Anybody Can Podcast!

[That famous jingle for 7 seconds.]

“Hello, [Name of the city] and welcome to XYZ Radio! This is your favourite RJ [Name]. We’ve got loads of news and gossip for you today but first, let’s check out the new song by [Name of the song].”

Ring a bell?

A decade ago, before the advent of some brilliant TV Series, it was FM Radios that helped us cope up with the real world issues by playing the music of our choice. Not just that, we also relied on radios to listen to the daily news to stay updated. As we progressed further, we started to direct our interests towards mobile phones and the magic it could perform. Right from listening to our favourite tracks to using apps for every trivial and significant reason, shows how super-dependent we are on the magical device.

Just like the “fashion-recycling” which is an indication of continually bringing in trendy apparels, that’s the result of some slight modifications made out of the dressing styles famous during the olden times, we see similar changes happening in the communication space.

Podcasting is the New Radio

Imagine a famous TV Series Critic reviewing every episode of “The Game of Thrones” on a famous radio station and you as a GoT-Head, do not want to miss out on a single episode, decide to set a reminder up on your phone to listen to the show without fail. There could be circumstances where you might have to align your priorities for a bigger purpose.

How do we find the right balance in prioritising vital tasks, by giving ourselves space and time to feed our interests?

Podcasting.

Podcasting or Audio-blogging like it was called in the 90’s, is the way to reach millions if you have thoughts to share, on any subject, right from philosophy, business, travel etc to hobbies. The best part is, it is almost free and is readily available, as per your convenience. The traffic generated is also Organic which means, customers or listeners who are genuinely interested in your content would only make an effort to listen to it. This helps in determining one of the major reasons for any successful podcast.

And that is the Content.

Let’s say, you want to create a Podcast on reviewing every episode of “The Game of Thrones”. And you decide to do it by voicing your views about every scene by delivering information that’s biased and doesn’t add any value to the listeners. How many of them would be really interested to look forward to the upcoming episodes? The number could be counted on fingers.

Instead, try giving listeners a holistic viewpoint, by which I mean, tell them why a certain episode which was widely hated by the audience, is a good move for the show to unfold some of the greatest mysteries. Tell them, the series of deaths happening is only going to give more power to the ones alive, to fight harder and better. This was just an example, but it clearly sets the stage for an audience who would want different insights to process their thoughts effectively. Here, you are the Master. And as your podcast series progresses, your audience will dictate the content for you, through constant feedback or interaction. It’s an endless thread if you closely follow.

But how would the audience know if I’m an expert in a certain field?

Building credibility is one of the key prerequisites before initiating a podcast. Let’s take “The Game of Thrones” example again. I have a friend who’s an ardent reader and is one of the huge fans of George R.R. Martin. When he was reading A Song of Ice and Fire, he sent an email to George R.R. Martin, suggesting a different plot in a chapter and neatly narrated how he would like the story to progress. And what happened? BAM! A couple of days later, George emailed him back, appreciating his creativity to present a different viewpoint. Of course, it is one of the best feelings to see your favourite author acknowledging your efforts. This momentous moment is enough for my friend to build an audience and get them listen to him if he plans to start a podcast series on “The Game of Thrones”.

Content? Check. Credibility? Check. But how would people know about me?

Apparently, it all comes down to content distribution and underpriced attention through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. The content should be contextualised to the platform and the user-base. Kylie Jenner gets paid 1.3 million dollars for just one Instagram post and she has a follower base of 90 million. When you have a large audience who look forward to your content, you can start monetizing through advertising, affiliate marketing, paid content etc.

In my next post, I’ll talk about some Content Promotion strategies that can help your podcasts go viral.