What is the secret of podcasting success? Ask a person who has reached three million listeners.
“Most podcasters quit before completing ten episodes. Don’t quit,” says podcasting expert Doug Sandler, a man who understands the value of persistence.
Doug Sandler knows that nothing can take the place of persistence in podcasting. As host of several shows including The Nice Guys on Business podcast, he and his co-host Strickland Bonner have gotten over three million downloads in more than 175 countries.
Doug Sandler is indeed a nice guy. His father was the late author David H. Sandler, creator of the Sandler sales methodology, a man who advocated professionalism in sales. The teachings of David Sandler have had a profound impact on my work, and it was an honor to meet Doug Sandler.
“Launching a podcast is much more than just opening up a microphone, sharing your thoughts on a recorder and distributing your message on Apple Podcast,” says Doug Sandler. “And yet, the majority of people that get into podcasting are clueless to the power they have in their hands if their launch, production and strategy are in alignment.”
Doug Sandler is the founder of TurnKey Podcast Productions. He has been in the podcasting space as a producer, strategist, consultant, coach and host. He is the author of the best-selling book, Nice Guys Finish First. He speaks all over the country on the topics of podcasting, customer service and sales. He drives a 1965 Ford Mustang and lives in El Segundo, California with his girlfriend JJ Flizanes, host of Spirit, Purpose and Energy podcast.
Appearing as a guest on a podcast is what I call a marketing gift that keeps giving. After being a guest on his show, I asked Doug Sandler for his best advice for those considering podcasting as a strategy to attract high-paying clients.
“Know why you are getting into the podcasting space,” advises Doug Sandler. “Pick a reason you are starting a show.”
For those who want to build their impact and influence and put money in the bank, Doug Sandler offered three main goals for a podcast:
To build influence. “Build your show’s ego,” says Doug Sandler. “Invite guests on your show that are influencers in your space. By associating with other influencers you become an influencer.”
To grow your community. “Sharing your message and your content is key to building your community,” says Doug Sandler. “If you eventually want to provide a service or product through promotion on your podcast, you will need to build a community.”
To make money. “If money is your motivation, do not be shy about it,” says Doug Sandler. “Focus on building your podcast like a business. In general, there are five ways to make money podcasting: advertising, brand sponsorships, selling your services to the community, donations, and turning guests into clients.”
Doug Sandler advises that you block time to launch a show in three phases:
Phase one. “The concept-to-launch-phase usually takes 30 to 60 days. This is when you build your show’s template consisting of cover art, open/close, voiceover, royalty free music, show notes format, show description, welcome episode; develop a launch plan and launch campaign; determine your most valuable social channel and build it while in this phase or sooner; purchase equipment, get a working knowledge with an editing app (ie. Audacity, Garage Band), establish a relationship with a hosting source (ie. Libsyn, Blubrry, Simplecast), communication app (ie. Zoom, Skype or Zencastr) and distribution source (ie. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora).”
Phase two. “For the production-phase for a weekly show, set aside one to three hours of time to record, edit, post and share. You need to dedicate time finding guests and curating content; understand the basics of editing; push episodes to get traction; promote via guest; promote via social media influencers; and promote to your existing community via email and social media.”
Phase three. “The strategy-fine-tuning-phase is when you need to visit your goals often to fine tune your strategy. This includes developing relationships with PR agencies, publicists, publishers to streamline the guest acquisition process; reviewing your goals and focus attention on why you are in the podcasting space to begin with.”
In my view, to attract high-paying clients you should be actively seeking guest spots on podcasts. This is earned media and it takes persistence. You can also attend industry conferences like Steve Olsher's New Media Summit. Or, you can create a podcast, and persistently work to bring the guests to you. The great thing about that is that you are on every podcast. For Doug Sandler, that means he has had impact and influence with three million listeners. A nice result for a nice guy.
Here is the bottom line from Doug Sandler. “If your goal, for example, is to make money, don’t focus solely on having guests on your show that feed the show’s, and your, ego. Don’t be afraid to pivot. It’s the rare exception that someone’s goals don’t change once they get 50 or so episodes deep into podcasting.”
