The Business of Podcasting made it to the Best Podcasting Books of All Time
Some people say that traditional podcasting (i.e. audio-only podcasting) is going the way of the dodo bird, soon to be supplanted by the likes of YouTube, Netflix, and other specialty video channels. At best, podcasting a good way to express your passion about a hobby and share some information with friends, right?
But the reality is that the demand for audio-only content is increasing and the most popular way to consume this type of content is via a podcast, we know this is a self employed jobs from home and great monetized if you work it well.
Though podcasting has been around for quite a long time now it just seems to be hitting the mainstream which means now more than ever is a great opportunity to start your own podcast, build an audience, and make money doing it.
Well, the information economy is getting more and more crowded with the latest technology, and video certainly has its appeal. However, at least for now, podcasting retains some advantages over video.
For example, people cannot watch video while driving, working out at the gym or outdoors (note: if they are, they are not working out!), and a number of other important activities. And these are the times that are extremely popular for people to get in their daily fix of their favorite podcast.
And some people just prefer to consume their content via audio over other methods like text or video. However if you’re a freelance copywriter, the challenging thing is that you’re the master of your own time. Look at this emotional response marketing to learn some of the best tips to help you generate consistently high-grossing copy!
That being said, are there still realistic means for people to make money from the booming podcast industry? Below, we’ll go through some options that beginning podcasters may consider when starting their own money making podcast.
If you are interested in starting your own podcast just to share your passions or create a podcast to make some extra money (or even create a full time business!) then here are the specific steps you’ll want to take to get started on your podcasting journey.
1. Select a Specific Topic for Your Podcast
When selecting the topic of your podcast there are two directions you can go; you can go with a very big mass market audience or you can go with a narrow niche audience.
Why are profitable niche markets like dog training and fly fishing tailor-made for podcasting? Simple, because they work! A solid niche makes it easier for you to define your ideal audience as well as the types of sponsors and advertisers to target. There’s also less competition making it easier for you to claim your stake in the market.
Another advantage of choosing a niche market for a podcast is that you can more easily commit to a specific point of view. People like to listen to podcasts with attitudes and if your niche market is “Style for Women Over 40” for example, you could take a point of view that stands against the anti-aging culture and instead talk about aging with sass and style.
I usually always recommend targeting a niche market when starting an online business, creating a YouTube presence, or creating a blog… and podcasting is not different.
If you start a niche market-based podcast, you can always grow the scope of the podcast to reach a larger audience; but as far as starting a new podcast it will be a lot easier to build an audience and following more quickly if you speak to a very specific niche audience.
Think about a niche podcast as being a big fish in a small pond.
With a mass-market podcast (such as politics or general weight-loss) there’s a lot more competition but the market is so big you should be able to capture a segment of the market as long as you are interesting and have a unique point of view.
Again, keep in mind is that you can always start by targeting a smaller segment of a larger niche market to gain market share and build an audience, then as the podcast advertising grows you can expand into broader topics within the larger market.
Don’t feel like just because you start in a smaller niche market you’ll be stuck or pigeonholed to just that one thing.
Speaking of niche markets, if you’re interested in making money online (podcasting or otherwise) you’ll want to see this list of the 10 best-selling niches to make money online.
The key to a successful podcast is to target a big mass-market or small niche market. A small niche market is much easier to get started in and gain traction.
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2. Devote Yourself to Making the Best Podcast Possible
This one should go without saying — the better your podcast, the more listeners and followers you’ll get.
Even if you start out with a minimal audience, as most podcasters do, take advantage of this time to produce quality content, relevant context, a consistent delivery, and superior production. Advertisers and sponsors essentially demand two things: an attractive product and a large, dedicated audience. As you work on building your audience, hone your hosting, interviewing and presentation skills.
Here are some of the important skills you’ll want to develop when mastering podcasting for yourself, or possibly as podcasting consultant (see below):
Audio clean-up and production
Building and engaging a community
Creating a marketing buzz on social media
Creating apps alongside your podcasts
Converting calls to action
Editing
Field recording
Voice talent
The good news is that with all of the tools and technology available today, having a professionally produced podcast is not very difficult to do and does not have to cost a lot of money.
Also, keep in mind you can outsource a lot of this very inexpensively. You can hire someone to set up your podcast and get it syndicated on iTunes, you can hire someone to create great looking artwork for your podcast cover, and you can hire someone to create a nice professional podcast intro and outro as well as handle the post-production.
Don’t let all of this overwhelm you though, in the beginning, stages it’s more important to get things going then keep adding more levels of quality as you go on.
The initial setup and investment will be the hardest part of getting started, but once you’ve done a few podcasts you’ll have a system in place that makes creating and distributing a podcast very easy and streamlined.
3. Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for Potential Advertisers
Podcasts, unlike high-end events like the Super Bowl and the World Cup are not strictly about the numbers.
See Also: What Can Online Marketer’s Learn from Super Bowl Advertising?
Quite frankly, if you can show advertisers that you have 250 dedicated weekly listeners (i.e. community members) who spend X dollars monthly on dog food, that’s a better proposition than some blog drawing fifteen thousand anonymous and unengaged readers with no specific targeted interests.
In the online world advertisers and sponsors care more about being able to reach a very specific, targeted demographic and interest group rather than just large numbers of people.
That’s why earlier on we recommended targeting a smaller niche market for your podcast. The power of having and targeting a niche market can’t be understated enough.
We’re very stoked!
We’re happy to announce that our book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional, made it to BookAuthority’s Best Podcasting Books of All Time:
https://bookauthority.org/books/best-podcasting-books?t=y1frl0&s=award&book=1514331306
BookAuthority collects and ranks the best books in the world, and it is a great honor to get this kind of recognition.
Thank you for all your support!
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
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