Why NOW is the Best Time to Start a Podcast

Start a podcast, If you want to…

• reach an audience and build loyalty
• sell products or services
• make crucial networking connections
• build a business

… and you don’t already have a podcast, here’s why right now is the ideal time to start one.

When your audience tunes in to your podcast, you have their attention for 20 to 60 minutes. This is intimate, one-on-one time with no interruptions or competition for their attention. You can create personal relationships with your audience in a way that the written word can never do.

• As of May 2021 there are over 2 million podcasts and over 48 million episodes.
• 37% of the US population listens to podcasts every month.
• Podcast listeners listen to an average of 7 different shows every week.
• 93% listen to all or most of each episode.

Don’t feel ready to podcast?

Here’s the thing: Almost no one who ever started a podcast was truly “ready.”

In fact, you have the same level of experience as almost every other new podcaster out there. If you can talk, you can do a podcast.

Yes, if you can speak, there simply is no excuse for not podcasting, while there are plenty of reasons to start your own podcast today:

• Podcasts capture your audience’s attention. The same person who won’t read a 10-minute blogpost will often listen to a 60 minute podcast.
• Podcasts create a personal experience. Listeners hear your voice and get to know you on a deeper level than with text.
• Podcasts help you build and maintain connections. You can feature guest speakers on your podcast who are industry experts. They create your content for you, and you build a networking connection with them.
• Podcasts build your credibility and positioning in your niche. If you want to be known as a leader in your industry, start a podcast and bring on experts. The key is providing valuable content, fresh ideas and making it fun and interesting for listeners.
• Podcasts make money. Real estate agent turned entrepreneur John Lee Dumas earns $46,000 a month from his podcast, Entrepreneur on Fire. He does it charging sponsors to be featured on his podcast as well as promoting products and services.

A few short years from now everyone and their dog will have their own podcast.

But if you start podcasting NOW, your competition is likely only 2-5% of what it will be in a few years.

That means it will be 20 to 50 times EASIER to build an audience now than it will be later.

How do you get started?

Simply jump in and get started. Yep that’s what I suggest.

No muss, no fuss. You just do it.

It doesn’t matter if NO ONE hears your first few broadcasts. Consider them dry runs, dress rehearsals. The point is to get started NOW, to figure out what you’re doing, and a month from now you can have a legitimate podcast with a real audience.

You will learn. You will find your authentic voice and your audience will connect with you as you get rolling.

A month from now you can have podcasting experience under your belt as well as a growing audience.

Stop thinking about podcasting and just start doing it. There’s always editing if you don’t like what you said or how you said it.  And the start-up equipment is simple (see below).

Need more motivation?

Check out this list of podcasting facts from PodcastHosting.org:

• 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
• 50% of all US homes are podcast fans
• 55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast
• 37% (104 million) listen to podcasts at least every month
• 24% (68 million) listen to podcasts weekly
• 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans”
• 51% of podcast listeners are male, 49% female
• Age of listeners:
  • 12-34: 48%
  • 35-54: 32%
  • 55+: 20%
• 41% of monthly podcast listeners have household income over $75K (vs 29% for US population)
• 25% of US podcast listeners have a 4-year college degree (vs 19% of US population)
• 51% employed full-time (vs 44% of US population)

What are the stats on advertising impact you ask? Listen to this:

• 81% of podcast listeners pay attention to podcast ads
• 60% of podcast listeners have bought something from a podcast ad
• 72% of people who have listened to a podcast for four or more years have made a purchase
• 54% are more likely to consider the brand advertised (only 7% are less likely)

On the other hand:

• 63% say they sometimes or always ignore TV commercials
• 66% sometimes or always ignore digital ads
• 61% sometimes or always ignore billboards
• 59% sometimes or always ignore radio commercials

Start-up podcast tools:

You might think you need expensive equipment to create a podcast, but you can start with just your smartphone and upgrade later. Here’s everything you need to know about podcasting from your smartphone: https://www.rode.com/blog/all/How-To-Record-a-Podcast-on-Your-Phone

You can even use a service to handle all of the podcast details for you, so that all you have to do is the actual podcast. Just search for “done for you podcasting” and you’ll find a variety of options.

More reasons to start podcasting this year and yes, this MONTH:

• You will build relationships and customer loyalty.
• You’ll enjoy the fun of using running jokes and themes with your audience.
• It’s easy – far easier even than you think.
• Listeners can listen whenever they like, even at 3 in the morning.
• Subscribers get episodes downloaded automatically on their devices.
• All you need to get started is a smartphone, internet connection and software. A laptop is good, too, but not required.
• No one can SEE you, so bad hair days, messy offices and pink polka-dotted pajamas don’t mean a thing.
• You can build your audience.
• Improve conversions through trust. I’ve seen podcast regulars buy products based solely on the recommendation of the podcaster, no sales copy needed. A survey of 300,000 podcast listeners found that 63% of them bought something a host recommended on their show.
• Talking is easier than writing. Far easier. SO MUCH easier.
• Your audience can hear your emotions. It’s not easy to make emotional connections in writing, but it is through speech. Listeners know when you’re happy, when you’re upset about something, when you’re laughing, when you’re serious and so forth, and it helps to build connection. Why did people fall in love with Oprah? Some say it’s because she allowed herself to become deeply emotional on air, creating a bond with the audience that lasts to this day.
• If you want authority in your niche, you need to either create videos that feature yourself, write best-selling books or do podcasting. If you can do two of those, that’s optional but even better.
• Sell advertising. Take on sponsors. Promote your own products. Do a Joint Venture (JV) with your guests. There are tons of opportunities to make money with a podcast.

Maybe the best time to start a podcast was a year ago, but it’s like that saying, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second-best time is right now.’

There is still tons of room for you in podcasting.