A podcast is just a tool. It''s just a platform. A platform is simply a conduit for distributing or sharing content. No platform in and of itself will help your business grow revenue. Therefore, in order for your podcast to be of value to your business, there needs to be purpose behind the guests you invite to be on your show. There needs to be purpose behind the questions you ask your guests. There needs to be purpose behind how you nurture and take care of your guests before their interviews and after their episodes have aired. Ultimately, you need a strategy for how your podcast will grow your business, expand your platform, and build your nation of true fans.
Having interviewed nearly 600 of today''s top business owners--and having talked with, consulted with, or worked with many of them in producing and launching their own podcasts--I can say with certainty that there are typically three primary challenges that arise in the mind of a business owner who is considering podcasting. Some business owners need to confront all three, others perhaps just two. But every business owner will need to confront at least one. 1. How will my podcast make money and help grow my business? 2. How much time will this take me? 3. How will I get guests? (Or, the variation: What if no one accepts my invitation to be a guest on the show?) We will address the revenue question throughout the book. But, we will dive deep into questions 2 and 3 right now because they are critically important to getting your mindset right before heading down the podcasting path.
If you don''t get your mindset right, I assure you, there will be setbacks and challenges along the way. Without the correct preparation you will be tempted to quit--and you likely will. However, if I help you properly set expectations, when the challenges come your way, instead of being tempted to quit, you can confidently say to yourself, "Ah, Stephen said this would happen and that I''d feel this way," and you will push forward. Don''t ever quit. Avoid the Time Trap One of the questions I am asked most often by business owners who have considered a podcast for their business is, "How much time will having a podcast take out of my schedule?" It''s a great question because we should all protect our schedules. Most business owners assume the answer is ten hours a week--and that the solution will require them to add staff and make other investments. But here''s the reality: You can have an awesome, top-rated podcast in iTunes by investing less than four hours per month. Yes.
Four hours. The system described in this book illustrates our entire process and shows how to duplicate the strategy and the results in as little as four hours per month. Would you grow revenues faster if you invested more time? Likely yes, but four hours a month is an excellent place to start. So why would business owners assume that my answer would be ten hours a week? Because then it would be easy for them to justify why they hadn''t pursued it more seriously. But in fact, it isn''t the perceived time commitment that stops a small-business owner from having a podcast. It is fear . Fear often rears its ugly head in an attempt to derail the entrepreneurial journey you''re on. Fear will beat you to your knees if you let it.
Fear will cheat you out of success in all aspects of your business, including developing a great platform like a podcast so you can grow revenue and build a nation of true fans. Excerpted from PROFITABLE PODCASTING: Grow Your Business, Expand Your Platform, and Build a Nation of True Fans by Stephen Woessner. Copyright © 2018 Stephen Woessner. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights reserved. http://www.amacombooks.
org.