In our last post we looked at 3 Secrets To Profitable Podcasting. Today we will continue with four more secrets and look at creating and distributing profit making podcasts.
Podcasts are a primary way to grow your online visibility and engineer your celebrity. By having a podcast, listeners and viewers will learn about your expertise and the services your business provides.
Secret 4 – Record Your Podcasts Professionally
We have already covered the need for good quality equipment in our previous post. What we want to discuss here is how to get everything setup right so that you record in a professional manner to have profit making podcasts.
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 for profit making podcasts:
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.
Simplify your daily business by finding a quite location to record your episodes.
Ensure your Speech is Clear
We have already mentioned that a good set of headphones are important when you are recording profit making 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.
Simplify your daily business by making testing your episodes a routine.
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 to Have Profit Making Podcasts
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.
Secret 5 – Distribution and Getting the Word Out for Profit Making Podcasts
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 to grow your online visibility.
What I often see is that some podcasts are only available on some directories but not others. Submit your podcast to every directory to enable as many people as possible to discover your show and grow your online visibility.
Keep a list of all the directories and networks out there and cross of each one as you submit your episodes to them. Having this list is a great way to simplify your daily business.
You must make a submission to the major directories which are:
- Apple
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- TuneIn
- SoundCloud
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 profit making 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 to grow your online visibility. 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 to grow your online visibility. 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.
Secret 6 – Grow Your Listener Base for Profit Making Podcasts
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 profit making 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.
Secret 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. Patreon is great for profitable podcasting.
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. These locket for access episodes are for sure a way for profit making podcasts.
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 to Profit Making Podcasts
After reading my two blog posts on profit making podcasts, you know the 7 secrets to profitable podcasting. Now it is your turn to take action.
Use the methods described in these two blog posts and you will be creating top quality profitable podcasting 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.
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