Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
My good friend Chris Desatoff and I finally got around to setting up WriterSanctuary’s audio reach. It’s been in the making for a few years now, but we finally got around to start the podcast. But, why is it important to create one nowadays?
In the end, it all really comes down to marketing a brand. Now, that brand can be yourself, a blog, a business you set up…pretty much anything you want to engage an audience.
Even if you have an eCommerce site, you can still start a podcast to share product information, tips on how to use certain items, and a whole lot more.
There’s really no end to what you can do if you have just a bit of imagination.
What is a Podcast and Why Should You Care?
Essentially, a podcast is an audio file that people can listen to whether they’re sitting at their computers or using any number of devices. It’s something that can easily play in the background while they’re doing other tasks.
Think of podcasts as radio programs that you might listen to during your commute, only without the music playing every five to 10 minutes.
Thanks to Bluetooth technology in vehicles nowadays, a podcast can even play through your car or truck speakers. So, it’s exactly like a radio show only based on the Internet instead of airwaves.
In fact, podcasts have become so integrated with society nowadays that many brands are starting to host their own.
It’s a way to expand your reach to a wider audience. Those who listen to your podcast might not even know you have a blog and vice versa. Creating one means you can engage more people interested in your niche, product, industry, or brand.
10 Practical Reasons to Start a Podcast Today
If you haven’t thought about creating a podcast, you really should. I know that it took us quite some time to get the ball rolling for WriterSanctuary. And I can tell you that I’ve been kicking myself for the past few years.
There’s so much that can come from podcasting that is extremely beneficial for any person, business, or solo professional.
1. A Growing Audience
Podcasts are continuing to grow in audience base year-over-year. In 2013, 12% of people in the United States ages 12 and up listened to a podcast on a monthly basis. About 7% of them listened within the week.
Fast forward to today, and we see 41% of people are monthly listeners while 28% do so weekly.
This goes to show how influential podcasts have become over the years, and it doesn’t look like they’ll die off anytime soon. And that’s just in the US. Many more listen from other countries.
2. Easy to Set Up
Unlike a blog or YouTube channel, it doesn’t take a whole lot of investment or time to start a podcast. As long as you have a recording device and can save files to upload to a host, you can literally start right now.
Podcasts are strictly audio-only. This means that you don’t have to put a lot of effort into header images, thumbnails, server speed, optimization, SEO, and a lot of other elements you’d find in other content mediums.
The only thing you’d really have to worry about is describing your show and possibly uploading a single thumbnail image for your podcast.
3. Easy to Create Topics from Other Content
One thing that’s helped my YouTube channel grow was repurposing old content from the blog. I’d take a blog post and turn it into a YouTube video.
You can easily do the same with a podcast. In fact, we’re repurposing our Friday live streams on WriterSanctuary specifically for the podcast.
This means if you have a blog or YouTube channel, you already have a ton of topic ideas at your disposal.
4. Less Work than Blogging or Video Production
Since we started working on the podcast, I’ve noticed how much easier it is to create content than the other methods. I don’t have to worry so much about SEO, algorithms, graphics, and everything else rolled into blogging and videos.
Though, it can take quite a bit of time to edit down an episode should you have a lot of outtakes and other things you don’t want to share when you start a podcast.
Still, in general, the audio shows are much easier to produce than other forms of content.
5. Doesn’t Cost a Lot to Get Started
When it comes to cost, it’s much cheaper to start a podcast than it is with a blog. And depending on your ideas for quality, it may also be cheaper than starting a YouTube channel.
As I said before, all you really need is a recording device. Though, there might be a few costs that you might want to consider if you plan on getting serious about your podcast.
I’ll go over that topic in a moment. But, building your podcast can go from free to spending thousands per month.
6. Less Competition, But That Will Quickly Change
Currently, the podcasting platform is relatively new. This means there is less competition to reach your audience than with something like a blog or YouTube channel.
This means you can generate an interested and dedicated audience relatively quickly.
However, this lack of competition is quickly dissolving. As more and more brands take to building podcasts of their own, the advantage will dissipate fairly soon.
Maybe not overnight. But given the growing trend of podcasts just in the US, time is not on your side to decide whether you want to build one or not.
7. Helps Create Network Connections
Now, we haven’t had much experience with creating network connections just yet. We just uploaded the first episode this week. However, many experts attest to how a podcast can help you get noticed by others in your industry.
Much like using LinkedIn, networking can expand your reach to other people of interest. One person’s fan base might find value in your content after an interview.
I’ve seen networking in action for blogs, YouTube videos, and professional social accounts. So, I can assume a podcast would have a similar outcome.
In fact, networking on other platforms has resulted in making a few extra bucks for WriterSanctuary.
8. Another Venue for Income
Speaking of earning a bit of extra income, podcasts can act as another avenue for generating cash. Again, I’m not entirely sure how well this all works as we’ve just started.
But now that the first episode is up, it’s time to send out some feelers to find sponsors or ads.
I do know that there are quite a few professionals out there who generate a decent income from the podcasts alone. So, even though you might not get rich quick, it’s still a viable method to diversify how much you bring in each month.
And considering how easy it is to get started, you might as well add it to your portfolio.
9. More Content in Less Time
In the grand scheme of things, you can produce more content in less time through an audio file than you can with a blog post. Though, the same can be said about creating a YouTube video.
The premise behind this is that you can start a 30-minute podcast to cover far more words in that time than what someone can read on your blog.
Given the versatility of the audio file, people can also consume your content while driving and doing other tasks. This is something that cannot be done without text to voice software.
10. Integrates Well with Other Mediums
Lastly, podcasts integrate well with just about any other medium. This means you can use them as an extension of yourself or your brand.
For example, we record podcasts live on Friday nights from the YouTube channel. Then, we convert and edit the file and upload it as a podcast. We’re getting two forms of content from a single recording.
You can also easily add a podcast to your blog, especially if you use WordPress. There are a ton of podcast plugins available that will let you share episodes with your visitors.
Essentially, we have created an intricate web of content spanning across all three platforms that I plan to continue promoting.
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Podcast?
The actual upfront cost to set up your own podcast is negligible. I know you’ve probably looked around at podcast hosting services and how to set it up. But the truth is, I haven’t spent anything yet and our podcast is on Spotify.
Well, outside of the gear I bought for the YouTube channel. I don’t really need a high-quality camera for podcasts, and the microphone is one I already had from streaming and video production.
In reality, all you need is something to record your voice and a way to convert it to an audio file.
And there is a slew of apps out there for free that can handle both of those aspects.
As for the hosting, I actually set us up on Anchor. It’s a free platform by Spotify that allows for unlimited free uploads. And since Anchor will share your podcast with Spotify and Pocket Casts as well, you really don’t have to invest much.
So, as it stands, I haven’t spent a single dime to start the podcast for WriterSanctuary.
Now, if you want to get fancy gear and improve the audio, it’ll cost you a few bucks. For example, I’m currently using a Blue Snowball mic. It works great for everything I use it for, including videos and podcasts.
The one I’m using ran me about $80 from Best Buy, but that was a couple of years ago. The price has come down a bit.
Another expense you might want to consider down the road is marketing. The more people know your podcast exists, the greater are the chances of someone listening.
Personally, I won’t spend money on marketing until the podcast starts generating a bit of revenue. I want to make sure it’s a viable platform for income first.
Get Recording Your Own Podcast
As you can see, there are quite a few benefits to start your own podcast. All it takes is a bit of time and having a good topic people want to listen to.
And since it doesn’t cost much to get started, you can probably set one up in less time than it takes to read this blog post.
What would you talk about if you set up your own podcast today? If you have one, what has been your best experience thus far?
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