The latest Edison Research explains that over half of all Americans have listened to podcasts, with over 33% having listened to one in the past month. That number has been steadily growing for the past ten years, with no signs of slowing down. If you’ve not heard of many podcasts, you might think they are only for very popular shows, like Serial, but most podcasts are based on educating people on a very specific subject. There are several reasons to start a podcast, but here are a few that might help you to start your podcast.

 

Promote your services

 

Your business could always use a little bit of extra word of mouth, and there’s no better way to do that, then to start content based on what your business is about. In your podcast you can not only talk about your experiences of working in the field, but at the end, you can bring up the fact that you have a business or service based on the experience you’ve been talking about. You could even create an advertisement for yourself to play during your episode, “This episode is brought to you by…”.

 

Position yourself as an authority

 

If someone is looking for a specific service or looking to learn about a specific subject, you want them to find you. When that person listens to your podcast, they will start to realize that you know what you’re talking about and learn more and more about your business, and in turn they will see you as an authority figure in that field. If there is no one else doing a podcast about the subject you are doing, then that’s even better. Podcasting is a great format to go really in depth about the topics you are passionate about, and create that image for yourself, and grab that corner of the market.

 

Build an Audience

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Creating content can really resonate with people, simply just using your personality to explain something that you are passionate about. That resonance can start to build to more and more people. With platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it’s never been easier to get your name out there and find like minded people who you can create something for and start wonderful conversations! Some might not like what your podcast is about, but others will keep coming back week after week to listen to what you have to say, and that means your audience is growing!

 

Not Much of a Cost

 

When you have that initial idea for a podcast, it can seem kind of daunting to start. What equipment do you need? Where to host your podcast? How do you get it onto Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts? All of those things couldn’t be easier in today's world. If you were looking to start a podcast 10 years ago you might have spent thousands of dollars to get a great sounding podcast. Today you can create professional sounding audio for under $200! There are great bundles on Amazon to get started, so there’s no reason to hold back any longer!

 

Makes You More Personal

 

When you are speaking into a microphone, it’s much easier to convey excitement and other emotions, than it would be if it were just words written on a page. When your listeners hear your voice over and over they start to make a connection with you as a person. It starts to become about more than just the content you are talking about. It’s about you building that connection on a personal level, that’s what brings people back for every episode. They show up for the relationship that you now have, that’s something that is very rare when talking about valuable information.