I’ve been podcasting in some guise or other for work and pleasure since 2006-07. I just completed a series of 100 consecutive podcasts over three years for my ‘side hustle’, football history and culture blog, Outside Write, and I want to share some key learnings with you.
I first experimented with podcasting way back when working for Rainier PR (now Speed Communications) in 2006-07, with Stephen Waddington and Steve Earl. We were among the first PR podcasters. Since then, I’ve been keen to highlight the business benefits of podcasting and applying those learnings to my own personal interests.
With an hour-long commute in either direction from rural Kent to London, I have plenty of time to edit and have just published my 100th consistent episode. In a crowded market and against professional, full-time producers, Outside Write has been as high as 21st in Ireland and 40th in the UK’s football podcast category charts.
So here are those key learnings:
Be clear on your objectives
Why are you podcasting? What’s in it for your audience and your business? For me, I formed Outside Write as an outlet for football history, travel and culture writing with a view to building an audience and connections as I myself enter the space, and I now have a 110,000-word manuscript being turned into a book next year.
But as the day job became more demanding – a nice problem for a freelancer – I found that recording and editing podcasts was actually easier than writing long-form content. The interviewees have often already done that part and are happy to talk about their findings.
It has helped build me an audience, contacts and a platform where I want my work to be seen. It’s not about the money, as I am keen to keep it ad-free, but it has led to the odd bit of paid work and access to matches.
Consistency is key
You don’t build an engaged podcast audience overnight or with sporadic, unpredictable episode release. Your audience needs to know when they can expect your content in their podcast player and you need to be regular enough to jump to the top of their podcast app
You’ll find your voice
In my earlier podcasts, I sound like I’m imitating the BBC from the 1930s. You will find your voice, so just be yourself and expect to pivot your style. I ditched much of my intro and just cut straight into the piece.
People are incredibly generous with their time
If you don’t ask, you don’t get. I have had the pleasure of welcoming top football writer Jonathan Wilson and leading political theorist Cas Mudde onto the podcast. You may know them both from The Guardian and other publications.
Make sure you have a structure and story arc to the interview and send the questions in advance to your guests.
The topic can influence downloads significantly
The profile of your guest is not the only deciding factor in success – the topic is critical. I can see downloads fluctuate on go-live day (just after midnight UK time, Monday morning) from 1,000 down to 600 depending on the topic. That shows the power of social media and other promotions – it’s not all about automatic subscribers.
It turns out podcasts on Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe during the communist era are most popular with my listeners!
Find your audience and key influencers
Social media is key to promoting the podcast. The guest will have their own audience, but ‘super fans’ can be incredibly influential in spreading the word too.
Listen to your audience
Nurture your audience, value it. Listen to them. They will feed back. I originally aimed for TED Talk-length episodes of no more than 18 minutes, then some guests were so interesting that I extended it – but many stated that they’d like more than 25 minutes with one poll suggesting 40-plus minutes.
I now aim for 30-40 minutes with leeway for more.
One fan even designed the logo I now use as a gift! Totally unexpected, he just sent it to me and said he loved the podcast so much he’d designed a logo and header!
Solid cross-platform promotion is essential
Social media is, of course, critical for content promotion. I use Canva to create social cards to promote the content and draw the eye and Headliner App is great for generating audio previews. Where relevant, I share the content in various football Facebook communities and ask questions to involve members in the conversation rather than just plug the edition.
What has been interesting has been website activity. I thought some might play directly from the embedded podcast player on the website and increase dwell time, but this doesn’t seem to happen.
Interestingly, by creating a short post and following SEO best practice, I’ve seen an increasing number of site visitors come to podcast content via search engines, so optimise your supporting posts!
Build a strong content pipeline
This is where a PR and content background helps. I have a loose content calendar and always have at least three weeks’ worth of content ready to be edited in case of an unforeseen dry period or the day job makes it difficult to record, as it often does. For example, I spend half of one particular month last year at various events in Germany.
You don’t need to break the bank
It helps to have a soundproofed studio, a great mic and acoustics, and a mixing desk, but we don’t all have that luxury. Most of my interviews are conducted via Skype. I prefer the real-life interview dynamic though, as you can really tell the difference.
So, these are just a few standouts from 100 consistent podcasts. Do you podcast? What would you recommend?