Is it worth starting your own podcast?
Did Social Audio kill the podcast craze? Are there too many podcasts for me to start my own this year? Is it worth all of the time and money to put a podcast out?
I get a flood of questions from Amplify Your Authority Inner Circle members (and of course all those great DMs on social) asking about podcasting as a viable authority boosting platform.
Podcasts continue to be a valuable platform and as a content creator or leader with a message, it’s an important authority boosting medium to get traction in your market. Yes podcasting is becoming quite popular. Even the grocery store Trader Joe’s has its own podcast. If you are going to start your own podcast, there are some key questions to ask yourself first.
Before I cover those questions, let’s look at WHY podcasting is working as an authority positioning, client attraction platform.
Podcast Growth Projections for 2021
As of January 2021, PodcastHosting.org reports there are over 1,750,000 podcasts and over 43 million episodes aired. At the end of 2019, there were 950,000 podcasts active on Apple Podcasts.
And, here are some impressive demographics about podcast listeners in the U.S. (see this article for other countries.)
- 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
- 50% of all US homes are podcast fans
- 55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast
- 37% (104 million) listen to podcasts at least every month
- 24% (68 million) listen to podcasts weekly
- 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans”
- 41% of monthly podcast listeners have household income over $75K (vs 29% for US population)
- 90% of podcast listening is done at home and 64% listen while driving
- Podcast listeners subscribe to an average of 6 shows
- Podcast listeners listen to an average of 7 different shows per week
- 93% listen to all or most of each episode
That’s a lot of podcasts, and the growth projection continues to be astronomical. Does that mean you missed the boat? Not exactly. But it does mean you’ll want to take some time to research and strategize a great podcast before you go through the time and money to get started.
I’ve had two successful podcasts over the span of eight years (Amplify Your Success Podcast is my second podcast.) So quite a few clients have turned to me to help them create a smash hit. I’ve mentored several clients through the planning-launch-delivery of a podcast and have come to realize…hosting your own podcast is not for everyone!
Podfade is real.
Podfade happens after launching a podcast and attempting to monetize it, attract clients, or achieve more visibility, the podcaster fails to see results and gives up on their show.
Doing something consistently is hard for a lot of entrepreneurs, especially when they don’t see results fast enough. If you are considering hosting your own show this year as an Authority Platform, be sure to review the signs it’s time — as well as the signs this might not be for you yet.
So before you bootstrap your way through launching a podcast, let’s look at 7 signs you would benefit from hosting your own podcast:
- You are driven to share a message and advice in a bigger way.
- You’d like to build more influence and authority.
- Audio is your thing, video is not. Or, you already have a weekly video show with great content and you’d like to expand its reach.
- You are looking for ways to connect with other influencers.
- You love interviewing people (and wish you could get paid to do so.)
- Your target audience listens to podcasts.
What to do BEFORE you get started
Starting a podcast can be as easy as recording a message and dropping it on your RSS hosting service. BUT, and this is a big BUT, there are several important elements to hosting a podcast that drives results.
Here are a few things I ask my Podcast Authority program clients:
- Why do you want to start your podcast? What’s an important result?
- Who do you want to listen to the podcast?
- How will you monetize your podcast?
- What’s the format of your show? Will it just be you, have multiple hosts or interview style?
- How will you structure your show flow so it keeps listeners engaged?
- What will you do to build up your listener base and grow it?
There’s probably a few things for you to figure out, right?
Start with the end in mind. I promise, it will be invaluable to get your strategy in place before you jump in (and will most likely save you a TON of time, money and energy.)
If you’d like my help to start a profitable, impactful podcast, start with my Authority Brand Podcast Toolkit.
Not 100% sure if hosting your own podcast is your boss move this year?
Here are a few reasons why you should hold off (and maybe just focus on sharing your message on OTHER people’s podcasts.)
- You need your podcast to bring you clients…now…and you need a faster path to profiting with your message.
- You have ZERO dollars to invest in building listeners, gaining momentum and developing leads.
- You don’t have the time or energy to consistently generate your own podcast content.
- The tech of starting and hosting your own podcast is overwhelming (and you can’t financially swing investing in a production team.)
- You are just getting started in your business and aren’t sure what your real message is.
- You aren’t sure if it’s a good move for you to host, but you want to capitalize on podcasts (guest instead.)
If you find yourself saying yes to the questions above, then it makes sense to create your magnetic message and start guesting on other people’s podcasts before you take the host position. You’ll learn a lot about show flow and the kind of host you want to be.
Now the secret to being a great guest lies in developing a compelling talk title, creating a Golden Thread with you talking points, and confidently inviting the listeners to take an action to further connect with you.
Either way, podcasting is one of the BEST ways to establish a connection with potential clients.
Need a resource to save time and get results FASTER?
If you want to start your own show, get my simple step-by-step Authority Brand Podcast Toolkit so you know exactly what steps to take, have easy to use show art templates and get your show out in 30 days, or less!
If you are starting by being a guest expert on OTHER people’s shows, and want to get the entire system dialed in so its profitable fast, get my Guest Expert System (I’ll even host live Q&A calls with you to help you fine tune your message and offer!)