We are in a world where industry leaders,  strategists, influencers, and executives are gaining credibility, introductions, receiving earned media, and closing more deals.

One way they are doing this is through podcasting. In this series, we’re going to cover some lists, blunders to avoid, everything you’ll need to know in order to start a podcast, getting your show right once it’s off the ground and focusing in on the best content possible. We’ll also cover learning how to grow and how to market your show and grow an audience.

It isn’t just, “Why to start.” The answer to “Why?” isn’t, “Do I need to podcast or not?” We all know you need to. You have to add it to what you can offer your clients. You need to do it for your own agency piece, even if it’s once a month. Think about it as a blog post that talks to you.

If you already have a podcast started or are starting a new one, we can show you how to refine it because once you get started. You’re going to want to review it. “What stinks? Why did this episode do better than that one?” It can be something as simple as the title. When you do blog posts, some hit a lot harder than others. Gritty, edgy, problem-solving things do a lot better than, “I’m going to talk to you about…”

Then, you’ve got to grow your audience. It’s not an instantaneous process. Very few people go viral. Usually, when you do, you burn out too soon. So, we don’t care about viral. We care about reaching the people that we want, that will give us money. I don’t need a huge audience. I just need one that wants to give me money. Right? Then you need to know how do I accomplish some of these goals, and some of the procedures you should put in place to keep them going?

Where is your firm on podcasting?

Before you get to the next post, figure out where you fall in the four boxes above. This series of posts were taken from a recent presentation given to the PRBI (PR Boutiques International). If you still need convincing, consider these 11 reasons why you want to, as an agency, offer podcasting services:

  1. It makes your job easier and your company looks better, as well as a valued resource. It gives you an endless amount of content that you can repurpose. It makes your clients look better, gives them credibility, which means they’re going to talk about you more, which means you’re going to get more clients that will give you money. That’s a good formula, isn’t it? Make them look good so they talk about you.
  2. Multi-dimensional content generator and can support current campaigns and initiatives.
  3. It opens doors. Think about when you have a client that has a book. Who cares how many books you sell? The book is the calling card. The book is the leave behind. It’s the thing to open the door. Podcasting becomes those doors for the CEOs that you can’t get in front of. Who’s going to want to set up a meeting to hear about what you’re going to do, as opposed to “Tell me about how you succeeded last month? I need to learn from you.” That opens more doors. Chances are at least one of those will hit and become a client. We know it’s ego stroking. A lot of what you guys do is ego stroking. Podcasting, social video: stroke those egos. People that are interested in doing podcasting too, they want to be heard. They want to share their knowledge because they have so much. They want to tell their stories.
  4. Builds credibility. Podcasting allows them to do that, and you become the facilitator of that, whether it’s you doing the interviewing or you train. Help your client get started so they get more clients, more exposure, to get in front of the people they want to. It’s such a comfortable way.
  5. Can generate added exposure and invited appearances on other shows and events.
  6. It is easy and inexpensive.
  7. It is not time-consuming like a webinar – some only do it once a month. No rehearsals or PPT.
  8. There are potentially thousands of listeners that will continue to replay your evergreen content.
  9. Guests promote their episodes on your show, and that promotes your company, product, and service.
  10. Hosts and their companies gain reputations as thought leaders and will appreciate your help doing that.
  11. It has the longevity of garnering more exposure in your sleep because it’s already set to be independent. That’s the beauty of this. The RSS stream that you get from this is gold. Each episode can be part of an RSS Feed for submission and multi-use syndication to increase reach

Ready to talk about adding podcasting services to your agency?