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Stevie Dillon

Should I Start a Podcast?

October 15, 2019

If you’ve ever wondered “Should I start a podcast?”, you’re not alone.

Podcasting is so hot right now and is enjoying a HUGE renaissance. 

Why?

Simple. 

People these days are time-poor. They don’t have the bandwidth to sit down and watch a gazillion videos, let alone read in-depth blog posts. They’re seeking out options that allow them to multitask, learn on the run and to be entertained, educated and/or informed whilst doing other things. 

Whilst they’re at the gym. 

Whilst they’re in the car. 

Whilst they’re on their morning walk. 

Podcasting allows for that. 

As a result, businesses, personal brands, and influencers alike are all jumping on the podcasting bandwagon. As the space becomes more popular and more and more listeners start tuning in too, it begs the question – should YOU jump on board, too? 

That’s exactly the question that I am answering for you in today’s podcast episode. 

And in short? My answer is yes. 

So, let’s dive in!

Listen On: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Here’s what we cover:

  • The Rise of Audio: Audio is THE marketing medium of the future. 
  • The Rise of Mobile: Everyone has a mobile phone in their pocket, and every single one of them comes with a podcast app installed on them. Literally, podcasting is in the pocket of every person in 2019. 
  • Podcast Listenership is Exploding: Podcasting at the moment and where it is at really reminiscent blogging was in the mid-2000s. It’s gaining huge, consistent momentum. 
  • Google is Optimising for Audio Search: From 2019, you’ll be able to search for and play podcasts directly in Google Search across Android, iOS, and desktop browsers, a step toward making audio a first-class citizen across Google.
  • Major Players Are Jumping on Board: Spotify has made one of the biggest acquisitions in the podcasting space – buying Gimlet and Anchor – spending over $500 million in total.
  • People Are Hungry to Learn: According to an SCA study, the main reason people listen to podcasts is to learn something new. This is a huge opportunity for businesses looking to position themselves as the go-to in their industry by releasing consistent, valuable podcasting content. 
  • Audience Behaviour: 93% of Podcast Fans Listen to most of an episode – no other marketing medium gives you that level of access to your ideal customers. 
  • Intimacy of the Format: Podcast audiences really connect with their podcasters, and this leads to much higher conversion rates for businesses. 

Hopefully, these points answer the question ‘Should I Start a Podcast?’! 

In my opinion – it’s a complete no brainer. 

Transcript

Should you start a podcast? Yes. 1,000% and in this episode, I’m going to tell you why.

Hi Guys, and Welcome to Episode 79 of Stevie Says Social Podcast. Today I am podcasting on podcasting, which is a little bit of an interesting one, right? But I’m actually super pumped about it. Because, gosh, the power of podcasting and the impact that it has had on my business is absolutely unbelievable. When I decided to start my little podcast two years ago, I was living in a house directly over a flat path. So I needed to record in my walking wardrobe. And even then I needed to stop every five minutes or so while a plane went over. 

If I have known then the impact that deciding to start a podcast would have on my business. Well, I would have started a lot sooner. What I’m going to talk about in this particular episode of reasons why you should consider starting a podcast. And I didn’t know if you’ve noticed, but podcasting is really, really hot right now. 

I think I saw a funny quote on Instagram a little while ago. And they were talking about how pretty much any go with the pulse is starting a podcast in 2019. And it made me giggle a little bit, but it really does seem it has gone mainstream in the last year or so and it is growing and growing in popularity. What I thought I would do. And it’s actually in the lead up to the next blueprint in my blueprint series, which is all about starting a podcast from scratch.

But I thought I would dedicate a couple of different episodes on the podcast to the topic of podcasting because it is one of the topics that I am asked about all the time. And one of the first questions, which is what this one is all about is should I start one? That is the exact question that I’m going to answer for you. As more and more people are jumping on board, it can either an obvious choice, or you might be a little bit concerned that you’ve missed the boat. But I think in this episode, you might be convinced that now is the time to go and buy yourself a microphone set up in your walking wardrobe or wherever works for you, and start sharing your knowledge and expertise, it can absolutely transform your business. 

Now guys, if you’re interested in kicking off and starting a podcast, I also have a special freebie for you. It lists all of the podcasting equipment that you need, from your microphone to pretty much everything, all of the software that you need to start a podcast, it is the other thing that I’m asked about all the time, you can head over to steviesayssocial.com/79 to get your hands on that. Now, here is my list of seven reasons why you should be considering starting a podcast yesterday. The first of those is the fact that audio in general as a kind of medium is absolutely exploding. I really think at the moment that audio is kind of the new video.

 And I think that that’s really prefaced on the fact that people ability time pull these days, they don’t have, the bandwidth to sit down and watch a million videos. At least that is absolutely the case for me. And I’m a reader. I actually like blog posts, but I didn’t have the time to sit down and read stories very often either. What I think is powerful about podcasting and audio in general, is that it actually allows people to multitask, right? They can learn on the run, and they can kind of basically get an MBA in business. And that’s literally what I did in the early days to learn everything I could about marketing, they can be doing it while they’re at the gym, or they’re driving to work or they’re on their morning walk. And I think that is such a really kind of powerful thing and something that momentum content creators and every business owner should be a content creator in 2019. Guys, if you’ve learned one thing from this podcast, it should be that you lead with value. You don’t be salesy. 

You create consistent, valuable content. And I think podcasting is one of the best ways to do that at the moment. Now the other thing that I’ll say with the rise of voice and if you’ve ever listened to a Gary Vee podcast, you would know that he goes on about this a lot. But like Amazon Alexa and Google Voice, the fact that that is going to be in pretty much every home within a couple of years, really elevates the position of voice in terms of what people are focusing on and the tools that they’re using, essentially. 

People can walk into their house now. And they can just tell Alexa to turn on the lights. Or they can tell Alexa to do whatever it is. And I think that that really lends itself to people really relying on audio for completing tasks and getting things done. And, as a source of information, I think that podcasting is central to that. Now, the second reason that I think that you should start a podcast is that people have their mobile phones with them all the time.

 And if you haven’t noticed already, the podcast app actually comes on every single mobile phone. If you have an apple foreign, and many of us do, the Apple podcast is actually an app built into the phone. And there’s also an Android app for podcasts on Android phones. And literally people are carrying around the podcast app on they are fine, easily accessible, they are on their phones all the time and their time pour.

And I think that that’s really contributing to the fact that podcasts, in general, are becoming more and more popular. As opposed to blogging and video. Again, it’s just one of those kind of really easy ways to be entertained, to be educated on the run. And I think that that is so powerful. Now related to the first two points and the reason why in particular, I think that now is really the time to get in guys. If you want to start a podcast is the listenership is starting to explode. Now I actually started listening to podcasts way back in the day, I feel I was really an early adopter on that.

But they launched in the early 2000s. And I think that’s when people were really kind of getting on board with smartphones and things and there were 3000 listeners initially. Now, these days, this is an American study, but over 70% of Americans have heard of podcasts. And this is us 64% from the year before, and it literally represents 200 million Americans in the last 12 months, 20 million Americans have discovered what a podcast is 51% of Americans have listened to a podcast. 

And I just know from speaking to people around me that it is becoming more and more popular. My mom has started talking about the podcast that she’s listening to people are all talking about their favorite stories, people that have never ever before ever mentioned podcasting to me. And I think a lot of people are also realizing what a powerful platform it is for free learning. I think that as people, the mainstream in terms of people, not the early adopters like me, but the people in the mainstream people like my mom, are starting to realize how powerful podcasting is and how entertaining it can be and how educational and all of that sort of thing.

It’s really kind of exploding the listenership, which means there’s so much potential for you guys. Rather than it being a really kind of niche market, if people that are listening to them, it’s really an opportunity to get in now while they’re less podcaster really stake your claim, stake your piece of land in the podcasting landscape. And as people are sort of coming on board, which they are in droves at the moment, you are going to be that providing valuable content. 

Now, the next reason why I think that starting a podcast is a no brainer is that Google, You may have heard of them before, he’s actually optimizing for search. What they have come out and said this year is that you’ll be able to search and play Podcasts directly in Google search across all Android, or iOS, all desktop browsers. And essentially, they want to make audio a first-class citizen across Google.

Now, this is actually already rolling out. I’ve seen it myself. And guys, this is powerful, right? It previously podcasts were searchable within the podcast app. But what this means is that when people are doing a Google search, now, you’ll podcast actually going to show up in Google as a source of information. And that absolutely opens up a huge can of worms in terms of the potential for your free content to be seen. And, it’s the new wave of SEO search engine optimization. Very powerful. 

The next reason that I think that you should start a podcast and I’m not sure what I’m up to you guys, is it 1,2,3,4 I think I’m up to .4. But this is a really interesting one, the major players, are jumping on board with podcasting and taking it really, really seriously. In 2019. Earlier this year, Spotify, and you may have heard of them before, but obviously, the huge music streaming app spent $500 million dollars on acquisitions related to podcasting. This is huge.

Never before has so much money being spent by one of the big players in the kind of audio and music industry on acquiring podcast assets. They’ve really decided to go all-in on podcasting because they can see the value in it. And I’ve listened to a few other podcasts recently. And a lot of the kind of big-name podcast is a real talking this up as huge news in the podcast industry, which I really think that it is. 

What really excites me about this is as a podcaster I have always just really directed people to Apple podcasts, right, because it is the only kind of real podcasting app that has stats around, download numbers, it has charts, etc. Not anymore. Spotify is really staking its claim and taking a little piece of the podcast pie. And yeah, it really excites me as a podcast it because it means that there’s a lot more room for podcasters. And for podcast listeners and it really means that there’s much more room for all of us to grow.

Now the fifth reason that I think as a small business or not, it is a no brainer to be starting a podcast is that people want to learn. When I was doing some research into this particular episode, that there was a study done that basically said that the main reason that people listen to podcasts is number one to select a niche topic of their interest, and number two to learn things that they wouldn’t have otherwise learnt. 

And I know that this is 100% true for me, I think that people are really starting to realize what a powerful source of free information podcasting can be. For example, for me in the early days, as I mentioned earlier, I went all-in on marketing and educational podcasts. And I essentially gave myself a university degree in learning about all things social media, and digital marketing and all of that good stuff. And I think that that is becoming a lot more common people are realizing how much amazing free information that is out there on the podcast apps, and they really want to soak it all up. 

Now what that means as a small business right now is that you can really sort of become and position yourself as the go-to person in your industry. I’ve always said this, but give your best advice away for free because it really establishes you as an expert. It establishes your authority in the particular field that you’re talking about. And it will never take away from business because people always want their own particular circumstances dealt with. And they want to deal with the best in the industry when they do.

I think the fact that people are really turning to podcasts as a free source of information. And as a way of up-leveling or getting the information that they need is such a great opportunity for businesses willing to take advantage of that position themselves as an expert, and to be the go-to win those people actually need someone to help them out with something in particular. Now, reason number six, why you need to start a podcast. 

And guys, I hope I’m convincing you now because I’m excited about the opportunities that podcasting has given me. And hopefully, you’re starting to see the potential that it has as well. But audience behavior is my point here. What I mean is that people when they’re listening to a podcast, listen from start to finish. The official stats are that 93% of podcast listeners listen to the majority of an episode. 

Now, this is a really shocking, podcasting stats for me and it’s actually really great news for podcasters like me because it means that people are actually really engaged. And I know of no other medium where you can actually get people to pay attention to you and to message for that long a period of time. When you think about TV commercials and the fact that big businesses are paying thousands and thousands of dollars for 30 seconds of air time, and you compare that to a regular podcast, which may, for example, be between 20 and 30 minutes, sometimes up to an hour. 

And the fact that people are listening all the way through to those episodes, and they hearing you consistently if you’re producing a weekly podcast, which I recommend if you’re podcasting, you do it consistently and at least weekly, you’re actually being heard by your ideal clients every single wake up to an hour. Now when let you know in the time pole world that we are, I really don’t know if any other medium that allows that. And I think that that is powerful. 

Now that content is linked in with point seven. And point seven is all about the intimacy of the medium. One thing that I’ve really noticed from podcasting is that podcast listeners people, you guys, who listened to The Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot Podcast, it really creates a connection that no other form of marketing that I know it can create. People who and I know I have this with podcasts that I listen to, you really start to feel the people behind the microphone, it’s a really kind of intimate connection. 

And people start to feel they know you and trust you, which is really critical when it comes to people working with you right. Now a little quick start around this is the conversion rate. I’m going to go a little bit of marketing geek on you here. But at the back end of my business, when somebody has joined my email list as a result of listening to the podcast, a freebie by the podcast, they are 10 times more likely to take me up on an offer for a course or something along those lines. And someone who has come in from, for example, a cold Facebook ad the intimacy, the connection that potential listeners can have and do have with your business is absolutely second to none. 

And I guess that’s for me, the biggest reason why I think that podcasting is the ultimate form of content marketing, as I said, All businesses should be doing content marketing. And I think even though I’m a little bit biased as a podcaster myself, but you should watch what I do, guys, because seriously, I’m doing podcasting because I do think it is the most effective medium when it comes to content marketing. And I do think that it could be for you as well. 

Now, just to sum up, because I have been through a few different points here. But the reasons why I think you should start a podcast start yesterday. Number one is the rise of audio. Number two is the rise of mobile, the fact that everyone is walking around on their phone, for better or for worse. Number three, the fact that podcast listenership is absolutely exploding exponentially at the moment. Number four is that Google is optimizing for search. Number five is the major players are really jumping on board Spotify has spent $500 million, a number I have forgotten what number I’m up to. I think I’ve up to number six, but people want to learn they using it to lend. 

The next one, I’m going to start with the numbers down but audience behavior people listen from start to finish. And then the final reason and number one for me is intimacy people really feel they know you when they listen to your podcast. And that can have a really great kick on effect for your business. Guys, if you’re considering and as I said, all businesses should be doing content marketing. But if you’re considering picking a consistent form of content for your business, highly, highly, highly recommend podcasting. 

Now you might be wondering whether it can work for your particular business. And what I will say is that if your service-based or if you’re in online education products, if you’re a coach or a consultant, it is a no brainer. It is the easiest way to add value and showcase your expertise. If you are not, sometimes I get questions around whether e-commerce brands could be really leveraging the power of podcasting. And absolutely they could, for example, a clothing label might do a podcast about small business for women. 

And that’s something that actually shops I have done with a Facebook group. But basically having a related topic that your ideal client is interested in and podcasting about it, it can be a really great way of building up that connection with your audience via a medium that you wouldn’t normally think would be obvious. I think there is potential for every single industry out there. 

Okay, guys, if I haven’t convinced you enough already, hopefully, I will in the next couple of podcast episodes. In the next episode, I’m interviewing my friend Clarissa Wrightwood, from the Happy Family Lawyer all about how she has been through I think three years now of podcasting and the effect that it’s had on her business. So make sure you subscribe to get notified as soon as that episode drops. And if you want to dive in and start your own podcast and you’re wondering Stevie what mic should I buy? Then make sure you head over to steviesayssocial.com/79 and you can get your hands on my podcasting equipment cheat sheets. Alright, guys, that is it for this week’s episode. I’m going to leave this podcast here and I will see you next week.

Keep Listening!

Listen On: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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