You may have heard that podcasting is one of the best ways to demonstrate expertise in a niche and reach broader audiences with your knowledge, with the goal of increasing customers and revenue. Since early 2009 the Australian Businesswomen’s Network has featured audio interviews with inspiring women as part of its monthly Women in Business eNewsletter. It’s another way for us to bring to you practical tips and strategies.
But what is podcasting, what are the benefits and how exactly how do you podcast?
Today’s guest blogger is Bianca Wirth of Wirth Consulting. In today’s 30 Days of Social Media lesson she explains how to get started in podcasting. If you have “golden tonsils” and want to look closer at podcasting, we’ve included a link to a more detailed article that Bianca wrote for a recent Australian Businesswomen’s Network newsletter.
Podcasting. Getting Started.
Let’s start with what podcasting is. The concept of podcasting is that of an on-demand audio program that individuals or businesses record and post to their website and podcasting tools such as iTunes. You could essentially think of a podcast as a radio program you can listen to anytime. For a business the benefits of podcasting includes:
- Gaining credibility as an expert in your field
- Low cost advertising of your products and services
- Building a broader customer and partner network
- Reaching audiences with different preferences for consuming knowledge
The last point is quite important – if you already have an eBook or you have articles on your website for your customers then why add another delivery method? Liken it to ice-cream: not everyone likes chocolate or strawberry or double-choc cappuccino. Likewise not everyone has the time or inclination to read an eBook or an article. By recording this material as a podcast you make it easier for your (potential) customers to hear what you have to say.
How exactly would you go about podcasting?
There are three key steps:
- Define your goals – like every new undertaking in your business you need to define what you want to achieve from it. Do you want to charge customers for a regular series of podcasts to increase your revenue? Do you want to build a larger base of customers? Do you want to increase your perception as an expert? Or do you simply want to provide value-add to your existing customers? The answers to these questions will help you define which technologies, tools and delivery model you use.
- Define how often you will podcast – for example determine whether you want to simply create a couple of podcasts of existing written material or whether you want to develop a series of podcasts focussing on a new topic each month.
- Develop a list of podcast topics and set dates – once you have defined how often you will podcast develop a list of topics. Then assign them to your calendar, add the schedule to your website and send your customers an email letting them know what and when you will be podcasting.
Once you have defined your goals, topics and schedule it’s time to obtain the technology to record, edit and publish your podcasts. Continues…
So, now you know how to plan for podcasting. Now what?
For Bianca’s steps to…
- recording
- editing
- transcribing and
- publishing
…podcasts, read the rest of her article on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.
TODAY’S TASK
- Like anything, Podcasting can be done badly, and it can be done well. If you feel that an audio medium is a good way for you to go and you’re willing to do the work, podcasting is a great way to syndicate your message far and wide (e.g. with submissions to itunes you reach a totally new audience). Step One though may be to read the rest of Bianca’s article – Podcasting: The What, Why and How.
- Do you have a podcast? Let us know the details so that we can check it out.
Resources:
Secrets of Podcasting – Audio blogging for the masses by Bart G. Farkas
