Summary: Podcasting seems to be the new marketing “miracle” these days. New shows arise daily like mushrooms after the rain and newbies who join the game are often mislead into thinking they have found “the holy grail of marketing”.<br> Yes, podcasting is very popular.<br> But is podcasting really the holy grail of marketing, or is it just another marketing vehicle you need to master AKA know exactly how to deploy in order to generate business?<br> This is the seventh part of the Small Business Owners series, which I have started recently.<br> In the previous months, I covered the topics of <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-social-media/">Social Media</a>, <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-facebook-advertising/">Facebook Advertising</a>, <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-twitter/">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-email-marketing/">Email Marketing</a>, <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-amazon-kindle/">Amazon Kindle </a>and <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-live-events/">Live Events</a>.<br> Today, I’d like to talk to you about the amazing power of Podcasting for your business. It has nothing to do with joining the current hype. It’s definitely not about adding one more instrument to your marketing toolkit and overloaded business schedule.<br> Why Should You Add Podcasting to Your Content Marketing Arsenal<br> Let’s answer the WHY question first and then we’ll discuss the HOW to.<br> Having your own show, whether audio or video, is one of the best things that you can do in terms of front-end marketing.<br> What do I mean by that?<br> One word: ATTENTION.<br> Podcasting drives significant attention and therefore awareness for you, your business and the products and services you’re selling. Having your own show on Apple Music (formerly <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/krisz-rokks-podcast/id520499180" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iTunes</a>), Stitcher, Google Play Store and thousands of other <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/podcasting-system-steps/">podcast directories</a> gives you massive exposure.<br> Here are a few more benefits of podcasting:<br> <br> * You have 100% control over the content.<br> * You have 100% control of your RSS feed (self-hosted on your website).<br> * You have real-time access to stats, reports and analyses (with hosts such as <a href="https://create.blubrry.com/resources/podcast-media-hosting/?code=strengthinbusiness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blubrry</a> [Affiliate Partner] or Libsyn, for example).<br> * You can embed your show as often as you want on as many pages as you want (own website and social media channels).<br> * Your show is picked up by Facebook Instant Articles once you’re a <a href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/facebook-instant-articles-publisher/">Facebook Publisher</a>.<br> * You can invite experts on your show.<br> * You can record and upload new episodes as often as you want.<br> * You can monetize your show and thus add another marketing stream to your back-end sales machine.<br> <br> What about the money, time and energy you need to invest into podcasting?<br> Well, here are some of the things you need to be aware of prior to hopping onto the podcasting wagon:<br> Time vampire: Preparing for the show and interviews, putting the content together, editing, following up with guests etc. takes a whole lot of time. If you’re just starting out, this could easily mean one working day. I’m just sharing from my experience and giving you some perspectives here.<br> Learning curve: Unless you’ve been a radio or TV moderator, or you’ve conducted hundreds of events, you will need to learn the craft of podcasting. Finding out the type of content your audience loves best is tricky.
