Podcasting is a fantastic and fun way of meeting heaps of influential individuals and creating visibility for your business. But it’s not always an easy medium to get in to. There are tons of challenges you’ll be faced with and obstacles to overcome, so it’s important that you know what you’re getting yourself in for before you get started. That’s why I was so thrilled to speak with Robert Gerrish. He’s an absolute rockstar and when I had the chance to sit down and chat with him he shared some top tips on how to become a successful entrepreneur podcaster and save a ton of time in the process.
Just a bit of background on Robert: he sold his independent marketing consultancy to Saatchi & Saatchi in 1989 before moving from London to Sydney as part of his “midlife adventure”. He’s worked in music, art and design, has been a business commentator on ABC Four Corners, A Current Affair, Sky Business, Fairfax Digital, 2UE and ABC Radio, and presents regularly at conferences around the country. He’s also the founder of Flying Solo, author of the bestselling book Flying Solo: How to go it alone in business and presenter of the Flying Solo Podcast.
If you haven’t heard of Flying Solo then you should have! Rob and his excellent team help aspiring entrepreneurs make it on their own with business coaching and consultancy. They have over 85,000 members and a further 45,000 across social networks.
Flying Solo is continuing to go from strength to strength, so if you’re serious about making it in the industry check out the following words of wisdom:
- How Many Followers Does My Business Need to Be a Success?
“You just need one person to listen, get your message and pass it on to someone else, and you’ve doubled your audience.”
Numbers can be deceptive. Many entrepreneurs who are just starting out often get pretty down about how few followers they’ve got on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, the reality is that this is far less important than you might think. As the world has changed so has business, and it’s now more about delivering high-quality content to a smaller audience than getting out low-quality stuff to millions of followers. Robert’s advice is to think of each of your followers as a real person (because that’s what they are!) and consider how impressive it is that they’re interested in you and your business. Remember: stick with what you’re doing and the results will come, even if it doesn’t happen overnight.
2. How easy is it to start a podcast?
“Don’t cut corners on your audio equipment. Don’t cut corners on your visual side of things. Make sure your positioning is right.”
One of the great things about podcasts is that they’re pretty easy to set up in the first place. All you really need is a device that you can record audio on to and you’re good to go. However, building a top quality podcast that speaks to your listeners is often a different story. Robert’s first piece of advice is to invest in decent equipment, because there’s nothing worse than listening to a podcast episode with terrible audio quality. Then, a lot of it comes down to research and practise. Robert suggests listening to some successful podcasts to figure out what areas you want to focus on and how you can position yourself in the market. Once you’ve got a good idea of what you want your podcast to be, start practising. If your show is about interviewing guests, then work hard on your interview technique. Record mock interviews with your family and friends, listen back and come up with ways that you can improve.
3. Who Should I Aim My Podcast At?
“Too often people are too concerned about being narrow, they think that they’re going to lose opportunity and so they go broad… get clear on who you really want to talk to and be narrow.”
In all aspects of business, it’s important to find your niche and then begin marketing that toward your ideal client base. And podcasting is no different. Robert’s Flying Solo podcast is one of the few out there aimed at entrepreneurs going into business alone, and as a result he’s getting plenty of success. One of the common mistakes new podcasters make is they try to make their show as broad as possible. The secret is to make it narrow. That way you’ll be forced to produce better content and audiences will start talking about you because your subject is so focused.
If you’re wondering about getting into podcasting, and how it can help you and your business then you should definitely check my full conversation with Robert. There are loads more great tips in there about how to become a successful podcaster and make it as a solo entrepreneur.
The One Thing
In the meantime, why not write down a list of three specific markets that you and your business or podcasting could be marketing toward? Start brainstorming ways that you can reach out to them and grab their attention.
