My answers to your most pressing podcast questions

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I started podcasting way back in 2010 and have now released more than 350 episodes. I thought it was high time that I shared a few of the lessons I’ve learnt along the way by answering your questions about podcasting.

In this episode of Australia’s favourite marketing podcast :

• I share my thoughts and answer your questions on all things podcasting
• I share another low cost marketing idea in What Have You Got To Lose?
  Today I share 3 steps to getting your emails opened by the right people!
• And we go back into the Small Business Big Marketing vault, revisiting a past episode in which we caught up with the maker of America’s best sandwich!

To find out what you really wanted to know about podcasting, I asked!. I received some excellent questions from both Small Business Big Marketing Forum Members and The Small Business Big Marketing Facebook page.

SIDE NOTE: There’s a whole section inside the Small Business Big Marketing Forum dedicated to Podcasting. Check out the forum here. It’s only $67 a month and if you can’t make that back plus multiples more than I am doing something wrong.

I kick off the show with 10 things that I want you to know about podcasting and the podcasting landscape:

(I recorded today’s episode from my beach house bungalow!)

1. Podcasting is effective at growing your personal and business brand – coaching, speaking, Forum, Emceeing large events and being played on Virgin flights have all spun out from this very podcast.
2. It’s growing. The podcast section in iTunes is 10 years old, there are 325,000 podcasts listed there and Apple reported 10 billion listens in 2016. It’s also slowly being released on platforms like Spotify and Audible.
3. Many needlessly complicate the whole podcasting process, it’s way easier than you think. Listen in as I answer some of the more technical questions about getting started.
4. There’s some amazing shows out there, forget radio and TV get into podcasting. A couple that I’m loving are ‘Here’s The Thing’ & ‘How I Built This’
5. There’s a number of different podcast formats – Interview style (like mine), Soapbox (or rants), Q&A or a discussion among co-hosts.
6. Audio / acoustic quality is critical. You’re competing with road noise, gym noises, dishes you name it. Your audio really needs to be crisp for people to hang in there with you. My setup includes my mac, a blue yeti microphone and a free piece of software called Audacity. I have used other microphones and gear as needed (i.e. when I’m on the road or on holidays) but that’s my basic set up. I try and find a room where the noise is dampened somewhat (i.e. not too echoey).
7. You can do them anywhere. As mentioned above I have podcasted out of a  studio, my office, a closet, an island in Fiji, a hotel room, my car.
8. Don’t judge success on audience interaction. It’s hard not too but just focus on making a great show. The very nature of podcasting means that people are rarely at their computer so it’s often hard to get that interaction. Stick with it.
9. There are different ways to monetise your show – sponsorship, your own product, increased enquiry to existing business, new revenue streams.
10. My show is successful because I mix education with entertainment (and I’ve stuck at it).

I also go on to answer a total of 29 questions and they are all outlined in the episode timeline below.

Yep, another big episode of your favourite marketing podcast. Let’s go!

EPISODE TIMELINE

00:00  Two marketing insights
01:00  Teaser
01:35  Welcome & overview
04:15  10 things I want you to know about podcasting
15:45  How far ahead do you (normally) pre-record your episodes?
16:46  What do you think will change from the way podcasts are recorded, listened to, found in the next 5 + 10 years?
17:45  What is your strike rate of guests you have asked to be on the show to the ones that do turn up?
18:23  How many (on average) shows do you do per year that are not up to your high standards?
19:19  If you could go back 7 years to when you first started, what bit of advice would you give yourself about podcasting?
20:04  Of the podcasts you listen to, how many do you find yourself, compared to how many are recommended to you?
20:40  How many podcasts requests, in which another podcaster is asking to interview you, do you decline per year?
21:22  How do you put aside the limiting belief that you are not any good at it when starting a podcast?
23:33  How much does it really cost to put together a podcast?
25:55  If you have an idea for a podcast but don’t know if it will get any audience is it worth trying because it adds another bit of rich media and therefore SEO value or does a flop actually give you a negative score?
27:45  What would be the minimum requirements for software, equipment etc to start a podcast with?
29:35  Insights into Key Person of Influence
32:55  Insights into Cornerstone Business Solutions
35:10  How do I get started?
36:43  How do I get set up on iTunes?
37:15  Who’s got the best ‘how to podcast’ guide to get started?
39:19  How do you go about planning and organizing each show? Is there a process that you have in place that you follow each time?
41:55  How do you reach out to guests? I.e. Via email, phone etc
42:40  Where do you get the majority of your podcast feedback from?
44:12  How do you know you have REALLY engaged on a topic? Is it simply quantity of subscribers?
44:39  How do you increase listenership in a tight niche?
45:48  How do you distribute your podcast?
47:10  How do you source guests for your podcast?
48:17  At what point did you decide to look for advertisers?
49:40  What’s the 5-year plan with your podcast?
50:08  What was it like when you started, did you ever wanna throw in the towel and what kept you going till the 300+ episodes now?
52:59  How much time, energy and money to invest to promote your podcast?
54:12  And where do you focus that effort?
55:10  What are your favourite monetisation tips?
56:20  I host with Libsyn but want to move to OMNY – afraid it might feel like shifting accountants?
58:18  What do you wear when you podcast? I heard you like to do the occasional show in your birthday suit. Do you mix it up a bit depending on your guests?
01:00:40  What Have You Got To Lose – 3 steps to getting your emails opened by the right people!
01:03:47 Wrap-up and an insight in to both a past guest & next week’s guest

RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED

 
Audacity podcast recording software Call Recorder for Skype
Blue Yeti Microphone
Episode 115 where I got involved in Flying Solo’s national ‘work in the nude day’
Check out Showrunner for tips on getting started with podcasting
OMNY – Beautiful podcast hosting
Episode 104 with Tommy Nicolosi – the maker of America’s best sandwich
 

EPISODE SPONSORS

Cornerstone Business Solutions
Reduce your business running cost by up to 90%

Key Person of Influence – Become highly valued & highly paid
Grab a FREE hard or audio copy of their Amazon best-seller

OVER TO YOU …

What was your biggest marketing learning or ah-ha moment from this episode?

Leave your comment below.

My guest and I respond to each and every comment.

This post was provided by marketing speaker Tim Reid who is the host of The Small Business Big Marketing Show, Australia’s #1 marketing podcast, also heard on Virgin Airlines. Subscribe FREE on iTunes or Android.