Finally people are asking me why I podcast every week. They want to know does it bring in business and also if it directly makes me money.
Let me start off by saying that for the past 15 years I have believed that video being watched online, including TV programmes and movies, is the way forward, programmes would be on demand, available when you want, no more dependence on the TV schedule and programmes would not have to fill a half hour or one hours slot, they could be longer or shorter.
I also believe it gives you greater choice as broadcasting is now open to all. People have lots of interests, some popular, some not, but people with those interests want to share.
With this in mind I figured about 9 years ago that with all the enquiries I was getting about IT that it made sense to make small videos that could be watched by all without having to repeat myself. At the time I didn’t figure that there was money to be made here but saw it as saving me time, I’d worked out that helping friends and family was taking up at least 8 hours per week and affecting my work and it gave me a chance to make videos which I enjoy doing (I did used to work for a TV company and have a diploma in film and TV production. Yes, I have worked as a cameraman and editor for corporate and broadcast productions but kept getting side tracked with IT work).
Yes, it worked, the number of enquiries about IT issues reduced significantly, in fact now I wonder if some people were my friends simply for my IT knowledge.
Anyway, moving on, I then came to realise this was having another effect, I was getting business as a consequence of people seeing my podcast, they thought here is a guy who knows his stuff and was willing to share it. Also if I was giving something for free it became apparent that people were more likely to use me because I had done something for them. I’ve discovered, from watching Andrew Lock on the really useful Help My Business podcast, that this is known as reciprocity. If I give you something you will give me something in return, in this case their business, and apparently this works even of you are more expensive.
I also know make podcasts for other businesses and enjoy combining the filming and IT experience to help people get these online and get them noticed.
So what can podcasting do for you and what has it done for me?
1. It highlights your expertise.
2. By giving something for free people feel they should buy from you, even if you are more expensive than your competition. This is known as reciprocity.
3. It keeps your clients up to date and therefore reminds them about you on a regular basis.
4. By informing your clients about new developments, updates and how to use products you can cut down the number of support enquiries, this is what happens to me. By people watching www.jargonfreehelp.com it has saved me a lot of time in people contacting me about IT issues, it also keeps me in people’s minds.
5. If you get enough viewers you can make some money from sponsors or affiliate marketing.
6. It has also worked in getting me noticed in the press and the occasional quote appearing in newspapers, which although I have not been paid for brings in more business.
7. It pushes me to keep on top of things and do research to try and keep me on top of the latest developments.
8. It is enjoyable, hey why not do something fun at work.
It is important to create good quality podcasts and should be planned out. Practice too, presenting them is not that easy, you will get better, presenting to camera is different to standing in front of a room full of people. I don’t know why but take my word for it practice. Also be prepared, script out or at least plan out what you want to do and say.
If you do have a podcast or start doing one let me know where I can find it, I like to support podcasts and also in some cases mention them on my podcast and website.
If you want to know more drop me a line.
Happy computing and podcasting.
Gary
Gary Schwartz's Blog 