← The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E608 - Authors, Start A Podcast of Your Own - Podcast Ideas For Professionals
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome to the how to podcast series. A little different music because we're doing a little mini series, so I thought I'd change up the music. I'm glad you're here. Now we're going to be talking to professionals about why they should consider having a their very own podcast. And we're going to break it over five episodes, maybe more in the future as ideas come along. But I got at least five episodes for you here. A little mini series. Again, why we do the Word series in the how to podcast series around professionals embracing podcasts to help them. So this today we're going to be talking about authors. Now if you're not an author, most likely you've met one or know an author. So please share this episode with them because they need to hear this as an idea for them as an author. If you are an author, first of all, you should be on my Living the Next Chapter podcast to talk about your journey as an authority. It's one of my other shows, Living the Next Chapter dot com. You need to come and share your journey. I'd love to meet you and thank you for listening to this show. However you found me. Thank you. But I want to encourage you as an author to not just be a guest on a podcast. That's a great starting point. You get to come into my audience and talk about your book. But I would love for you to take the audience home with you and for you to have your own community around what you do. I got some ideas. I'm an idea guy. I love meeting people like you, talking through and giving you some ideas about what you could do. This is not meant to be overwhelming. One thing I'll say right off the bat is your podcast idea by me listening to this show and going, hey, maybe I should. I want you to understand something super important. Just because you say yes to a podcast doesn't mean you have to do a podcast every week for the rest of your life. Just like a book, Authors. Just like a book, you could have a beginning, a middle and an end. You could do a five episode series, a ten episode series, whatever you want and be done and never podcast again. Yeah, it's true. You can do that. Got a lot of ideas for you. I'm glad you're here, authors. I'm glad you're here. Thank you for taking time away from your writing to listen to this. So let's jump into our conversation and I'm so glad to have you here. Welcome to the how to Podcast series. Let's go. Being a guest as an author on a podcast, awesome. Great opportunities come your way. A great interview on a great podcast is going to feed your community for years and years. It just lives out there collecting new readers and people interested in what you do. So being a guest, great idea. If you want to find podcasts to be on and you don't have a PR agent, consider PodMatch. PodMatch.com is a dating service for guests wanting to be on podcast. So definitely go check out podmatch. There's a link in the show notes for you to go check that out and you can use my link and sign up. That would be wonderful. And it's a great way to connect with other podcasters if you don't know where to start. A lot of the people that come to my Living the Next Chapter podcast have agents who reach out on your behalf, which is fine, it's great. But if you want to do it yourself and save some money, then go check out podmatch.com when you come on a show as a guest, you're talking to my audience. You're really not talking to your audience. And I'm glad to share my audience with you. Come on anytime. Love to have you there, but I would really love if you could take the audience home with you. And what I try to do on Living the Next Chapter is shine the light on you as the guest. And I tell my guests in our pre interview chat before we record that when you come on my show, it's really your podcast episode on my podcast because it's all about you. It's not about me. I'm not an author and I'm the host of the show. The whole podcast is about you. I want people to fall in love with you. I want people to walk away from that interview, that discussion going, oh my gosh, I love this author. So that's the whole premise of the show. Now imagine if you could do that on your own without being a guest, but being your own podcast. Got some ideas for you on why you should start your own podcast as an author. And again there are if you listen to this show how to Podcast series, I have tools for you to make this free. If because you're paying money for other things as an author, you might not have cash to pour into creating a podcast and paying for it. So there's some free tools. There's a I've got lots of things I can do to help you. PodcastForFree.com has all of my free resources that I use to Create podcasts and what I use to help people like you start a podcast. So as an author, there's some options out there. If you have a marketing budget, some authors do, then you can take a portion of that and put it towards creating your own podcast. Instead of paying somebody else and giving them your money, you might as well make it work for yourself. So I want to talk a little bit more about how authors can use a podcast to sell more books. I got some ideas for you, and I think you might like this. Keep in mind, the whole time we're talking, I'm not saying start a podcast and podcast for the rest of your life because you're busy. You're a writer, you should be writing. You don't need to be podcasting every week. You can do a short run episode podcast and put it out there and just be done. Wipe off your hands and move forward with your writing your next book. And this just lives out there working for you while you sleep. It's a great opportunity for you as an author. And I don't think a lot of authors fully understand the, the what could happen for you if you use podcasting to support your. The launch of your book. So let's get into this. I am biased. I think everybody should have a podcast. I mean, hopefully I can convince you to even think about it today. And again, if you have any questions. HowtoPodcast ca. Let's go. So picture this. It's a book signing at your local independent bookstore. It's a quaint little store, little bell on the door that rings, you know, when you come in and it smells like books in the room. Creaky floors, there's books everywhere. And a little setup area with a microphone, a stool up on like a little elevated stage and a few random chairs. And you get there early. As an author, you set up your little table and put out your books and maybe a flower, and you're excited, like people are gonna come and listen to you talk about your book, right? Isn't that great when you can interact with people in real life and talk about your book and take questions and answers from your audience and interact with them. Now imagine that on the Internet, that's what a podcast is. Same thing. You set up your little stage, you grab your microphone, jump up on that stool and talk about your book. Talk to a bunch of people who really love what you do. Wouldn't that be rewarding? I think as a author, a podcast makes sense. So I want you to think of this, a podcast, as an always open book. Signing like, it just keeps going. You can. Even when you go home, people are still listening to your podcast. What about hosting a show where each episode explores a theme, a character, or an idea from your book? Giving readers kind of like a bonus universe content that's nudging them to purchase your book and share your book with others? Like, if you could go deeper into the characters, like, think about all of the work you did to create that character, and some of it went on the editing floor like it just didn't end up in the book. Wouldn't you love to share that with your audience? And it's not really an audiobook, because an audiobook is a word for word reading of your book, which doesn't include the extras that was cut. So there's a lot of great stuff there that you could put into the. Into a podcast where a reader listening to your podcast could get more depth to that character that you couldn't put into the book because you had to edit it down and your editor told you to take it out. But I really love this part. What if you had an episode to complement thinking of it? There's. There's your written book, there's your audiobook, which is, again, it's just spoken words from your book. And then there's an accompaniment of having your podcast where it just goes alongside of the podcast, but it doesn't compete with your book. That goes right alongside of your book. Right. Imagine that. What about a serial serialized reading of selective chapters or short stories? And then direct your listeners to purchase for the full experience. I love the idea of. Let's just do simple numbers. You have 10 chapters in your book. Okay. Let's do an episode for each chapter of the book and maybe something that goes along with it. Like when I wrote chapter three of this book, I want you to know this was the hardest chapter for you to write. I was having issues with my aging parents. I was taking care of them. My kids were going off to college. I was writing in the margins of my life, and it took a long time to get through chapter three. And when you get to page 85, that's right, at page 85, that's when I was having my hardest day ever. I can. I can tell you about that day. Let me tell you about that day. And as a reader, when I flip through the book and I get to page 85 in chapter three, I feel like I know you in a different way because you told me that story, and I have a bond with you. It's. It's amazing. You're not going to get that in an audio book. You're not going to get that from reading the book. And unless I see you at some kind of book signing, I. I will never hear that story. So use a podcast to bring your audience and your readers deeper into the book and share some behind the scenes. So every chapter of the book becomes an episode of your podcast. And just like your book, you have a beginning, middle and end. You get to the end of chapter 10, the podcast is over. And in each podcast episode, each chapter, you promote your book. Here's the link. Here's how to buy it. Please leave a review. Love your feedback. Here's a link to my speak pipe. It's a way to get voice messages for free. I love to hear your feedback on chapter one. I love your feedback on chapter two. On chapter ten. Go through and create this mini block of episodes and be done. You don't have to go past episode 10. You don't. You just do a chapter for each, an episode for each chapter, and you're done. Like, what a great companion to the audiobook, to the paper book, to your ebook, to your Kindle book, whatever. And then I have your voice on the mic talking about your. Your book. And, and here's another thing a lot of authors are like, I like writing, but I don't like talking by you verbalizing and reading P2 people and sharing your journey. I think it gives you a different gear that can help you in the next book. And the beautiful thing about podcasting is you don't have to do video. You could just do it in audio format, which is a lot easier to produce. It goes everywhere, including Audible. So not only on Audible can I listen to your audiobook. I can also listen to a companion podcast to your book. Wow. Like, you can connect your audio podcast to Audible and send people to your audiobook on. On Audible. There's a lot of things you could do as an author through a podcast. Again, that's a companion to what you do. And short run, the number of chapters is the number of episodes and you're done. That's an opt. What about interview other authors in your genre. You're a science fiction author and you have a friend who's a science fiction author. Get together and talk about science fiction. Like, wouldn't that be fun? Like, you both do something like that you both love and you're friends already and you can promote each other. Don't just be a guest on my show, but start your own show. I think it'd be A great way to kind of borrow each other's audiences, readers and put your stuff in front of their audience and them as another author in front of your audience. How about to use your podcast to build an email list with lead magnets like checklists, extra scenes, advanced readings of a chapter of a new book, a book club, some guides, more information about the, the characters, maybe the story arc, more about the city where the book is set. Like the history that you went through, all of those notes that you did, creating the world that you created for your book. Don't you think your audience would love to see that a Spotify playlist of the music that inspired the book that you listened to when you wrote chapter one. I was listening to this song on repeat when I wrote chapter one. Well, create a Spotify playlist and put that into an email. Send it out to your group so they can go listen to that song while they read chapter one and be in the same headspace that you were in when you wrote the book. It's a lot of great opportunities here, a lot of great ideas you can justify in the marketing budget of your book and your promotion of your book. That a podcast is a great evergreen low cost channel that continues to drive book sales for you and help people to know about upcoming events and speaking gigs like it just gives you way more opportunities to reach an audience. There's a lot of different things that you can benefit from as an author by having a podcast. Again, be a guest, be a guest as much as you can, but again, you're borrowing the host audience. Let's take the audience home with you by having your own show. This is just a touch, just the beginning of the ideas that I have for you as an author. I would love to help you if a podcast is in your future. If you talk to any of my guests on Living the Next Chapter, you'll hear my heart for authors. I just love helping authors connect with communities. It's what I do on that show and I'd love to connect with you there. So you're listening. You're like, okay, Dave, so what do I need to do then if I want to start a podcast as an author? Well, we can get together, you and I on Zoom and there's a calendar link on my howtopodcast CA website. It's there for you anytime you want. It's always there. It's a 30 minute free invite on my, on my calendar, anytime. Go there. Love to connect with you. And we can use that link multiple times, not just one time. Bring Your questions, like write them out in advance and you and I can talk through kind of your approach to what you're doing. And again, I'd like to meet you for living the next chapter if you haven't been there already. So that's the first step is just kind of write down some questions that you have for me. Click the link in the calendar. Let's get together. Love to help you. No, no cost zero. Free. Totally free. I can give you some ideas on where to start with some free options or if you have the income to do this, some paid options. There's a choice. And we can come up with a concept for your short run podcast. We can come up with the name of your podcast and the basics to get you started. We if you and I met today to talk about your show, you already have an idea of where you want to go, how many episodes you want to do, and you have a basic concept for what you're doing. I could have you on Apple, Spotify and audible in about 24 to 48 hours from the time you say, yeah, I want a podcast. That's how quick it is. Really. 24 to 48 hours from the time you say, yes, you could be on those platforms with your own podcast. True. And I can even do it, help you to do it where it doesn't cost you anything to be on those platforms. So if you want to be a podcaster, even if you only have one podcast with 10 episodes and you never podcast again, create a podcast for your, your book. Create a podcast for your past books. If you've written many and some of them are like really old, but you want them to still, to still be relevant, then go and let's create episodes for those other books. You can have multiple podcasts themed around each individual book. Not a problem. Not a problem. You can have a short run podcast as many episodes as you want, as few as you want. I can help you with this. So if you're an author and you're guesting on podcasts, great, continue. If you've never been a guest on a podcast and you're an author, oh my gosh. Living the next chapter dot com. Come on. I get a lot of new authors who've never been on podcasts before coming on that show. We work together, they walk away going, that was fun. So reach out to me. Love to help you as a guest on my show, but I wish I want something more for you. I want you to take the audience home. I want it to be your audience and for you to Build a world around what you do. So you're a professional author. You've written a book. Congratulations. You've done something that many people haven't done. Now it's time to get out there and promote it. And I know when I talk to authors, you get a lot of support all the way through the process until the book is done, and then it's up to you to go find your way to promote the book. And that can be frustrating. You can only be in so many towns. You can only fly so far. You can only drive so far. But imagine a podcast where anyone anywhere in the world can listen to you, connect with you, and fall in love with your book, and they've never met you in person. It's possible. It works. I have proof. I have stories, I have examples. I have references. If you want to talk to people about their journey, as an authority, you ask me, I'll give you all the references you need. You can talk to them directly and see how it worked for them. HowToPodcast CA is where we can go to meet and start your journey as a podcaster author. And if you're an author and you want to check out my show, livingthenextchapter.com thanks for being here. Take care. Hey, thanks for being part of the podcast. Thanks for listening to our podcasting for professionals little miniseries that we're doing. Love doing this. Love spending time with you. Again. If you need any help at all and you're thinking, I just want. Have questions. I don't even know for sure if I want to start a podcast, but I just have questions. Let me know if you're also, if you're a guest, you want to be a guest on podcasts and you like, I don't know how to, how to do this. I don't have a PR agent. I don't have anybody helping me. I'm a, I'm an author. I'm a professional. I have, I have a team, but they don't know either. How do I get on shows? If you just want to have a conversation, love to help you. It's always there. HowToPodcast CA is my calendar invite. It lives there all the time. You have access to it anytime you want, whatever's available. When you open that calendar, when in whatever time zone, I'm ready for you. So let's get together and chat. I'll give you some direction, give you some ideas, some tools, some websites and places to consider. Happy to help you. Always willing to serve and love helping new guests find Podcasts as well. So I've got some great options for you. I have some great friends in podcasting as well. They can get you started, really. From there, you can build wherever you want to go. So whether you want to be a podcaster yourself, as we're talking about in this little mini series for professionals, podcasting, starting your own show, even if it's just short a few episodes. Right, we're talking about that here. We're also talking about guesting. So if you need help with that and you want somebody to walk with you on the guesting journey, you don't have a PR agent. Even if you do have a PR agent, you're still like, I don't know what I'm doing. Reach out to me. Howtopodcast. Ca. Love to help you and point you in the right direction. Again, here to serve, love to see you grow and build community around whatever you're doing. And I believe podcasting could be the answer for you. Firmly believe it. And I have proof. So reach out to me soon. Thank you for being here. Thanks for listening. Take care. You're still here. This is great. Okay, so one of the questions I get from new podcasters is I'm afraid of putting myself out into the world because people are going to judge what I'm doing, and I don't want to be judged. So I'm cautious about starting a podcast. What's your advice? So I remind people that we are judged all the time in public. When you drive that car behind you is judging how you did your last turn, how fast you're going, how slow you're going. You stand in line at the grocery store and you're putting your food up on the belt to pay. The person behind you is going, oh, my gosh. Like, why do they buy so many bananas? These thoughts are going through people's heads. Some. Somebody's walking behind you at the mall, at the store, and they're looking at your clothes going, I'd never wear that in public. We are being judged all the time. Your parenting skills. Why is your kid screaming in the middle of the store? Terrible parenting, right? We all are being judged. And I would even bet that you've judged somebody at some point, if you're honest. So it's a fact of life. We're gonna be judged. But one thing I love about podcasting is that people will come to your show, and if they don't like it, most likely they're just gonna leave and you'll never know they were there. You might see a stat that shows a listen, but they won't say anything negative. They just won't come back. I have people who follow this show on Spotify and unfollow follow this show on Spotify. I have no idea what brought them here and I have no idea what made them leave. And I'm fine. I just keep creating content. I don't worry about that. So we're all being judged. No matter what you do in life, somebody's looking at you going, so we still survive. We still go out and buy milk and eggs and bread and we still buy clothes for our kids. We still parent in public. We still order that extra large fry at McDonald's. And the people are like, you don't need that. Probably a small fry is what you need. We get all of these judgments all the time and we've survived so far. Your people who love you will love you, and the people who don't love your show will just fade away. So don't let that be something that keeps you from starting. We're all being judged. You've been fine so far with the judgments that have been placed on you that you know nothing of. So let's just move forward. Focus on the content. Focus on creating something that you feel the world needs and the right people will find you. Don't let this stop you. If you have any other questions. Howtopodcast ca take care.