Have you ever thought about how blogs show up in your life? The most obvious way is in Google Searches. Or, when you’re on Pinterest, via word of mouth, or when shared on someone’s social media. For the past 8 years I’ve run two blogs. One blog is about Colorado and the other is about personal finance and lifestyle design through online entrepreneurship. About three or so years ago, people who would consider themselves traditional bloggers began embracing vlogging and podcasting. This trend has accelerated since then, but what I’ve noticed is that people going into vlogging and podcasting during that time don’t have a blog or website and that’s a huge mistake. In this episode, I’m going to break down the ins and outs of what a blog really is, what podcasters should consider when starting a blog and the role a blog would play in their business.
*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*
Thinking about starting a blog?
It’s pretty simple to do and cheap! Start with Siteground and WordPress.org. With this winning combination you’ll own your own website by the end of the day. And, Siteground has easy to follow tutorials to help you with setting up your site. Also, don’t forget to grab 120 Awesome Blog Ideas from Ruth Soukup’s Elite Blog Academy today.
Show Affiliate
Elite Blog Academy, I’m a proud affiliate of Elite Blog Academy a comprehensive blogging course that covers everything, and I mean everything about blogging, creating a digital business, and everything in between. I love the community, the connections and all of the bonus materials students receive as they make their way through the course, attend the Facebook group’s office hours and more. Check out the Elite Blog Academy blog for information, inspiration, and ideas.
Listen to the Show
Show Notes
When podcasters think about starting a blog, the following thought comes to mind: not another thing to do. And, I totally get it. As podcasters you’re in the process of bringing audio content to your audiences. The goal isn’t necessarily to drive them away from your show.
I would like to clear up a couple of misconceptions about the role of a blog or website in a podcasters life.
- First and foremost you should have a website/blog to house your audio content on a platform that YOU own.
- What if the app that you’re hosting your show on shuts down?
- What if your favorite social media disappears like My Space did. I’m sure that there are several listeners out there who have no idea what My Space is…because it’s gone.
- What about your show? Well, the player would be embedded on your website!
- Currently I use Libsyn to host my podcast and then I embed the episodes on my website.
- My show(s) are released on: Stitcher/Spotify/Apple Podcasts/any apps that it finds its way onto
- Show Notes-Where do your show notes live? And, are you trying to monetize your show? And, if you’re creating show notes in the app where you record your show…how are you driving listeners to your show app besides a call to subscribe? My show notes have affiliate links, opt-ins for resources, and additional information that might not be in the actual show.
- Searchability-How are people finding your show? There are a couple of things to consider:
- Not everyone has an iPhone with the native podcast app on it. In fact, there are more Android users than iPhone users. Android doesn’t have a native podcast app on it. How are these people finding your content?
- Word of Mouth
- Social Media
- Other podcasts as a guest or shout outs from those shows
- SEO…if you’re smart!
- Not everyone has an iPhone with the native podcast app on it. In fact, there are more Android users than iPhone users. Android doesn’t have a native podcast app on it. How are these people finding your content?
- SEO-I could dedicate an entire episode just to SEO. But, basically, it’s understanding how people search and find content online. Your goal is to figure out how they are searching and finding the content that you’re covering via your show. Here are some examples:
- Amy Porterfield’s show is about online content marketing. But, it’s also named after her. Here is an image of the main link to her show
- Pat Flynn does a great job of optimizing his episode URLs
- Nicaila Matthews Okome does a great job of optimizing her episode URLs as well
- Amy Porterfield’s show is about online content marketing. But, it’s also named after her. Here is an image of the main link to her show
- User Experience-I hate it when I’m looking to find my favorite show’s website and all I can interact with is the app portal or LinkTree which I hate.
- Bonus content-If you would like to have guests write posts for your website, it’s a great way to build up visibility for your project and backlinks to other websites as well.
- Having a blog or website allows you to craft a professional corner of the digital world where you can highlight:
- Products that you’re selling
- Contact information
- Media mentions
- Your scheduling link
- Media Kit
- Social Media Handles
- Marketing your show-Ask yourself, how does your show look to brand managers, people who are looking to collaborate, etc? Be honest with yourself!
- Pinterest-which is not a social media platform, but a search or a finders search engine
- Social media
- Other podcast episodes
- Media such as t.v. segments
If you’re less than a year into your podcasting journey, I’m not saying that you have to have a website. But, the longer your show runs, it becomes more important for you to consider your overall goals as related to your show.
Resource
Grab my free mini-course “Do It Ugly!” get started on creating your first blog/podcast/course/or book.
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