In praise of podcasting … some thoughts after producing 200+ podcast episodes

I recently published the 200th episode of Reputation Revolution, my podcast about personal brand influence and how to build a thought leader brand in today’s ‘reputation economy’.

As I reflect on my journey producing Reputation Revolution, a few things jump out at me about the fantastic medium that is podcasting. Here are some thoughts …

• Podcasting hands-down is one of the best ways to build a global audience for your personal brand – the ‘barriers to entry’ are virtually non-existent for both the podcaster and the listener, but competition for ‘ears’ is pretty fierce though. You need to do your homework before starting one!

• Further to the point above, podcasting works best with niche topics. It’s not necessarily about building the biggest audience, but more so developing and growing a community of engaged listeners who tune in week in, week out. If you can get them on an email list and continue the conversation that way, so much the better! Think of the podcast/email combo as a super-effective communications one-two punch!

• More than growing an audience though, the power of podcasting really lies in building familiarity and trust with listeners. No other medium does this as well as long-form podcasting, even video. It really is a privilege to be ‘in people’s ears’ for a good length of time.

• The ‘infrastructure’ (technology and services) around podcasting is very sophisticated and is getting better all the time: this ranges from podcast hosting platforms (I use Podcast.co but there are heaps of other good alternatives), recording tools (I use Riverside.fm – it’s a ripper!), access to cost-effective professional voiceover talent (Fiverr is terrific for this) – plus the various podcast distribution apps (Apple, Google, Spotify, among others) and podcasting directories. And, let’s not forget the editing and production services that can help you with the tech stuff if need be. Simply, there is no excuse not to produce a podcast, should you want to do one!

• We’ve seen a flight to quality in recent years as more and more podcasts hit the market. In the early days, you could put out something pretty rough and ready and you’d probably still pick up an audience (my first podcast circa 2009 – Parky & the Warrior – certainly fitted into that category; it was a little more difficult to publish – and listen to – a podcast in those days!). Today, while you don’t need to be as polished as a major radio station, you still need to be more aware of production quality than in years gone by). But remember, production quality won’t mask crappy content – there are two sides to the ‘quality equation’. That said, don’t let perfection get in the way of getting it done. Ship it, and then and improve incrementally over time.

• The concept of podcasting has gone beyond just audio today. Riverside allows you to also record HD quality video (I do that now with Reputation Revolution). But wait, there’s more! Yes, you can publish the videos on YouTube (hard to get massive views of 45-minute interviews on YouTube though unless you’re a big name – the biggest value I see with video is that you can cut them up into snippets to share across social media – think of them as ‘digital breadcrumbs’ leading back to your podcast). Other repurposing tactics include publishing the show notes (including transcriptions of interviews, if that’s your chosen format), or, as I have done previously, turn interviews into chunky feature articles (examples one and two).

• You want to know the best thing about producing an interview-style podcast like Reputation Revolution? The amazing people I get to chat to for 40-50 minutes each week – topline experts, authors, coaches and consultants, writers and journalists, podcasters, video producers, social media guns etc. (a) I am all the smarter for spending time with these people, it’s education you can’t buy – and (b) you can’t help but build your global network as a result. Oh, and listeners too, get a lot of value for tuning in, while the guests themselves get exposed to a bunch of new people. It’s a win/win/win situation, how cool is that? 

I’ll pull up stumps now 🙂 You might have guessed, I’m pretty bullish on the ol’ podcasting!