What is one way a podcast can help entrepreneurs build their personal brands?
The following answers are provided by members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
1. Building Brand Partnerships
“By showing the world that you are collaborative, it looks like you always have other great minds in the room with you. If you are just one person talking about everything, you will end up falling short. Having multiple brands together makes your podcast appear like your companies are trying to push things to the next level. Almost a sense of personal evolution, if you will.”
— Jon Cline, Rokit SEO
2. Personalizing Your Product
“A podcast allows your customers to be guided behind the curtain on what your process is — but it puts a person and a voice (and possibly a face) to your product. Customers respond much more strongly when they feel like this is a product coming from “Rob” than coming from “Matikis.” They want their customer experience to be between friends, and a podcast does just that.”
— Rob Fulton, Automation Heroes
3. Finding Your Voice
“Creating a personal brand is all about finding your voice. Similar to contributing articles as expert insights in your field of expertise, entrepreneurs can extend their reach and even frequency by creating a captivating podcast. Just be yourself and talk about what you know best and people will inevitably tune in to listen and brand you as the expert that you want to be.”
— Charles Moscoe, Scumbag.com Online Reputation Management
4. Gaining Access to High Profile People
“Having a well-followed podcast in an area where you’ve established yourself as an expert can open up the possibility to get interviews with high profile individuals. Just like you, they are looking for publicity for their new products, companies, and other agendas. As an interview opportunity for them, you can get to know them on a closer level and effectively expand your personal network.”
— Mark Cenicola, BannerView.com
5. Building a Distribution Channel
“Podcasts are a great way to build a distribution channel for content that is consumed in a personal environment. People aren’t nearly as selective about what links they click or what websites they subscribe to as they are about what they listen to in their car or on their headphones.”
— Nick Reese, Microbrand Media
6. Explaining Your Story
“Executing on your message and personal story on a regular basis is a powerful way to build authority. Multiple listens constitute loyalty. Loyalty means they are relating to either you or the message you are representing. Leverage your story as often as possible and always consider the ways it can be catered to all types of listeners that may be tuning in for advice and/or info.”
— Logan Lenz, Endagon
7. Polishing Your Speaking Skills
“The benefits of launching a podcast are incredible; improving your speaking skills is an often overlooked opportunity. Especially if you’re interviewing guests live, you’ll quickly learn how to come up with questions and responses on the fly. You’ll also gain a better understanding of how you sound on recordings and how to up your game.”
— Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting
8. Creating Name Recognition
“A podcast has an extremely low barrier to entry but a very high perceived value. I started my podcast with a Blue Yeti Microphone, Audacity, fiverr.com, and a friend who was awesome at mixing sound. The best part is that there is no need for visuals, expensive cameras, or fancy editing like on a YouTube channel. You can record in your undies and build your brand!”
— Arel Moodie, College Success Program
9. Becoming a Thought Leader
“By positioning yourself as a thought leader, you spread your industry knowledge and expertise. You also establish yourself as a credible resource and go-to person in the field.”
— Zach Cutler, Cutler PR
10. Improving Your Reach
“Putting a quality podcast together will allow you to reach a larger audience, as well as get your personal brand message to many more individuals through sharing formats. If the show is entertaining and you’re able to get good, well-respected guests to appear, no matter what the vertical is, it will help you build your name recognition and brand.”
— Jason Grill, JGrill Media | Sock 101
11. Figuring Out New Ideas
“When you are being interviewed, you are exposed to questions and ideas that cause your mind to think differently about your brand. Some of my best ideas and ways of explaining who we are have come from podcasts as they stimulate our thoughts. If you are having a hard time articulating what you do, a podcast can help pull out new ideas and ways of discussing your brand.”
— John Ruhlin, The Ruhlin Group
