Whenever I release a new episode of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio is pop the link up on my Twitter and invite my followers to come check it out. This has brought me several first time listeners which is ultra cool and my friends enjoy the ‘first notice’ alert that the show is up and ready for listening.
Do you Twitter your podcasts?
When you consider how many millions of people are walking around with iPods and other Mp3 players you have to wonder, wouldn’t it be awesome if they came looking for you?
Well they do.
Ipod owners and others log onto iTunes every day. They are looking for something interesting to listen to. They actually search for, subscribe to and download podcasts on topics that they’re interested in.
Do you realize how awesome this is?
People who may never find you any other way, could end up finding you via your podcast.
That is increased market exposure.
I know for a fact that this happens. It happens for me all the time.
A man wrote me an email a couple of years ago telling me that he accidentally downloaded my podcast and put it in his iPod because he had been looking for affiliate marketing information and grabbed my show along with some others on that topic. He’s not my target market, but after listening to one of my shows he became excited about the prospect of his wife starting a work at home business. He subscribed to the podcast feed and asked his wife to listen to the shows. She has become one of my most active fans today - and yes, one of my customers.
Now he would never have searched for me, but he found me.
Another story, a gal gets an ipod for Christmas and her teenage daughter hooks her up to iTunes and teaches her how to search for content in the music store. She searches for mom topics and stumbles on Work at Home Moms Talk Radio. It had never occurred to her that such a thing existed (a podcast about WAHMs) so she subscribed out of curiosity. A month later she has registered a domain name, signed up for hosting (with my hosting company) and bought one of my information products to learn how to do article marketing to promote her new site.
Would I have perhaps connected with her some other way? Possibly. But how awesome that she found me while looking for something to fill her iPod with.
If you’re not podcasting, you’re not putting yourself in the path of your potential customers.
How can you use your podcast to earn money? That is probably the question that I get asked the most, when people know that I am a passionate podcaster.
I often say that my podcast is not meant to be my main income, it is meant to be a negative cost. I can see that may confuse some people - negative cost! But my podcast and indeed my blog, are a key part of my marketing plan. They cost me next to nothing - under $120 per annum. But for that level of investment, I have gained just under 70% of my new clients this year from either the blog or the podcast.
Therefore they are saving me money - a negative cost. The best part is that it is a negative cost that is revenue generating….
So why do people want to hire me as a personal coach, business coach or speaker…because they have built trust in my expertise, they have got to know me as a person - my values, my style, my approach - so they have almost been able to test the product before buying. The podcast is almost like that perfume sample on the shelf - when you try it you have no idea whether you will buy it, but if you try it then you are possibly more likely to buy.
For me that is a power of podcasting, people can hear your voice and by hearing you speak they feel closer to you. It is strange when I meet new people they treat me like a long lost friend because they feel they know me…..more so than blogging. When you think how personal the connection is - me speaking in their ears twice every 10 days then you realise that to many people you are more than a podcaster…you are a friend. Sometimes as we sit at our computers editing…which feels very impersonal….we forget how personal the end result is…
There is no getting away from the rise and rise of facebook. Whether you enjoy facebook or not, many of your potential consumers are participating within this social networking environment. My show, The Engaging Brand, tends to be less of a community for listeners and more of a 1:1 relationship between me and the listeners. I am finding it quite hard to build the facebook group, but that is not a problem - it is an opportunity! But I have been looking at how other people are using it to promote their work…this is what I have found but would love any of your ideas to share with the podcast freq community.
1) Use a facebook flyer to promote your services or show.
2) Form a group and use it to remind people of new shows, to post discussion ideas.
3) Offer something to the facebook members that is only available to them - maybe a small discount, an insight into you or your company, first sight of latest products.
4) Competitions for 100th, 200th, 250th, 500th or 1000th member…maybe a slot on the show.
5) Post a podcast player on your profile to promote your show.
6) Follow links to your friends profile and find more about their contacts. If you feel a synergy then add value to the community or their groups by sharing ideas, links or thoughts that will help others.
So here are my initial findings - what thoughts do you have? What works well for you?
facebook, promoting your podcast, facebook flyers, podcast player, podcasting, community, listeners
I cannot believe that the Expo is next week, it seemed to be ages away and then it has almost arrived! I have posted before that I will be at the Podcast Expo and on a panel which will be talking about how to market your show.
Before you attend these events, I think it is important to think about what you want to get from attending. What will success look like for you?
Will it be
Learnings and improved knowledge of podcasting
New contacts
Building your audience
Finding new resources and equipment
Inspiration and motivation
These will be different for different people. The key is understanding your personal goal and then spending some time to work out how to achieve it. For instance the balance between attending speaking sessions vs exhibitors stands vs networking. If you will be there then let me know and let’s hook up…..for me inspiration is my goal so the more great people and variety of people the better!
podcasting, pme, podcast and media expo, marketing + podcast, goals
A year ago you could build an audience just by being in iTunes. That is now getting more difficult as more corporations are podcasting and pushing the Independents down the charts. iTunes remains the most important global directory and it remains important to submit it to the directory. However, if you are wanting to grow your audience you now need to do more. Here are some ideas that you need to do to get your message out about your podcast.
1) Comment on blogs…..add value to conversations at blogs that your potential listeners are reading.
2) Find ways of promoting your podcast to non podcast listeners - give out CD’s as a sample of your work to friends, family, customers, suppliers.
3) Find other niche directories for your local audience.
4) Write a press release
5) Put aside 30 minutes each fortnight to promote your podcast away from iTunes.
podcast promotion, itunes, promoting your podcast, podcast directory
I have recently being running a series on the A-Z of Promoting Your Podcast, at the Podcast and New Media Expo I will be speaking more in depth on how to market your show. I have set up a forum post over at the event. I would love any comments on how you have grown your show that I can share with people.
The good news is that there are more and more podcasts out there, the bad news is that it is getting more and more difficult to get your show noticed. I know as a big consumer of podcasts that word of mouth is still a huge element, if a blogger that I respect or a social networking friend recommends a show then I am likely to listen to at least one show. In fact the research shows that recommendations have over 70% likelihood of ensuring people click through.
There is no short cut to building those networks, just like in real life. It needs you consistently to add value to others, consistently look for ways of connecting to other people, and finding ways of delivering on your personal brand promise.
I was delighted to receive a nomination for the Best Business Podcast of 2007 for The Engaging Brand. The voting starts tonight and I would encourage all of you to go and vote for your favourites. The awards are a great way of showing appreciation for all the hard work podcasters put into their show. Before you smile, I would say that whether I was nominated or not, honest! I will be voting for my favourites as a way of showing my appreciation.
Todd Cochrane of The Geek News Central podcast organises the awards and has shared on his blog the results of the nomination process. There are some lessons for all podcasters.
1st 4097 shows were nominated that is up from 3281 shows nominated in 2006
2nd Of the 4097 shows that were nominated only 2911 had a visible RSS feed link on their Page or was auto detectable.
3rd Of the 4097 shows 3761 of them had an iTunes link on their page it was obvious that many podcasters think iTunes is the only way to consume a podcast.
4th Of the 4097 shows nominated only 2012 had a physical link to their podcast show media on their show postings or had a media player of some sort.
5th Of the 2911 sites that had a visible RSS feed, 82% (2387) had feed errors. The 2387 that had errors 61% (1456) of those feeds were completely invalid according to FeedValidator.org.
7th 81% (1933) of those sites that had RSS feed errors, where being hosted on a Wordpress blog.
6th Of the 2387 RSS feeds that had either RSS errors or were invalid 93% of the feeds were being served up by FeedBurner.
7th The biggest RSS feed this year was a whopping 1.1 megs. The podcasters listing had not updated in iTunes in over 1 year. The podcaster received 2 nominations, yet had produced a show each week for the past 16 months. When we e-mailed the podcaster he was astonished to find his listing had not updated in iTunes and had no clue that their was feed size limitations.
8th Their were approximately 230 feeds whose size was over 250K
9th Of the 4097 Shows nominated only 41% had a means to contact the host where it be through a voice mail hot-line or a email contact.
It is worth checking that none of the above issues are relevant to your show - if your feed is not working then no matter how great your content you will not attract the listeners.
Over at The Podcast Sisters, we have just published Show 10 which is a fascinating look at a case study of how Wiggly Wigglers have thrown out the traditional advertising budget and used podcasting to market to their customers. It is a great insight for any small business owners who are looking at cost effective ways of advertising their business. To listen to the show you can find it here at Blubrry or iTunes.
Mashable.com has just put together a 70+ list of podcasting resources which is an excellent summary.
“Podcasting may not have lived up to the early hype, but with iPods and other MP3 players still selling like crazy, the potential audience for these audio shows is huge. We’ve compiled a monster list of 70+ tools and resources for podcasters and wannabes.”
A great list of all podcasting areas - tutorials, directories, advertising, forums - well worth checking out.
Todd Cochrane has just launched the 2007 Podcast Awards. I have just been over and made my votes count…..as I think it is a great way of showing your appreciation to podcasters- and before you ask no I didn’t vote for The Podcast Sisters or The Engaging Brand!
It was my chance to vote for the podcasts that I listen to and enjoy so much.Podcasters put a huge effort into their shows and provide fantastic content for free. I love the chance to vote as it is my way of saying thank you for all your time and efforts and the chance to say “thank you” for helping me develop this year. I would encourage you all to go over and register your votes.
Todd also announces that there is an opportunity for three shows to get some major exposure in a mini contest on the site. The top three sites that can drive the most traffic to PodcastAwards.com will get a free one year advertisment of a 120×120 banner on the site see this link for details.
To vote for your favourites check out 2007 Podcast Awards.
1) Give a CD away to people you meet who have not listened to a podcast as a taster.
2) Get a business card of your podcast details.
3) Send audio comments to other podcasters
4) Join podcasting groups
5) Use social networking to create a community
6) Put an advertising sticker on the top of your PC
7) Put a link in your e-mail signature
Use Google Adwords
9) Write articles for magazines
10) …..and if all else fails stand naked in Times Square with only your podcast address covering your modesty….mind you prison might upset your production schedule so may be not!
We recorded the latest show of The Podcast Sisters and in this weeks show we cover how to get noticed by listeners and directories alike. I love working with the Sisters as it has definitely given me different views, different ideas of how I can take my podcast forward.
Although it is easy making a podcast (or relatively!) that is only half the story. There are 2 other areas that podcasters need to think about..
1) How can I make it easier for non podcasters to understand the concept and to listen to the show. Many may listen to the shows on mp3 players but others will want to listen on the computer, mobiles etc A good test is to get your mum to look at your page and ask her what it is telling her and getting her to listen to the show. If it passes the mum test, then great….(as a woman myself not being sexest!)
2) Do your title, subtitles, keywords, descriptions etc sell your show, do they encourage search engines and people trying to find great podcasts to find them?
What they don’t say is podcasting is easy……attracting an audience can be hard…..but exhilarating and rewarding
There is a lot of talk about how to measure advertising. What I would suggest is that if you want to measure not only getting the message out but whether people are changing behaviour based on your recommendation then give a “call to action”.
You can set up a specific page which you can give at the end of the advert where you can put a download, be it an e-book, a program download, a sign up etc, and then measure from there the take up %.
For me podcasting is about creating awareness, it is about getting the message out, it is about communicating with your potential customers but if you want to measure the return then this is an option that you can put together easily.
Having a blog is a great way of helping people find your podcast. Today The Podcast Sisters have issued their 3rd show which looks at “How you can increase the traffic you get to your blog”. They give tips that have worked for them and have helped to grow not only their readers but also a sense of community around their podcast shows.
Remember your blog is like your shop window for your podcast product so you want to grab the attention of those “passers by”.
Podcast Freq is for the non geek. Tips, thoughts, learning and ideas for the future of podcasting - all at Podcast Freq. I share my knowledge of podcasting and even the mistakes that I have made, all to help you grow your audience!
Podcast Freq Author(s)
» Kelly-McCausey
