Podcasting

Podcasting is a great way to share your views, promote your brand, or just have fun with a topic that you are passionate about. Podcasts are popular with web users, because they are easy to listen to while you’re on the move. Unlike blogs and video casts, which require you to give a computer screen (or your phone screen) your undivided attention, podcasts can be consumed while you’re driving, or when you’re at the gym.

There are podcasts for almost every topic, from ecommerce to martial arts, but the podcasting world doesn’t, yet, have as much competition as the blogging world. This means that if you have a good idea and a willingness to share it, you can grow your audience quite quickly. Even better, you don’t need a lot of sophisticated equipment to get started.

How to Create Sellable Products from Podcasting

Podcasts are really popular, with over 45 million users downloading and listening to at least one podcast per month. You cannot miss out on the podcast fad. What’s more, aside from uploading it to iTunes, and having your own website for your listeners, you can also repurpose a podcast into other products just like you do other types of content.

How to Make a Podcast

To make a good podcast, all you need is a good microphone, some recording software, and a decent server to host the podcast on. Remember that audio files, even when compressed, are quite large, and each listener to your podcast will end up consuming a lot of bandwidth. Many podcasters have started using services such as SoundCloud, or BlogTalkRadio, to take care of hosting and recording. SoundCloud has a free on-demand hosting service, and BlogTalkRadio allows you to host call-in talk shows, although there are some limitations on the free account. If your podcast takes off, you will need to pay for a subscription to make the most of the service.

Podcasts aren’t live events so you can work on them at any hour, and you can also edit them when done to make them sound very professional – despite mistakes made throughout the recording. What’s really amazing is that you can do a lot with a podcast once it’s been recorded.

The most important piece of podcasting equipment is the microphone. Invest in a noise-cancelling microphone that offers good sound quality. Your listeners do not want to hear your neighbour’s dog barking in the background, and they definitely don’t want to have to put up with straining to hear what you’re saying over the hiss and crackle of a bad microphone. Buy the best microphone you can afford, and call it an investment. If your podcast is popular you can reclaim the costs through advertising!

EBooks - Have your podcasts transcribed and written into an eBook form, upload to Kindle, then sell for 99 cents. Incorporate lots of interviews and sell for even more money.

ECourse – Use transcribed podcasts of a “round table” of experts speaking about one micro-niche topic, then rewrite them into a new format as a way to create an eCourse for your readers. Drip a little at a time to those who sign up via email.

Information product – Use both the podcast and transcribed podcasts and other written material combined to create a killer information product that will knock their socks off.

Membership site – Make a paid podcast program part of your membership site’s benefits. Members get to listen to your podcast via the membership site for free, while others have to pay via iTunes.

Any podcast can be repurposed into any of the above products, or added to another product to generate more revenue. You sell it as the original, then you recreate it to something else and sell it again. Often times what comes out is an entirely new product that will please your target audience and garner you new fans.

Repurposing content is a legitimate way to get off the content treadmill. As you produce content, keep in mind that the most crucial aspect of creating any content is to promote it. After that, you can recreate it into another form and promote it again. You can do this many times over from one good podcast. Repurposing content is a great way to enhance your SEO, reach different types of customers, and increase your clients’ understanding of your topic.

When you repurpose any material, make sure that it is evergreen content that doesn’t have a date limit on it. For example, if you create a podcast about specific tax laws, you might encounter issues with it being out of date within a year. If you create a podcast about general taxes without mentioning specifics, you’ll create a podcast that can last through the years.

If you know ahead of time that you’ll repurpose all content that you develop (making blog posts out of podcasts, making podcasts out of blog posts, creating eBooks, and reports and courses out of all), you’ll be most likely to take your time making the first version of the product complete so that turning it into a new product later on is easy. You’ll increase your traffic, feel proud to promote your products, and make even more money.

     How To Get Your Podcast Ready for iTunes

     Tips for Submitting a Podcast to the iTunes Store

     Learn To Promote Your iTunes Podcast Today

     The Ten Biggest iTunes Podcasting Mistakes

The Legal Side of Podcasting

Many successful podcasts have musical intros, play songs during short breaks, and have credit music. If you’re a novice podcaster, it can be tempting to play your favourite songs to jazz up your podcast a little bit. Do not do this if you don’t have permission from the record label that owns the song. At best, you could end up having the record label contact your podcast host to get your podcast taken down. At worst, the record label could take you to court if they think you’ve been making money from their music. If you want to use music in your podcast, choose songs that you own the rights to, or that have been released as creative commons audio. Don’t forget to give credit to the artist!

Podcasting can be a lot of fun. Choose a subject you enjoy, and produce podcasts on a regular basis – for example once or twice a month, so that your listeners know when to tune in. Good luck!

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