David Watts — Benefits of starting a Podcast

So a podcast about podcasting, well, why should you get involved with a podcast and why should you start your own podcast? Let's start off 10 reasons in no particular order. So here we go. Number one, audio content is convenient for the consumer. What we competing for most is somebody's attention is an overwhelming amount of information available to all of us, coupled with so many distractions that focusing 100% of our attention on one specific piece of content, an article or a video, for example, is becoming increasingly difficult to do. I mean, think about it. It's difficult to ignore everything else that wants your attention to focus 100% on reading an article or watching a video in its entirety. Now, the great thing about a podcast is that your content is audio and can be consumed while the listener is doing something else. They can multitask. Someone can listen to your podcast while cleaning their house, driving in their car, jogging, or exercising at the gym. Doing so doesn't distract them from their current activity. It enriches it. Audio content is portable and it's convenient. Number two, to build an audience. Just like with a blog, a podcast is a way for you to build an audience.

As your podcast grows in popularity, the size of your audience increases. Now, not everybody who listens to your show will come back for more, but the ones who like your style and your content will become loyal listeners. They'll recommend your show to others, and over time, you'll build a tribe of fans eager to hear your next episode. Now, hosting your show on platforms such as iTunes, TuneIn, Blueberry, Stitcher, there's a host of others. It will expose your show to new listeners who find your show by searching for specific topics on those platforms. So, for example, if you host a cooking show, someone looking for a podcast about cooking would find your show if it appears in the search results for that keyword. Number three, it doesn't cost much to get started. Now, if you wanted to start a podcast about 10 years ago, you would have likely had to spend thousands and thousands of rounds on equipment just to get started, and then you most probably have had to import your equipment from overseas. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. There are only a few pieces of equipment required to host your show. The first is a computer or a laptop with an internet connection, a stable internet connection.

From there, your basic essentials are a microphone, a headset, and a pop filter. I currently use a Blue Snowball microphone, a pair of Bose INIA headphones, and a pop filter. I've got several other bits and pieces I use, but those are the basics essentials that I use every day. Now, point number four, it's great to increase the size and value of your network. If you host a podcast in which you interview various guests for your show, one of the most obvious benefits of doing so is that you get to expand your network. A podcast is a great platform to leverage, to reach out to people you might not have been able to do otherwise. As your audience grows in size, your ability to reach out to high profile experts in your industry increases. And I love doing this. Every person you invite to be a guest on your show can potentially become a valuable contact for life. As we speak, I've interviewed over a hundred guests for my podcast, and I've kept in touch with nearly all of them. Some of them have become friends, and in some cases, we've worked together on certain projects or we've simply shared ideas to help each other succeed. Point number five, you can make money from your show. I know this is the one everybody gets excited about, and it doesn't just have to be a hobby this podcasting.

There are ways you can make money from your show. John Lee Dumar, he's the host of Entrepreneur on Fire, he's an expert at this, okay? He generates multiple five figures per month from sponsors alone, and has taught a bunch of people how to monetize their podcast. Now, there are a few ways you can monetize your podcast. If your download numbers are high enough, you can charge sponsors to be mentioned on your show. This could take a while, but it's very doable. You can also use your show to promote your own products or services, so books, courses, consulting, anything like that. So if you do that, the other option there, you can include a recommended resources section on your show's main website, and include affiliate links in each of the recommendations. That way, when somebody clicks on a recommended resource and they decide to buy, you earn a commission from the sale. Point number six is you get to position yourself as an authority in your industry. Giving helpful advice on a specific topic on a consistent basis helps position you as an authority in your industry or niche. Hosting a podcast has a similar effect as running a blog or writing a book. It helps develop your reputation as an expert.

Now, as you increase your authority in your market, you attract other opportunities to you. For example, you might be invited to speak in an event or a conference in your industry. You might also consider offering coaching or consulting services as people begin asking you for specific advice on your area of expertise. Now, this is something that I've done with SA Podcast. We do offer coaching, we offer consulting, and having said that, point number seven makes sense to promote your own products or services. A podcast can be a great tool to attract your ideal customers or clients. You can use your show to help promote your own products, your services, as I mentioned, so whether it be books, courses, consulting, those kind of things, you can mention those things in your episodes or you just tell your listeners to visit your website to learn more about what you offer. Point number eight, I love this one, hearing your voice makes it more personal. Yep, it does, it's amazing. When somebody hears your voice, it becomes incredibly personal. They can hear your excitement, your emotion. Now, it can be difficult to convey those things with written words. Think how many times SMSs and WhatsApp messages have been misunderstood or misinterpreted.

When someone listens to your voice, whether they're exercising at the gym or driving their car, for example, it's the closest thing to having you right there next to them and having a conversation with you. As your audience listens to more of your episodes, they begin to develop a connection to you. People will begin to like you, not just for your content, but for your specific communication style. Number nine, it doesn't take too much time to maintain. So there are a few podcasts out there that actually publish episodes on a daily basis and yeah, that can be a lot of work. But most shows publish an episode once a week, twice, once every two weeks, sometimes even less than that. Once every week or every second week seems to be the current norm. The good news though, is that once a podcast has been launched, maintaining it isn't as time consuming as most people think it is. Now, there are a few steps involved in publishing an episode. The first being planning the episode, followed by recording it, then editing it, then creating a page for the episode on your website, then publishing it, and finally promoting it. Now, if I use myself as an example, all of those steps combine. Take up about two to three hours of my time.

A typical episode of my show is about 40 minutes long. So 40 minutes of sort of, you know, recording and then the editing and all the other bits and pieces, about two to three hours. Now, at this stage, I'm still doing all of those things by myself. However, I think that's going to need to change in the near future. So as a podcast host, the majority of your time should actually be spent on planning your episodes, preparing your content, or finding guests and preparing questions for them. Then there's the actual interview, the editing, the posting part of the podcasting. This is where SA Podcast comes in. We manage all the behind the scenes, nitty gritty stuff. So you can relax and concentrate on the interview. So how cool will that be? All of the editing and the nitty gritty stuff gets done for you. You just show up, will you record an episode, and the rest happens all due to the little elves at SA Podcast. And finally, and this is probably one of my most favorite ones, podcasting is fun. It just, it is. It's a lot of fun. The efforts I've mentioned make a lot of sense and that it does. It has incredible value for a business, for example. But if you don't enjoy doing something, why do it?

Of all the activities that fill up my calendar throughout the week, recording a podcast is actually one of my favorite things to do. So if you've got a huge amount of passion, well, expertise on a specific topic, you've got a business that you'd like to expose and you'd like to get people to know more about, rather hosting a podcast. If there's a topic you're interested in, but maybe you don't know much about it, consider starting an interview-based podcast and invite other experts to share their advice on your show. Either option, you're bound to have some fun. And if you're a little nervous, SA Podcast is here to help and guide you every step of the way. So why not share you or your company story with the world, build trust, be seen as an expert and potentially increase your sales and leads. Contact us today at hello@sapodcast.co.za. We'd love to work with you. My name is David Watts. Thank you for listening.