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This blog post is part of in a series, which is based upon the book "Top 21 Marketing channels for membership websites' published by the Subscriber Coach Amanda Northcutt.

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Start your own podcast

The process of starting your own podcast is an immense undertaking and the ability to carry it through the process each week must be evaluated prior to committing. Many owners of membership sites struggle to decide whether to launch an audio show or not, as your SEO plan is not a sprint.

The market for podcasts has become saturated at the moment, but when you focus your efforts and go in-depth within your field it's likely that you'll increase the number of fans who will be qualified prospects for your membership site to come in the near future. Producing your own show is also one of your best options to connect with influencers and to become one yourself!

You must make a 12-18 months commitment and publish at least 1-2 podcasts per week, to give the channel an opportunity to become successful. It's essentially the reverse of running a fast Facebook campaign that can be easily evaluated in a relatively short time. Similar to other kinds of content, I suggest recording your episodes by batches of 4-10 minutes in one sitting, so there's no pressure to follow scheduling your schedule every week, or multiple instances each week in which to record an identical episode.

Podcasting is one of the most personal ways to connect with your prospects on any scale Sometimes, it's more effective than writing. Make sure you're attentive to your audience. Empathize with them and demonstrate that you understand their struggles and can resolve it. Join Your Club!

Your subjects on your podcast have to appeal to people who have the possibility of becoming the top members of your membership website. The rest of the people are irrelevant. Similar to other efforts for marketing, casting an extensive network will draw people who are not qualified, which will fill your email list, or even worse sending out emails early. Also, staying narrow and deep within your area of expertise is essential to the success of your business.

Do not fool yourself into thinking that the number of episodes downloaded is the only crucial measure to be monitoring or. The questions you should be asking yourself when determining the success of your podcast are: Are my subscribers adhering to my CTA and moving through my funnel for sales? Do new subscribers cite my podcast as a reason that they joined or where they found out about me? Are the credibility I'm building through my podcast helping me create trust and connections with people who are influential in my field? Do I use my podcast to connect with others through the presence of the right guests on my podcast?

Promote your podcast to your database of subscribers to your email list, as well as current members through your social media channels, as well as influential people. Podcasts are an integral element of your content marketing plan but because it's effort-intensive, they merit its own category within my top 21 list.

The podcast you run is a great tool in the marketing mix. Don't get started until you've got it finished. It's a good thing that the second most effective way to host your own podcast is having a consistent appearance as a guest host on other podcasts.

Be a podcast guest

The same principles of guest blogging apply in this case quite readily. Anyone who has decided to run podcasts of their own face exactly the same problem that bloggers do. Contacting the appropriate hosts with an appropriate approach may land you a handful of great guest spots and reduce the workload of creating content for hosts.

If you run your own show by hosting a guest on other podcasts, it can help improve your results from your show. In the end, those who subscribe to podcasts listen to...podcasts.

If you do have an own show or don't, make sure to include your CTA whenever you're hosting the guest show. CTAs can be for downloading your lead magnet that you've designed, a promotion for the cost of your membership, or a brief consultation, or anything else that is related to your website. If you run the podcast of your choice, definitely encourage listeners to the podcast(s) where you are guests to join your own.

Create a list of podcasts that you think will provide valuable information and insight to your viewers. They will probably be industry influencers' podcasts which have a similar audience to the people you want to reach. Podcasts hosted by guest hosts could be part of your organic influencer marketing strategy.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you must try to reach hosts with 100,000 followers first. Begin small, gain experience and develop a profile  in the process, then work to climb the ranks of influential people.

The email you send to an outreach host should contain a couple of appreciation to them, their the credentials you've earned yourself (in manner that isn't overly boastful) and also examples of other podcasts that you've been on and/or links to your own blog entries as well as YouTube channel. Perhaps certain topics that you'd like to speak about when you interview.

Do not give up, even when you're not accepted. If you're rejected by a major influencer in your area, be it after the first, second, or even the third check out the section about organic influencers on this page to build the social capital these influencers have before attempting it another time.

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