Firstly, do you need a podcast coach?
Podcasts are an amazing way to engage your audience and grow your business through the power of storytelling.
But, podcasting is a lot more than just pressing record and uploading content. You need to know what you’re doing in order to get the results you’ll be wanting.
A professional podcast coach or consultant can help with this and can take away a lot of the stress of managing your branded podcast.
In many cases they can advise on and even take over the handling of everything from production and editing to marketing and promotion!
However, if you don’t have any specific goals for your podcast, and you’re doing it just because… well perhaps you don’t actually need a podcast coach.
If you want to find out the twelve reasons why you might need a professional podcast coach or consultant to manage your branded podcast and take your podcast game up a few decibels, then read on!
Here are 12 benefits of hiring someone who can help, or even handle everything for you:
1: They're usually audio experts
They can help with all aspects of podcast production and editing – something that is vital if you want it done well!
To be honest, you can really tell the difference between a professionally edited podcast, and one that’s been produced by someone who has watched a couple of YouTube videos.
Some of the common mistakes made by people producing their own podcasts can include; having the intro music too loud or too long and leaving ‘click’ noises where the umms have been amateurishly taken out.
2: They'll help you nail the basics, like getting your podcast RSS feed set up and working properly
What a lot of people don’t realise is that setting up your podcast with a hosting platform, and clicking publish, isn’t always the end of the task.
And, don’t even turn round to me and say “I’m on Anchor! And it takes care of all that for me.” It doesn’t!
Do not use Anchor!
And make sure you book a chat with me if you’re thinking of using it because I really need to explain why you shouldn’t be!
Anyway, the podcast professional you work with will hopefully be able help you through all this so you won’t be missing out on any potential new listeners.
3: They'll be able to help you 'step away' from your own business and perceive it just as the listener would
While they’ll hopefully be well researched and clued up on what you generally do, the podcast professional is not as close to it all as you are.
This means they’ll definitely be able to advise you on the topics you could cover on your podcast to help make it successful with listeners.
They’ll help ensure you’re talking about the things that are going to be of interest to your audience, not just things you want to talk about! And this is a common trap many new podcasts fall into.
They’ll also be able to help steer you on to topics that are hot right now and offer you the best chance of having your podcast discovered.
All this information will help you get off the ground running – instead of just diving in without a plan!
4: They'll know how to ensure your podcast can be found on the main apps
Their specific skillsets means they’ll help you reach more people than just through organic discovery alone. Contrary to what you believe, nobody just stumbles upon podcasts!
And can your podcast even be found that easily anyway?
A professional will be able to make sure you’re not just blending into the noise of the several hundreds of thousands of other podcasts on similar topics.
5: They'll help prevent you talking to just your friends and family
Being experts in their field, they have an invaluable insight into what works when it comes to growing audiences and engaging listeners. Believe it or not, there aren’t many listeners who want to hear a five minute rant on your political views before you get into the main topic that they’ve downloaded to hear.
Your mum will tolerate hearing your ramblings.
A stranger in Bracknell who has only just discovered your podcast today, won’t.
A professional podcast coach or consultant will be able to steer you in the right direction with your content.
6: They'll keep you accountable and motivated
A professional podcast coach will not only be able to help you create awesome podcast episodes that are concise, easy-to-listen to and have killer content….
They’ll also be able to help you stay motivated and ensure you don’t give up.
Podfade is one of the most common challenges in podcasting, and the biggest reason for it is a lack of accountability. There’s always something more important that a busy business owner needs to attend to! Yet, what could be more important than consistently showing up and engaging potential new customers with some fantastic insight?
7: They can make you more efficient
The professional podcaster’s knowledge of podcasting means they can guide you on how to record your content more quickly and efficiently.
Sometimes this might be remotely, using your own equipment.
In other events it might be beneficial and more efficient to have the professional supply the equipment and direct you in person.
And that is super useful if indeed you are busy and need to keep your time invested down to a minimum.
8: They'll be able to help you keep an eye over your KPIs
If the podcast coach or consultant knows their stuff, then they will know exactly what insights you can glean from looking at your stats so that you understand more about where listeners are finding you from.
Usually, this means they’ll be able to get you better information than just the number of listens your newest episode had, and in which country.
They may also have some top tips for increasing downloads/listens too.
9: They'll know what to cut and what to keep
Having someone who understands podcasts editing mean they’ll know how to maximise engagement and won’t let any of your podcast risk turning listeners off.
It’s incredible how many minutes you can chop a podcast back by simply by removing a few pointless bits of speech.
Is your podcast’s main presenter prone to starting a sentence and not finishing it?
Careful and professional editing can eradicate these speech patterns that waste the listener’s time and prevent you getting to your call to action promptly.
10: They're connected
Having a podcast coach or consultant will mean you’ll be able to grow your network of like-minded podcasters and influencers.
If you’re working with a good one, with a solid reputation, they’re likely to also be effective connectors, taking away a lot of the challenges with getting guests.
Plus, they’ll more than likely know other people far higher up the podcasting success ladder than you in the early stages, and can help you benefit from their knowledge too!
11: They're informed
They should have their finger on the pulse when it comes to what is happening in the podcasting space – especially if they’ve been working within this field for years.
They may also keep up with industry news so that they can give you advice based upon any changes/new releases etc.
The founder of Podknows Podcasting has been in podcasting since 2001, and also host a semi-regular podcast industry podcast. Just sayin’!
12: They'll save you time
If all else fails, having someone manage your podcast will save you time (the most precious thing we now seem to own). You could spend more time doing your most valuable work that you are an expert in, instead of trying to fit podcast production into your already overloaded list of tasks.
They can take podcast marketing completely off of your to-do list so you’ll be able to get on with other things.
Being around like-minded people who love podcasting too will definitely help you keep motivated and inspired for the long run.
It’s incredible what a difference having a meeting of the minds can do for your overall mindset.
And having regular catchups with your podcast coach can help you identify your challenges early on, before they start to weigh you down and add to your overall business stress.
So, do you need a podcast coach or consultant?
If you read through all 13 reasons and decided that you do need some help – and I’ll be very surprised if you didn’t – now is the time for some action!
What are you waiting for?
Want to find out how you can benefit from having me as your podcast coach or consultant?
Or better yet, want me to help you supercharge your podcast’s success story by helping you with my full podcast management solutions?
Book your free consultation with me about your podcast, now!