Podcasting as a Way to Grow Your Audience

Let’s talk about podcasting! Last week, we talked about public speaking, which is a great option, but also has some obstacles. Getting started as a public speaker and growing to the point where we can be booked for speaking engagements takes time and effort. It also may involve some travel, depending on how large of a radius you choose to speak in. All of that may be just fine for you, but for others those may be roadblocks.

Podcasting is a Great Option

For many, podcasting can be the next best thing. It does not involve travel, you don’t need someone else to book you, and you can do it from your own home. It doesn’t have as high of a return, but it’s still good.

Your audience still gets to know you more by hearing you speak instead of only reading your words. It can be a great way to explore your topic, whether you create only solo episodes, bring in others to interview, or do a combination of both.

Decisions to Make

To get started, you need to hone in on your focus, just as with any other aspect of life. Who is your podcast for? What need will you fill with it?

What I am not going to get into in this podcast episode, is the nuts and bolts of how to start a podcast. There is a lot of info out there about the things like how to create a good title and thumbnail graphic, what kind of microphone and editing software to use, and where to host your podcast. Google can tell you all of those things. I will say that the only piece of equipment I invested in was a microphone that cost about $80. I host my podcast on Substack (free) which then pushes it out to all the places like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. I use Audacity (also free) to record and edit my episodes. I record the interview episodes on Zoom and then edit them in Audacity. When I first started out, I did very little editing, but as I grew in experience, I felt more comfortable with editing. I still don’t edit out every “um” and “like” because I want it to still feel real.

How does podcasting help to grow your audience? It gets your message out to a different section of your audience (assuming they listen to podcasts). As I mentioned earlier, you can show your audience more of your personality through a podcast. In each episode, you can mention a download or resource you have available that relates to that episode. If the url is simple enough, you can say it during the episode so listeners don’t have to find the show notes to get the link.

If you do at least some guest episodes, you are drawing from your guest’s audience as well. When that guest mentions the interview to his or her audience, they may come over and start listening to your podcast as well.

Some other things I’ve learned along the way:

- Episodes don’t have to be long. Most of my solo episodes are short. I was worried about this until I started getting comments from my listeners thanking me for the shorter length! I’ve been told that it makes them easier to digest and listen to in the snippets of time they have available.

- Secondly, yes, you should be consistent, but you get to decide what that looks like. This was one of my biggest concern when starting a podcast. Could I remain consistent? I started out doing a new episode every other week just to test the waters and my own capacity. I did that pace for about 5 months until I decided that I could keep up with every week. I produced new episodes every week for a couple of years until that started feeling like a lot. I recently followed a fellow podcaster’s lead and switched to a 3 months on and one month off cycle. I’ve been loving that rhythm because it allows me time to plan and work on other projects. It also accounts for different busy seasons in my own life. Ultimately, you get to decide how often you put out episodes. It’s helpful if your listeners know what to expect, but if you communicate those expectations, they won’t be caught by surprise.

- The other benefit to podcasting is that the episodes don’t go anywhere! It’s easy to refer your audience to specific episodes to answer particular questions they have. You’re building a body of work that brings you credibility and is a resource for your audience.

What do you think? Would starting a podcast be a good way for you to grow your audience and serve them?

If you have specific questions about podcasting, I’d be happy to answer them. If you are a subscriber on substack, just leave a comment for this episode. Otherwise, you’re welcome to email me at amysimon@amylynnsimon.com.