Podcasting: Precursor To Publishing Pizzazz

This week’s miniseries has been about leveraging your podcasting chops to make something that isn’t a podcast. (Please don't stop doing your podcast. It’s not an either/or proposition.) We’ve covered why you should consider making a fantastic live event (not just recording your podcast in front of a live audience), why you should consider making an amazing newsletter (not just distributing your show via email), and also why an amazing audio-based learning experience is a great idea.

But that’s just three. Honestly, there are so many more I could cover. So to wrap the week, I’m doing a rollup of a few select other options that should be on your radar.

Write A Book

Whether you use your podcast to educate or entertain, there’s probably a path for you to publish a book. You already have a lot of information prepared. You've recorded dozens or maybe hundreds of episodes already. That's a lot of scripts written. That’s a lot of interviews gathered. That’s a lot of articles created. 

All of that is a lot of research for a book.

Pro tip: Don't just take the articles you wrote for each of your podcast’s episodes and republish them as chapters of a book. I've done that. That's a bad idea.

Bonus: There’s been a resurgence in audiobooks as of late. I credit podcast-awareness as part of that. Publishers are seeing an uptick in consumer interest in audiobooks, and they’re on the hunt for authors to feed that demand. And since you're already doing an audio-based podcast…

Launch A Video Series

While I’m quite skeptical (to the point of shaming) the fake metrics often touted by video platforms, I do recognize that a very large percentage of content is video-based. Those who are successful at creating video content do just that: they create video-specific content.

A video of you recording your podcast is not video-specific content. 

Making a focused and intentional video series on what your expertise is or where your passions lie is a different beast. And a smart idea. Especially if you are willing (and able) to make compelling video-based content that appeals to the algorithms of the given video platform. 

And I don't just mean YouTube. If you can pull off a visual series on TikTok, you should totally do that. It's a growing platform with plenty of room for trying out new ideas. (That’s new ideas, not repurposed podcast content.)

Create A Valuable Community

Communities are filled with people with shared interests. And whether you’re building one with Discord, Flick, Facebook, or a membership site, you can leverage all of your expertise as a podcaster to create a valuable community. Not just for listeners of your show. But for other people with similar passions and interests. 

Many podcaster-created communities aren’t valuable communities for the members. Instead, they’re thinly-veiled distribution attempts at getting more people to listen to the podcast. In contrast, a valuable community is a real community where listening to your show isn't required. Sure, It's nice and wonderful when members do listen. And I believe most members will listen to your show eventually. But only if you’ve really built a valuable community first. 

Keep The Goal In Mind

Regardless of what non-podcasting options you decide to try out in your empire-building, you should understand what success looks like. This next statement will seem obvious or heretical depending on your perspective:

The success of non-podcasting options for your podcast should have nothing to do with your podcast’s download numbers.

If you’re writing a book, your goal is book sales. 

If you’re launching a video series, your goal is getting people to watch those videos. 

If you’re building a community, then the growth and engagement of the members in that community is your goal. 

If you’re creating audio-based learning experiences, your goals are centered around the success of your teachings.

If you’re writing a newsletter, your goal is more subscribers and interactions with that newsletter.

If you’re making an amazing live event, then your success metrics are all about how amazing your event actually is.

Whatever non-podcast option you take, don’t tie the success of that option back to your podcast. They should be worth doing on their own merit. Clearly, I’m a podcast-first kind of guy. And yes, I want you to be podcast-first as well. 

But podcast-first doesn’t mean podcast-only. 

I've said in previous episodes that the hub-and-spoke model is broken. Podcast content works well as a podcast, but not so well when you try to force it into a non-podcast platform. 

The good news is that you already know how to make compelling content in one form. All you have to do now is figure out how to make compelling content -- drawing from a lot of the knowledge and skills you already have -- in another. 

This week, I gave you six options. There are more. Please experiment with those and try ones I didn’t mention. There are new options for content creation cropping up every day. Try them out. 

Is there a non-podcasting portion of your publishing empire you’ve found success with? I'd love to hear about it. You can comment right here and I'll reply. Or you can also go to Flick.group/podcastpontifications and share your story with the 70 or so people who have joined that free community.

As always, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee. BuyMeACoffee.com/EvoTerra lets you do that virtually. And it's really really nice when you sign up for a monthly coffee purchase for me.

Finally, if you are in business and you need someone helping with the podcast strategy for your business, that's what my company - Simpler Media Productions - does. Get in touch with me: evo@podcastlaunch.pro or go to PodcastLaunch.pro to see a list of the services we offer our clients.

Enjoy your weekend. I will be back on Monday with a brand new miniseries on Podcast Pontifications. 

Cheers!