Starting a new Podcast is all the rave in the online media world. Consulting, coaching businesses and video tutorials as well as online schools all rely on the creation of talking content. The thing many small business entrepreneurs need to keep in mind when starting down the path to content creation is that the content is not the job. Content creation or talking is the bait for desired results or the outcome. The results of talking on the podcast, the results of coaching or teaching online is what people are paying for. What type of results are you delivering? How are you measuring these results?
Let’s say you are just starting the podcast business there are a couple of things most small business entrepreneurs say they need:
- Equipment for Creating
- Branding for Marketing
- Advertisers for Funding
- Content Topics for Subscriber Followers
While this is the starting list for the podcast framework there must also be the thought of how to get online but how do you make online a business that delivers profitable results. There are two customers you must satisfy and still make a profit. One is company sponsors and the other is the clients or subscribers.
Results to increase followers to attract paying sponsors or advertisers
Creating 1000 or even over 100 consistent active followers and subscribers has proven to be challenging to the average online creator without even adding a sales component but still not unrealistic. The key will be to identify your target market audience and to know if it is the same as the advertisers and sponsors are looking to attract. Companies advertise to reach a large specific target market that will deliver awareness, interest and spending with the company brand.
It will be your job to talk to your subscribers to influence interest and spending decisions. This measurement will be from your backend application and customer relation management system to show an analysis of reaching the target audience as well as how many from that audience purchased or at least showed interest in the sponsoring company’s brand
Results to increase sales of specific products or services
Many authors start podcasts around a book series just as accountants start podcasts in their area of expertise. Either way the podcaster must talk about the product or service frequently to ensure the content is capturing the attention of the audience and knows purchasing the product or service is valuable beyond the information they hear.
If you are an author your job is selling the book this is a one time purchase result. Measuring how many books are being sold per episode. Maybe you decide to offer training or coaching to continue up-selling how to execute the power of information gained from reading the book. Now the measurement will be two-fold, how many training packages sold and how many sold are retained to measure the quality of the training. You could also look at merchandise. Selling merchandise can be the equivalent to attachment to the brand to the point of promotion and willingness to give referrals.
Results to deliver quality products and services to clients
There is the logistics process of demand, supply, and fulfilling the order. To increase revenue there needs to be sales and after the sale has taken place there must be the fulfillment of the sale. If the customer does not like the product there is a return and if the customer’s service expectation is not met there is a bad review or even a financial refund. So after the sale delivering quality results to your client must be at the forefront of your mind even before you start talking on your podcast.
The delivery of a training or consulting service the customer must be able to measure the customer’s ability to learn, prepare or improve. This type of measurement comes from another back-end data customer relationship management system that allows quantifiable data and/or charts that can track customer performance data and surveys.
So you may think Podcasts, consulting, coaching businesses and video tutorials are simple to start. They are but the key is to understand that the point is not to just talk online. Talking is not the job. The job is to create a following that converts into profitable sales revenue for you and your sponsors while delivering the quality product or service that meets expectations of the listening subscribers.
Ready to start converting your content into profitable revenue? A Rhodes Porter representative is ready to help small business entrepreneurs develop a marketing plan