that one day you will look back at your first episode and laugh. Anyone would! We all have to start somewhere, and the best place to start is where you are.

In addition to the public speaking part, some small business owners might be interested in starting a podcast but feel daunted at the technical work that needs to go into it. If you're a financial advisor like Eric, that's your area of expertise, not podcasts and digital media. Eric spoke a bit about how getting started in podcasting required reaching out for help and expertise.

There are professionals and experts who can help you with all kinds of important functions to produce a podcast, ranging from graphic design artwork to getting guests for your show. You, as the podcast host, are responsible for showing up authentically and providing good, quality content. You won't be perfect to start, but once you start moving, you can continue to learn and grow.

Show up as your authentic self

Authenticity is the most important thing for a podcast host. You cannot show up and do a good job if you are not passionate about what you are doing and the content you are creating. "Fake it til you make it" may be good advice in some situations, but it's always obvious when you're on a podcast. So, be true to who you are and allow your audience to see the real you.

Podcasts are an excellent medium for in-depth conversation and discussion. Eric noticed that after starting a podcast and being authentic to himself and his values, he could connect with listeners-turned-clients on a more meaningful level. The...