Welcome back to the show! I’m so excited to be back after a nice, long summer break.
Did you take a break as well on your podcast? I hope so. I hope you had time to reflect and really examine what you’ve been doing with your own podcast and making some tweaks along the way just like I was mentioning in the previous episode. So you get a chance to review and repeat the good things and tweak the things that you want to adjust. One of the things that I looked at, are the people that I bring on the show to share with you their knowledge, their expertise and their energy and enthusiasm. I’ve got a good running list of some people that I’m going to reach out to including past clients, people who have just dipped their toe into podcasting, people that have been podcasting for a while. And even those who are on the kind of like the outskirts of podcasting so they’re not podcasting directly related, but continuing on the theme of how to create a more visible voice for your show, and to elevate your own voice to be confident in your show and creating that beautiful workflow of yours to go from episode to episode to episode. Creating success for whatever it is that you have for your goals of your podcast.
During this time as well, I was still working, I was able to be a speaker on some shows I guest on podcasts as well, but also doing some speaking gigs where I got to talk more about just podcasting, in general, and why people should be leveraging this platform. So if you’re new to the space, and you’re still wondering if I should dip my toe into podcasting, yes is the answer. Sometimes it’s no, because it depends on what your goal is, but if you’re listening to my show, I’m guessing, yes. But one of the interesting comments that I got in one of the talks that I did, was someone said that they didn’t know that podcasting isn’t social media. Whoa, I didn’t even realize that people were thinking that. But when I thought more about it, well, of course, people are saying this is the new platform you should be on this, and it kind of sounds like social media. Whenever a new social media thing shows up, the experts in the field say, Oh, you got to be the first on social media to start gaining the platform, to register your handle and make sure you’re on the platform, no matter what. But podcasting, isn’t that although Podcasts can be used as your marketing platform. So that’s where the media part comes in, the social part, it’s a little different. It does not provide the same quick commentary, the strict regulations on character limits and typing out exactly what it is that you want to say in that comment, or not even thinking it through and just firing something off as one usually does on social media sometimes. But the number one thing that social media is, and that podcasting isn’t, are all those algorithms. In social media, you’re stuck to the algorithms. Facebook has its own thing. Instagram has its own thing, even though it is owned by Facebook, they’re completely different. Twitter’s got their own algorithm, YouTube, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, they all have an algorithm. Meaning they control where your content goes, and who sees it, when it gets seen how often it gets seen that’s all controlled by robots. The beautiful thing about podcasting is that you have control over all of that. Over the content, but also how it gets seen. This is evergreen content, meaning it will be around for as long as you want it to be, not because of some robot, saying it will only be seen in the first 24 hours, or be seen more if there are more comments, no! We’re not tied to that with a podcast, for example, you create an episode, it has a lot of valuable information very educational for your listeners. So if you ever want to reference the podcast, say you’re doing a speaking gig or you’re talking to a potential client or customer, or you’re sending out a newsletter, you can point them in the direction of your podcast. As a specific example, episode number 15 talks about your ideal listener. So if you go back to episode 15 of my podcast, I usually direct people there, when they’re thinking about starting a podcast. They have all these questions about starting their own show, like, how long should it be what is the title, what about the artwork, what about episode titles like who am I talking to. If you go back to episode 15 of this podcast, that will answer a lot of your questions. I also have a mini workbook that I sometimes give out to participants who are there to listen to me speak, and it is about finding your ideal listener. Within that mini workbook. I point them to episode 15. So there is a link there that people can click on and listen to the show at the same time. This is also a great way for people to be introduced to my content, and my podcast, so I share with them, episode 15 I get them there. And once they’re there, they’re going to start listening to other episodes, and it’s working, that’s what people are telling me. That they found me, and then they like what they’re hearing so they listened to multiple episodes. That is one great way for you as a Podcaster, as a business owner to start gaining more listeners. It’s kind of like the gateway episode, which one is it that a listener will listen to and they want to listen to the rest of your episodes.
So if you’re wondering if you want to start a podcast and if this really is the next big thing for you. Well my short answer is, if you like to talk, and you have a topic that you like talking about for hours on end, then podcasting is the way for you to go. You will not be tied to what words should I say today, and typing it out, and then editing those words, and then coming up with more copy because you have other social media posts to do. Or pre-scripting things for a newsletter that you want to be sending out weeks in advance. Although there could be a lot of planning with a podcast, and you can schedule things well in advance, the beautiful thing is, you can speak your mind. You have an outline for what your podcast will be, or you have a guest and you can let them lead the way on the conversation and you just drive that conversation and get educational nuggets from them for your listeners. It’s a beautiful way to showcase your own work, and the expertise of someone else, that will be valuable for your listeners.
This is the time podcasting is growing, the bubble will never burst. We’re not that saturated at all. If you think about blogs, there are millions and billions of blogs, there are only about 2 million podcasts and most of those, I have to say most of those are not active, meaning that they don’t get past the 10 to 12 episode mark and they’ve just faded away. And because of the pandemic, there are more and more listeners growing as well. People are just discovering podcasting. So maybe like you, discovering that you can create one. There are people that are also discovering that they can listen to podcasts and podcasts is a thing, it’s new to them. So your audience is growing, the potential audience size can grow even further because podcasting is still in its infancy. And because we are getting all zoomed out and fatigued from all these online meetings, podcasting is such a beautiful way to still connect to someone. To be able to listen to someone’s voice and to have them in your ears while you’re doing the dishes or running errands going for a walk, and having that human connection that we are all missing. But not only is it a way to connect and to educate and entertain and have a great marketing vehicle for yourself. It really is when it comes down to it, a way to serve. Many podcasters are here just to share their knowledge. They want people to be uplifted, enlightened, entertained, to just share their time with someone. People are yearning to learn, and you can provide this evergreen content now for them to access at their fingertips whenever they need it. I kind of equate this to, you know, you can have a podcast on YouTube, it’s possible, but it’s not the same listener experience. Podcasters are on the go and when you listen to something on YouTube and you hit pause halfway through and then you gotta leave the house or maybe your computer, you’ve got to shut your computer down, you don’t really remember where you were last on that YouTube video. You hit play you fast forward, you’re like, was it here? Oh no no, click here. Maybe it was here that I listened to last before I stopped it? No, maybe it was here? As a listening experience that’s kind of annoying, isn’t it? But for podcasts when you’re listening on your device on one of the podcasts listening apps, you hit pause on that episode, you’re coming back to it and you hit play, it’s the exact same spot that you left it off. It’s a beautiful listening experience and I very much enjoy that a lot more than a video that I have to hit pause, or it’s on one of the multiple tabs that I have open either on my phone or on my desktop and I can’t get back to it. For example, I love listening on Google podcasts, and when I’ve hit pause on my phone, I can listen to it on my desktop, at the exact same spot that I’ve stopped on my phone. So it’s multi-platform as well, you take it wherever you want to go. I go for my walks I listened to a bit I hit pause I come back, and then I hit play on my desktop and it’s on different speakers and then I could do the dishes at the same time or start making dinner. More and more people are realizing this potential, this beautiful way of listening to a show, and people are recommending it to other people, to their friends, to their family and that’s how the podcast listening space is growing. We’re seeing it year after year and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen with the listening stats and the podcasting stats in 2022.
So after hearing all this, do not be afraid, again, the bubble is not going to burst. But this really is the time to start thinking about it. Especially in this season in North America where the seasons are turning cold, it is towards the end of the year and people are really mulling, what has happened in the past year and what did they plan to do for the new year. I see as well in my client work I’m getting more and more inquiries just about the idea of a podcast, and how can they integrate it into their lives or their business. I love, love chatting about it, so you’re gonna hear more from me. I come back from hiatus, back to the regular schedule, we’re gonna still go with the Monday publishing’s every two weeks. I’ve got a great interview lined up for you. It will also include this very spacious and heartwarming breathing exercise, which I think all podcasters, need. I do my own type of breathing exercises for my voice work that I do, but this one coming up from the next episode is a guided meditation, breathing exercise, and I love it. Again, it’s evergreen content, if I ever want to go back to it, I just know I’m gonna go to that one episode and hit play and I will get my breathing exercise, so you will too! So I can’t wait to share that with you in the next episode. Until then, happy podcasting.
