Podcasts and podcasters can sometimes feel like a threat to radio talent. Podcasts like Armchair Expert, Smartless, The Joe Rogan Experience have millions of listeners. Does this take away from radio listenership? Not at all. In all honesty,  you should be embracing podcasting. Not only can you, as the talent, garner more endorsements, but sales can potentially bank on your podcast.

Creating a podcast doesn’t have to take a lot of time. I understand we wear many hats in radio, but this could be a simple 5 minute thing you do after your show every day. You can simply do a “Best Of” and air it every Saturday morning. Everyday, take notes during your show. Write down the time you believe your best breaks were. After the show, fire up the skimmer, or whatever recording software you use, and grab those bits. Save them in a folder on your desktop. Friday after the show, put them together into a file and there’s your Best Of Podcast! If you and your show crew have great chemistry, do a separate podcast where you freely talk about current events or pop culture. I did this with my old morning show partner and it was great! On air, you have a set time you can talk. In the podcast, you don’t! You can elaborate on a topic you did that day on-air, or talk about the stuff you didn’t get to.

As for sales…this is a very simple way to sell ad space. A client can either buy an ad or sponsor the podcast. According to Buzzsprout, 42% of Americans are reached by podcasts every month. That number is expected to jump 5% more next year. Even more insight: ads on podcasts are expected to obtain over $4 billion in revenue next year. Edison Research has found those who listen to podcasts are 54% more likely to become interested in brands they hear on their favorite shows; whether that’s radio or podcasts. I know this, and still when Dax talked about driving his Pacifica on his podcast, I was thinking “I have a Pacifica too!” The way they endorse items or how the commercial sounds can absolutely attract more consumers.

There are a couple types of ads you can sell. Host reads are what I just mentioned. The host will be given copy points for the ad and they can relay the message to the potential consumers. These sound more authentic. A dynamic insertion ad will put a pre-recorded ad through a server. These can be heard before or in the middle of the podcast.
The podcast should be established before you start selling ads. The buyer will need something to listen to before they are willing to pay for a commercial.

Happy Podcasting!