Podcasts are becoming one of the most popular forms of content shared online. Podcasts are easy to record and distribute, and they offer a way to share rich and pertinent information with your business’s customers and other members of the public. Anyone can create a podcast using free tools and upload it to the Internet, but it takes extra work to make this podcast profitable for your business. Dan Lok explains the seven steps you can take toward making your podcast profitable and successful.
1. Getting Past the Early Stages
After you have recorded and distributed your first podcast online, you may be excited to see it show up in places like Spotify and iTunes. Getting your podcast up and running is just the first step toward making it successful.
When you are planning your podcast, it helps if you can define what “success” means to you. It may be related to big download numbers. It may mean that your podcast is successful enough to earn you a full-time living. Business podcasters often see success as driving interest in their product and getting new customers. For other podcasters, they are only interested in having a creative outlet and a way to tell their stories.
2. Know Why You Want to Run a Podcast
You will need to sit down and decide exactly why you want to run a podcast. This will help you get through the inevitable bumps in the road that may happen when you are not able to post regularly due to other tasks, when your hardware and software aren’t working, and when you lose files. Having a core purpose for your podcast will keep you going when the job gets difficult.
3. Think Long-Term
Many beginning podcasters are distressed when they hear that it can take several years to build a good audience. In order to make a podcast successful, it is necessary to play the long game. You will need to be consistent about your posting schedule for the next few years, achieving long-term goals with your creative episodes. It is also important to set short-term goals regarding the number of downloads, episode reach, and special guests you would like to invite.
If you are not enjoying making your podcast after a few months, it might be best to stop and formulate a new idea. If you are not committed to your idea, the listeners will know this, and your podcast will struggle to reach a new audience.
4. Make Your Podcast Sustainable
You should be able to post new episodes without making a huge effort. If you are working too hard, this is a good sign that you should change topics or have a different focus with your podcast. When you are in the planning stages, you can easily come up with ambitious plans about how much time you will be able to dedicate to your show each week. Your ambitions and dreams may not match up with the amount of time you can actually carve out of your day job and the inspiration you receive for each episode.
You will need to make your idea sustainable if you plan to succeed. You will need to know how much time it takes to run a successful show. Stay organized and create the best possible plans for your episodes.
Make sure that you have a full and in-depth understanding of the technology you need to create your podcast. You can waste a great deal of time on unnecessary technological roadblocks.
Other elements of organization that you need to consider are coordinating your schedule with your collaborators. You will also need to spend time researching, interviewing, and contacting potential guests.
You can choose your own format based on how much time you have. If you are strapped for time, you can skip doing interviews. They take longer to complete, and they require a great deal of planning.
To create an episode quickly, make it on your own and talk about topics you know well. Then it will be easy to create a 15-minute episode in a relatively short period of time.
5. Planning Your Podcast
You should be able to create your own planning process. There are many different approaches to planning, ranging from coming up with a topic and chatting about it for 15 minutes to creating a full script and recording it carefully.
The middle ground comprises doing research and writing up a reasonably detailed bullet point list. This is the best approach to take because it balances planning with spontaneity.
6. Setting Up Your Podcast
To save time, it would be ideal to have a setup that you don’t have to change each time you record. Not everyone can do this, but it is helpful when it comes to podcasting efficiently. You should invest in good quality equipment and software.
7. Making it Profitable
By selecting your target audience, you will be able to create a profitable podcast. Advertising to the most desired demographics is easy when you use social media like Facebook and Twitter. You want to create shareable information, meaning that your podcast could go viral and bring you a large number of visitors.
It is also a good idea to choose a corporate sponsor. Your podcast may need to be established for some time before your podcast can be considered to be marketable for a large company.
Podcasting is Rewarding
The process of creating a podcast is satisfying and knowing that your information has made a difference for the listening public is one of the rewards of the game. These five steps will help you reach toward success. When you understand how to create a profitable podcast, you will be able to showcase your knowledge for the public. Dan Lok recommends that all prospective podcasters do their research before committing to a topic and audience.
Written by Lara Harper
