Calendar

This article is part of an ongoing series that is based on the ebook 'Top 21 marketing channels for membership sites', written by The Subscription Coach Amanda Northcutt.

 Download the whole series in a book

Create your own podcast

The process of starting your own podcast is a significant undertaking and your capacity to go through with it week after week should be carefully considered before making a decision. Numerous owners of membership websites struggle with the decision to start one or not since, as your SEO strategy It's a marathon not a sprint.

The marketplace for podcasts is inundated to this point. However, when you narrow your focus and in-depth within your field, you're likely to build a significant number of fans who will be qualified members for your site in the future. Making your own show is an excellent way to open doors to influencers as well as to be one of them!

You must take a commitment of 12-18 months and release at least 1-2 podcasts per week to provide this channel with the chance to be successful. It's akin to of running a fast Facebook campaign which is easily tracked after a short period of time. As with other kind of content I would recommend recording in batch four to ten in one go to ensure you don't have to work with a weekly schedule or multiple times each week to make the same episode.

Podcasting is among the most personal methods you are able to communicate with potential customers on any kind of scale Sometimes, more so than the written word. Handle your audience with care. Show empathy and that you are able to understand the pain of your audience and can help them: Your Membership!

The topics you cover on your podcast must be appealing to those who have the potential to become powerful users of your membership website. There is no other consideration. Just like with your marketing strategies using a large net will attract unqualified prospects which will overflow your mailing list or, worse yet, get churned out very early. Again, going narrow and deep within your specific area is crucial to your the success of your campaign.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that the amount of episodes downloads is the only measure you should be tracking also. You should be asking yourself in order to gauge the success of your podcast include: Are my listeners following my CTA and entering my funnel for marketing? New members are citing my podcast as one of the reasons they joined or where they learned about my brand? Are the credibility I'm building through the podcast helping to build relations and build trust with the influentials within my industry? Are I using my podcast to network with other people by having pertinent guests on my podcast?

Promoting your podcast to your email list, current members, via social media channels and influential people. Podcasts are considered a key element of your content marketing plan, though because it's such an effort, it merits a category of its own on my top 21 list.

The podcast you host can be a powerful way to market your business. However, don't begin until you can fulfill the commitment to finish it. The next best thing to hosting your own podcast is to have a consistent presence in other podcasts.

Be a podcast guest

The principles that govern guest blogging are applicable in this case quite seamlessly. Anyone who has committed to hosting podcasts themselves are confronted by the same production responsibility like bloggers. If you reach out to the best hosts with the right approach will likely result in the granting of a number of great guest spots and ease the content production burden of the host.

And, if you do have your own podcast and you are a guest to other podcasts can enhance the outcomes you achieve by utilizing your own. For all we know, people who listen to podcasts, listen to...podcasts.

If you do have your own show or not, you must always add a CTA when you have the opportunity of hosting a guest. CTAs might be for downloading the lead magnet you've created, offer a promotion for the cost of your membership, or a brief consult, or any other thing related to your website. If you run your own podcast, certainly invite listeners of the podcast(s) that you're a guest to subscribe to your own.

Make a list of podcasts where you could offer value and information for the listeners. It is likely that these are the podcasts of industry experts that have an audience similar to your target audience. Guest podcasting can and should be a component of your natural influencer marketing strategy.

Do not make the error that you should reach out to the hosts that have 100,000 subscribers at first. Begin small, gain some knowledge and build a resume of sorts, then start working your way up the influencer ladder.

An email sent to an host should include some praise for them, your the credentials you've earned for yourself (in an unassuming manner), examples of other podcasts you've participated in and/or hyperlinks to your blog post, YouTube channel, etc. Perhaps the topics you'd love to discuss in an interview.

Do not give up even if you're rejected. If you are rejected by a major influencer within your field for in the first, second or even the third time, go to the section on organic influencers here for a chance to create social capital with them before attempting it to do it again.