As you may remember, last week I did a little bit of rambling (ahem, grumbling) about podcasts and how they seem to grow on trees lately. I think it’s important to note, though, that that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for any more! The world needs more trees, and chances are, your industry needs more podcasts – good ones, especially!
Podcasting can be a great way to reach out to your audience and market your products, even if you never talk about them directly. Here are some ways podcasting can improve your marketing efforts:
- It puts a face on your brand, or a voice if you’re audio podcasting. It gives people a personality behind the business, and that makes them want to buy from you because they feel like they know you, personally.
- People take podcasts with them everywhere they go – on trips, in the car, to the gym, and even to work. Can you say the same about the products you sell? Would you LIKE to say the same about the products you sell? If people start carrying around your podcast like that, chances are they’ll soon put two and two together and come visit your shop so they can support you that way, too.
- It gives you a chance to tell stories, and telling stories draws people in. It’s a great way to share a bigger picture of YOU and your brand than you could ever write into a product listing or an About page.
So! Now that I’ve covered the bad AND the good about podcasting, I’ve got a round-up of helpful tips for starting a podcast, gathered from the Web just for you.
- Elise Blaha (Elise Gets Crafty) talks about her initial thoughts on podcasting, after a few months doing that particular gig. She includes notes on how she does it, behind-the-scenes style. She also has a post on how to launch a podcast (bonus!).
- Tara Swiger (Explore Your Enthusiasm) launched her audio podcast in one week! Here’s how she did it.
- Gregory Ciotti (Sparring Mind) has a great post outlining all the tools you’ll need – both physical tools and online, marketing-type tools – to start a podcast.
- Gwen Bortner and Kellie Nuss (EduKnit.com) take you behind-the-scenes and show how they make videos for their educational knitting site. This isn’t specifically about podcasting, but it gives you a good idea about what you need to do in order to make really good videos.
So, have you thought about starting a podcast? Do you already have one you’d like to share with us? Leave it in the comments below!