When John launched EOFire he had zero online presence, zero credibility and zero connections in the industry.

Through the podcast John was able to not only grow a loyal audience, (who we lovingly refer to as “Fire Nation”), but also a full-on sustainable and successful business, and we want to share how podcasting can help you grow your audience, too.

Even if podcasting isn’t going to be your main medium for content, it can still serve as a powerful extension of your marketing efforts to attract new leads and customers to your existing business.

Interested in starting your own podcast? Check out our bite-sized video tutorials on every step you need: Free Podcast Course

5 Ways podcasting can help you grow your audience

1. Offers targeted, on-demand content

With a podcast, you get to choose what you want listen to. That means you can target your perfect customer very easily.

Do they like to cook? Are they interested in kickboxing? Do they sell products on Etsy? Do they want to learn how to plant flowers? Grow their business?

There is a podcast that talks about every one of these things, and it’s available to them anytime they want it.

Best part is, because podcasts are audio content, you don’t have to say no to what you’re doing right now to be able to listen to a podcast: driving, working out, on a walk, folding laundry, cooking…

YOU could be the one filling that void for your perfect customer by creating a podcast around the content that matters most to them.

2. Authority and credibility in your industry

Building authority and credibility in your industry or niche is important for a number of reasons. With all the noise out there, it’s easy for people to find the information they’re looking for without having to look very far.

What’s going to make your business successful?

YOU being the one to give them exactly what they’re looking for.

Creating a podcast gives you instant authority and credibility in your industry or niche because you’re providing valuable information to your audience that they’re looking for.

If you’re creating quality content that your audience wants and needs, then your audience WILL continue to grow, and they’ll start coming to you for advice and insights as oppose to someone else.

Use the platform that podcasting offers to reach your audience and to give them what they want. Once you do this, you’ll have loyal fans who know they can come to YOU for the information they’re looking for.

Don’t feel like an expert yourself? That’s the beauty of podcasting. With an interview-based show you don’t have to be the expert – you can invite the experts on and have them provide the value!

3. An intimate connection

Imagine a platform that not only allows you to deliver the quality content that your audience is looking for, but that also allows you to speak to them every single day (or however often you publish your podcast).

When people hear your voice, there is a different type of trust that is established. They aren’t just reading words on a page – they are hearing the passion in your voice for the content you’re delivering.

Just think: thousands of people hear John’s voice every single day when they listen to EOFire. They start to recognize his voice, and they start to feel like they know him.

Building trust with your audience is so important, and that’s why it’s key to remember that you need to stay true to your word.

The consistency you deliver and the resources and recommendations you provide to your audience are all part of establishing a solid relationship and building that intimate connection.

4. It’s FREE

I saw your eyes get a little bit wider just now…

That’s right, podcasts are FREE.

There is not one podcast in the Apple Podcasts that isn’t free (unless it’s turned into an album or the host has created a subscription).

It’s not like going on Amazon and having to purchase that eBook you just heard about – all you need is an Internet connection to be able to download or stream an episode, and you’re good to go.

What this means is that your listeners are receiving expert advice from individuals (like you) in any given industry at no cost. They don’t have to go searching for it – it’s right there in Apple Podcasts.

This idea of giving away free content tends to freak people out a bit. I’ve heard this from a lot of people:

What if I’m giving away too much free content?

Not possible.

A quick example I like to use here is what we recently created here at EOFire: Free Podcast Course.

Free Podcast Course is a 15-day email and video series that costs exactly $0 – it’s completely free. All we ask for is an email address (and any time you’re giving away content for free via your own platform – like your website – you should be asking for an email address, too!)

So, how does this free content help us generate income if it’s free?

Well, for starters, it has helped us build a segmented list filled with only those people who are interested in podcasting – nearly 21,000 subscribers and counting as of today.

Secondly, this email and video series leads into our flagship product and community, Podcasters’ Paradise, which is currently selling for $1,297.

Free Podcast Course allows us to give massive value to a large number of people for free – all automated – and as a result, helps us gain trust, credibility and build a relationship with our audience.

Since creating Free Podcast Course, we’ve had over 453 new members join Podcasters’ Paradise who have also been a part of the free course. That’s an invoice total of over $540,000.

That is the power of free content.

We’ve also heard from several of our members in Podcasters’ Paradise that they can attribute tens of thousands of dollars in revenue directly to their podcast.

Their perfect customer tunes in to the free, valuable content they’re providing; finds out about them for the first time as a result of tuning in; goes to their site to find out more about them and what they have to offer; and then becomes an actual paying customer and a loyal follower.

5. Accessibility & reach

You can listen to podcasts from your Smartphone, tablet, laptop, TV and now even from the dashboard of your own car. That’s a lot of options!

When Apple created a separate, stand-alone app for Podcasts they opened a door for you to easily stream and/or download episodes and take them with you anywhere you go.

You also now have several car manufacturers that are starting to include podcast stations right in the dashboards of cars, you truly have access to podcasts no matter where you are.

EOFire is downloaded in over 145 countries around the world, proving that we live in an incredibly tech-savvy world where Internet connections are no longer rare.

You can publish a podcast in California at 5am on a Tuesday, and within seconds that podcast is accessible to people in Japan, Australia, England, Africa – all around the world.

Podcasting has a worldwide reach, and the globe is the limit.

Not to mention that today, our grandparents own iPads and have email addresses. Our nieces and nephews are grabbing for our Smartphones so they can play games, and they talk about Words With Friends like it’s old news. (Okay, so maybe it is old news…)

Technology is no longer a “Gen Y thing”. It’s an “every-Gen thing”, and you could be reaching practically anyone in the world with the power of podcasting.

How’s THAT for business growth?

Podcasting is one of the many mediums you could be leveraging to grow your audience; you shouldn’t feel like it HAS to be the one you choose.

Podcasting isn’t right for EVERYONE, so take some time and ask yourself: is podcasting the ONE thing I want to focus on right now?

If no, that’s okay. Choose your ONE thing and you can always revisit other options later down the road.

Up next, we’re headed into the last post in the Grow Phase, which is going to be all about how to leverage joint opportunities in your business!

Ready to start your own podcast? We created The Podcast Journal to help you every step of the way: a physical journal with daily exercises to help you stay on track!