Podcasts are fast becoming an essential tool to help businesses stand apart from the rest.
So, Women Love Tech thought it’d be a grand idea to grill Podcast expert Ronsley Vaz for some essential pointers about getting started.
Vaz’s podcast, ‘Bond Appetit’, is Australia’s #1 food podcast on iTunes and receives between eight and twelve thousand listeners a day. Ronsley is also the founder of content marketing agency Amplify, and the author of book AMPLIFY – How to raise your voice, boost your brand and grow your business.
Between the ‘Bond Appetit’ podcast and his show ‘Should I Start a Podcast?’, Ronsley has reached over 3 million listeners in 133 countries. He’s also the founder of the first podcasting conference in the Southern Hemisphere: We Are Podcast. If anybody is over-qualified to give us tips, then it’s Ronsley Vaz!
- If somebody is considering creating a Podcast, what’s the very first step?
The first step is figure out what the concept is. A lot of times people think about creating a podcast that’s just about their business and don’t take the time to figure out exactly how they can be different. You need to spend some time figuring out your concept. I cannot stress enough how important it is to work out your concept and how it fits into your overall plan.
I like to talk about the 20 per cent of work that you do on a monthly basis that produces 80 per cent of the results. The idea is that your podcast should do that for you and your business and if it doesn’t then you’ve not spend enough time figuring out your podcast. That’s the first step and it’s a long step and people should pay attention to that.
- Should people also spend time figuring out their branding?
Yes, it’s very important to make sure all your branding is in order which means that when you put up your Podcast, people can look at it and recognise it without you slapping your logo on to it. You also need to work out how you can genuinely help people via your Podcast, how it will add value to their life. You can’t just think ‘If we create it a whole bunch of people will come.’
If you’ve had a great idea, you must assume others have also thought of that same great idea.
Your branding should come across as a direct representation of you and your business and shouldn’t be something you just slapped together to put something out there just for the sake of it.
- When it comes to the technology, how important is it for people to sort out their systems well in advance?
Yes, you need to figure out your systems, that includes hardware and software systems and how they all talk to each other. And a lot of the time that’s the first question people ask. They want to know what kind of microphone they should buy. I feel like the mic is not the most important thing because, for example, you don’t become a good golfer by buying a good set of golf clubs! It’s the same with a microphone. The sound is important but it’s not the most important aspect. You need to also arrange your recordings to make sure you have enough recordings and interviews set up so that it adds value to the concept you want to create. Sometimes we do silly things, such as saying, “I want to interview all these important people on my podcast.” But that’s not the way to do it. First figure out your concept, and your branding, then figure out what people can add value to that concept. Don’t just have people on your Podcast that you can interview because that will just stroke your ego.
- How important is marketing…as well as your Podcast sound and editing?
It’s very important. You need to edit your recordings and make sure it’s in line with your brand. Make sure there is no background noise, make sure that people can stick your Podcast in their ears for half an hour, or an hour, and not be bored. Sound is so important because you don’t want your listeners to cringe every time something bad happens in the sound.
The sound needs to be perfect. Marketing is also very important.
You need to spend a lot of your time marketing your podcast. Marketing is one thing that podcasters don’t do very often. They feel like they’ve created it and the job is done. That’s just 20 per cent of the job, 80 per cent of the job is marketing the Podcast.
- Let’s talk about the costs. Do you have to have a lot of cash upfront?
No, not at all. I think some people are reluctant to start a Podcast as they don’t want to put time and effort into something that might not go anywhere. But I’d suggest not worrying about that. Just get as much information as possible. It’s a lot of work getting a podcast made and keeping it consistent. It’s not a simple job, so I don’t think cost should be a reason not to get started. You can get a good set of gear for under $200.
If you visit my website www.mustamplify.com there is a free section where you can download a podcasting checklist.
There is very affordable equipment, especially one called the Behringer Podcaster kit. That has everything you need to get started, it’s very straight forward and retails for under $200.
So, if you are really serious about getting a Podcast started, why not begin at the very beginning, check out the Podcaster checklist and start what might be your next career…or at least a great promotional tool for yourself and your business.
Helpful links:
- www.ronsley.com.au
- http://www.bond-appetit.com/
- This link will get you a checklist you can use to start a podcast – http://mustamplify.com/stereophonic/
- To see the impact the We Are Podcast makes, check this link out – http://mustamplify.com/#x-section-3
