Drive sales using Podcast

Content marketing using Podcast is a great idea and if you plan to get started today, then my post will have you on your way in no time. Before we consider starting a podcast we’ve got to establish its purpose. 

If you’re building an online business then the purpose of committing time and energy to a podcast should be to drive sales. In fact, that should be a core driver of any content marketing you do – as Kyle explains in his recent post.

The big way in which you’ll use a podcast to drives sales is by positioning yourself (business) as the go-to-expert in your industry. A trusted source. The source of truth.

In simple terms, this means when someone wants information on your subject they’ll come to you first. This in marketing is known as the ‘informational’ stage. The earliest point in which someone will come in contact with your business.

They’re not quite ready to buy, but they’re doing their reading.

When they are ready to buy, you can be sure you’ll be on the top of their shortlist.

Now we’ve established why a podcast is important and how to use one let’s get into my ”get started today” post. This isn’t meant to be a full in-depth podcasting masterclass. It’s meant to be a post to get you to take action asap.

I will be putting together an in-depth guide in the future having launched with Dr Ro and Kyle (behind the scenes) the Seekardo Show which has an amazing loyal listener base.

Content marketing using Podcast: BATON

Always think of your online business within a framework. This will help you understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing and which part of your business you’re focusing on.

Ultimately, should you be doing what you’re about to do. Will it help grow your business? Is the question a framework will help you answer.

To help you we have the BATON framework.

Content marketing falls into the second and third stage. Therefore podcast falls into the second and third stage.

Those stages are – Audience and Tribe. I’ll keep this simple:

• A podcast will help you attract an audience’s attention. Through new listeners.
• It will also help you build a tribe. A loyal base of subscribers and regular listeners.

If you nail that combination of stages within the BATON framework. You’ll have a steady flow of new customers.

• New listeners turn into audience members.
• Audience members who stick around turn into your tribe.

An example of this in practice is:

The Tim Ferris Show. The highly popular podcast boasts 600+ million downloads. So how does Tim Ferris use his tribe to drive sales? Well, whenever he releases a new book it converts into millions of copies sold. 

On a smaller scale, the Seekardo Show has 13,000+ downloads and the way in which we drive revenue (mainly to support the show’s production) is through a ”supporter” system.

Get started today: Five Steps

As mentioned in the intro, I don’t want to overwhelm you with an in-depth guide. Mainly because it will just lead you to fall into the same trap I always end up subject to.

Perfection.

If you worry about every minute detail, it could be months before you start. That was the case for the Seekardo Show. I don’t want you to suffer the same delay.

So with that in mind here are the five steps to kick off your content marketing using Podcast and get started today:

Step one: Research topics

If you don’t have a business idea yet, then this won’t be your first step. You’ll need to nail down what your business is and what value it will be providing first. But assuming you have products/services in place the first step is to work out what to talk about.

Luckily kyle has written a post on – How to choose a blog topic. ”Yeah but I’m not writing a blog, I’m shooting a podcast”.

Ah, thee with such little faith! 

The same principle applies to any form of content your producing (certainly at the start). We want to know what questions people are asking online so we can create content in that space.

Whether that’s video, audio or written. The big difference is how your customer prefers to consume their content.

Plus there’s a secret way in which to use your podcast as both audio and a written blog. OK – It’s not so secret we’ve written a post on that subject to help explain the power of ”content repurposing”.

Anyway, once you’ve established your list of things to talk about. Highlight one and that’s what we’ll use.

Step 2: Choose a name

The reason this comes second and not first is, choosing a name is hard!

And the hope is that whilst researching you can begin to pull keywords and phrases to one side that will help spark an idea for your name.

There is a whole science and art process to choosing a name but here are a few parameters to help narrow the search:

• Is the name is available? So double-check to see if someone has trademarked the name using a site like https://trademark-search.marcaria.com/en/europe or https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/trademark/
• Keep it short – as few syllables as possible
• Check to see if the social handles are available – using a site like https://www.namecheckr.com
• Look to see if the domain is available. Ideally, you’ll want a ”.com”. To do this you can use a site like https://www.namecheap.com
• Finally, check if the Podcast name is available: https://www.listennotes.com

By doing this exercise you’ll actually have less to work with. Which is a good thing. Less choice means selecting something quicker.

Step 3: Shoot your Podcast

You’ve got your topic and you’ve got your name. The next step is to jump on a mic and shoot your show.

Now I don’t want you to worry about mics and camera equipment just yet. The focus is to record a podcast. Stick with audio to start with if you’re initially uncomfortable with video. Just use your inbuilt laptop or phone mic. Alternatively grab a cheap USB mic.

What is useful however for recording your podcast are tools. Here are a few variations on what exists in the market to help aspiring podcasters:

Tools for recording your podcast

Zencastr – It’s one I use personally because I record the show with my dear friend Dr Ro. This means I’ll be recording from my office and my co-host will be recording from theirs. (Occasionally we’ll have guests recording from their location). What this tool does magically is recorded each person’s audio file at the source. Which means you have crystal clear audio quality. As of early 2021, they’ve also added the same feature to video podcasting. Which will no doubt change the game for many podcasters out there who’ve suffered from poor stream quality video. It has a slick user interface too. That’s always a bonus. It packs a lot more features that do a lot of the heavy lifting for a podcaster.

Skype – It what feels like the old school tool in a video called. Regardless of its age, its a free super simple way to record your podcast especially if you have a guest. Just simply start the call and click the record button. You can get both video and audio files after your recording. The downside of this tool is what Zencastr solved. Which is stream quality audio because it’ll record exactly how it sounds as your doing the call.

Audacity – Here’s another free tool that can be used. Ideally for solo podcasting at the most basic level but it has some advance features. Just one look at the user interface and most people shy away from it. But if you overcome the learning curve you’ll love the tool. I personally use this tool for the editing stage of my show.

The reality is, the list is endless. There are tools that will help you record and handle post-production (the fancy words for editing and getting your podcast sounding sexy). Recently Kyle has showcased Descript as a tool to use for content marketing. They’ve been hard at work adding features including Podcasting.

The key is to select something easy to use to start with. Ideally, something which is free until you get used to something you personally like using and meets your required feature list. They’ll be a perfect match out there for you.

Step 4: Take your show live

Like I’ve mentioned today isn’t about giving you every granular step as I’ve intentionally missed steps because they’re nice to have but not essential. Like editing, post-production and creating the perfect thumbnail artwork. Instead, the focus is going live as soon as possible.

With that reminder, let’s take your recording live. When we think about taking our show live we can work backwards. How do I get my show on Apple, Spotify, Overcast and more. All at the same time.

We use whats known as a podcast host. Similar to the tools in the marketplace there are a lot out there and they’re growing in numbers. Here are two to start the research process with:

• The one I personally use is (and love because it’s so simple to use) – Podbean.
• Alternatively, I like the look of Podcast.co (mainly because of their modern design interface – but I am a sucker for good design).

Again explore their features but at the core, you want to be able to:

• Upload your podcast to their site as easily as possible
• The moment you click publish it should hit all the podcast platforms your listeners are familiar with. (We’re talking the Apple’s and Spotify’s of this world).

Don’t overthink it. Choose one that first your budget and feature list then go for it. Luckily most have 14-day trials (It seems to be the accepted norm amongst online software companies to give people a ‘try before you buy’ experience) (That and for email marketing purposes, but that’s a different strategy for a different day).

Summary: Up your content marketing game by using Podcast

If you’ve made it this far and managed to take your first episode live. Then kudos! At this point, all you should focus on is repeating steps 3 and 4 over and over and over again.

They’ll be plenty of time to focus on the more granular (perfectionist) stuff like cover art, logos, editing, intro soundtrack, outro soundtrack, supporters, sponsors and other monetisation. (You can see why we worry about this stuff after we’ve gone live).

Ultimately it comes down to being able to attract more customers to your business through a form of content marketing. Today that form is Podcasting.

More importantly, if your podcast isn’t out into the world then there’s no way your customer can ever find you (specifically those that consume their content via audio and video podcasts).

So you know what to do now. Go live! One of us will be sure to loop back for a more in-depth podcasting guide in the future (if of course it involves driving sales for your business).