PODCASTING

How To Grow Your Podcasting Audience
You can create the greatest, most informative and value packed podcasts in the world but if nobody is listening you are wasting your time. It is essential that you focus on growing your podcast listener base and we have some great ways that you can do that in this article.
Identify your Strengths and Weaknesses
If you have a small audience that are not always sticking with you and certainly not spreading the word about your podcasts then you need to make an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.
Ask yourself the following questions:
* What do I do really well?
* What assets do I have?
* What are my weak areas and how can I address these?
If you have a lot of competition in your podcasting niche then you need to think about how you can really stand out from the rest. Are you really connecting with your listeners? Are your podcasts boring and uninspiring?
Are you Targeting a Specific Niche?
It is far better for you to have a smaller listener base that really engage with your podcasts than a larger audience who do not really engage that much. The engaged listeners are far more likely to spread the word about your great podcast and leave you positive reviews.
Choosing the right niche is essential to podcasting success and audience growth. If you go too broad then you will not engage as well as if you go narrower. Do your homework here and find out the demand for your niche by using the Google Keyword Planner to identify search volumes for related keywords on Google.
Get to know other Podcasters
Don’t see your competitors as the enemy. Look at them as an opportunity to network and grow your listener base. Be prepared to network with these people to your mutual benefit. See these people as your mentors and learn from them. Treat them with respect.
When you connect with other podcasters take the opportunity to share tips on what has worked well when growing their listener base. Listen to their podcasts and if it is relevant and high quality then agree to promote each other’s podcasts. Even if you are just starting out, this can work really well.
Invite Guests to your Podcasts
Interviewing niche experts is a great way to grow your podcasting audience. It is likely that these people will already have a good following and you can ask them to promote your podcast with them to their followers.
You always need to be professional when inviting guests for interviews. Agree the questions that you are going to ask them prior to the interview taking place. Spend time thinking about the right questions to ask that will satisfy your existing listeners.
Agree to be a Guest on other Podcasts
This starts with networking with other podcasters. Once you have developed a relationship then you can raise the subject of you being a guest on their show. Sometimes they will just ask you to do this themselves.
Podcasters are always looking for new guests and fresh content. So make the most of your networking and get invited to as many podcasting shows as you can as a guest. Ask them to mention your show when you are a guest.

How To Come Up With Good Ideas For Your Next Podcast
If you want to maintain and grow your podcast listener base then you need to provide them with fresh content on a consistent basis. But sometimes coming up with new ideas for your next podcast can be a real challenge. You experience the “writer’s block” syndrome and cannot think of anything. Here is what you need to do.
Ask your Listeners what they want next
This is a simple concept that is often overlooked. If you want to know what your listeners want from your next podcasts then ask them. Ask them in your podcasts and on the platforms that you engage on such as your website and social media. When you do this you need to be specific with the question that you ask.
For example if you have a podcast about online marketing you could ask your listeners “what is your biggest problem with traffic generation?” This is much better than just asking “what do you want me to discuss next?”
Find out what Problems your Listeners have
You should know your listeners or target audience very well. What kind of problems do they have? What is stopping them from achieving their goals? What are they fearful of? There are a number of different ways that you can answer these questions and create new podcasts around this.
One of the easiest and most effective methods to find answers and future podcast titles is to use Google. Just type in some relevant keywords and make a note of what comes back. For example for online marketing you might uncover “how can I control my spending with PPC ads?” or “which sales funnel software is the best?”
Amazon Books Keyword Research
Amazon is a great place to find inspiration for future podcasts. Just enter some keywords relevant to your niche and you should see a number of book titles returned. You can get some good ideas from the book titles alone but we recommend that you dig a bit deeper.
Take a look at some of the reviews left by people that purchased the books. Quite often customers will let the author know that they particularly liked the way that they tackled a particular subject. You can then use this as inspiration for your next podcast.
Keep in touch with your Industry
Your listeners are expecting you to be an expert in your chosen niche. It is important that you keep up to date with what is happening in your industry and changes or proposed changes can be great for the content of a podcast.
Use Google Alerts to be notified of new content published in your niche. Join forums related to your niche. Do whatever you can to stay on top of what is happening. If you are in a niche where there is always a lot of change e.g. computing then focus in on a specific area for a month or so.
What have you done before?
You can look back at previous podcasts that you have created or articles that you have written and use this for a new podcast. Let’s say that you created a popular podcast on SEO a few months ago. Well listen to that again and create an SEO Part 2 podcast.
If you have a blog then go back through your blog posts and see if you can rework any of them to create a new podcast. Usually there is always a way to expand on a topic that you have discussed previously.