Hosting a podcast isn’t about encouraging listeners to buy from you. Yes, it’s nice when that happens, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to nurture your audience. The people who have already found you and who want to learn and grow with the information you’re providing every week.
That said, podcasting is a long game. And it can feel like no one is listening or taking action. That makes it challenging to get motivated to record each week.
But when you think about the indirect benefits of podcasting, the benefits you may not think about, this is the podcast episode for you.
Every time you sit down behind the microphone, you’re reaping the rewards of your work. You just need to know what to look for!
Mentioned In This Episode:
Transcript:
Welcome to episode 205 of the Content Experiment Podcast, a podcast for podcasters that supports the idea that content and marketing are ever-moving targets in any business, and it’s okay if you don’t feel like you’re doing it all right, all of the time.
Here we talk about podcasting and creating content for your audience that they want to hear in a way that’s sustainable for you, the business owner. Because I know that you have a lot on your plate. So I’ll give you the ideas and tools and tricks to publish your podcast consistently in a way that works for YOU.
This week’s episode is by request from a client and great friend of mine. And if you’re a podcaster, you might think this episode is specifically for you. The podcaster who is feeling a little frustrated right now. Because you’re not getting as many downloads as you’d like or your episodes aren’t leading to sales or your email list isn’t growing.
Hosting your own podcast isn’t about any of those things. I’ve talked about this on multiple episodes before, but your podcast is how you nurture people who have already found you. So just publishing episodes consistently isn’t going to bring you new listeners and downloads. It’s also not likely to grow your email list a bunch. Though both of these things can happen, it won’t be to the extent that you might want. And as far as your episodes leading to sales? Again, that won’t directly happen on a large scale.
If this is frustrating to you and you’re ready to throw in the towel, I want you to consider some of the indirect benefits of podcasting. There are three big ones. Connection, Learning, and Accountability. Let me explain.
Connections you’re making
If you host a podcast where you feature guests, you’re making new connections with every single episode. Even if your guest is someone you already know, you’re connecting on a different level when you interview them.
And hopefully, you’re bringing on some ideal guests and they’re sharing their episodes with their audience as well. (Listen to episode 179 about how to be a better podcast guest for more on this.)
You’re learning new things
Every time you sit down to research a new podcast episode, from formulating your topics, to identifying main points, to generating questions for your guests, you’re learning something new. Even if you consider yourself an expert on the subject. And with guests, you never know what information they’re going to share specifically. They’re thought leaders, which is why you’re having them on your show. So you’re growing as a leader, a business owner, and a human with every single episode. That’s pretty huge.
Accountability
With every episode you also have accountability for doing the things in your biz.
Take last week’s episode, for example. It was all about leveraging podcast reviews, something that I don’t really do. But as I was preparing for and recording the episode, I thought to myself…why don’t I do these things? Some of them are so simple. And so as I was recording, I made a mental note to add in some of those strategies into my regular content calendar. So you’ll start seeing some of those actions soon!
Of course, the gold is in what you do with these indirect benefits. You’re making connections. You’re learning new things. You have built-in accountability. Are you actually…
Staying in touch with the great connections you’re making
Doing something with what you’re learning
Following up on the great ideas you talk about on the podcast and doing the things
I’ll admit that I don’t always. And when I think back to my own network and the growth of my own business and podcast, I know that it shows. I think, if I had only been doing THIS or THAT all this time… Probably not a healthy way to think, but looking back on the learning and accountability of podcasting, and the wheels are turning in my head.
So, again, there are a lot of benefits to podcasting that don’t relate directly to your downloads, audience size, or sales. And these benefits are so incredibly valuable.
Are you ready to explore these benefits together, through some accountability and support?
The Podcast Ease membership can be that support system for you.
It’s part accountability, part expert-on-call to help you get your podcast out to your audience consistently and with confidence.
Each Tuesday you’ll get a 90 minute accountability session where you set your intentions on what you’ll work on for your podcast during the call, then you’ll spend the next 90 minutes doing that work. Maybe it’s outlining your next episode, researching guests, writing your show notes, or even recording a solo episode.
Then, every Thursday, you’ll have 60 minutes to ask questions and make connections with others on the call.
You’ve heard me talk about how important consistency is, and it’s true. Your audience expects to hear from you on a regular basis. They look forward to your episodes. But it’s also SO hard to prioritize our own work. We’re so busy making sure our clients and families are taken care of but the work on our own podcasts isn’t going to get done unless we make the time.
I’m going to help you with that.
This Podcast Ease membership is a month-to-month commitment, you can join or cancel at any time. Calls are at 8 a.m. Pacific on Tuesdays and Thursdays and you can join any time.
The investment is $99 a month for weekly Q&A sessions, weekly coworking sessions AND I’ll also pepper in some additional support and trainings here and there. Join now at thecontentexperiment.com/ease.
If you found value in what you learned here today, be sure to share it on social media and tag me at thecontentexperiment or give it a rating and review. The more you share, the more we can get the podcast into the hands of more business owners, just like you, who need to hear the message that they are not alone.
