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7 Secrets To Profitable Podcasting
Podcasts are very convenient. They are available in MP3 format and listeners can use their smartphones or tablets to listen to them. You can listen to a great podcast in your car but you cannot watch videos when you are driving. People also listen to podcasts when they are working out, doing the shopping, travelling on trains and buses – in fact anywhere!
A lot of marketers try to create successful podcasts but fail to achieve this. They make a lot of mistakes and don’t have the patience and determination to see the project through. In this guide we will tell you how to avoid these mistakes and create successful podcasts that listeners will love.
1. Choose The Right Podcasting Niche
This is the most important secret to successful podcasting. If you choose the wrong niche then you are doomed to failure right from the start and all of your efforts will have been for nothing.
You need to choose a niche where there is a good demand for content and there is enough content opportunities for you to create a number of different podcasts for a long time. The commercial opportunities that exist in the niche are also important.
You will read everywhere that you need to choose a niche for podcasting that you are passionate about. While it is a good idea in principal you need to test whether there is demand for the niche before you go ahead with it.
The easiest way to do this for free is to use the Google Keyword Planner. All you need is a free Google Adwords account and you can access the planner. By using the Google Keyword Planner you will be able to see how many people are searching for information on your niche using the Google search engine.
When you use the Google Keyword Planner you will also receive suggestions for related keywords. This will really help you to determine the different subjects for your podcasts. Start by using a seed keyword e.g. “dog training” and see how many searches there are per month. If there are many thousands then you are on to a winner.
There are a number of ways that you can monetize your podcasts which we will discuss later. A good way is to recommend products and services that are a good fit for the subject of your podcast. So if your podcast was about email marketing for example you could recommend your own course (if you have one) or someone else’s as an affiliate.
It is worth checking to see the level of commercial opportunity for your niche ideas. Go over to Clickbank.com and see if there are any digital products for your niche. You can also check for physical product opportunities by searching on Amazon.com.
The ultimate niche for podcasting is one that you are passionate about and has great demand, a lot of different subjects for podcast creation and good commercial opportunities. If you decide to go with a niche that you are not passionate about then you can learn everything that you can about it and develop a passion for it.
Having a passion for your niche is extremely important with podcasting. Listeners will be able to detect the passion, or lack of it, in your voice. This is pretty difficult to fake so a genuine interest is always required.
Take your time to come up with niche ideas and validate them all using the Google Keyword Planner. You can start by listing your interests and passions and then adding subjects that you are good at or have skills in. For instance you may have mastered a particular skill through your work that you can speak about as an expert.
You can also visit other websites for niche ideas. Here are some good ones to take a look at:
- Clickbank.com
- Amazon.com
- Magazines.com
- Dummies.com
When you go to these websites take a look at the various categories and sub categories for inspiration. If there are products being sold on these websites then this is a pretty strong indicator that there is demand for information in the niche. Always check this using the Google Keyword Planner.
2. Get The Right Equipement For Podcasting
It is absolutely not a good idea to use the microphone in your laptop, smartphone or the one that is attached to those cheap headphones for your podcast recordings. They tend to be very inferior and the sound quality of your recordings will be very poor. When people listen to your podcasts they will give up on them quickly and leave negative reviews.
You must invest in a good quality microphone for your recordings. Borrow one if you have to. When people listen to your podcasts they will judge them on the content that you are providing and the sound quality. Never create podcasts with poor sound quality. There is only so much that you can do with an audio editing application.
When you are thinking about the equipment that you need for podcasting you need to think long term. If you are going to provide mostly solo recordings then go for a USB microphone like the Blue Yetti that you can plug into your computer. If you want to invite guests to your podcasting studio then invest in XLR dynamic microphones.
Whether you are going to buy a number of good quality microphones or just one, you should always get a pop filter and a stand or boom arm as well. A pop filter will make your recordings sound a lot better and the stand will help you with positioning the microphone so that you can record your voice properly.
For a mini podcast studio you should get a mixer and a digital recorder. You will also need boom arms for all of the microphones. This is quite an investment so you may want to progress to this later on once your podcasts are successful.
We also recommend that you invest in some good quality headphones. Yes you can record a podcast without using headphones but you won’t know how good or bad it sounds until you play back the recording. With headphones you can monitor sound quality in real time.
You will need a good audio editing application for your recordings. It is inevitable that you are going to make mistakes especially in your first few recordings. Fortunately there are two really good audio editing suites that are totally free for Windows and Mac computers:
- Windows users can use Audacity
- Mac users can use Garageband
These applications will take care of all of your audio editing needs. There are others that cost money but they are really not necessary to get going. You can easily add intro and outro music, sound effects and more with these two audio editing suites. When you are done with your recording you can mix everything down and create an MP3 file.
It is also possible to record podcasts on a smartphone or tablet device. To do this you will need a high quality microphone that clips on to your lapel or tie. These are available from Amazon for around $50. You will also need a recording app and there are many free ones available for both Android and iOS devices.
Although you can edit your podcasts on your smartphone it can be a bit tricky with the small screen. We recommend that you create an audio file on your mobile device and then use your computer for the editing work.
Another thing that you will need for your podcasts is some good cover art. You will use this on your podcast page and on the podcast directories and other pages to identify your brand. If you are not great at graphic design then find someone on Fiverr.com and pay them a few bucks to do a good job for you.
Finally we recommend that you use a podcast hosting service for your podcast files. You may have a web hosting account that has unlimited disk space but this is for web files and not for audio files. A good podcast hosting service will store your files for a small fee each month and provide you with an RSS link for your podcasts. More on this later.
3. Create A Plan For Your Podcasts
If you are an expert in your chosen podcasting niche then it can be tempting to just “wing it” and record podcasts on the fly. These rarely work out well. There is always pressure when you are recording so you may miss a number of important points and also mumble a lot. Not a good experience for your listeners!
When you are starting out we recommend that you create a full script for each podcast. You can then read from this when you are recording. By doing this you won’t forget anything and you will be less likely to mumble. After a while you can progress to “prompt” scripts where you just work off of a list of prompts to remind you of what you need to talk about.
It is a good idea to interview some experts in your niche and turn these into podcasts. You can set up a call using Skype and then record the conversation. Skype does have its own recorder these days which will produce a mono recording in MP4 format. You will have to convert this to MP3 (not difficult) but a mono recording can be problematic.
Sometimes with Skype calls one of the participants is recorded a lot louder than the other. If only one channel is used for recording (mono) then you cannot do anything to correct the volume imbalance. There are other Skype call recording apps that will record on two channels so that you can make the necessary adjustments.
Another option for interview recording is Zoom. This is more like video conferencing and you set up a room and send out an invite to your interviewee. Zoom calls are always recorded and you will receive this after the call ends. There are free plans and paid plans with Zoom and the recording quality is usually really good.
If you are going to interview an expert using an online call then plan this in advance for the best results. Agree a list of questions with the interviewee before you conduct the interview. This gives the interviewee time to prepare and you will get a better quality interview overall.
You need to be committed with podcasting and be prepared to launch new podcast episodes on a regular basis. Some podcaster publish every day. We recommend once a week or once a fortnight. Whatever publishing frequency you choose be sure to stick to it.
Use a calendar tool to get everything organized. The free Google Calendar does a really great job and is really all you need. You can schedule days for research and preparation as well as podcast recording. With Google Calendar you can add descriptions and notes and also attach files. Consistency is really important with podcasting.
4. Record Your Podcasts Professionally
We have already covered the need for good quality equipment. What we want to discuss here is how to get everything setup right so that you record in a professional manner. If you make a lot of mistakes with your recordings then you are going to have to spend a great deal of time editing.
If you don’t record your podcasts properly you can make so many mistakes that it will be quicker for you to record the whole thing again rather than trying to edit out all of the problems. Cut down your editing time by following these steps:
Record in a Quiet Location
This is a total no-brainer. You do not want a lot of unwanted background noise in your podcast recordings so choose a quiet place to make your recordings. Make sure that you turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode. If there are others in your home then ask them not to disturb you except for emergencies while you are recording.
Ensure your Speech is Clear
We have already mentioned that a good set of headphones are important when you are recording podcasts. You will know what your speech sounds like and whether you are too loud or speaking too softly.
Always speak directly into your microphone. Position your script so that you can read it without having to turn your head away from the microphone. By monitoring with headphones you can make any necessary adjustments to your recording software to make it sound good.
Make Test Recordings
The best way to test if you have everything setup right and that your speech is clear is to make a test recording before you record your entire podcast. Things can go wrong such as having your microphone on mute or not plugged in at all!
With a test recording you can check that everything is working correctly and you are not picking up any unwanted background noise.
Editing your Podcast
Whatever audio editing application you choose make sure that you know how it works. There are a number of good videos on YouTube that will show you how to use the basic and advanced features of Audacity or Garageband for example.
Edit out anything that is going to distract your listeners such as background noise and heavy breathing. If you don’t take care of these things then you run the risk of your listeners going elsewhere and leaving you bad reviews.
After recording your podcast listen to it from start to finish. When you come across a mistake or distraction then edit it out there and then. Once you have finished your edits listen to the whole thing again just in case you missed something.
Create your MP3 Podcast File
The final step is to add your intro and outro music and mix everything down to create your MP3 file for publishing. It is really important to add metadata to all of your podcasts and you do this using ID3 tags.
Here you can add information including the title of your podcast, the summary of your podcast, the podcast number and more. You can easily add ID3 tags using Audacity or with Garageband and iTunes on a Mac.
5. Distribution And Getting The Word Out
We recommend that you record a few podcasts before you start to distribute them to the podcasting directories. This is because only having one podcast available doesn’t look good to potential listeners. They want to be sure that you are committed to producing podcasts on a regular basis.
When you use podcast hosting to store your podcasts you can use the RSS feed to make a one off submission to the podcasting directories. There are many podcasting directories available and you should make a submission to all of them. You must make a submission to the major directories which are:
It is also a good idea to distribute your podcasts on YouTube. You can easily convert your MP3 podcasts into an MP4 file and add a static image. YouTube will not accept your RSS podcast feed so you will need to upload each podcast separately. More and more people are listening to podcasts on YouTube these days so use this to your advantage.
Don’t just leave it to podcast directory submissions to get the word out about your podcasts. Use your personal network of family, friends and colleagues as well. Ask them to share with their friends on social media for you. Also ask them to provide a review on the podcast directory.
If you have your own website or blog then use this to promote your podcasts. If you have a list of email subscribers then send out a broadcast email to tell them when you are launching new podcasts. Ask them to listen and leave you a good review.
Use your social media channels to promote your podcasts as well. Set up a Facebook page specifically about your podcast and provide all of the relevant details there. A great way to reach your intended audience is to use Facebook Ads. This is an inexpensive way to promote your podcasts to your target audience.
6. Grow Your Listener Base
In order to make a profit from your podcasts you need a large base of listeners. You need to be consistent with your podcast publishing if you want to grow your listener numbers. If you are going to publish weekly then do this on the same day every week. Your listeners will get into the habit of looking for your new podcasts on the same day each week.
You need to get as many positive reviews and ratings for your podcasts as possible. If a potential listener visits your podcast page and there are no reviews then they will probably go elsewhere. We live in an age where people will not take any action if there are no reviews.
A series of positive reviews is the best evidence that a new listener has that it is worth them spending their time listening to your podcasts. Always ask your listeners to leave a review in all of your podcasts.
You can run a contest through your podcasts once you have sufficient listeners. Award a prize for the best review or the best post on social media about your podcasts. Always provide a valuable prize as part of your contests.
7. Monetizing Your Podcasts
You want to make money from your podcasting efforts don’t you? Well here are some ways that you can do that:
Promote in your podcasts – you can promote relevant offers in your podcasts. These can be your own products or services or other people’s where you make an affiliate commission
Use Patreon.com for donations – set up a Patreon page and ask your listeners to make donations
Find sponsors – there are a number of websites that will help you to find sponsors for your podcast.
Sell premium podcasts – you can create special podcasts that your listeners will need to pay for to access
Make ad commissions from YouTube – when you upload your podcasts to YouTube you can use the Google Adsense program to display ads and make a commission for every click
Offer consultancy or coaching services – your listeners will see you as an authority in your niche and you can take advantage of this by offering high ticket consulting or coaching services which you perform online using Skype
Conclusion
You know the 7 secrets to profitable podcasting. Now it is your turn to take action. Use the methods described in this special report and you will be creating top quality podcasts in no time. Spend most of your time promoting your podcasts and building your listener base so that you can make the most money from your podcasting efforts.
Bertrand Allard
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