Turning Podcast Fans into Email Subscribers

Podcasting is a great way to establish yourself as the go-to person in your chosen niche. More than that, it can be used as a marketing tool to help connect you with your prospective clients. Creating and growing your email subscriber list usually falls within the top 3 marketing to-do's when working with marketing consultants and professionals. But, oftentimes creating an email opt-in is forgotten when it comes to podcasting.  Think about it though, when someone opts into your email list, it means they want to hear from you. In that respect, it's very much like when someone subscribes to your podcast. The difference: you don't typically have a face/name/or contact for your podcast subscribers. An email list opt-in for your podcast helps bridge that gap.

If you are a business owner producing a podcast to establish your brand, you should be leveraging your podcast for marketing purposes. How so, you ask? One way is to create a valuable proposition that your listeners cannot refuse in the form of an email opt-in.

Here are some ideas for valuable content you can offer:

• A monthly e-newsletter jam-packed with useful tools and content.

• An awesome giveaway or prize drawing.

• Podcast news clips: updates about future shows and guests' background, bios, etc.

• A free guide with tips, tricks and tools that your audience finds relative.

As long as the content you provide is one of quality and your listeners want to consume, create an email list and start promoting it! Place the opt-in on your podcast website, Facebook page and mention it during podcast episodes.

Once your email list starts to grow, don't let it sit there! Engage your subscribers - send them monthly podcast highlights, special audio files just for subscribers and other newsworthy items. Ask them for feedback and show that you care about them.

Your email list and your podcast is a marketing tool you can use to help cultivate and grow your connections. Get started now!

eNewsletters: Keep It Simple!

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Producing a monthly eNewsletter is a great way to stay connected to your current and prospective clients. Of course, as a business owner, creating your newsletter content may seem daunting and tedious. It doesn't have to be! Follow these time-saving tips to help keep yourself on track and in control of your content.

• Re-purpose/Reuse Content - Reusing existing content or re-purposing it for use in your eNewsletter is a great way to cut down on new material you need to write. If you have a blog post that you know was super popular, let's say in 2012, re-purpose it. Use it as an article in your next newsletter! Remember, just because that post is old news to you; for new subscribers or those that have just found you, it is new information to them.

• Keep It Simple - You have a lot to share with your audience. Awesome! But, you don't have to give your subscribers the whole cart full of apples at once. Save a few of them apples for next month! Here's a quick example, let's say you have three articles for use in this month's newsletter, but they all seem to have the same concept or topic. Rather than mashing them all together into one newsletter, break the articles up into a series. By doing this, you will have three articles for use in your eNewsletters over the next three months. Win!

• Concise is Key - This tip is not about saving your own time, but saving the time of your readers. Your readers have opted in to receive your newsletter. They WANT to hear from you. However, having an email hit their inbox that looks like a "wall of text", can be off-putting. Utilize "Read More" tags in your newsletter, especially if you have many sections with lots of content. When using these tags, you simply write some intro text for the article and insert a "Read More" tag. When the reader clicks "Read More" from within the email, the eNewsletter opens up into a new web browser window. And, voila, they can now read the entire article. "Read More" tags, make it easy for your readers to skim through your content and select the information that most interests them. Not sure how to implement a "Read More" tag? No problem! With my updated list of eNewsletter services, I can help!

Building Business Relationships in an Online World

Building and fostering relationships with clients and prospective clients is extremely important. When you take the time to build your business relationships, you’ll eventually become a trustworthy expert that people come to know, like and trust. When someone knows you, likes you and trusts you – they are more likely to do business with you. Better yet, they may also begin to provide referrals. It’s a win-win for everyone, yes! We live in a fast moving world. People are always on the go. In fact, many people now work from home or travel while working. How can you get face time with your audience if you aren’t able to sit and meet with them in person? Well, just like the world is moving fast these days, so is technology! There are quite a few ways to connect with your audience, online. Here are just a few ideas:

• Monthly E-Newsletters – Monthly newsletters sent by email are a great way to connect with your audience. Think you don’t have much to offer in a monthly newsletter? Think again! Share news, an interesting tip or video. If you are a B2B company, then your audience will definitely see your email come across their inbox! I mean come on, how often do you check your email? :) You’ve heard the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind,” right? Newsletters are a great way to get your name and brand in front of your people! You may hear internet marketers talk about the importance of building your email list. People opting into your list want to hear from you. Send them a monthly e-newsletter to keep in touch and to keep them engaged.

• Podcasts – Of course podcasts make my list! I am a true believer that podcasting for business is a great way to market to your target audience. A podcast is very simply, an online radio or video show. As a podcast host, you have the opportunity to share your expertise and a little bit of yourself, with your audience. After listening or watching a few episodes, they’ll be able to determine, “Do I like this person?” If the answer is yes, they’ll stick around and become a fan. Guess what? You now have your ideal client’s attention. That’s an amazing feat. Don’t spoil this opportunity. Continue to build that relationship, invite fan feedback, questions and engage in conversations with them. Trust me, it works!

• Social Media - Of course, connecting and chatting with your audience on social media is a given, in this day and age. BUT, some businesses think because their brand isn’t an online brand, social media is not needed. THINK AGAIN! Think about where your audience likes to hang out…if a good portion of their time is spent on Facebook or Twitter (or some other social network), you need to be there too! Engage in conversations, take an interest and invest in them. When you do this, you are investing in your business too!

Interested in implementing any of the items above? I can help you! As a digital media manager, I help clients with e-newsletter and podcast productions, as well as, social media management. Let’s chat and see if we can work together to help build and foster your business relationships, together.