Every business should consider podcasting as a way to leverage their brand.

Here is my speech…

When we are entrepreneurs, we don’t have one job. We have two jobs:

1. The job of producing a product or service for your client, and
2. The job of marketing our product or service.

Most of us use LinkedIn for two reasons

1. For the social interaction, and
2. Because we want our product or services to be noticeable.

When we use LinkedIn as consumers, we scroll through the screen until something catches our attention. We might read it for a few seconds or even a few minutes, and then we move.

When you post something on LinkedIn, that’s how your content gets treated, and most of the time, it doesn’t get shown to all the people who have opted to follow you.

But let me ask you…

• What if you could connect with your audience for 15 minutes, half an hour, one hour?
• What if you had an audience of 50, 100, 1,000 eager to see your content on a regular basis

Imagine that Diane had an audience of 200 people waiting to see every quarter of her new line of marketing products.

Imagine that Kelly had an audience of 300 people who are happy to hear how their businesses and workplaces can be more inclusive to people with disabilities and to minorities.

Imagine that Hugo could explain in detail to an audience of 500 people how to take advantage of a personalized website for every different person who visits your website.

Do you think that would be valuable to them?

Well, you don’t have to imagine. This opportunity is available to Diane, to Kelly, to Hugo, and to anyone who has a message to share. This opportunity is called Podcasting.

Let me tell you about my experience with podcasting

I started podcasting 18 months ago

I had zero listeners, zero subscribers, zero people waiting for me to publish my next podcast episode.

I started publishing one episode per week and telling my friends about it.

Today I get about 600 downloads per month, that’s about 150 people per week. That means that once a week, 150 people put earphones in their ears and listen to my message for 30 to 60 minutes. This is quite a stark difference with a 3 minute LinkedIn video or an image that could take a few seconds to swipe.

My podcast is an interview-style show.

I get to speak to the New York Times best selling authors, international speakers, to scientists, and to anyone who is having a significant impact on society.

Last week, I had a conversation with a scientist in London, about the science of sleep.

Today I get to speak to you, right here, because of my podcast.

Next week, I will be assisting at a business conference, where the ticket price is $400, for free, because of my influence as a podcaster.

So why should anyone of you consider podcasting?

1. It’s easy to make. All you need is a microphone, a laptop, and a sound edition software.
2. It’s not expensive. Other than your laptop, you can buy a good microphone for about $60 to $80. And the software is completely Free.
3. Podcasting is easy to consume. There is more time to consume audio communication than any other medium of communication. People can listen to a podcast while they
   1. Drive-in their car
   2. Working out
   3. Walking their dogs
   4. Do chores around the house.

How big is podcasting?

Big and small.

If you compare it to blogging.

There are 1,000 blogs for every podcast. But at the same time, while 42% of North Americans read blogs on a monthly basis, 32% of North Americans listen to podcasts. So you can have a much bigger impact with a podcast than with a blog.

When compared to other audio subscriptions, this is how it compares.

• Sirius XM 35 million monthly subscribers
• Spotify is about 55 million subscribers
• Pandora is about 68 million
• Podcasting is over 90 million subscribers.

How can you harness the power of podcasting?

Many businesses are using podcasts to market themselves. I’ll give you some examples:

• Slack
• General Electric
• Shopify
• Basecamp
• Sephora
• ZipRecruiter

Let me give you an example of how you could use podcasting to leverage your business.

We all know John Marrett. He’s a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) consultant.

Could you imagine what would happen to his business if every week he published a podcast episode?

He could

• Answer a question about how to get the most out of your CRM
• Do product comparison about different CRMs
• Interview clients
• Interview other consultants
• Interview suppliers
• Know, like, and trust
• Over time his listenership would grow
• Over time he would be considered as the authority in CRM
• Become a better speaker
• Over time he would be invited to speak at business conferences.

Do you think that would be good for his brand?

It’s the same thing whether you are a financial adviser, a retailer or a manufacturer. There is a space for you in podcasting.

Thank you.

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