Raving Fans or Ideal Clients? Your Unique Podcast Model Reveals Which Audience You Should Target and How to Do It
Is your podcast THE business or does it support a business? Believe it or not, even seasoned podcasters might not realize that there’s a critical distinction between these two models! That’s why knowing the key differentiators, and which model applies to you, can give you an edge over the competition and make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to determining your podcast strategy.
Today, I’m sharing how I define each podcast model (hint: it has to do with how you generate revenue) and why that model should also inform your content creation process. Whether it’s creating community or leveraging your podcast as part of your funnel, I give you my best tips on building an audience of raving fans or, in the case of business owners, an audience of ideal clients. If you’re eager to learn your podcast “type” so you can better focus your strategy for success, then read on now!
The difference between a podcast that is a business and a podcast that supports a business
When your podcast is a business:
As podcasters, it's crucial to discern between a podcast that operates as a business in itself and one that serves as a support tool for another business. The key distinction lies in how your podcast generates revenue. A podcast functioning as a direct business seeks to build a community and earn revenue directly from its listeners. Sponsorships become a common avenue for funding as well as Patreon memberships which offer exclusive content to engaged listeners.
When your podcast supports a business:
On the other hand, podcasts supporting a business act as a revenue-generating funnel, bringing awareness to your offerings. For those with services or products, the podcast becomes a trust-building platform, creating warm leads. Unlike podcasts that are businesses in themselves, the focus here is on using the podcast as a crucial piece of the marketing funnel.
In my case, the podcast is a gateway — my goal is to guide listeners towards opting in, joining my world, and eventually exploring my services or memberships. It's a distinct model where the podcast is a means to support and enhance the existing business, rather than the sole revenue generator. Understanding these distinctions allows you to tailor your strategies for growth and visibility accordingly.
How your specific type of podcast is going to inform your strategy and content creation process
Delving into podcast strategy, it's essential to recognize the nuances between a podcast that is a business in itself and one that supports a business. For a podcast that is a business, the focus is on creating a vibrant community around the content. Whether it's a podcast about books or any other niche, the goal is to foster a place where listeners feel seen and part of something significant. Sponsorships and platforms like Patreon often come into play to sustain such community driven podcasts.
On the flip side, a podcast supporting a business takes a strategic approach to build warm leads. Listeners are not merely fans; they are potential ideal clients. The content serves as a tool to align with specific audiences, bringing them into the fold and converting them into business clients. In both scenarios, visibility is crucial, but the function of the audience differs, emphasizing either community building or lead generation.
The importance of building an aligned audience when you start any podcast model
Starting a podcast to either establish a business or enhance an existing one requires careful consideration of your model. Whether your podcast is the business itself or a powerful support tool, the importance of getting in front of aligned audiences remains paramount. For those starting a business with a podcast, the uphill battle involves not just community building but also gaining visibility within the right circles. This emphasizes the need for a well-thought-out plan to simultaneously create community and reach aligned audiences.
Even for business owners with established podcasts, continual efforts to get in front of the right audience are crucial. Building an audience requires strategic content creation, consistency, and meaningful connections, ensuring that your podcast serves its intended purpose, be it community building or lead generation. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all strategy for podcast growth; it's about understanding what works best for your unique podcast and audience.
Keep in mind that what works for one may not work for all, and it's crucial to adapt strategies to your circumstances. Consistently creating engaging content, maintaining visibility with aligned audiences, and staying proactive in your podcast growth are universal principles. Whether your podcast is a standalone business or supports an existing venture, the key lies in thoughtful planning and continuous refinement.
If you're seeking guidance and a supportive community, consider joining the Strategic Podcast Academy for a personalized approach to podcast success.
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The Transcript for Podcast Your Business:
149: Raving Fans or Ideal Clients? Your Unique Podcast Model Reveals Which Audience You Should Target and How to Do It
[00:00:00] Caroline Hull: When we talk about business and podcast, I like to put them into two categories. Podcasts that support your business and podcasts that are the business. And the reason I want to dive into this today is because there is a big difference when we talk about growth, audience and content. So today we're going to deep dive into why these two models are different so you can identify which type of podcast you have and come up with a strategy that works for you. [00:00:25][25.3]
[00:00:30] Caroline Hull: Hi there and welcome to Share, Strategize and Shine. I'm your host, Caroline Hall, a podcast strategist and CEO of Wild Home Podcasting. I've built my entire career through podcasts by sharing my experience using strategic systems and shining a light on the power of podcasting. If you are looking to cultivate leads for your membership group, program or consulting services, I'm here to help you create a holistic and integrative podcast strategy that will let your business thrive. Let's dive in. [00:01:02][32.1]
[00:01:02] Caroline Hull: Hello. Welcome back. Today has been a doozy, let me tell you. Being a mom, owning my own business and podcasting and knowing that I have all this podcasting work to do when I'm running around being a mom, it can be a lot sometimes. I know that a lot of you out there can relate to me, and maybe I should do an episode about it sometime and how I do manage what I do have to manage. But I am recording this episode in between so many things that have gone wrong today, and it feels so good to sit down and record and have everything in place and planned out and ready so I can just focus on this for a minute. It feels so good. [00:01:52][49.9]
[00:01:52] Caroline Hull: So I want to share a problem that we solved this week. I was meeting with a client and we're working on a podcast refresh for her. And one thing that can occur as our business evolves is that sometimes we outgrow some of our older episodes, or maybe the episodes are not aligned with the services that we are offering now. And this was something that she had as well and we were discussing what should we do with these episodes? And so I want to talk about old episodes that maybe are not aligned with your business anymore and what can you do with them? I think that it does matter when these episodes are sitting on your feed, especially if they previously had a lot of traction because they can still be attracting people and those people may not necessarily be your ideal audience anymore, or it may not be something that you want to be known for anymore. And so I am giving you permission today if you have some older episodes like that. It is totally 100% okay to go and delete them, archive them, move them. You can take them off your feed. You control your feed. And if you're shifting gears in your business, in your podcast and those episodes, just do not feel like they go with you. You are completely allowed to archive them. And this really matters as you're moving forward in your business, in your podcast, and making sure that when people do find your podcast and they go back to listen to more, they're not listening to something that's going to throw them off and make them confused about what you do. That's why it's really, really important. So we're going to be archiving an entire season for this client. And I know that I have archived episodes for other clients before and even myself. I have done an audit of some of the episodes that I have and wanted to pull them down and take them down. So, you know, again, you are in control of your feed. You control what people hear, You control what people listen to. Do not be afraid to take down episodes that just do not align with your business anymore. And that is a problem that we saw this week. [00:04:06][134.1]
[00:04:06] Caroline Hull: At Wild Home Podcasting, we work with podcasters who are monetizing their podcasts but not in the like traditional what you think monetizing. When you talk about monetizing podcasts, we are using podcasts to sell their own services and offers. And so this is really different. And I want to make this distinction, especially as we talk about this topic, because traditionally we mostly work with business owners who have a podcast and we're promoting their offices and services on that podcast, and that's how we monetize it. This is very different from someone who's creating a podcast for entertainment purposes and hoping for sponsors or some other ways. We're going to talk about some other ways you can build or generate revenue when you don't have offers and services for your podcast. But I want to frame that for everyone who's listening now. We have worked with podcast who didn't have an offer and didn't have anything yet that they were selling. And we've created a strategy to help them monetize it in the future. We've also worked with podcasters where it was literally for entertainment purposes or informative purposes, and they maybe had some kind of something around it, but they weren't using it to promote their businesses. So we have worked with those types of podcasts before and there really is a distinction and a difference in how we approach podcast strategy. [00:05:38][92.5]
[00:05:39] Caroline Hull: And so I wanted to talk about that today because I think when you hear someone talking about podcast strategy or how to grow your podcast or how to monetize your podcast, you need to know if it applies to you or not. And I think that's really important as the podcast coaching consulting online marketing role is getting bigger and louder, you need to be able to sort through the noise and figure out what works best for you and your podcast. When we talk about business in podcasting, there's two distinct camps. So I think of podcasts that are a business. So the podcast itself is generating business. We're going to talk more about what that looks like and podcasts that support a business. So a podcast that really its entire function is to drive people to a business. The main difference between the two types of podcasts is how we earn revenue. So for a podcast that is a direct business, you're looking at creating community and wanting to generate revenue directly from those listeners to support the podcast usually and to pay you for being a podcaster, right? And so that may be like sponsorships is a really common one. And I know everybody when they start podcasting, they think, Oh, I just need to get sponsors to pay for my podcast. But it really only makes sense to do that if the podcast itself is a business and if you aren't sure you know which one you are. I think as we go through this, it'll start to clarify for you hopefully which type of podcast you have. And of course, if you have questions after this episode, like please feel free to hit me up on Instagram because I would love to chat about this another way. Besides sponsorships that podcasts that are businesses may generate revenue is by having like a Patreon or some kind of membership for people who are engaging with the podcast and want more from the podcast. So, you know, Patreons are very, very common. I know my kids listen to a podcast and they have like a membership where you get extra things related to the podcast episodes. The podcast came first, though, and then the membership came second, right? And I've even seen lately we did a Trends episode at the beginning of this year, and I talked about how podcasts, even podcasts that weren't necessarily business podcasts or podcasts for business. How many times are we going to see those two words in this episode, by the way? I'm laughing because my I keep saying it and I'm reading it in my outline and I'm like, Well, we're repeating these words a lot, but that's, you know, that's what they are. But one of the trends that we saw was that podcasts were actually creating more content to sell around their podcasts, which is really fascinating strategy because we've been doing it for years, right? Business owners, where we're creating content in other places or offers and we're selling them on our podcast. So one thing that we've seen with podcasts that are not necessarily like ours is that they are now creating products around their podcasts. So it's it's really is interesting to see the unique ways that people are starting a podcast from a desire to share something or educate people about something or build community and how they're able to generate revenue from that podcast directly. I typically do not think of these types of podcasts as the type of podcast that we work with. And, you know, again, there's a different strategy here and a very different approach to visibility and growth. [00:09:27][228.4]
[00:09:27] Caroline Hull: Now, a podcast that supports a business is going to earn revenue by acting as a funnel to the businesses, offers programs or products. So this is the majority of all of you who are listening. Probably you have a service, a product, something that you do that you provide to people, and you use the podcast to bring awareness to that and you use the podcast to create and know like and trust and to generate warm leads. This is really where the different starts to come into play between the two. So now we stop thinking of the podcast itself as a revenue generator. Even though it is still generating revenue, bear with me and we really start to think of it as a piece of the funnel. So my goal with my podcast, when I think about the difference in goals here, my goal is to get everyone who's listening to my podcast to click on my opt in so they can go into my funnel and become part of my world and eventually join my membership or book one of my services. That is my goal and that is the goal of most of the business owners that we work with. Really all of them, you know, they are generating this piece of longform content that they can use in other places to support their business. Whereas with the other model that we were discussing, the podcast is the business. So that is all that's there, right? And then from there we're telling people to come get more of that, more of the podcast content. [00:11:02][94.8]
[00:11:02] Caroline Hull: So I know this is really like splitting hairs here. But the reason I wanted to share this on the podcast today is because when we talk about strategy and I'm going to be doing an episode that's going to give you a more of a sneak peek into what a strategic podcast actually looks like. So this is kind of the primer for that. But when we dig into the strategy, there is a difference between the two. So for a podcast that is a business, you're going to be thinking about building community around your podcast. And I've mentioned that a few times. It really is about finding your people, creating this big community. Creating a place where people can feel like they're a part of it and they feel seen and they feel like they found their people on their niche. And this could be anything, you know, really could. It could be any anything that you can think of can be a podcast and you can create a community around. One of my favorite examples are podcasts about books and reading and the communities that form around that. And a lot of times in order to get the support that you need to keep those types of podcasts running. You have to have some kind of, as I mentioned, either sponsorship situation going on or like a Patreon, a place where they can as fans opt in for more. And I think that's also a distinction. You know, as a business owner, you can definitely have fans and people who love your content and are fans of your content. But at the end of the day, I don't really look at my listeners as fans. I look at you all as my potential ideal clients, and that's how you should be looking at our listeners as well. I just did an interview for another podcast and we were talking about how powerful a podcast is for creating warm leads. And this is something that I feel like we just do not talk about enough when we're talking about podcast strategy and podcasting in general, and just the fact that, you know, in the same way that podcasts are building community for a podcast that is supporting your business, finding those aligned audiences and warm leads, you're building a community as well. But the difference is, is that you're asking them to convert into your business. So they're not necessarily going to buy a sponsorship for your podcast. They're not necessarily going to buy into a community to just chat about the podcast. What they're going to buy into are the solutions that you offer for the problems that they're experiencing. [00:13:44][162.3]
[00:13:45] Caroline Hull: Are your podcast episodes set up to help you sell your membership group programs and consulting services? And I'm not talking about selling it in a sleazy way. I'm talking about creating episodes that are engaging. Create connection between you and your listeners and highlight your expertise to start creating episodes for sales. Get my free guide by heading to WildHomePodcasting.com/sales. [00:14:08][23.6]
[00:14:08] Caroline Hull: And now we're kind of getting down into the nitty gritty here. So when I think about building community for a podcast that is a business in and of itself. I'm really looking for those fans. I'm looking for people to help me generate content in other places. I really want it to be something that expands beyond the podcast. For a podcast that is supporting your business. Now I'm thinking very strategically about getting in front of aligned audiences, bringing them to the podcast and creating and generating them into warm leads. And you do all of this through content, right? Which is so amazing. Like this is all happening because of the content that you're creating on your podcast. So for both of these types of podcasts, visibility is a really important piece because you always want to be building your audience. But as we've mentioned before, the function of the audience is different. And so, you know, we've talked about how you can have community who's sharing and generating content for you, and then you have an audience who is clicking and opting in and becoming going on your email list and going into your funnel, right? [00:15:20][72.1]
[00:15:20] Caroline Hull: So we have a couple of clients who are starting their businesses with a podcast and then want to talk about this for a minute because you may be thinking, I want to start a business. I think a great way to get started would be a podcast, and it definitely can be. But here's the thing. It's going to take some serious community and audience building, and it really is. It feels like a little bit of an uphill battle, especially if you don't have an audience already in place and you're building this. And so not only are you trying to create community, but you also are needing to get in front of aligned audiences. And so it takes a little bit of legwork, it takes the visibility, it takes having a plan in place and making sure that you're not just doing one or the other. And side note, I think that even for business owners who have podcasts, this is something that you constantly need to be doing as well, getting in front of aligned audiences. I'm not necessarily focused so much on the community building part because I can interact with people on Instagram. I don't have a Facebook group. I don't want people in a Facebook group. What I want people to do is to opt in, right? And so, you know, if you're sitting here thinking about, I want to start a business and I'm thinking about starting a podcast, I would really encourage you to start building that audience now and finding out where your ideal client is and starting to create a presence for yourself. So that way when you do launch your podcast, you already have some built in audience, and so you're not having to start from scratch, Starting from scratch while you're creating podcast content can feel very overwhelming. So I think any time you can kind of get ahead of that a little bit is really, really great. And even if now you're thinking, I have a small audience, I want to start a podcast, same thing, get in front of aligned audiences and start building that audience. So when you launch, you've got more eyes and ears who are interested in listening to your podcast. So for our clients who already have businesses, we are converting. As I mentioned, we're converting their audience to their podcast so the podcast can warm them up and convert them into buyers and hear the content is a little bit different because it's going to be more focused on the why of their struggles and introducing them to the how, which is our clients businesses, right? The how, how you're going to get the thing done is by working with this person. And so, you know, a podcast is a business in and of itself. I feel like you can just create content that is aligned with your community. But if you're a business and you have a podcast that supports your business, now we want to be a little bit more strategic about the content that we're choosing and again, focusing on a lot of that why piece. Directing them to us is the how. Regardless of which model you have, you need to have a plan for how you're going to create content, stay consistent, connect with your audience and build your audience. Okay, So these are all pieces of podcast strategy and they are a little bit different for each type of podcast. And also I want to say there is no cookie cutter strategy for podcast growth. Everybody has to do what works for them and what works for their podcast, and sometimes that takes some experimentation. That's why I don't have a course that's like, Here's how to create a strategy that doesn't really make sense because you have to look at everything holistically and then decide the steps that you're going to take to build your podcast and build your audience and grow it. But there are things that you can work on. And like I said, you know, what kind of content are you creating? How are you connecting with your audience? How are you bridging the gap between podcast and connection, and how are you building your audience? How are you showing up in the world? How are you getting in front of aligned audiences? [00:19:16][235.1]
[00:19:16] Caroline Hull: The cool thing about all of this and me sharing all of this with you is that we cover all of these things in the Strategic Podcast Academy, which is my membership, and we break it down. So every month I do a masterclass on just one of these things. So that way you can figure out how you can apply a few of those key points and the things that make sense to you and your podcast to your podcast strategy. I actually posted today in my membership video sharing how I've doubled my podcast downloads and what works for me isn't necessarily going to work for everyone in the membership. You know how many times I'm posting on Instagram and converting people into listeners over there? That's something that I am able to do because of my circumstances, and you may not necessarily be able to do that too, right? And so you have to figure out, okay, what is going to work for me, my schedule, my life, my podcast. But if you are not working on these things, if you are not creating engaging content, if you're not seeing consistent, if you're not getting in front of aligned audiences, your podcast will get stagnant either way. Does it matter which model it is? It will get stagnant. And so these are things that you need to constantly in the back of your brain be thinking about, be tweaking, looking at every month. You know, if you have a goal set for next year of how you want to grow your podcast, start working on these things now and if you need a place to start, I highly suggest checking out the Strategic Podcast Academy. The link will be in the show notes. I would love to have you. We've got all kinds of different podcasters in this group and that's what's so amazing about it because we bring a lot of different unique experiences and we're all building strategies and our own way that is aligned with how we want to grow. So I hope this helps you make the distinction between the two podcasts. So as you're navigating the world of podcasting and you see a podcast and you think, Oh, I want to be like them. See if you can figure out which model they are or if you see an advertisement for a program that's going to help you grow your podcast, see if you can figure out which model it's geared toward because some groups are not made for the type of podcast we have and some are. So I hope this helps you. I hope this helps you be able to plan your podcast strategy. And I can't wait to talk more strategy on the next episode. [00:21:45][149.2]
[00:21:45] Caroline Hull: Thank you for listening to share, strategize and Shine to give your own podcast some shine. Download my Free Podcast Guide to creating episodes for sales by heading to the link in the show notes. Be sure to leave a review and connect with me on Instagram for more podcast strategy insights. Until next time.
