If you’re a business owner, you may want to consider starting a podcast. It’s one of the MOST premium ways to grow quickly in your industry these days. And that’s saying a lot in a very fast-paced, digital, social media-hungry world. Running your own podcast not only expands your brand’s reach but also positions you as an expert in your industry while letting listeners get to know you in a WHOLE new way.
Social media is awesome (like, really awesome!), and I still think it’s valuable in its own way. Same for email lists — I will forever be a proponent of building and serving your email list for the maaaany benefits it can also bring to your business. (See related: 5 Email List Growth Hacks You Need Right Now.)
But the thing about podcasting is that it’s different from those other mediums. REALLY different. And more personal in a lot of ways, which can take you far. As a host, you get invited into people’s lives, into their earbuds, you get to become a trusted voice.
See, not everyone vibes with writing content and stories. (Are you over there waving your hand in the air like those gumbi guys in car dealership parking lots?) Some of us don’t feel like “natural” writers or like our words come across the way we want them to, which can make social media and email marketing a little tougher at times.
But all of us know how to talk to a friend. We know how to share advice, big lessons, funny life recaps, and our favorite things with our bestie. When you start a podcast, you’re opening the door to YOU, the person (and personality) behind your brand. It’s not just your pretty logo and someone behind a screen anymore.
People can get to know your voice, your sense of humor, your pet peeves, your habits and rituals, your laugh. And like I always say, people WANT to buy from other people — not fancy branding or some faceless business. They want to feel like they know you and can picture what it’s like to sip spicy margaritas on a patio with you (or is it just me?).
RELATED: Why You Need a Brand, Not a Business
01. It gives you long-form content that’s searchable.
We all know blogging is, in fact, NOT dying. And if you have an active blog, you do know it’s still highly valuable for authority, SEO, and education purposes. But it still doesn’t provide that same je ne c’est quoi that podcasting does. Imagine having a full library of content that you could send someone to anytime they asked a question. A podcast allows you to create searchable content in the form of a library that lives on far longer than a social post.
Podcasting is a way for you to create long-form content for an arguably much lighter lift (less time goes into speaking into a mic vs. writing/prepping a huge blog post). And, with the right keywords in your podcast episode titles, descriptions, and show notes, your episodes will be pulling up when people search for specific topics you cover in your industry. Heck yeah.
02. It gives you the opportunity to interview experts.
Reach, baby. REACH. This is a golden opportunity that podcasting provides: You have the opportunity to reach and have conversations with powerhouses in your industry and beyond. (*Said in my best Buzz Lightyear voice.*)
Interviewing experts inside and out of your industry creates connections that will go beyond the podcast. It can open doors to other opportunities like collaborations, lead gen, list building, and launch strategy. My podcast was a HUGE piece of our success within my book launch and something we utilize within any launch we have, so it can be a growth tool that goes far beyond that initial interview!
In turn, you’ll also have access to new audiences when guests share their episodes on their own channels. In other words, it’s a growth opportunity you would be silly to ignore.
03. It helps you create and publish consistently.
Anyone else get into a rhythm with blogging or emailing only to eventually fall off the wagon? This is SO common with written content because sometimes it’s easy to feel like: “Hello? Is anyone even out there reading this?!”
With podcasting, you’re opening up conversations that invite others in to respond, share, and interact with your content. Beyond that, one of the best ways to gain traction on podcast apps is pushing out episodes on a consistent basis and gaining reviews/ratings/subscriptions from listeners. When you create consistently in podcasting, you’re rewarded, which is a good enough incentive to me to find a rhythm!
04. It’s a place to share your life, learnings, and lessons.
I touched on this in the intro above, but podcasting is personal. Even if you’re sharing business insights and professional takeaways, it’s still YOU who’s sharing them. And when people have the chance to get to know the real you, they begin feeling more connected to you.
What happens when we connect with our audience? We start to build a trusting, long-term relationship with them!
I’ve shared so many vulnerable thoughts and lessons on the podcast, from loss to mindset, money, business, and birth — topics that fully embody our true brand. A great way to share raw stories is by using the “story, teach, tool” model where you share a story, provide a lesson or takeaway for the audience, and then give them something tactical like a tool or step to follow next.
Sharing with honesty ultimately builds relationships with your listeners, which leads me to my next point…
05. It builds trust for free.
Trust and relationships drive business more than any fancy branding or strategic messaging can. I remember the day I decided to start a podcast, I was listening to one of my favorite shows, a show I tuned into each week and she was talking about something she was going to sell soon and I found myself thinking, “Take my money!” I was more than willing to invest in anything the host created because she had shown up for me weekly for free and gotten me massive results from her free content. When I realized how much trust she had built through her podcast, I knew that I wanted to start my own and become a consistent voice in my listeners’ lives.
When I started a podcast, I gained so much more than another platform to speak on. I gained true believers in my mission, vision, and offers because they could see the full scope and picture behind it through what I shared on the podcast. That’s invaluable, and I really haven’t seen any other medium bridge trust the way podcasts can.
06. It creates awareness around what you do.
Your episodes will run the gamut of a variety of topics and themes in your industry. And great news! Because of the array of topics, new-to-you people will find your podcast out of the blue without ever having known or interacted with your brand previously. Or they’ll learn something new or a take in different perspective they may not have considered before. You can cover a lot of ground and weave in your offers through the different topics and conversations.
All the while, you’ll be building awareness around what you do and positioning yourself as an authority in your field. We all know it takes people multiple exposures to something before they are ready to purchase and a lot of times, we have to help our customers qualify themselves for what it is we’re selling. A podcast is a GREAT way to do that! How cool is that?! All in a day’s work (or, more like a few hours at most).
Can you tell I’m slightly podcast-obsessed? I promise you will be, too, once you give this magician-level brand strategy a try. Not only is it a SOLID strategy for growth… but it’s also pretty freaking fun. You’ll see! Can’t wait to hear you in my own earbuds.
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