#BTC 31: 5 Reasons It's Not Too Late to Launch a Podcast

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:09.189 Welcome back to be to be growth. My name is Rita Risha and I'm 2 00:00:09.269 --> 00:00:13.509 your host today. Today on the behind the curtain series, I'm joined with 3 00:00:13.669 --> 00:00:17.429 Logan Miles. We will be talking about whether or not it's too late to 4 00:00:17.750 --> 00:00:20.910 watch a podcast in two thousand and twenty. Logan, how are you doing 5 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:25.699 today? I am doing fantastic, Rada. It is great having more people 6 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:29.300 in the sweetish team part of the behind the curtain series. It's been a 7 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:32.060 ton of fun. We're going to be answering a question that I get a 8 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:37.170 lot. Is it too late to start a podcast, specifically a BB podcast, 9 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:41.289 in two thousand and twenty? And I've got five specific reasons why it's 10 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:45.090 not too late. So, spoiler alert, there's the answer to the question. 11 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:47.850 It's no, but we're going to be talking about five reasons why, 12 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:51.920 because obviously you know, I've got invested interest in telling you why you should 13 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:55.119 start a podcast. We are a podcast company, but we don't want to 14 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.240 just say hey, it's not too late, you should do it. Call 15 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.679 us. We want to give you some some reasons and some context. And 16 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:03.390 there are some other pieces of content from other folks in the podcasting space. 17 00:01:03.430 --> 00:01:07.109 A one, a site and point to so you don't just have to take 18 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:11.989 my word for it. Absolutely, Logan. Yes, it's also very exciting 19 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:15.709 to be on the show and have this discussion with you because we are so 20 00:01:15.950 --> 00:01:19.819 focused about podcasting at sweetfish. I think this conversation will provide a lot of 21 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:25.299 value to content creators who are scared to kind of make that jump, and 22 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:29.859 I think a lot of them are scared because they see that so much content 23 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:33.930 is being put out compared to all the types of media channels. What do 24 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:37.090 you say to someone that's like wow, there's just so much out there? 25 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:40.049 Is it too late? Yeah, it's a really great question, Rita. 26 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:42.489 You know, the question that we're asking today is is it too late to 27 00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:47.799 start a podcast? In the corresponding question is, are there too many podcasts 28 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.920 already? Is it already over saturated? And I I get either that overt 29 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.400 question on marketing with from marketing teams that I'm talking to, or it's just 30 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.840 kind of imply there's there's already so much. How are we going to stand 31 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.989 out in the first point that I want to make of our five points today 32 00:02:04.109 --> 00:02:07.550 is that saturations really a matter of perspective and I think we have this lens 33 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:12.389 that man in the last two years. They're way more podcast than there were 34 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:15.900 two years ago and definitely a lot more than there were ten years ago. 35 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:21.699 But in comparison to other channels, we are actually far away from peak saturation 36 00:02:21.939 --> 00:02:25.539 and podcasting. And a few quick staffs that Daniel j Lewis points to on 37 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:30.490 the audacity to podcast. This was also cited from a great article that will 38 00:02:30.490 --> 00:02:35.930 link to in the show notes from chartable, titled Why we're entering the golden 39 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:38.250 age of podcasting. So actually, if you look at that headline, it's 40 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:43.889 the exact opposite of the the perception that a lot of people have. So 41 00:02:43.969 --> 00:02:47.639 anyway, the figures are there are about eight hundred thousand podcasts in Apple Podcast, 42 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:53.240 which is, most people know, the primary consumption directory for podcasting. 43 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.639 Eight hundred thousand sounds like a really big number, but let's compare that to 44 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:02.629 thirty five million youtube channels. Let's compare that to the ubiquitous number of blogs. 45 00:03:02.990 --> 00:03:07.189 I don't talk to any brand today that's like, well, we're not 46 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:09.789 doing webinars because everybody's doing webinars. We're not. We don't have a blog 47 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:15.419 because everybody has a blog. That just doesn't seem to hold up as a 48 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:19.860 rationale not to do something in other channels. Yet some people are citing that 49 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:23.780 as the reason not to start a podcast. And one I think these numbers 50 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:27.020 kind of give open your eyes to a little bit more context. And too, 51 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:30.569 when you compare it to the reasoning you might apply to another channel, 52 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:34.289 it doesn't really hold up either. Right. And I think something else. 53 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:38.849 I mean just to hone in on that. Eight hundred thousand number of podcasts 54 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:45.199 within just the specific podcast market. I mean that is really large, but 55 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:51.639 I mean are those podcasts really even all active? Yeah, so they're actually 56 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.159 number two and three on our list. Kind of go together and they answer 57 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:59.870 this question Rita, because that eight hundred thousand number one, it seems smaller 58 00:03:59.949 --> 00:04:03.389 when you compare it to thirty five million youtube channels. It actually literally gets 59 00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:09.030 smaller when you start to filter it by how many of those podcasts are active 60 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:14.180 and have published even one episode in the last thirty days? And number three, 61 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:17.660 how many of those are actually posting on a consistent basis? Do they 62 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:20.899 drop an episode here or there, or there weekly for a little while and 63 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:25.649 then there every other week or there once a month? But it's not always 64 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:30.490 consistent. Those folks, it's very easy to stand out. When you eliminate 65 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:32.730 those and you look at really our competition, are the ones that are active, 66 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:36.569 number one, and the ones that are consistent, and that's a much 67 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:41.519 smaller number. It's it's that eight hundred thousand number is smaller, and then 68 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:46.959 those that are active and consistent or an even smaller percentage. So you start 69 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.959 to narrow it and it starts to feel a little bit less daunting when you 70 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:55.389 realize the competition is not as vast as you might think it is, when 71 00:04:55.389 --> 00:04:57.990 you see, oh, there's a new podcast here, there's a new podcast 72 00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:00.589 here, this celebrity has a new podcast, our competitor has a new podcast. 73 00:05:01.189 --> 00:05:04.069 But when you really start to break it down logically, there's a lot 74 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:10.620 of what I call green field opportunity, which, as marketers, oftentimes they 75 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:14.300 are not kind of green field opportunities for us, where there's a little bit 76 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.660 of open space, we can still kind of run and and plant our flag 77 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:20.220 where nobody is there yet and there's still that room and podcasting. When you 78 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:25.449 look at it this way right, I think that point you made about consistency 79 00:05:25.610 --> 00:05:30.170 is really important because what that does is it sets the audience up in the 80 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:33.290 listener up to kind of expect when you will put out your content, so 81 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:40.319 they will be excited and aware of when that happens, rather than sporadically posting. 82 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:45.160 You won't really curate your audience that way. But let's say you know 83 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.430 you are consistent with your podcast. You you're making pretty good content. You're 84 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:54.870 excited to put that content out there. What's the next best thing to look 85 00:05:54.990 --> 00:06:00.310 towards when you're kind of posting to really break out in this industry? I 86 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:04.819 think it is all about focusing on the niche that you serve and not hey. 87 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:08.899 I talk to most marketers and they're like, yeah, we're not trying 88 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:13.779 to be Tim Ferris or Joe Rogan, but when they set their KPI's, 89 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:16.819 when they set the goals that they're trying to attain with their podcast, it's 90 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:21.889 all about just massive reach. And someone quoted, someone commented on one of 91 00:06:21.930 --> 00:06:27.209 my linkedin posts the other day and said it's not about the count of the 92 00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:30.329 people you reach, it's about reaching the people who count and when you look 93 00:06:30.370 --> 00:06:35.399 at that, you are trying to serve a very niche targeted audience. When 94 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:40.600 you focus on that one, your content gets better and to as we've been 95 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:45.759 narrowing down what is the actual competition and what is the opportunity for your brandon 96 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:48.990 podcasting, it gets narrower and narrower, which means it's not as hard to 97 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:54.110 stand out, and so that's the second thing that's encouraging about this. Fourth 98 00:06:54.189 --> 00:06:57.509 Point here is that your niche is smaller. You know, we have that 99 00:06:57.629 --> 00:07:00.579 eight hundred thousand number of podcasts. Not all of those are active. Okay, 100 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:03.620 of the active ones, not all of those are consistent, and you're 101 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:08.540 not competing with all of what's left anyway. You're just competing with those that 102 00:07:08.579 --> 00:07:12.100 are in your niche. Of course you're competing with, you know, the 103 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:16.610 total mind share of time. But if you are speaking directly to be to 104 00:07:16.649 --> 00:07:23.970 be marketers or CFOS at enterprise organizations or sales leaders at startups or founders of 105 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:28.730 SASS companies, whatever your niche is, if you're really focused on delivering value 106 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:32.480 for them, then you are going to be able to stand out because it's 107 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.279 not going to be kind of this vanilla content that's trying to serve everybody. 108 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:40.279 So you have to go into it with the mindset of this is exactly who 109 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.199 we're trying to reach. We're not trying to reach millions of people, we're 110 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:46.430 trying to reach hundreds or thousands, and that changes the way I look at 111 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:49.829 my metrics and my goals and it also informs the way that I approach the 112 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:54.350 content that I'm sharing on my podcast. You're going to be much, much, 113 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:59.740 much better off right, and that's a really valid thing, because once 114 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:03.500 you create your niche and you narrow that down, it also becomes less overwhelming. 115 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:07.899 You have a goal and a plan for what your content is. But 116 00:08:07.980 --> 00:08:13.370 I think what some people can get overwhelmed about is they've established that niche, 117 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:16.810 they're excited, they're ready to launch, but then they do some research and 118 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:22.290 they notice there's somebody else within the industry that's podcasting that niche or their target 119 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:26.689 market. So what would you say to those people that are afraid to even 120 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:31.800 start once they're they've seen that or they reached that point? Yeah, absolutely, 121 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:35.440 it can be really discouraging kind of it. Let's say you Google the 122 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:37.600 the name of your podcast that you're thinking in your mind. You're like, 123 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.669 Oh, Dang it, there's already a competitor who has a podcast in our 124 00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:45.230 space. And guess what they pick the name that we would have picked. 125 00:08:45.269 --> 00:08:50.190 That can be like really deflating. But this is something I've heard from really 126 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:54.909 smart marketers that I know to come to mind Sangrum Bajer at terminus and Ethan 127 00:08:54.990 --> 00:08:58.100 Butte at Bombomb, and they always talk about this idea of the curse of 128 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:05.100 knowledge. We don't realize the unique perspective and therefore the unique value that we 129 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:07.860 bring to the market. And and that's the collective knowledge of your brand, 130 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:13.409 as well as you as an individual, as a marketer who's kind of coordinating 131 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.970 the this podcast content effort, whichever way you kind of look at it, 132 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:22.730 we tend to undervalue that unique perspective, that unique take, that unique stance 133 00:09:24.129 --> 00:09:28.320 that our brand can can bring to the market. And so by really leaning 134 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.679 into that, like for Bombomb, you know, there are a number of 135 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.600 more competitors today than there were even five years ago in the video sending space. 136 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:39.629 But you know what they lean into the fact that, hey, they've 137 00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:46.190 been doing this for longer, they've put out so much training material on sending 138 00:09:46.230 --> 00:09:50.429 video, on using video effectively, that that's their unique stance. They can 139 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:56.059 really dig into the how to's and that makes them stand out. There are 140 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:58.779 a number of other things, but that's that's just one aspect. You know, 141 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:01.139 it's kind of like when people ask me, Hey, Loogan, there 142 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:05.139 there are more and more companies that I could turn to now for my podcast 143 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:07.929 production. You know, and I talked about the fact that, yeah, 144 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:11.769 we have a great team, we try to deliver an amazing customer experience. 145 00:10:11.850 --> 00:10:16.289 But literally everyone's going to tell you that right. What can I tell you? 146 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:18.529 That truly is aff for innciation, for sweet fish, and that is 147 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:24.279 the strategy that we go about podcasting with. We don't just think about a 148 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.799 podcast feeding your content, marketing and reaching your audience. That's one half of 149 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:31.759 it. The other half of it is the strategy we call content based networking 150 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.149 that James, our CEO, wrote the book about, and that's the fact 151 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:41.909 that your guest relationships can be just as impactful as the audience that you're reaching 152 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.830 with your content, whether that's a podcast or not. And so, you 153 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:48.389 know, when we talk about podcasting, when we educate our customers in other 154 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:54.139 channels, we look at how do we educate you and help you execute content 155 00:10:54.259 --> 00:10:58.460 based networking while you're doing kind of the other things that everybody would think about 156 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:01.980 with podcasting. Turning it into microvideo clips, turning it into blog content, 157 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:05.129 having it feed your Seo, having it give you more content for social having 158 00:11:05.169 --> 00:11:11.169 it actually be an audio option for your people to consume. And so it's 159 00:11:11.169 --> 00:11:13.409 kind of a long winded answer, but that kind of, I hope, 160 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:20.240 unpacks our situation and how we come at it from our unique angle, even 161 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:24.279 though there are I just cited another podcast about podcasting on this podcast. Like 162 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:26.639 how Meta is that? I could look at that and say, well, 163 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:33.070 Daniel J Lewis on the audacity to podcast already covered these five things and we 164 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:35.029 agree with them. So I don't want to just reiterate. Well, one, 165 00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:39.269 we're here talking about it and it's still going to be valuable to a 166 00:11:39.350 --> 00:11:43.870 new audience and to I've already alluded to the sixth one that I would add 167 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:48.100 to the five that he shared in this episode, and that is content based 168 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:52.460 networking. If you think it's too late to start a podcast because it's saturated 169 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:58.700 and there's already great podcast that have a following in your niche, if everything 170 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:01.129 else I have said has just kind of fallen on deaf ears and you're like 171 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:03.769 a logan, you're kind of make an a logical case, but I'm still 172 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:07.809 feeling deflated. Well, here's bonus tip number six and why you should be 173 00:12:07.889 --> 00:12:15.129 podcasting or why you should be executing some sort of strategy that that uses podcasting 174 00:12:15.330 --> 00:12:20.000 and that's content based networking. You can invite referral partners, customers and even 175 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:26.000 prospects onto your podcast to build a relationship with them, and that has positive 176 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:31.870 impact on your content marketing to reach the audience. But those one to one 177 00:12:31.990 --> 00:12:35.590 relationships are powerful. That could be someone who could buy from you, that 178 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:39.629 could be someone who refers business to you. Even if no one listens, 179 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:43.389 even if you know I'm totally wrong and it's too late and no one's going 180 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:46.299 to listen to your podcast, the podcasting strategy, when you use content based 181 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:52.460 networking, is still going to be valuable and going to be very easy to 182 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:56.580 see whether it's valuable or not. Are Those guest relationships mapping to revenue for 183 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:00.409 Your Business? So you know? One is comparing the number of podcasts out 184 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:03.009 there to is looking at how many are active. Three, how many are 185 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:09.169 consistent. Number four was the niche that you serve, is is smaller. 186 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:13.320 Out of that five, you have unique value to offer. And then bonus 187 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.080 reason number six is content based networking. So that's that's kind of how I 188 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:20.200 sum it up and I think we got a little Meta there, reading, 189 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:24.639 so hopefully that's okay. We definitely got Meta and that's super okay because people 190 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.549 really need to see that side, especially of content based networking. A lot 191 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:33.110 of marketers, especially as someone who, for myself, I have in perspective 192 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:37.230 of working in the marketing industry, can get caught up on well, what 193 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:41.700 is the return on my investment on me launching this podcast or, you know, 194 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:46.019 whether it's a blog or a podcast or youtube channel. You know, 195 00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:52.139 if my if my audience or my watch numbers or my downloads aren't this number, 196 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:54.929 than was it actually doing for doing for me? But I think thinking 197 00:13:56.090 --> 00:14:01.009 of podcasting with that mentality can be more harmful because they are not seeing the 198 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:09.000 value or the opportunity of implementing content based networking to build relationships and that will 199 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:15.279 actually make you money in the end with that strategy, because you know when 200 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:20.000 that person that's on your show can become a prospect and that's an immediate ai 201 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.629 to be way to see how this podcast made this much money. So, 202 00:14:24.230 --> 00:14:28.230 man, that's that's really well said. Reading. We should be getting you 203 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:33.629 on some sales calls here as we fly. But Logan, I just I 204 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:39.500 really wanted to thank you for taking some time to discuss why it's not too 205 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:43.220 late to start a podcast in two thousand and twenty and I want everyone to 206 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:48.659 go out there and be encouraged and motivated to start your podcast. Don't wait 207 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:54.009 toward tomorrow, don't worry about yesterday, start today. There is an opportunity. 208 00:14:54.649 --> 00:14:58.529 Absolutely maybe two thousand and twenty one it will be too late, but 209 00:14:58.769 --> 00:15:01.330 at least for now you know, and that's not just sweetfish saying it. 210 00:15:01.570 --> 00:15:05.649 You know, like I mentioned, will link in the show notes to content 211 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:09.159 from charterable and Daniel J Lewis a couple of those sources that I cited in 212 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.799 the conversation today. It's not it's not just us saying that. So take 213 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.840 what we say with a grain assault because we're a podcasting company telling you you 214 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:22.429 should start a podcast, but hopefully we've given you some context and some things 215 00:15:22.549 --> 00:15:26.389 to think about. Rita, thank you so much for hosting today. This 216 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:28.669 has been a ton of fun to be on the other side of the MIC. 217 00:15:28.710 --> 00:15:31.110 I really appreciate it. Thank you again. Thanks so much for listening. 218 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:37.860 Everybody, one of the things we've learned about podcast audience growth is that 219 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:43.500 word of mouth works. It works really, really well actually. So if 220 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:46.620 you love this show, it would be awesome if you texted a friend to 221 00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:50.129 tell them about it, and if you send me a text with a screenshot 222 00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:52.610 of the text you sent to your friend, Metta, I know I'll send 223 00:15:52.649 --> 00:15:56.169 you a copy of my book content based networking, how to instantly connect with 224 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:00.370 anyone. You want to know my cell phone numbers. Four hundred and seven, 225 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:03.799 four nine hundred, three, three, two eight. Happy texting.