7 Reasons You Should NOT Start a Podcast

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Podcasting is not for everyone. Despite the many experts, gurus, rockstars and ninjas within the content marketing space moving their voice to the podcast format, podcasting will NOT work for everyone.7 Reasons You Should NOT Start a Podcast

I don't want you to waste time creating iTunes podcasts if they're not going to work…

…because it does take hard work to create podcasts.  Launching a successful podcast isn't as easy to purchasing a domain name and hitting the one-click install button for WordPress. {Ms. Ileane shares the basics of “How to Make a Podcast” here}

Creating a successful blog doesn't guarantee success in the podcast format either.

Podcasting is long-format content marketing, which means the audience expects you to dive deeper into your area of expertise.

Ms. Ileane does this well with her Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast.

My own Content Warfare {view the episode index} addresses How to Win the Battle for Attention Online.

Both shows run 15, 30, even 45 minutes in length depending on the topic being addressed.

Here's the deal, podcasting is not for everyone, so I outlined seven reasons you should NOT start podcasting. This serves as a guide to excuse yourself from moving into the audio format of content marketing.

1) You're not trying to build authority online

Podcasting allows you to dig deep into a topic. It also allows you to use words apply inflexion to certain words that delivers your message with a cadence that a text-based blog post is not able to do. Podcasting puts you on display as an expert. There is something about delivering your message in audio that adds a level of authority to what you’re saying.

See anybody can copy and paste thoughts from another blogger. But it takes a true authority, a true expert in an industry to deliver a podcast and talk for 30 minutes on a topic.

The psychology behind your audience applying authority to you from hearing you talk about a topic is incredible powerful.

2) You’ve no need for a deeply invested audience

Think about the amount time that the average person spends on your website. Go to your Google Analytics reports and look at the time spent on your website right now. It most likely is somewhere between 45 seconds and two minutes.

Contrast this with the fact that with the Content Warfare Podcast where the average show length is 30 minutes,  the average listener stays on the line for 24 minutes. In which form of content marketing do you think I am building a deeper relationship with my audience? The three minutes that my audience spends reading one of my blog posts or the 24 minutes that they spend listening to my podcast.Stitcher.com - Partner Portal

3)  You have no need to expand your audience

There are many people who are not interested in reading text-based blog posts. This is the built in podcast audience. These are people who want to consume the content you in audio and podcasts. Services like Stitcher, Blackberry, iTunes and Zune provide you with a way to reach a group of people who could become potential clients that you would never be able to reach with a text-based blog post.

Podcasting allows you to expand your audience and reach a whole new market of consumers.

4 ) You do not need additional sales from a podcast

As discussed above, people who come and listen to your podcast see you as an authority, consume your content for a long period of time and become deeply invested in you as a content creator.  This provides the ideal opportunity to create leads and sales. Podcast listeners interested in your product or service become very qualified leads as they’ll have listened to you for a long time and made up their mind to buy.

This is very different from the text-based funnels and squeeze pages used to capitalize on a consumers compulsion to buy.  Add in the fact that services such as iTunes and Stitcher and Zune and Blackberry have a built in audience that you’re not currently reaching and you have now increased the pool people who could potentially buy from you.

5) Your audience would not benefit from an alternative form of consuming your content

Whether you're Shakespeare or John Grisham or just the average blogger there’s a decent chance that the people who read your text-based posts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis would be interested in consuming your content in a different form or fashion.

Podcasting allows you to add variety to your content marketing strategy and subsequently a deeper relationship with your audience. Once people begin listening to the sound of your voice they will remember hearing the words in the way that you speak.

6)You're not interested in standing out from crowd

stand out with a podcast
Depending on who's figures you read there are somewhere in the vicinity of 156 million blogs between WordPress and Tumblr.

This number does not include all the blogs from other platforms like Blogger, Joomla, Drupal and HTML blogs.

There are only a couple hundred thousand podcasts.

So if you’re trying to stand out from the crowd… if you’re trying to have your voice heard above all the other voices online do you think you have a better chance of doing that with a simple text-based blog post or on a podcast where you only have a couple hundred thousand competitors?

7) You have no interest in networking with other experts in your industry

One of my personal favorite features of the podcast format is interviewing other experts in the marketing industry.  You can certainly interview people using text-based posts as well, but it's harder to get a feel for the guest with simple text.  The audience also doesn't get that personal feel of back and forth between interviewer and guest.

Plus, the relationship building aspect of having another professional come on your show and deliver their own value to your audience. You're giving them an opportunity to increase the size of their own audience and in the long game that pays dividends.  I've had the opportunity to interview the likes of Mark Schaefer, Danny Brown and Marcus Sheridan just to name drop a few.

The Podcasting Rub

Let Go by Pat Flynn
When I started the Content Warfare Podcast as format to explore how to win the battle for attention online, I honestly had no idea what to expect from the experience. I saw some of the elite content marketers joining the podcast bandwagon, names such as Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income, Mike Stelzner from Social Media Examiner and even Ms. Ileane and I saw power in the breadth and depth of information that they were able to deliver to a podcast. After eight months of podcasting, producing over 20 episodes, I can honestly say that creating the Content Warfare Podcast has been one of the best decisions I've ever made for my business.

The only real reason you have for not moving forward with a podcast is if you don’t believe you have the fortitude to stick with it for the long term.

But I know you do. I highly encourage you to look into Ms. Ileane and her Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast, as she is a content marketer at the top of her game.

If you'd like to learn more about my show, you can find it at Content Warfare Podcast | Win the Battle for Attention Online

Thank you and good luck,

Ryan Hanley
Recommended reading:

What are YOU doing to promote your podcast?

62 thoughts on “7 Reasons You Should NOT Start a Podcast”

  1. Siegfried

    I dont like podcasts because I am fast reader, while listening to someone takes awfully lot of time… so it is a wasted time in my case
    best regards

    1. Ryan Hanley

      Siegfried,

      There are many people who feel this way. This is why for most people their blog visitors will always be more than their podcast listeners… But Podcasting is still a great tool.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

      Hanley

    2. Senorita

      Thanks Ryan for sharing your expertise! I think YouTube will effect to audience and drive more traffic to your site more than Pod casting. Personally I am not too much fan of Podcast concept. Like Siegfried, I prefer reading more than listening. Certainly Podcast is an important concept but recording a podcast is a very difficult job and in order to engage your customers you need to update podcast frequently. You need to have lots of dedication for this work.

  2. Enstine Muki

    Hi Ryan,
    How are you today? Good to see you here again.

    This is something that has been ringing bells in my brain. I have listened to Ileane severally and just keep telling myself, I’ll get into this. But I think this post is an eye opener. I think I have a clearer image where I have been standing all this while.

    It’s easier to write text or pay someone to create text content. No one may know it’s not your writings but with voice, it’s different. It has to be you. 30 minutes talking is no child’s play but watch out! I’m bracing up!

    1. Ryan Hanley

      Enstine,

      Thanks for the sharing your thoughts… Remember, you don’t have to Podcast every week. You can do every other week or once and month and still get a lot of value.

      I know you’ll do a great job!

      Hanley

  3. Dave Thackeray

    So in other words podcasting is perfect for people who can ‘be arsed’. That’s what you’re saying, right?

    In which case I couldn’t agree more.

    But there’s another one you missed:

    8. You have ZERO personality.

    Because there are some frankly awful podcasters out there going through the motions thinking they’re Howard Stern. When in reality what they need is a Stern talking to!

    Bear that baby in mind.

    1. Ryan Hanley

      Dave,

      I agree. Podcasting is definitely NOT for everyone and for people unwilling to express emotion through the microphone it could even hurt their reputation.

      Appreciate you adding #8.

      Hanley

  4. Deepak Mehra

    Hi Ryan,

    I like your post. I never think about doing these type of job like podcast. These reason really informative who want to become podcast.

    Thanks for share with me!!

  5. Sarah

    I never thought about podcasting before. I think majority of the people give importance to listening over reading. Also this way your can express your inside voice credibility and feelings.

  6. Damian

    I might also add NOT to podcast if you’re not an engaging speaker… there’s a reason why I blog. 🙂

  7. Evan

    What I’m wondering is what subjects are best suited to audio learning? A lot of what I do requires visual aid, there’s already a ton of podcasts available for general advice, reviews are fine but again it could be quicker with visual representation… I’m leaning slightly towards a ‘general interest’ cast focusing on what’s happening in the industry.

    1. Ryan Hanley

      Even,

      You can drive people to your visual aids through the podcast. Also think about how much more detailed you have to be if you don’t have visual aids… I bet it would be awesome.

      Thanks,

      Hanley

  8. Hoang

    Hi,
    Thanks for this useful article. It’s inspiring though never thought about podcasting.
    Best regards,

  9. Priya N

    Very well written article. I don’t use podcast as I think my visitors will not be interested in listening to this.
    Earlier I have done experiment using this & found no great result so I discontinued this. I think, I should try once again.

  10. Chris M

    We have been using a Podcast for a long time with great success. Even though at times making the technology work can be a hassle, in the end it has really helped us grow our brand. Thank you for your tips!

  11. Rashmi Sinha

    Is it me or Ryan wanted to sound a bit sarcastic with the post!!! I want to make it big in terms of audience and business and I think listening is much more engaging than reading*.

    Thanks for the points why I SHOULD try Podcast.

      1. Rashmi Sinha

        Yeah Ryan,
        That was quite obvious what you were trying to hint at.

        And yeah, nothing can go wrong if it is worth the time and effort of you and your audience.

  12. Amrik Virdi

    Podcasting is not everyone’s cup of tea. It require skills, right tone to explain your view points. I am still learning about podcasting and I wish I will start one soon.

    Thanks for the article.

    ~Amrik!

  14. Brian Couch

    I love listening to podcasts and I was a guest speaker on someone else’s but I had never thought about creating my own.. Something to mull about! 🙂 Thanks for the great post. G+ !

  15. Babanature

    Hello Ryan,
    you just made this whole podcast thing really harder on us that are aspiring to join. Well for me i never see the vision of joining because i know it is hard but since you’ve put it this way, i’ll try it out and see how it goes 😀 Thanks

  16. Samuel

    Podcasting is something I am really interested in getting into.

    I would say YouTube videos are more engaging and will reap more returns though.

    Not saying podcasts don’t work. They do work really well such as it is for Ileane!

    1. Ryan Hanley

      Samuel,

      I think the trick is mixing Podcasts and Video and doing it in a way that makes sense. Because I agree Video is a fantastic tool.

      Thanks,

      Hanley

  17. anis

    I never used podcasts on my blog I think even if I do visitors won’t be interested on listening on it

    But if I get lots of traffic and confidence they will do thanks for sharing this great article !

  18. John J

    I am going to start to do podcast. I just signed up for the blottalkradio site and they will allow you do make a podcast out of the radio program. I just learned about this site and found it really amazing. Your article on podcast was right on the mark and anyone who is not doing it is loosing a lot traffic. Everyone should just repurpose there content into a podcast and post it on itunes and see what it gets them.

  19. Leslie Edwards

    I don’t know if it’s an age thing but I get bored of podcasts easily. Well at least most of the ones I’ve listened to. There is always no emotion or life, which is why I like reading articles instead.

  20. Edson Hale

    podcast work the most for internet marketer specially for techie bloggers; being a personal development blogger I thought several to exploit this option but didnt dare to initiate because of my less know how with this field

  21. Shalu Sharma

    Podcasting is a great way to boost your profile but its certainly not for everyone. If you can’t talk in a mike or are camera shy then rule yourself out. Perhaps this is the reason many bloggers don’t start.

  22. Adil

    Hi Nice post Ryan Hanley!

    You , Ileane and Michal stenzler are my Podcast Guru and I must say that you all three do the job in the great manner.

    Ryan the post is very informative and I liked the point that podcasting demands much depth and expertise. Podcasting is also in my next one years plan, write now i am polishing my spoken english voice quality to make this happen.

    Thanks.

    1. Ryan Hanley

      I have no doubt that you will get there Adil… and I very much appreciate the compliment that is incredible company to be included in.

      Thanks

      Hanley

  23. Adam Connell

    Ryan, great article – when I read the title I was expecting something completely different but you’ve hit the nail on the head with every single point here!

    I’m hoping to start a podcast in the future, but right now time is not on my side.

  24. Utkarsh Bhatt

    Podcasting is an important thing if you want to build authority of your blog online. The readers engage with you and its very good to get new ideas for the future stuff.

  26. James

    Excellent post. I think that Miss Ileane has the best methods to make podcast but i am good in reading and I can read fast so that is why i never tried pod casting but i will try it now !

  27. Ferb

    Hi Ryan, love podcasting but I’m not up to it yet and if it’s really a great way to build relationship with readers. I love the way you wrote this post and I can really see the benefits of podcasting.

    Thanks – Ferb

  28. Colin Ladd

    Recently I tried recording a podcast and it is way more difficult than I thought. It’s so hard to speak nicely without too many “erms” and “uurrghs” as well as keeping it engaging and interesting. Certainly a great medium to stand out and get peoples attention who don’t want to read long posts but not easy at all.

  29. D. Dixon

    It’s amazing. This is the second time I have read about podcasts in as many days. I want to venture into it precisely because I am not sure that people don’t want to listen. It’s a new avenue and I’m working on creating longer content for it but I want to do all of those things. There’s a market there, I think, that hasn’t been fully exploited. Thanks for this great post

  30. Corey Will

    I’ve considered creating a Podcast but I am not so sure at this point. It seems like it could become very time consuming and I might just be better off with video marketing (although different).

    I do think Podcasts can be great but I just do not know how much it would increase my profits and customer base compared with other forms of marketing.

    Thanks for the information and I do agree with you here.

  31. Fabrizio

    Hi Ryan what an amazing and inspiring post mate, for months I put off creating my own podcast before finally making a go of it back in December, and in all fairness, I thought about a lot of the positive points you made regarding hosting a podcast and some of which never even occurred to me before, so you’ve reinforced every reason why podcasting is a great content marketing strategy both for connecting with your audience on a much personal level and for creating leads and sales, thanks again mate.

  32. Justin Germino

    I also have flirted with podcasts but see very little return on them compared to written articles compared to the amount of time it takes to create, edit and publish them. I do enjoy doing them but I myself rarely listen to podcasts and prefer to read articles myself, since I can absorb information so much faster while reading and skimming over what’s needed than being forced to listen at the pace of the speaker.

    Also can’t really find a good medium to host them, Spreaker audio quality disappointed me (at least free plan does) and Bluberry Powerpress was good, but can’t track # of plays, iTunes doesn’t show you subscribers to your podcast…etc. Can’t really find something that is truly good at managing/embeding and sharing podcasts.

      1. Justin Germino

        I do like Soundcloud I just didn’t have enough space left for my 30 minute podcasts and used it for my shorter poetry recordings. I just didn’t see it worth paying for a plan yet, I will look at Libsyn at some point hadn’t heard of that one, thank you.

  33. Deborah Anderson

    Ryan,

    I love how you approached this. The title really grabs a person to read it and such a creative way to drive the message home, not to mention illustrate it so well.

    Thanks to Ms. Ileane, I have a few podcasts coming out and your article was very timely 😉

    -Deborah

  34. marilyn cada

    i see.. many things need to be considered when creating a podcast 🙂 i thought podcasting simply involved making an audio version of an article and that’s it.

  35. Juan Castillo

    The truth is that at some point I thought about doing PostCast, but because of time, I have not taken the step yet. I find Postcasts interesting. Sometimes I have no time to read some post that I find interesting, such as articles related to nutrition and fitness, and in those cases I listen postacasts while I am doing other activities.

  36. Chris Silvey

    Hi Ryan,
    Funny that you mentioned Pat Flynn, he is one heck of a guy and a good online friend.
    You know much of his success is do to podcasting.

    It might not be for everybody, but I believe one should at least try to see if one has a knack for it.

  37. Sara

    While I really like the idea of a podcast, I barely ever listen to them because of the time commitment. I agree that it’s far easier to get what you need from a written source. Good post.

  38. Farrell John Conejos

    Ryan,

    “Podcasting allows you to dig deep into a topic. It also allows you to use words apply inflexion to certain words that delivers your message with a cadence that a text-based blog post is not able to do. “

    To be honest, I really want to try Podcasting before. The quotation above is what I thought it would be if I use Podcasting until I’ve realize how much time and effort you will spend just for a 1 topic video. And the mere fact that most of the website’s visitors don’t take too long to browse or watch your video is very frustrating. So, I still believe that Content Writing is more effective than Podcasting.

  39. Dean Saliba

    This is very true, Itunes is full of useless, rubbish, podcasts that it can be time-consuming to wade through them to get to the decent ones. I won’t be starting a podcast because I’m not selling anything but I have thought of doing some videos to gain some traffic from sites like Youtube and Vimeo.

  40. Cheryl

    I have been considering a podcast to increase my email marketing tools, but after reading your article I think it will be too much work for the out come of possible sales. As a consumer it is very rare that I will watch a 30 minute video on a possible I’m interest in. This article has been very informative. Thank you

  41. Steve Harrison

    Ryan… expected more from this article to be honest – you’d be hard pressed to find any blogger that would say “No, I don’t want to grow my consumer base” which is basically the gist of most of the points in the post. For me it’s all about the customer – you should NOT podcast if there is no demand for your content in that format…

  43. James McAllister

    The hardest part about podcasting in my opinion is staying dedicated to it. Like news programs, people don’t tend to watch old podcasts, you have to keep putting them out, and that takes a lot of dedication. Especially at the beginning if you don’t have a large audience.

    For most people, the reward is not worth the effort it takes.

  44. Dan

    I really like the way you have written this article. Furthermore, people are more sensitive to content they hear. Starting a podcast could be an effective move if you want to charm your audience. Cheers.

  45. Deepak Mehra

    Hi,

    hey Its a great and Unique Post ,this Post is very useful and informative
    I am moved by your blogging skills and find your posts attractive.
    I am a new blogger and would like to learn from you.
    Thanks for such a nice post

  46. Rohit

    nice article Ryan,
    podcast has became a very important tool for content marketing.., i really liked the point that the podcast develops the online authority and publicize the blog. and your name can became the brand..
    great research.., thanks for enlightenment 🙂

  47. adi kurniawan

    one reason i don’t use podcast is
    i don’t think my english is good to hear

    but one thing that i don’t agree with you

    there are much blogger who write in his blog instead a podcast
    so chance you get stand out of crowd is bigger if you use podcast

    thanks for great post

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