Marketing Mastermind Tips: 2020

One of the reasons you might want to get started with podcasting is because you believe you will get sponsors to help pay your expenses and possibly generate additional income. Sponsors typically will pay you to mention their business, products, or services while recording your podcast. This allows you to earn money from each podcast episode that airs. Here are some helpful tips for finding sponsors.

Start With a Good Podcast

Before you do anything else, make sure you already have a good podcast with a decent number of listeners. This is the same concept as when you want advertisers for your website or blog.

Nobody is going to advertise with you before making sure you are a good fit for their company. They want to know the type of content you publish, what your voice is, and what your niche market is about. Advertisers will also look to see approximately how many views or downloads your podcast receives on a regular day. Having a good following, having new episodes posted regularly, and having a sponsorship page that shares your statistics is something you must have.

Wait For Them to Come to You

Once you have a podcast that is popular and in good standing, some sponsors are going to come to you. It is good to keep promoting your podcast even when you have a good following, because the more you promote, the more likely it is that sponsors are going to find you.

Post about your podcast everywhere, including on your website, your blog, on social media, and even on social bookmarking sites. Many podcasters don't start just to get sponsors, but they end up finding them on their own over time.

Listen to Other Podcasts

If you want to reach out to sponsors, you first need to know which companies like to provide sponsorships to those who are doing podcasts. Instead of just approaching people blindly, start by listening to some other podcasts in your same topic or niche.

Listen to podcasts you know already have sponsors and find out exactly who is sponsoring them. This gives you a good idea of the types of companies that might also be interested in your podcast. You should still keep promoting and looking for sponsors on your own, but this is a good place to start when you really can't decide who to approach about sponsoring your podcast.

Post About Your Availability For Sponsors

Make sure potential sponsors know that you are available to accept sponsorships. Not all podcasts want to advertise or make money, so some sponsors might be a little leery of reaching out.

Make it very obvious that you are accepting sponsor and advertising spots. You can do this by posting about your podcast on a blog or website, then having a page specifically for sponsors. This lets them know you are available and what spots are available for sponsors, how to contact you, and what kinds of businesses or products you are interested in promoting. This also becomes a page where you can utilize keywords so that any businesses searching through a regular search engine might find you.

Create an Ad Looking For Sponsors

You can also have an advertisement on your site and other related sites that shows you are looking for sponsors. This ad should have the name of your podcast and a brief description of the type of podcast you have. You can then have a short phrase that mentions you are currently accepting offers from sponsors or advertisers.

Although sponsorships are nice to have, do not be disappointed if you are unable to obtain sponsors right away. Businesses look for the ROI (Return on Investment) for every advertising dollar. If you do not have the downloads or listenership to impress a company, start looking at other ways to monetize your podcast first.

Most major sponsors look at the "Cost Per Thousand" factor. A typical sponsor will pay something like $30 per one thousand downloads of an episode. So if you are only receiving 75-100 downloads per episode, you probably will not get the type of sponsors that invest in podcast advertising.

Try Local Businesses

This will be a natural for you if you have a podcast relatable to the local business owner. You can make a flat agreement of a certain dollar amount for a certain number of episodes.

For example, if you have podcast about car repair, you may approach an auto parts store for sponsorship purposes. You mention the store name and refer your listeners to the store during the podcast. Be sure to tell your listeners to inform the store that they heard about them on your podcast.

Remember, businesses need to know their advertising dollars are working. If nobody is coming into the store mentioning your podcast, after one or two months, the business will stop sponsoring you.

Take all of this information in the light of understanding sponsorship from a business perspective. Many podcasters think sponsors will come knocking on their door trying to advertise with them. I wish it was a simple as that. But it is rarely the case.

Obtaining sponsors is hard work. But if take your time, build your listener base and offer a good quality podcast with interesting topics, you will eventually have the sponsors you are looking for.

Just do not count on it happening right away. Use other monetization techniques first and work your way towards obtaining sponsors.

Robert Thibodeau has been in online media since 2010. Between his online radio programs and his podcasts, he has accumulated about 4,000 episodes and conducted 600+ interviews in that time. He has helped many people to launch their own podcasts (many of which have earned numerous podcasting awards). He has a complete podcast training program, taking you from "Concept to Launch and Into Monetization." You can read more information on his training program at http://www.podcast-training.com You can also download his "Podcast Creation Checklist" for FREE under the "Services" tab on his website. He has also created a Christian podcast hosting and marketing platform at https://faithcasters.net

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

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Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2

Friday, 22 May 2020

How You Can Try To Monetize Your Podcast

First, if you are looking at starting a podcast in order to make money, I have to warn you up front. It is probably not going to happen (at least not right away).

Very few podcasters ever make any money with their podcasts. Very few!

It can be done. It is done. But it is very, very rarely accomplished without a lot of work and effort. It is almost never accomplished by someone who is just starting out in podcasting. The exception is someone who has already made a name for themselves somewhere else (sports figure, actor, singer, etc.).

If you are looking to start a podcast in order to make money, you might be wondering if it is even possible. There actually quite a few different ways you can turn your podcast into a money-making machine, even if it is just off setting your podcasting expenses or possibly supplementing your other sources of income. Take a look at some of these different ways to use your podcast as a way to bring in some extra money.

You Can Get Sponsors

A common way to earn money with your podcast is to get sponsors. Sponsors will be businesses that are trying to promote certain products or services that they provide. You will typically have just one sponsor per podcast episode. You will then mention your sponsor either once during the podcast or multiple times.

You usually will not have multiple sponsors for each episode.

For example, if you are sponsored by a website, you might say "Welcome to (Name of Podcast), this episode is sponsored by (Company)." This is going to get their company name mentioned, and you might then later talk a little bit about the services they provide. You can then end the podcast by mentioning the sponsor again and including a call to action for your listeners to visit the company website or services as well.

Through Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is where you are trying to promote products that someone else has created. That person or company will then pay you a certain percentage of all the sales from people you promoted their product to that purchase through a unique link you provide to your listeners (usually in your show notes).

For example, if there is a product relevant to a certain topic you are discussing in your podcast, you can include a link to that product in the show notes and on the blog post where you discuss the topic on the podcast (we discussed this in a prior article).

If someone clicks on the link and purchases the product, you earn a commission for whatever the seller has negotiated with you. This is a really good way to advertise products to a different market.

Some podcasters make a significant amount of money by offering to share affiliate links with their listeners.

By Mentioning Specific Products or Services

This is similar to getting sponsors, but some companies don't just want you to mention their company name. They would prefer that you actually mention a specific product or service they provide. This is yet another way to use sponsorships in your podcasts to earn money.

Like affiliate marketing, this really works best when the topic you are discussing in that particular episode of your podcast is completely relevant to the product.

For example, you do not want to talk about a product for natural health when discussing politics. It would not make any sense to your audience and the sponsor will likely not be happy either.

With Donations

It is not uncommon for podcasters to earn their money through donations. Either direct donations only, or in combination with multiple methods of income for the podcast.

You can mention that you accept donations, or just place a link in the description and on your website where you are hosting the podcast (without actually pushing the fact). The donation feature is basically to give people the option of supporting you making more podcasts without having to charge them a fee to listen to your podcast episodes.

By Having Exclusive Podcasts For Paid Subscribers

This is something not every podcaster will do, but you can try it out and see how it works for you. You might have mostly free podcast episodes, but then have some exclusive podcast episodes where people have to pay to listen to them.

These won't just be run-of-the-mill episodes but offer special information only to your paid subscribers. Perhaps you give a detailed tutorial or information hat you don't want to be readily available to everyone listening to your podcast.

You could have a special guest. Perhaps someone will provide exclusive training for your listeners. Training that the guest normally charges for and has worked out an affiliate arrangement with you. But instead of the normal affiliate fee (for product purchases), they will work out a fee for their services sold through your podcast.

There are numerous ways for you to monetize your podcast. Do not simply rely on one method. The best policy is to try one for a few weeks or months. Then try another. Over the course of several months, you will know which program works best for your listeners. Usually, a combination of one or more will generate the best monetization results.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

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Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2

Thursday, 21 May 2020

Using A Blog To Promote Your Podcast

It is highly recommended that if you are a blogger, you also have a podcast. Of course not everyone with a blog is going to want to start a podcast. And not every podcaster is going to be comfortable enough to have a blog, but there are so many benefits of having one of each. This information is going to give you some more insight on how exactly to connect your podcast to your blog so that your readers listen to the podcast and your listeners read your blog.

Have Your Podcast Expand on Topics Discussed

One of the easiest ways to connect a podcast to your blog is to actually have a blog post and an episode on the same topic. You can start by writing the post about one aspect of the topic, just to introduce it. You can then expand on that topic in a recorded podcast.

You should wait to publish the blog post until you have recorded and edited your podcast. You will then upload the podcast and post the link (or embed it) directly into the blog post. At the end of the post, mention that if they want to learn more about this particular topic, they can listen to your podcast.

This allows your readers to have an option. But today, many people are more than willing to listen to your podcast to hear you discuss this topic as well.

Embed the Audio Directly Into a Blog Post

This is similar to the previous suggestion, but the blog post is usually only about the podcast. For example, if you record a podcast episode that is relevant to your blog audience, you can create a post where you give a brief introduction and give them a description of what the podcast episode is about. Give them a few tidbits of information that will make the podcast episode more interesting. Highlight some points in the blog post, as this helps to provide some keywords for organic searches. This will help people on search engines to not only find your blog, but also find your podcast!

Announce Your Podcast Regularly

Make sure you keep your blog readers updated with news about your podcast as long as the podcast topic is relevant to your blog post topic. It doesn't have to be related directly, but at least be something you think your blog readers might be interested in.

If you have a blog that is about internet marketing, and you have a blog post that discusses earning money from home and how you got started, that is relevant enough to connect the two together. You don't have to embed the podcast episode into the post, but just give a little link to let people know about the episode and that they might be interested in listening to it.

Have the Latest Podcast in Your Sidebar

When you don't want to push the podcast too much, a more subtle way is to simply have a sidebar ad that gives the name of the podcast and directly goes to the website or Apple Podcasts section where your podcast episodes are published online. People browsing your blog can then decide whether or not they want to listen to it.

Using your show notes for your podcast can also direct people to your blog site. Simply put a short description, such as, "I recently discussed this topic on my blog and you can read about it at (and give the URL).

Use those show notes to promote your topic and also to drive traffic to your blog post. This will, again, create those precious back-links for SEO purposes. The more back-links you can generate between your blog and your podcast; your blog and your website; your podcast and your website; and your podcast back to your blog (without being to obnoxious), the better your ability to be found in searches.

This all is designed for one specific purpose, that is to get you more listeners to your podcast. The more listeners you have, the more opportunity you will have to actually monetize your podcast.

We will discuss monetization in a future article. But podcasting does have some expenses with it. If you can monetize your podcast (even on a small-scale), those expenses are covered by your listeners. Now you can podcast for free (or even make a profit)!

But to do this, you must be able to create those precious back-links. And linking your blog to your podcast is one way of helping you to achieve the desired results.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10293583

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Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

How and Where To Promote Your Podcasts

Once you have started recording your podcasts and learned how to edit and publish them, you then need to promote them. You may already have a small subscriber list or a group of friends that will listen to your episodes, and that's good. But in order to grow your audience and actually make it worthwhile, it requires some promoting. Here are some different ways to promote your podcast.

Publish it on iTunes (Apple Podcasts)

There are a lot of people who listen to Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes), including other podcasters, so this should really be one of the first things you do. Even if you are not an iPhone user, millions of people are. Just having your podcast Apple Podcasts in the marketplace can help get you noticed.

Many people do not know what podcast they are looking for and will just search for a topic or browse the most recently published episodes on their topic of choice. If they find yours podcast, they might listen to it and then subscribe to through Apple Podcasts for them to send your new episodes to them automatically. If people find it this way, they might also let others know about it. This is why it is important to have it in multiple marketplaces.

Using Social Media

It goes without saying that the majority of people who listen to podcasts are also using social media. If you learn how to share your episodes on social media, this will help you to grow your listener base as well.

Start talking about your podcast on different social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, even YouTube. Share the link on Reddit and use your Snapchat account to discuss what your latest episode is talking about. When promoting it on social media, use tags related to the theme of the podcast, your name, title of the podcast, and the various topics you are covering. This will help more people to find you and your podcast!

Have Your Own Website and Blog

You need to have a place where you can upload the podcast immediately and have others listen to it right away. If you have a time-sensitive topic you want to cover, it might not get all the attention you want on Apple Podcasts.

When you first start out on Apple Podcasts, it can take up to 2 weeks for your podcast to be approved. They usually have about a 7 day turn around, but it could take longer.

For time-sensitive topics, have a website where you can upload it, then share the links on social media. This is also a good place to have a blog where you put text in for your podcast topics, which can then get targeted and get you some more listeners through social media searches.

I also use links that take people to my website from my podcast. And links that take people from my podcast to my website. In SEO circles, this is called a back-link and it helps the search engines to find you better.

Include a Link in Your Google Profile

All of Google's different social media areas, formats, and properties are linked together and the search for those back-links all over the Internet. So you need to link all of your profiles to each other. This will allow you be seen every time someone looks you up using any type of Google methods, whether they are on YouTube or Google. You want to have that link in as many places as online as you can get it in order to start branding yourself and get the attention of more listeners.

As you gain more listeners through those links, it moves you farther up the algorithm into more and more searches. This allows more people to find you and as they do, it moves you even farther up the in the search results. It is one of the best and fastest ways to grow you listenership!

Post it to Pinterest

One of the more surprising ways to promote a podcast is by using Pinterest. This is primarily used for images, though they can link directly to the website the images came from. Use this to your advantage by posting a simple image, with the title of the podcast or topic, and some brief show notes. If someone is browsing Pinterest, they might come across your image, and then go to the link to listen to the podcast.

Include information on your Amazon Author Account

For those of you that are authors and selling your book(s) on Amazon, you can create an author profile. As part of that profile, mention your podcast and then include a link on your profile that directs people straight to your podcast! I know many people I have interviewed over the years that fail to do this. When I explain how simple it is, they are amazed!

You will be surprised how well this works. For additional exposure for your book(s), don't forget to talk about them on your podcast! That helps to create those back-links again!

These are just a few simple tips to increase your listeners by promoting your podcast using resources most people are already familiar with. You do not need to invest in heavy, expensive advertising. In actuality, all the advertising is doing is sending someone to your website or podcast site to "check you out."

Do the same thing on platforms you are already using. Instead of "cat pictures" or funny memes, use these platforms to promote your podcast! Drive some traffic from those who follow you already. In the process, you will generate additional listeners, subscribers and, perhaps, some additional revenue (which we will discuss in a future article).

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

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Together We Can Succeed Online

Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2

Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Some Podcasting Mistakes To Avoid Or How To Fix Them

1. Don't get long-winded!

Yes, some popular podcasts go three or four hours (or more). But they already have a loyal audience and they discuss content their audience enjoys. You are not them!

Remember a post I shared before that "shorter is better." Every time! Nobody ever stops listening to an episode because it is too short. If anything, they will see how much time is left and think "There is only 2 minutes left, I'll listen to the rest... "

What do you think their response will be if they look down and the timer says "2 hours 20 minutes" left? On an episode they have already lost interest in?

The easiest fix for that is to "Keep It Short!"

2. Know What You Are Talking About

If you do not sound intelligent, it is because you failed to adequately prepare for your show. Yes, if you do interviews with experts, you are bringing them on the program because they are experts. But that does not mean you should bring someone on "your show" to discuss something you are totally unfamiliar with.

Do your research before the interview. The guest may send you a list of talking points (that's good)! But do not stop there!

Do some research on each one of those topics. I try to write down at least three questions for each and every single one of the topic points the guest wants to discuss. This allows me to sound a bit more intelligent during the conversation.

3. Do Not Know Too Much!

Not to totally dismiss the prior topic of "Know What You Are Talking About," you should also not assume your audience knows the topic that you may be an expert at.

Take a little time to explain what some terms mean, etc. Do not refer to "a prior episode" unless you can also give the episode number. You may know it was 2 months ago, but a new listener does not.

Make it easy for people to go back and listen to the prior episode. If it was important enough to mention, it should also be important enough for you to give your listeners the information so they can go and listen themselves.

If the thought just "popped into your head" while recording, just a quick comment such as, "I can't remember the episode number right now. But I'll look it up and put a link in the show notes for you." Then do so!

4. Do Not Stay A Secret

Many podcasters simply have their episodes on Anchor or perhaps only on Apple Podcasts. That's it! No website. No blog. Just a link "out there somewhere."

Your podcast is much more important than that!

Make it one part of your information delivery "system." That's right, you need a SYSTEM.

Website with blog, resources, contact information, etc. Have a link from your website that takes someone to your podcast.

On your Podcast site, have a link that takes them to your website.

Have social media links. Have links on your social media that take people to your website and to your podcast. Make it completely circular in nature!

This not only makes it easy for people to find you and your podcast, but Google loves it, too! That will increase your SEO because each of those sites create back-links to each other! This allows all of your websites (and podcast) to be found more easily by more people!

By implementing these suggestions as you create, edit and promote your podcasts, you will get more traffic, more listeners and podcasting will be more enjoyable for you, too.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

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Together We Can Succeed Online

Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2

Monday, 18 May 2020

How To Prepare To Start Your Podcasting Journey

Good Morning Fellow Entrepreneurs,

Over The Next Few Days We Are Going To Get Some Great Information And Tips From Robert Thibodeau On The Subject I Keep Getting Asked About And Is HOT Right Now And That's Podcasting, I Hope You Enjoy These And I Hope It Helps You All, As Always, Please let Me Know What You Think....

How To Prepare To Start Your Podcasting Journey

Decide the Frequency of Podcast Releases

As you are making a plan for the future episodes of your podcast, you also need to decide on the frequency you will be able to stick to. Not just the schedule you would like to stick to, but one that you know you will be able to stick to.

Do you want to post once a week? Every 2 weeks? Once a month? Or are you interested in something more often, such as every Wednesday or Friday?

It is good to start recording your podcast episodes before you make a publication schedule. This will give you a better understanding as to the amount of time it takes to record, edit, upload, and publish each podcast episode.

You do not want to be pressured into rushing the process once you actually start publishing your episodes. If you do, episodes will not be of a good quality. This will cause you to lose listeners.

Make a Strict Schedule to Stick to it.

Once you have decided on the frequency of your publication schedule and you have a good list of upcoming topics, it is time to create your actual schedule. Use all of this information to decide what days the podcasts will be released, so you will be able to let your listeners know.

They want to know, not just how often, but on the approximate days you plan to have new published podcast episodes. After you have done that, make a schedule for yourself so you are giving yourself enough time to get everything accomplished.

Don't try to do the planning, recording, editing, and publishing all on the same day as it can get very hectic. I give myself at least one week (preferably two weeks) from recording to publishing. When I factor in the planning and preparation, I am working about four weeks in advance of the publication time.

Using this method, I do not have to rush. I have a set schedule and I stick to it. I can adjust the schedule for special events, etc. But for the most part, I will stay with my established planning process.

Work on Managing Your Time

Learning how to properly manage your time is crucial when you are working on a schedule for your podcast. Make sure you factor in how long it takes for the podcast planning and preparation. Then you have the editing process. Don't forget to add in the marketing and promotion aspects for each episode. And all of this is in addition to your other work and projects you may have!

As an example, my daily schedule may resemble this:

1. Prepare for the days recordings (usually about 1 hour prior to recording time).

2. Conduct the recording / interview and save the file.

3. Load the next day or two episodes to be published to the host platform.

4. Create social media banners for promotion of those episodes.

5. Share the links with the people I interviewed and/or load them into my social media platforms (I usually schedule my episodes in advance and match the dates up with a post on social media).

6. Prepare for the next days episodes. This includes doing the research and show prep (especially if I am conducting an interview of another person).

7. My show preparation is usually twice as long as the episode length. For example, if it is a 30 minute episode, it may take me an hour for research and show preparation. This is in addition to the information I had the person I am interviewing send me about their background and what topics they want to discuss.

When you plan like this, you are covering almost all aspects of your podcasting journey. Don't worry if you are not conducting interviews. You should still have a detailed plan of what each episode will discuss. Your preparation time will make sure you are creating quality episodes.

Quality episodes will help you to generate (and keep) a larger audience.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Thibodeau/2198393

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10291378

Together We Can Succeed Online

Steven Morton

Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips

https://www.facebook.com/stevenmorton1964/

https://twitter.com/Marketing_Tips2