Audio podcasting has been around for many years but there has resurgence of the medium, which is quite evident with Apple introducing it’s own Podcast app.
As a business owner, I started down the podcasting journey this year and released my first podcast series with great results. Results varied from being able to build better engagement with listeners and readers, building up more fans and potential customers as well as building up my own profile as an industry leader.
Audio podcasting is one of the only forms of media that allows you to get directly into the ears of your potential customers and engage with them on a regular basis. No other medium captures the attention of a user like podcasting can. Like radio, audio podcasts can be digested while driving your car, commuting to work, washing the dishes or changing the baby’s nappies.
A blog post will capture a visitor’s attention for maybe, a few minutes at the most, a video on YouTube maybe the same amount of time but a podcast captures the attention of a listener’s attention anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour.
Capturing a potential customer, or lead’s attention for this amount of time is an amazing way of building up trust and a relationship with that listener making them want more from you and your podcast.
For a small business that is trying to engaging and build relationships with new customers, podcasting is a must and a highly recommended channel of communication. Coupled with social media, blog writing and video publishing, podcasting becomes a brilliant channel of communication to and untapped audience.
Big companies such as Discovery Channel, NASA, major radio stations such as NOVA, Today FM, BBC, ABC and many more are already creating engaging podcasts for their audiences.
A lot of modern cars manufacturers these days, including BMS, Holden and Ford, are coming out with inbuilt applications that can stream podcast audio from networks like Stitcher making the content even more accessible than ever.
You can’t ignore the reemergence of the podcast this year in 2013. So this year if you’re thinking about podcasting for your business, here are a few tips to help you get started with podcasting.
Five tips to start podcasting
1. Invest in some good equipment
Yes it is true that you can get into podcasting with whatever old microphone you may have around from the internal one that you have built into your laptop or the one built into the headset of your phone, but as it is a medium the relies on audio, it is so important to get the best quality recording. Therefore, a good inexpensive microphone is your first starting point.
Microphones vary from condenser microphones to dynamic ones. Your recording style and type of show may determine what microphone you choose for your podcast. Follow our guide to podcasting for a microphone selection for your podcast.
2. Stay focused
Like any business, make sure you stay focused on your topic and what your podcast is about. Listeners and subscribing and listening to your podcast because they are after something in particular that you offered via the iTunes store or your website. Make sure that your content in your podcast match that of what you aim to deliver. So often I’ve heard podcasts go way off topic from where it first started.
3. Have call to actions
Whether it is driving users to a Facebook page, Twitter account or to a website, make sure that you lead your listeners somewhere to capture the lead but also provide them with a benefit for taking action.
4. Get the right hosting for your podcast
Audio podcasts take up a lot of space. Especially when you’re saving and uploading your files in high quality to the internet, make sure you have plenty of space and plenty of bandwidth to deliver your podcast to your listeners
5. Just get out there and start one
It is so easy to just get started. So many smart phones have it all built into them and there are many applications that are out there already capable of recording and allowing you to start podcasting straight away.
We’ve also put together a guide on iOS apps that you can use to start podcasting with straight from your iOS or Android device. Our guide to podcasting apps will point you in the right direction.
