Or how to use a podcast for personal branding...
Podcasting is not an activity exclusively reserved to business owners to promote a service or to increase one brand’s reach to sell to more people. Podcasting is also a tool you can use to talk about your passion, to share the knowledge you have.
In this new article on My Blog Box we will talk about:
Podcasting and personal branding
If a podcast is the right tool for you to share your passion
Some tips and rules to follow to turn your podcast into the voice of your passion.
Not all podcasts or podcasters started with a commercial objective in mind. One of the first podcasts I listened to and which inspired me a lot for my own podcast, wasn’t trying to sell me anything at the end of each episode. It was just someone with a huge passion who decided, one day, to share it not only with her friends or acquaintances but with a wider audience. And then, after some time, she positioned herself as a respected expert in her field and published two books linked with her podcast’s topic. And this is also what I am trying to achieve with My Fashion Stories Box Podcast: sharing my passion about fashion history, positioning myself as an expert on that domain and, why not, even publishing books and essays (I still need to work on my imposter’s syndrome for that…).
So why not you?
Podcasting and personal branding
Are you the type of person your friends systematically go to for advice on certain topics?
Or maybe the one with always a “fast fact” or “fun fact” to add to any conversation?
Or maybe you have a passion about a subject, an experience you had you want to share with others for them to learn from you?
Or, another possibility, you write poems, short novels or stories and you can’t find a publisher for them…
Why don’t you increase your influence and become your own brand, why not, using a podcast…
This is what we call personal branding.
Personal branding can be defined as the creation of a brand identity for an individual. You will use the main branding strategies as if you were a business, only that you will apply them to you. It implies to work on your own promotion. You will focus on the expertise and the experience you have and you want to share with others and your differentiation point will be your own personality, what makes you different but also likeable and relatable.
And, according to Forbes, here are the 10 golden rules to follow when it comes to personal branding:
Have a focus
Be genuine
Tell a story
Be consistent
Be ready to fail
Create a positive impact
Follow a successful example
Live your brand
Let other tell your story
Leave a legacy
If you manage to follow these guidelines then, overtime, you will be able to earn money from your personal brand and from your podcast.
Channel your inner Oprah Winfrey but make it unique to you!
Is a podcast the right tool to talk about your passion?
You have many tools at your disposal to develop your personal branding and make your voice heard:
Social Media
A blog
A Youtube channel
A podcast
Each tool has its own drawbacks and advantages and, at some point, you will use a combination of some of them.
You can start with a blog and you will share your posts on your social media accounts. The same if you start with a Youtube channel or with a podcast: you will want to share your last video or episode on social media.
If you started with a blog, you can, after some time, decide to repurpose your posts into podcast episodes or videos. And the same with videos and podcast episodes, you can repurpose them into posts on your blog.
So you have a synergy between these main communication tools. I will focus now more on podcasts for you to determine if it is the right format for you to use to share your passion.
Podcast is right for you if…
You don’t like to show your face.
You like telling stories.
You are not afraid to experiment and learn new technical skills (no need to transform yourself into a sound engineer though)
You are able to describe visuals with words.
You are able to convey emotions through your voice.
You are ready to accept imperfection. There will be a learning curve.
You have a long-term vision: you don’t do a podcast for the sake of doing a podcast because it’s trendy now.
You are committed to it.
Podcast is not right for you if…
You don’t like the sound of your voice, though you will get used to it.
You want something perfect straight from the first episode.
You are not patient.
You don’t want to lose time researching, writing the script, recording, editing…
You do it because everybody’s doing it but apart from that, you don’t have a long-term goal.
Even to share a passion or a hobby or anything personal, being serious about your podcast is essential. Don’t start a podcast if, after a few episodes you notice that you don’t have many listeners and you feel discouraged. Patience is key, together with determination, discipline and passion.
Tips and rules to follow to turn your podcast into the voice of your passion
To make the most of your podcast and to enjoy the process, here are some tips for you to follow to turn your podcast into the voice of your passion.
And, you will see, these tips are quite similar to the ones I shared earlier in this article on personal branding…
Find your topic: what is it that you want to talk about, a passion, a hobby, an experience, your poems, short novels,...
Find your tone of voice: friendly, casual, more official, serious…
Be yourself: take inspiration from other podcasters but don’t copy them.
Tell a story, your story: it’s about you, your personality, your take on the subject, your experiences people are interested in
Choose your format: solo, co-hosted, interviews… Here is the link to a previous article I wrote on how to choose the right format for your podcast to help you.
Choose your publication frequency: daily, weekly, twice in the month, monthly… and try to stick to it.
Be consistent: create a calendar to make sure to post regularly
Have a long-term vision: think about what you would like your podcast to be in several years time, where you would like to be with your podcast in several years from now.
Be patient: it’s ok not to have a lot of listeners. What’s important is to notice an increase in overtime.
Be open to opportunities: you never know what your podcast can bring you in the future. Always be ready for projects you never expected would happen.
Don’t try to please everybody: choose the people you want to make a difference to.
If you respect them, your podcast will enable you to find your community where you will have a true resonance and, after some time, you will even be able to start earning money with ads, sponsorings, subscriptions and other monetisation opportunities.
So… Are you feeling inspired to share your passion? Did I convince you to launch your own podcast? If yes, check out my article “What you need to create your podcast free of charge (or almost)” and download your “Podcast Starting Kit Cheat Sheet”.
And I am always here to advise you on your podcasting journey. Check out my offers and pick the one fitting the best to your current needs and challenges. Apply to work with me now.
Happy podcasting!
Cath @MyMarketingToolbox
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