2. Why Every Business Owner Needs a Podcast

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Laura McRae shares why every business owner should consider starting a podcast

Laura: Welcome back to podcasting for business owners. I’m your host, Laura McRae. Have you ever felt inspired, informed, or entertained after listening to a podcast? You’re not alone. One in six people listen to at least one podcast episode a day in Australia, and that number is growing every year. Podcasts are reshaping the way we consume and engage with content, creating unique opportunities for audience engagement and business growth. Imagine the impact this could have on your business. Today, I’m here to share why every business owner should consider starting a podcast. We’ll discuss how podcasts allow you to build strong, authentic relationships, enhance your brand, repurpose content for greater reach, drive sales, expand your network, and even boost your personal development and communication skills. Stay tuned to learn how you can leverage podcasting to elevate your business and connect with your audience in powerful ways.

Podcasts allow you to connect with your audience in a personal way

First up, we’re going to talk about how podcasts can build authority and trust. Just by having a podcast, you’re establishing yourself as an authority in your field because you’re sharing your expertise, building trust with your audience, which in turn allows you to build strong, authentic relationships. You can tailor your content to touch on your listeners specific pain points and desires. You can do this by providing practical tips, entertaining your audience, and telling stories. By doing this, youll establish yourself as a trusted source of information and expertise. This in turn strengthens audience loyalty and engagement. Theres also the authentic human connection you get with a podcast. Podcasts allow you to connect with your audience in a personal and authentic way. Podcasts Arent AR generated, they feature your real unique voice and personality. So I don’t know about you, but with social media and blog posts I can often tell when they’ve been AI generated. They just don’t sound like the person that’s written them. They’ll use words that the person never normally uses. But with a podcast, it’s your own unique voice. No one else has that voice, so therefore people feel like they really get to know you. Podcasts can feel like a uh, one on one conversation as people generally listen to them on their own, either through headphones or driving in the car. So it’s quite intimate. The intimate nature of listening to your voice creates a deeper connection with your audience. Also, your podcast doesn’t have to be a one sided conversation. I know it may seem like that is it’s just you talking to them, but you can connect with your audience by asking your listeners for feedback or asking them questions. You can encourage them to connect with you outside the podcast app. Podcasting is a great place to build your brand. You can talk about your brand, story, mission and values, and by regularly releasing episodes that gives you a greater brand visibility. Through storytelling, discussions and interviews, you can establish a distinct brand identity that resonates with your listeners. By consistently delivering high quality content that showcases your expertise and thought leadership, you can enhance your credibility within your industry and in turn establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. You can become a trusted and respected brand. Having a podcast is great for repurposing content. With a podcast, you can reach more people through different mediums. With one podcast episode, you can create content for so many different mediums. So all you need to do is get the transcription of your podcast episode and then repurpose that to create blog posts, social media posts, newsletters, and whatever else you want. You could simply copy and paste the transcription into an AI tool like chat GPT and ask it to make a newsletter, for example. And then with this newsletter, you can turn that into numerous social media posts. There’s so many things you can do with a podcast transcript, and also, if you’re planning to film your podcast episodes, you can create short video clips or audiograms for social media. You can create so much content just from one podcast episode. One podcast episode can generate multiple pieces of content, saving you time and effort. I hear so many people say that they can’t start a podcast because they haven’t got time to do it. And I totally understand that. But one of the reasons I’m starting a podcast is because I want to be able to repurpose my episodes. I know ideally I should create a social media post every day, but you know what? Every day I can’t be bothered to do it, or I can’t think of an idea. With this podcast, I’m planning to create numerous social media posts so that I don’t have to sit there and think every morning what to post. And it’s the same for my newsletters and blog posts. I send out a newsletter every week, and every week I have to think of something new to write. I actually love doing this anyway, but by having the podcast, it will

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make writing the newsletter easier.

One of your goals for starting a podcast is to create sales

Consequently, if you want to subscribe to my newsletter, I’ll put the links in the show notes as a business owner, I’m sure one of your goals for starting a podcast is to create sales from your podcast. As mentioned earlier, podcasting builds trust and people will buy from people they know, like and trust. So by starting a podcast, you’re making it easier for your listeners to become potential clients. I’ve been a sucker for this myself. I’ve binge listened to many podcasts and then ended up buying a course from the host of that show because I feel like I trust them because they’ve given me so much information already and I know how they work. A uh, way to drive sales from your podcast is to include links to your resources mentioned in the podcast episodes on your show notes. Then put your show notes on your website, and then once theyre on your website, theyre more likely to turn into sales. In each episode, encourage your listeners to take specific actions, such as visiting your website, signing up to an email list, or trying out a product or service. And always make sure youve got those links available to your listeners. You can capture leads and nurture them through sales funnels, ultimately converting them into potential customers. So, for example, if you’ve got a podcast episode discussing a particular topic, you could prompt your listeners to download a free ebook or sign up to a webinar that’s on that same topic. And then once you’ve got their email address, they’re in your sales funnel. So you could email them regularly about your new services or products. The thing I love most about podcasting is the networking opportunities. And um, by having a podcast, this allows you to reach a global audience. Podcasts can be accessed anytime, anywhere, making them highly convenient for listeners. One of my clients is a consultant based here in Perth, Western Australia. I recently checked her podcast statistics and 50% of her audience is actually in the USA. This is incredible because she’s based in Perth and the great thing about her business is she doesn’t just do in person consulting, she can do consulting over Zoom. So now she’s got a network and new clients based in the USA. This may never have happened had she not had a podcast. A uh, podcast introduces you to new audiences who may not have known you before. There’s so many networking and collaboration opportunities with podcasting. Having credible guests on your show enhances your reputation and expands your network. Once these guests have been on your show, they’ll hopefully promote your appearance on their social media channels. And then your podcast gains more exposure. You’ve increased your reach and potential audience growth. And if these guests have got their own podcasts, you could do podcast swaps, another great way to reach new audiences. You can also make meaningful relationships with industry peers through your podcast. Now, this has happened to a few of my clients. They’ve asked people onto their show to be guests and they’ve had this amazing one on one conversation with them and they’ve gotten well and ended up staying in touch, and then these people have ended up introducing my clients to other industry leaders and they’ve really grown their network. So now my clients are friends with industry leaders who they would have never thought of ever meeting before, and they’ve managed to do this through their podcast. So podcasting leads to collaborations and camaraderie with industry peers. Having a podcast is great for personal development and communication skills. By regularly practising speaking, articulating ideas, and engaging in conversations, you can sharpen your communication skills. You can experiment with different communication styles such as storytelling, interviewing, or delivering monologues, further enhancing your messaging skills. Public speaking can be nerve wracking. Hosting a podcast provides a platform to express yourself authentically and share your knowledge and insights with an audience without having to show your face. Over time, as you receive positive feedback, gain experience and see the impact of your content on your listeners, your confidence in your ability as a communicator and thought leader grows, so podcasting also helps for learning and growth opportunities. Podcasting involves researching and discussing a, ah, wide range of topics, often with guest experts or through personal exploration. This exposure to new perspectives, ideas and experiences allows your knowledge to continually grow. Whether researching new subject areas, honing interview skills, or refining content creation processes, hosting a podcast provides you with endless opportunities for personal development.

Podcasts remain accessible and relevant for years unlike social media posts

We spoke earlier about repurposing content, but let’s now talk about evergreen content. A uh, podcast is evergreen content. Podcast episodes remain accessible and relevant for years. Contrast this with social media posts, which quickly

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become outdated and rarely revisited. I often do this if I find a podcast I like. I sometimes go back to the very first episode and I’m not talking about a couple of weeks, I’m talking going back years sometimes just because I love the podcast and I just want to binge listen to everything. You wouldn’t do this with someone’s instagram account, but you’re more likely to do it with someone’s podcast. You can consistently be discovered with your podcast. New listeners can find and enjoy your old episodes, continually growing your audience. And let’s not forget about the SEO benefits. If you’ve got a ah well titled podcast episode, this can improve your search engine visibility over time, especially if you put your show notes on your website. One of the major things I love about podcasts is that you don’t have to worry about algorithms. If someone likes your podcast, they’re going to follow or subscribe to your podcast. Then every time you release an episode, that episode is going to go directly into their feed and then they’ll listen to that episode when they’re ready. So your audience is in charge of what they listen to, not an algorithm. So you have the advantage of having a direct line to your audience without the interference of algorithm changes. Something I hear over and over again is that podcasting is oversaturated. Why should I start one? There’s so many out there. But you know what? It isn’t saturated. When I last checked, there was 2.4 billion Instagram accounts, and I compared that with 4.7 million podcasts. So there’s relatively low competition. And also, many of those podcasts aren’t even active. Many podcasts stop after ten episodes. So you could really stand out by starting a podcast now. It’s less saturated than you really think. Establish yourself as an authority in your niche now and start your podcast.

If you’re a business owner, I urge you to start your podcast

So today we’ve explored many reasons why business owners should start a, uh, podcast. If you’re a business owner, I urge you to start your own podcast and make use of the endless opportunities podcasting has to offer. But before you do so, you need to understand who your ideal listener is and what your goals are, which I’ll talk about in the next episode. And remember, if you need support in starting your podcast, reach out to me on Instagram at, uh, podcast dot support dot services. Let’s do this together.

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