The Podcast Why

Fresh content is key in running a successful podcast. Your listeners want to hear more of you. 

Plus, new content helps attract new listeners who don’t yet know how great you are! Podcast block is real, and can plague even the most chatty podcasters.

This is day 21 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge

When you’re stuck and can’t think of what to include in your next podcast, try one of these ideas.

Set Up Google Alerts

What is a Google Alert? Essentially it’s an email you will receive whenever something you’re interested in is being talked about online.

Once you’ve set up an alert, Google will monitor the web for new content related to that topic. Then they’ll create a digest of all the latest links mentioning it and email it to you so you can read more about that topic.

Here’s how to set one up:

First, head over to here: https://www.google.com/alerts

In the box at the top of the page, you’ll then enter the topic you want to follow

After you have chosen your topic, click the “Show Options” button for additional settings like how often you’ll get notifications, the types of websites you’ll see, your language, the region of the world you want alerts from, and how many results you’ll receive.

From there, just add an email address to send the alerts to. Then, click “Create Alert” and the alerts will begin coming to your email automatically.

Ask Your Audience

What do your listeners want to hear from you? Ask them!

Use the platforms and methods where you engage the most with your listeners — your website, email, LinkedIn, IG, FB, Twitter. 

Ask your listeners what’s on their mind. To ensure you’ll get helpful responses, keep your call for questions focused. Use easy tools like Google Surveys, SurveyMonkey, Doodle.  

You can use EasyPolls to quickly embed polls on your website. Or for a free stand-alone poll you can link to, Poll Junkie (Web) is one of the better poll apps for creating free polls without an account 

From there, you’re sure to get at least one — but probably several — excellent topics that will not only keep you talking, but will be meeting the needs of your audience.

Rework Old Content

Sometimes your best place to look for content ideas is your back catalog. 

Look back over old episodes you’ve recorded or old blog posts you’ve written. Have you learned anything new since you originally created the podcast or blog post? Or expand on the topic in a new episode.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes. 

You’re still not seeing the podcast listener engagement you were hoping for. 

This is day 20 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge.

I have four of the best tactics to help you see your podcast listener engagement increase. All it requires from you is a little time and planning. You should start to see the listener participation and engagement increase over time!

Understanding your audience is the key to growing your listener base. But more importantly it will also help increase engagement. 

Knowing when your listeners are most active on social media will help you strategically target them with your posts, with the goal of gaining their interest and involvement.

Take the time to understand your audience’s daily routines. It will allow you to strategically plan your posts and therefore gain maximum engagement.

The idea is that you invite listeners to comment or participate with your social media post. The goal is to inspire people to spend more time viewing your post and therefore also your account. 

It doesn’t take much from your end, all you need to do is add a simple phrase like: ‘have you seen what we’ve been up to this week?’ or ‘what do you think of our latest episode?’ or a great takeaway quote from the episode. 

Ask them to leave a comment. Ask them to share with someone they know who would benefit from the podcast.

The more vocally present you are within your field of interest the more you will be seen by other users. It’s crucial that you’re as active as possible on social media. 

Comment on other users' posts and articles. Follow related accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Join FB groups that are in line with your podcast niche and topics. Carve out a dedicated portion of each day to social media, say 20-30 minutes per day.  

Newsletters are the perfect way to shout about your podcast’s activity and summarize in a succinct way what you’re up to. 

By tracking your newsletter’s open rate and click-throughs you can start to understand the topics which resonate with your audience. This allows you to plan your content more easily. 

Motivate people to sign up to your newsletter by offering an incentive – exclusive content or offers are both great ways to encourage users to sign up!

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

We love helping businesses start their podcast for the right reasons.

What are the right reasons?

They depend on the business marketing goals and how this new marketing tool is cohesive with their other marketing objectives. 

This is day 19 of my 31 day podcast challenge.

Because a potential podcaster often doesn’t consider the work involved with making one episode. It can cause problems for the whole marketing team

You might see the term podfade as you are researching podcasting. This is where a podcast starts producing fewer and fewer consistent episodes.

There is a significant amount of podfading among new podcasters because they went into podcasting for all the wrong reasons. 

They’ll look at successful podcasters in particular business categories and try to mimic that business’ podcast because of its success.

They assume that it’s super easy and doesn’t require much to get started. And podcast hosting companies make it easier every day to enter into the industry.

Some businesses and entrepreneurs launch their podcasts and immediately find super success with them. But it rarely happens because of podcasting directly. These businesses often come into podcasting after building communities through other methods, like blogging or social media.

When an entrepreneur enters into the podcast industry for fame and fortune only, they only see the results, but none of the work behind the results.

Building and growing a podcast typically takes more effort than what the finished product shows you. Podcasting requires creativity and persistence.

This is just some of what Circle270Media Podcast Consultants do for our clients.

1. Research and find a podcast hosting platform
2. Acquire an URL for the podcast
3. Get a website for the show
4. Research the pros and cons of a format for the show
5. Are you going to create an interview or solo show?
6. If it's an interview podcast then how are you going to acquire guests?
7. Do you want a co host?
8. If you go solo, how far in advance can you plan out content
9. Determine how long the show should the show be
10. Think how many episodes should you publish in a certain amount of time
11. Schedule time to create episodes
12. Figure out how to upload them
13. Link the RSS feed to the podcast aggregators/podcatchers
14. Create show notes
15. Transcribe the podcast episode
16. Start social media campaigns
17. Set up email subscribe options

Outside of what my consultancy does, you will need to..

1. Purchase the equipment to record and edit
2. Learn how to use the equipment
3. Learn how to edit your audio

Potential podcasters hear the finished product and think “That sounds easy, I can do that.” They don’t consider the actual workflow of the podcast production. A podcast workflow will look like this:

This is just some of what Circle270Media Podcast Consultants do for our clients

• Brainstorm show idea
• Outline show talking points
• Schedule guests (if an interview show)
• Set up equipment
• Record the show
• Edit the show
• Write show notes
• Schedule marketing for episode
• Write email blasts
• Upload episode
• Share episode with followers and fans

Most new podcasters are working to build a community and a show 

Organically growing means you may never get to 10,000, 20 or 30,000 downloads an episode – and being okay with that. 

Real success in podcasting means you have realistic expectations for YOUR show and YOUR audience. 

You’re not comparing yourself to anyone else. You’ve found your voice, your audience, and you’re providing them ongoing, can’t miss an episode, value.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

If you happen to be short on funds there are many free design resources that can help you out to create the perfect podcast episode artwork. For your website, your podcast feed, and social media posts.

This is day 18 of my 31 day podcast challenge

I am talking about free fonts, templates, stock photography, icons and even videos – essential assets you may need to complete your podcast projects, all free. And freebies don't mean you have to compromise quality.

Discover your perfect landing page image

A growing collection of beautiful, free images for your landing page

Want a photo for your site that no one else has? Photo Creator from Icons8 allows Choose from thousands of models, objects, and backgrounds to perfectly tell any story.

Combine objects, people, backgrounds and even images of your own using a browser-based drag-and-drop interface that's very quick and easy to use. 

Courtesy of Icons8, Icons gives you a whole library of free icons in PNG and SVG. 

Animated GIFs have excellent browser support because they work like images. They are small in file size and play automatically. Just download the images and you're ready to go!

Google is offering an intuitive and robust collection of open source designer web fonts. By using their extensive catalog, you can share and integrate typography into any design project seamlessly. All created to the high standards you'd expect from a web giant like Google.

Dafont is an enormous archive of freely downloadable fonts. Browse by alphabetical listing, by style, by author or by popularity.

Free HD stock footage and 4K videos courtesy of Videezy. Its collection is provided by its members – most are free to download and use, 

Free videos that you can use to create infinite loops, and they're all available to download for both personal and commercial use.

Find a ton of free stock videos which can be used free of charge, in both personal and commercial productions. Keep in mind, video clips that carry the Creative Commons 3.0 license must be attributed to the original author.

Claiming to be the "easiest online design tool to create animations and graphics for social and web", Crello is one of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants’ favorite websites for projects. You don't even need design skills to get started. You can find more than 4,000 pre-designed animated layouts alone.

Simple to use in the browser, with no downloads required, Canva is a surprisingly powerful and flexible graphic design tool. Use Canva’s drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts to design consistently stunning graphics.

Need to remove the background from a photo? Remove backgrounds 100% automatically in 5 seconds with one click.

It’s a photo editor where you can crop, rotate, fine-tune, color, resize or add effects to any image, with no application to download - it’s all within your browser window. You can also create photo collages.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes. 

Interviewing guests involves more than just asking the right questions. Your audience wants to hear captivating content.

This is day 17 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge

Here are some strategies you can implement immediately:

Research Your Guests Thoroughly

If your podcast exists to educate and inform your listeners about a particular subject, it’s only respectful of your audience to learn not only about the topic but also the guest in order to create an effective episode.  

Do your homework. Search online and gather background information about your interviewees. Be sure to follow them on their social media channels.

Visit their website. Listen to previous talks featuring their work. Read their blog posts. Researching your guests will help you guide the conversation in multiple directions.

Engage With Open-Ended Questioning

Ask open-ended questions. This can be harder than you realize, and take some discipline as an interviewer. 

Open-ended questions require a response with more depth. They also are helpful in learning about a person or a situation. Here are some example questions…

1. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about…?
2. What’s your key piece of advice on …?
3. What keeps you interested in…?

Listen Carefully

Listening sounds obvious, but it’s a common mistake.

Sometimes, we get so focused on asking questions from our prepared list that we miss important points made by our guests. Then, the natural flow seems awkward, and we even ask questions that have already been answered.

To help, reduce nearby distractions. Focus on your guests, not the next question. Here are some handy tips to help you listen more carefully...

• Don’t interrupt your guest when they are speaking. If a followup question comes to mind, write it down to ask after your guest has finished.
• Don’t give verbal agreements to every statement that they make. Nodding your head is more than enough to let your interviewee know you are listening.

Ask for Stories

Storytelling drastically changes the way our brains work. And listeners love a good story.  

If you want to persuade and entertain your audience, ask your guests questions to include stories about their experiences. Those memorable moments will capture your listener’s attention and build a relationship with the audience.

Remember to give listeners insight they never expected. To hone your skills, listen to other interview podcasts, and listen to them from the interviewer perspective.

I interviewed radio news reporter and anchor Mark Nuce in a previous episode about the skills needed to become a better interviewer. I have a link to the episode in the podcast episode notes.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes. 

You’ve probably heard the term RSS Feed, but do you know what a podcast RSS feed means and how important it can be to your podcast and its success? 

This day 16 of my 31 day podcast challenge.

Most people don’t, or don’t understand it fully. Even most podcasters. That’s why I want to break down exactly what the term means, why it’s so crucial to getting your podcast heard and how to use it to its maximum potential for your podcast!   

Before explaining the ins and outs of exactly what an RSS Feed is, let’s look at what the acronym stands for.

RSS stands for “really simple syndication,” or, depending on who you ask, “rich site summary.” 

At its heart, RSS is just simple text files with basic updated information—news pieces, articles, and podcasts. That stripped-down content is usually plugged into what is called a “feed reader” or an interface that quickly converts the RSS text files into a stream of the latest updates from around the web.

An RSS Feed is mandatory for manually distributing or syndicating your podcast. It is literally the URL for your podcast! 

Once you set up your Feed, your content will be ready to be submitted to podcast applications or news readers to subscribe to your content. 

It is crucial that you create a podcast only RSS Feed, rather than one which has other content. The “podcatching” apps will not recognize the RSS tags correctly and will reject the entire RSS feed. 

Once you have your podcast specific Feed you need to submit it to any and every podcast app and directory, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Simply put: It contains all of your podcast’s information: title, image, description, mp3 file URL, and category. All the information necessary for your podcast to be distributed outside of your hosting platform. 

RSS allows you to syndicate content to different platforms so that you can reach audiences without the need for them to visit your website directly.

For listeners: it means they don’t need to sign up for emails or push notifications for podcasts which interest them. They can stay-up-to-date and find all their favorite podcasts in one podcasting app.

For podcasters: it makes it easy to reach new listeners without having to invest great amounts of time in creating e-mail databases or newsletters. Also you can improve your engagement by linking back to your website via the RSS Reader. 

However, the real bonus for you is that you only need to upload your content to one place as your RSS Feed will distribute your podcast for you! 

The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to self-host or use a hosting platform. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Self-hosting

by hosting everything yourself on your website, you have complete control over your Feed, you own it and your workflow is simple – in turn, this means if anything happens to your website, your podcast goes down too. 

Keep in mind that you will need to have some technical skills in order to know how to code and build the RSS Feed. You will also need to keep up what’s happening in the industry to keep updating to your Feed. Most use what is called Feedburner, but this hasn’t been updated in years.

Hosting platforms

Podcast hosting platforms are designed to handle the specifications and needs of a podcaster. They are developed for end-users. They typically have excellent support teams who are on hand to offer technical support when needed!

We encourage our clients to go this direction. Numerous hosting platforms available. 

We go with IAB-certified hosting platforms. The certification process is managed by the IAB Tech lab under its Compliance Program.

Certified companies comply with the IAB V2 podcast measurement guidelines, which aspire to be the industry standard, and to some extent are the industry standard. The guidelines set rules for how to measure podcast downloads, impressions, and listeners.

Podcasters have a high level of control over their RSS Feed. We can manage, move and customize the feed to exactly how we want it. 

The option to have full control of the RSS feed also offers the chance to redirect the RSS Feed and to add a prefix to the RSS Feed. 

Redirecting a feed means fully owning it. You might want change to another podcast hosting company. When you forward the old one to your new host, you won’t lose listeners who are subscribed to the old feed.

Adding a prefix allows you to be able to use additional services which your host platform might not provide. Simply, a prefix is a URL address which is placed at the beginning of your episode URL. This runs each time your episode is played or downloaded. You can add a prefix to get... 

1. advanced stats that your hosting platform may not provide
2. advertising inserted dynamically. 

Here at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants, we always make sure that our clients stay in control of the RSS Feed. No matter what changes, your podcast hosting platform, all the way to your website, your RSS Feed is your podcast’s lifeline to your audience base.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

The COVID-19 lockdown forced lots of people to get comfortable with video conferencing in a hurry. In fact so fast, most of us weren’t prepared with the right equipment or setup from our new “home offices.”

Podcasters may have had a leg up on this situation, but it has become even more important to understand what is needed for recording better podcasts.

This is day 15 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge.

Here are some tips for looking and sounding more professional when you are on camera from home.

Your home is not designed as a recording studio. That can mean audio recording, live teleconferencing calls or video recordings can sound echoey.

The trick is to eliminate hard surfaces that may reflect sound. Sofas, pillows, clothes and blankets can all help reduce echo. Even a towel on a desk can mean less sound bouncing around. 

I always suggest to not rely on internal microphones on your phone, camera or laptop. If you are using a laptop then a simple usb mic will make a huge difference.

There are a number of very affordable usb mics. Just decide how portable you want your setup to be, like a Samson Go Mic. It is tiny, clips onto your laptop screen, and the audio quality is good.

If you are willing to spend a little more you can get a Audio-Technica ATR2100 Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone. That usually comes with a foldable desktop stand. With that microphone, I also suggest purchasing a Microphone XLR to USB Cable.

To get a bit techie, it has Premium 3 Pins XLR Female to USB A Cable, with Extra to USB Type C Cable for Extension. Do this because the connection plug on the back of ATR2100 can become loose. Connecting into the mic’s XLR pins, and then into your computer will always be a safe connection for you. 

Naturally with microphones, the more you spend the higher quality you are likely to achieve.

Lighting plays a very important role in making your videos look good. You can use natural daylight, but avoid shooting towards windows. A small LED ring light can be useful to add a bit more light to your shot.

If you want a more professional setup, or your room needs the lighting, then two or three LED standing lights may be needed. Remember to light your background, not just your foreground.

The things that will make your background look better are depth, detail, balance and lighting. 

Considering depth first. Avoid filming yourself right up against a wall. It can look claustrophobic. Get your camera setup so you have some space behind you. 

Secondly, detail. This is about avoiding blank walls. A neatly stacked bookshelf or nicely staged props will look better than a plain wall. Keep in mind, messy backgrounds will be distracting. 

Thirdly, balance. Consider the composition of what is on camera. If you have something tall on one side, have something similar on the other side.  

Finally, lighting, which we covered just a moment ago. Or you can look getting affordable backdrops for green screen etc.

Make sure your camera is set at eye-level. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen professional speakers looking down or up at the camera they are using. It looks unnatural, and can be disturbing. To fix this, it may mean you will need to put the laptop on books to raise it. 

When you are doing video conferencing calls, remember to look at your camera and not yourself on the screen. Try and put your eyes two-thirds of the way up the frame. Following the “rule of thirds” will make your shot composition look more professional.

With some creativity and affordable equipment, you can go live or record audio and video with confidence from the comfort of your home.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

As a small business, it can be extremely difficult to find your unique voice in your niche business category and marketplace. And then successfully reach your targeted audience. 

Consumers’ lives are saturated by advertising on a daily basis. So how can you create brand personality and make your business heard? One answer is podcasts.

Podcasts are increasingly being integrated into brands’ content marketing strategies. Do you know why? It is advertising which offers businesses the opportunity to create an intimate rapport with their current customer base, and potential customer base.

If you need further convincing as to why podcasts are here to stay for B2C and B2B advertising, here are more reasons as to why your business needs podcasting to establish a more solid relationship of trust.

Podcasts allow you to create a voice and personality for your brand. This in turns allows you to build an intimate relationship with your customer. 

It’s tailor-made content that is thoughtful, informative and will make you stand out amongst your competitors. By speaking directly to your customer it allows consumers to feel more empathetic towards your brand, and lets them see another side of your business.

Securing an influential guest who has a large or loyal following can be a great way of broadening your audience. Guests who are not directly related to your subject matter or might offer a unique point of view give you the opportunity to entice new listeners. 

More importantly, if the guests are willing to share the content via their social media channels it can give a real boost to your numbers and strengthen brand validity.

Interviews also offer the opportunity to invite your clients to the podcast. They, in turn, can talk about their business, and how your business has helped them grow, in their own words. A verbal testimonial, as it were.

What makes podcasts truly unique as a content medium is the fact they don’t require undivided attention like lots of other media, such as video. 

Podcasts are easily consumable content – you can speak to your audience while they are going about their daily lives: driving, cooking or commuting. Podcasts allow listeners to multi-task while they listen to your podcast podcast.

When used wisely podcasts are a powerful tool in a small business’s content marketing strategy. They allow companies to directly speak to their consumers in a personalized way. Podcasts a clever way to create a trusted relationship between brand and customer.

Business to business, or business to consumer, podcasts are now an important part of your business’ overall marketing strategy.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

You’ve come up with a fantastic podcast idea and you need some tips to get heard. Or maybe you’ve already gained a good core of listeners, but you feel the time has come to expand the podcast’s reach.

This is Day 13 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge.

Your efforts into growing your podcast audience is something you should do on a regular basis. Dedicate just as much time and passion as you do when crafting and recording each podcast episode of yours.

But how do you do it? Here are some handy tips to increase your podcast listeners.

A good launch is crucial if you want to gain engaged listeners 

Launching goes beyond reaching as many people as possible: it’s about reaching as many people as possible to find your topic relevant. That’s why relying on a previously built audience can help a lot. 

Think about running an official countdown on your digital channels in order to attract some of the right people before you actually launch. 

Make your podcast launch day a digital event, be it a Facebook live, LinkedIn live, an Instagram story – get creative!

If you’ve already launched, that doesn’t mean you can’t create some event in order to get more engagement from your audience. This will turn into more shares, and eventually new podcast listeners from your listeners’ circles.

Email is fundamental because it’s where closer connections happen. If people allow access to their email, they’re also open to your podcast. It’s ideal that you start building your email list before your podcast launches: that way you can let your contacts know you’re live.

The best way to keep on collecting contacts throughout the podcast is to build an opt-in landing page. It’s a web page that explains to your current and potential podcast listeners why they should receive your news in their inbox, followed by the chance to sign up for them. Mailchimp, Mailerlite or Revue are great tools for no-fuss list building.

It is vital that people give their consent, because you’ll know they are actually interested, and for purely legal reasons – you can’t spam people.

Give a brief and enticing summary of each episode and a preview of the upcoming one. While it’s quicker to go with an email template, try your best to customize your email to the receiving end.

Make sure you include the opportunity to share the email with friends to get new, engaged listeners for your podcast.

Whether or not you have an opt-in list, do email people you know personally if you know they’re interested in your podcast topic. Email pioneers and influencers asking them for advice and to share some episodes with their network.

As tailored as emails can get, taking care of your social media can help get your podcast noticed on a larger scale, driving those much needed downloads and reviews!

Each social media post should contain your unique insight into why people should listen to that episode. Consider your post a promo for your podcast episode, nothing more or less than that. 

Create a unique hashtag for your podcast and use it consistently. Also leverage the power of topic-relevant hashtags. Ask for reviews and downloads! As for graphics, try picking some memorable quotes from your episodes and turn them into social media designs.

You could invest a little budget in promoting your new podcast episodes with social media ads in order to increase impressions and, ultimately, podcast sessions, downloads, and subscriptions. 

Another option is advertising in the Overcast app. Overcast ads help you grow your podcast’s audience by reaching passionate podcast listeners on their terms, natively, right in their podcast app. Your ads appear below the controls on the Now Playing screen and in the Add Podcast directory, reaching potential new listeners as they search for new podcasts.

Now that you have built your own podcasting marketing channels, it is time to think where your potential listeners spend time on and offline, such as topic-specific groups, Facebook groups, reddits, forums or even Quora. 

Transcribing helps you grow your listener base, because each transcript helps your podcast’s overall ranking in search engines. This makes it easier to be reached by people who are actively searching for content like yours. There’s no need to spend hours with DIY transcribing: there are lots of tools available to do that for you, such as Sonix, Trint or Happy Scribe.

A podcast media kit will help people tell a story about your podcast in a relevant and realistic way. It will help you communicate yourself and your podcast, positioning you as a truly professional podcast brand.  

Make your media kit available wherever possible. Send it proactively to influencers, publications, and groups that can cover your podcast story.  

A complete media kit will include:

• Podcast title, headline (if you have one) and links
• Short and longer podcast descriptions available for copy/paste
• Podcast logo and other visual material
• Team bio and photos
• Podcast idea and story
• A selection of your top podcast episodes

When you mention other podcasters and businesses in your podcast episodes or invite them to be your guest, you will be able to leverage each other’s audience.

Mention partners, tag them and email them to let them know, start a conversation for future collaborations

When you’re mentioned, thank them publicly. Start a conversation for future collaborations. And share the mention on your marketing channels

Invite a podcaster or business as a guest or be a guest for them for mutual relationship building and super interesting content

These ideas are just the starting point for discussions and workflows we provide our clients at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.

Despite podcasting being widely regarded as an excellent marketing solution to reach new clients and broaden your business exposure, it is not unusual to see professionals postponing their first step in the medium until the entire operation falls through. One excuse after the other.

Day 12 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge, I am going to focus on a potential set of fears preventing businesspeople from exposing themselves through a podcast.

I will become a laughing stock

When used as a business tool, a podcast reaches an audience made up of potential customers. None of them have time to lose. Everyone is focused on making the most of the content you are offering rather than finding the next laughing stock.

It is weird that many entrepreneurs who are the definition of self-confidence when doing business turn out to be completely terrified of exposing their voice to a wide audience who may comment and, eventually, make fun of it.

Perfectionism is among the main enemies of podcasting. Think about this: podcasting is time-saving. Rather than writing or creating videos, which may respectively call for long drafts or complicated post-production, podcasting can be made in real time.

Start recording, speak, stop recording. Job done, time saved. Trying to reach absolute perfection will trick you into a never ending spiral: the more you try to be perfect, the further away you will be from releasing your podcast and seeing it take off.

You were enthusiastic about the idea but now something is making you feel like “this may be of no use, a waste of time for my business and the listener.” Will it really gather new customers? Will someone really want to listen to it? What about other podcasts that may sound like mine?

These are just some of the questions you will ask yourself…based on deeper, unrelated insecurities which are likely to make you call it all off.

Let’s be honest, we all have time for the things we want to make time for, no matter how busy we are. Finding the space to podcast requires good time management but you also need to be honest about why you want to do it. Are you really passionate about the idea or does it just sound like a cool thing to do? 

If your reason isn’t strong enough you’ll never find the time to get started. Or if you do you’ll find it very difficult to keep going because it takes a lot of time to consistently deliver content and grow an audience. We have this frank discussion with our potential podcast clients from the start.

If you really are too busy, set a date in the future you can work towards. Then try and use that time to plan out episodes.

If you want to build a relationship with your audience it’s important to sound like you.

Podcast listeners want to feel like you’re having a conversation with them, not like you’re reading a voice over script. The more natural you can sound, the better.

If you’ve got a ‘unique’ voice that also can be an advantage. If you’re passionate about your content and can connect with your audience being you, that’s how you’ll build a listener base.

While it’s important to know how to use your voice, if you have a genuine passion for your content and want to share it with your listeners, the rest can be taught.

We work with our podcaster clients all the time with this.

Passion, expertise, knowledge and a willingness to connect are things you’ve either got or you don’t. But good presenting is something you’ll get better at as you spend more time in the studio. 

Technically speaking, recording a podcast is pretty easy. Technology has come a long way in a short amount of time. 

But the question you really need to ask yourself is do you want to spend the time recording, editing, creating the sound design, backing up your audio in a safe location, uploading the audio to your podcast hosting platform, plus other workflow items that an outside source can take care of for you. So you can focus on making great content.

To promote your image and your business, podcasting has become key. Your words become sound and that sound is your voice. This is why your message gains credibility.

Prioritize the quality of your content. This is exactly what your listeners will focus on to decide whether to go deeper or leave you forever. 

Everything else is just hurdles we struggle with because we are afraid of facing other people’s judgment. So afraid, that we forget that their judgment may also be positive. And these can lead us to opportunities we would not reach otherwise.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at [email protected] to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

www.circle270media.com

www.notetofutureme.com

Me - Brett Johnson

LinkedIn - bretthjohnson

FB - circle270media

Twitter - circle270media

I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. I have no affiliation with that company. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.