Why podcast?
Well, there could be lot’s of reasons but I believe they all fall into two overarching ones: passion and business objectives.
Spend some time in the iTunes store or any of the podcast directories, like Podcast Alley, Podcast Pickle or Mevio, and you will be amazed by the breadth and depth of content that you will find with much of it is produced by people who simply have a passion for something.
Take Just One More Book, which is one of my favorite podcasts. Three times a week Mark and Andrea review children’s books from their local coffee shop with ambient noise playing a key supporting role. Andrea is “a software designer at a telecommunications company” and her husband Mark is “an information security, privacy and risk management consultant and a new media specialist.” More importantly, and what really manifests itself in their podcast, is that they are parents who love reading to and with their children. Their authentic passion for children’s books, and the act of reading as a family, comes across very clearly in Just One More Book and it’s contagious. As a parent, I enjoy these podcasts and trust them to give me solid book recommendations and each week I look forward to their podcasts. (N.B. Just One More Book is currently on a short hiatus as Andrea beats breast cancer.)
I bet you think it’s tough to measure passion like Andrea’s and Mark’s but in a recent post they’ve shared some insights and metrics about Just One More Book:
- 1,362,954: total downloads in the last 18 months; an average of 2,100 downloads per day (more than 2 million downloads since we launched in July 2006).
- 623: the number of regular episodes published
- 21: the number of shows in our Rock Stars of Reading documentary series
- 392: number of review episodes published
- 220: number of interview episodes published
- $0.00: the amount of money we accepted for JOMB (we self-funded the full production as well as all travel, accommodations and expenses and donated all of our time)
Very impressive and all for the love of reading!
iTunes and podcast directories are full of business podcasts that will help you sell more, invest wisely, and heck, even make you a more effective leader. Most, but not all, business podcasters have concrete objectives like selling more products, raising brand awareness or recruiting new clients. But not surprisingly, my favorite business podcasters also present an authentic passion for their subject matter and in the spirit of social media are willing to share their knowledge and experience with their listeners.
I’m listening to the 500th episode of the FIR (For Immediate Release) podcast as I write this. That’s an impressive milestone for this twice weekly, hour long, always interesting podcast which is cohosted by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, two experienced public relations executives/consultants. Their wide ranging discussions on PR, marketing, digital communications and social media and their cast of regular contributors make this podcast informative and invaluable to anyone interested in navigating this dynamic communication space. While they are not explicitly selling listeners anything, they are raising awareness of their own individual personal brands as well as FIR’s organizational. Shel’s seemingly relentless consulting/speaking travel schedule and Neville’s new job would indicate that it’s working for each of them and the recent discussion about exploring an FIR “conference” would indicate it’s working for FIR.
Mitch Joel is the president of Twist Image, a digital marketing agency and author of the Six Pixels of Separation book, blog and podcast. (You can hear Mitch talk about leadership with me on Weekly Leader podcast episode 25.) In a recent episode of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast, Mitch talked about the ROI of his various social media initiatives. Mitch has successfully established himself as a thought leader on personal branding and in the digital marketing arena and he practices what he preaches. If Mitch lands just a couple new clients for Twist Image as a result of blogging, podcasting and public speaking, then his investment of time and effort has been worthwhile and Twist Image’s ROI goes through the roof.
What do Just One More Book, FIR and Six Pixels of Separation podcasts all have in common? Passion.
So if you’re thinking of starting your own podcast, first and foremost make sure it’s focused on something that you are passionate about and, in the spirit of social media, you want to share.