Podcast Roundup: Here’s What You Missed!

 

Have the past few months been crazy, or what? The current events today have left pretty much everyone shook, especially small business owners. Just know, you are not in this alone, and together we can rise above. If you are curious or worried about navigating virtual events, collecting emails virtually, or managing dropping sales during Covid-19, we’ve got you covered!  

 

If you aren’t aware, we host Q&A sessions on Instagram Live Mondays and Thursdays at 9:00 AM PST. If you can’t tune into the live, no worries because we repurpose them into podcast episodes. Below we have rounded up our top 3 Q&A podcast episodes you totes need to catch up on!

 

How to turn your IRL event into a thriving virtual event!

 

Let’s jump right in, shall we? Creating an event for your brand is not the easiest task. Creating a virtual one can be even more challenging. When we announced the topic of this episode, many listeners wrote in with the question, “how can you make a Zoom on Instagram fun and engaging?” Short answer, focus on creating an interactive experience as if this were an in-person event. Consider including interactive activities and cool giveaways. Also, note that giveaways do not have to include a monetary exchange. If you are trying to save your coins, consider offering your services as a prize! 

 

Now that we’ve covered how to get creative with your virtual event let’s chat about pivoting it to fit the times. More specifically, how can you pivot and create a campaign specific to people in quarantine? In our experience, the best way to learn what people need is to ask. Use your social platforms to reach out to your community and ask them what type of content they currently want to see. Once you collect the tea, strategize your campaign accordingly. If you are a skincare company looking to serve your community during this time, you may consider hosting a virtual face mask party! This is the time to listen and get creative.

 

If you are looking for more tips on how to brand your virtual event or ways to make your event stand out with virtual photobooths, check out the episode! 

 

How to build an email list with Zoom!

 

If this time has taught brands and marketers anything, it’s that email lists matter! Over time, having a strong and reliable email list will help your brand save on ad spend while nurturing your community. Investing in frequent newsletters increases your brand recognition and is a great way to update your subscribers on your brand’s upcoming events. 

 

With the many virtual shifts happening right now, one of the top questions from this episode was “how to maximize your email list with Zoom and provide value to your audience?” This is the time to get strategic. If you are hosting a virtual live, require guests to provide an email address to opt-in and tune in. Doing this will not only help grow your email community, but it will help authentic and verify attendees. It’s a win-win! If you’re currently hosting live Zoom calls without collecting emails, this is a missed opportunity. Read that twice if you have to! 

 

So you’ve collected their emails, now what? Growing your email list means nothing if you cannot maintain it. To avoid people unsubscribing from your email list, ensure you are providing them with valuable content. If you are a fitness brand, you may consider giving home workouts in your newsletters. Offering exclusive email promos or discounts doesn’t hurt either. 

 

For more inspiration on hosting a virtual event and building your emails, check out the episode!

 

Sales dropping as a result of Covid-19? Here’s how to stop them!

 

The impact of Covid-19 has been nothing short of stressful. As a small start-up ourselves, we totally get it. It’s the main reason we felt compelled to host an episode featuring this topic. We are here to help and provide you with solutions!

 

We cannot stress enough the importance of building and catering to a community during this time. As a brand, it is crucial to remember we are all humans, experiencing this together. Be there for your community now, and they will show up for you later. Provide value to your community by being an educational resource and a place where they can lean on. This, in turn, allows consumers to build trust with your brand. When the economy begins to rise, they will feel comfortable purchasing from you. 

 

If you are a new brand, you may be wondering what time of year is it good to launch a product? We typically recommend avoiding April, May, and June. However, these months are great opportunities to build up the community that you do or don’t have to plan the best way to launch after these months are going. Use this time to really get to know your audience and implement your research into your strategy. Include them in the launch, ask them to help you with the branding, packaging, website etc. This will cause your potential consumers to make small investments into your brand each day, so when you do launch and the market rises, they’ll be eager to purchase from you. 

 

Time may feel like it’s standing still, but it’s important to remember, don’t stop. After all, if you don’t have a pulse on your community, you don’t have a pulse on your business. 

 

For more strategy on how to build your brand community, tune into the episode!

 

If you want to hear more head over and check out The Label podcast today! If there’s anything else you’re itching to know, DM us on Instagram or email us at info@itscreativelabel.com. For more Q&A sessions, tune into our Instagram Lives! 

 

Starting your own podcast is so exciting and an important step for a brand, but the process of producing a great show is sometimes hard to navigate. For instance, many podcast hosts want to implement interviews in their episodes because podcast guests provide great content that engages listeners. 

You may be thinking, “I would love to start interviewing people, but how the heck do I book a guest?” No worries, friend, we got you! This week we’re dropping podcast gems that outline actionable items to implement when booking guests on your podcast, a FREE sample email template that you can download, plus an e-course that will take you step by step. 

Find compatible guests

Finally, this is the time to put your Tinder skills to use and find the perfect match! It sounds like an obvious first step, but nonetheless, it is the most important. To select a guest, determine the topic of the episode and the angle in which you want to tell the story. This will help you establish the necessary criteria and credentials your guest should have. For example, if the episode topic is about relationships, and your angle is the complexity of female friendships, you may want a guest who is a female and a relationship expert. Perhaps even a doctor. It is also essential to do your research on your guests because you want to ensure that their brand aligns with your audience. Aside from brand awareness, the point of guest appearances is to create great content that provides value to your listeners. And believe us, audiences are quick to recognize when a brand isn’t being genuine. 

Master your pitch

After you find your perfect match, collect the data (email, phone number, social handles), you will need to send them a pitch. For step by step instructions on what to include in the pitch, check out this downloadable. Think of the downloadable as your pitch bible. It outlines all of the pitch essentials like: a quick introduction, a brief description of the show, why you are seeking them as a guest, and a short overview of the episode topic and more. Last but not least, wrap up the pitch by requesting a quick meeting, whether via phone or video chat. Remember to keep your tone professional, but friendly. People are more likely to respond if they feel you are authentic and genuine in your approach. In other words, don’t copy-paste the same pitch to everyone! Read that twice if you have to. If you need more tips on pitching, check out this blog post. 

Tie up the loose ends

So, you’ve swiped right for your perfect match, sent out an impressive pitch, and now you have a podcast guest! Now what? This is where the administration duties of running a podcast kick in. Brief the guest on the exact details of the process. You want to provide the guest with a recording schedule to secure a recording date. Then, you need to determine how their interview will be recorded. Will it be online, in person, etc.? Once that is established, inform the guest on the episode script. We like to email the guest a list of potential questions for the interview at least 72 hours before recording. Following this step allows the guest to feel prepared and confident, and you, as a host to set a tone and guide the interview. 

So, that’s all the major deets you need to book a podcast guest! Want to get started on booking guests to your podcast today? Click the link to check out our downloadable e-course! Have you ever booked a guest on your podcast? If so, we want to hear your experiences down below!

Get Creative Like Creative Label

Already have an established podcast? Offering a podcast guest submission option on your website can be an easy way to generate guest leads. Check out our submission form! Take a look at ours. 

Easiest Platform to Record Your Podcast.

We’ve been prepping you for podcasting all month. So it’s no surprise that we’re here again talking about podcasts. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, we want to plug our eCourse, “How To Start Your Own Podcast With $47.00.” You can purchase that here. Use the discount code thelabel for 10% off.

So we talked about The Importance of a Podcast, Podcast Host Review and now the Easiest Platform To Record Your Podcast–and that platform is Zoom. Below are some specs we truly love that will show you why Zoom is the best platform for your podcasting needs.

Audio Quality Rating: 8 out of 10 

The audio quality is great no matter on your laptop or iPhone. Just plug in some Apple headphones and the audio is crisp and clear.

Podcast Format: Perfect for Individual or interview recordings

Zoom doesn’t discriminate on the type of podcast format you use. Why? Because distance is no issue when recording on Zoom. You can record an interview with someone anywhere in the world and it wouldn’t matter.

Storage: Records to a cloud 

No storage? No problem. Zoom records to the cloud.

Price: $14.99/ month

We’re all about an economically friendly deal, and Zoom is definitely economically friendly!

Other Facts: 

• Zoom also records the video element if you do want to give your listeners a visual. 
• Seeing the guest over video is good for social cues, and a perfect way to stop guests from talking over or each other. 
• You will always need to record in a separate area than a guest because the audio will pick up from one another. 

Cons: 

• Zoom only records on one audio track, which could make things difficult when editing. 

We’re here for all of your podcasting needs. Send us an email at info@itscreativelabel.com, and we’ll get you started on your very own podcast.

The Importance of a Podcast

You’ve created an awesome website, you post weekly on your blog, you have a decent Instagram following, so what are you lacking in? A more personal approach to honing in on your audience may be just what you need to make a strong connection! If you’re still thinking about taking things to the next level, here are some important things to think about, so you can get started on the right track, right off the bat. Dive in with us!

1. Popularity Amongst Consumers

No matter what your niche is, there’s a consumer for you! There’s not only something for everyone, but it makes it so much easier for your audience to communicate with you! It’s currently the only platform that allows passive consumption from the viewer (which is REALLY cool) and makes it easy to work into their daily lifestyle! You can’t, or at least shouldn’t read a blog while driving, BUT you can most definitely listen to it! Traditionally we all get in the car and drive to work in the morning, so instead of turning on their usual early morning talk show, they can reach for their phone and listen to something that’s going to get their wheels turning for the day (HA! No pun intended)!

2. Search Engine Optimization (or SEO for short)

Statistics show that 70.6% of all website traffic originates from an online search engine. As a business, you want to be one of the first websites to pop up when a potential viewer searches for anything in regards to the type of business that you do, or the topics you discuss. That’s exactly where SEO comes in handy! Making sure that your website is fully equipped with the right content to lead consumers to you (and your podcast) is the secret weapon to SEO success. It helps bring organic viewers to your page who are actually looking for your expertise, who would also be the best potential listener!

3. Brand Credibility

Trustworthiness & Expertise: two things that someone expects when giving their attention to someone for long time spans. Ain’t nobody got time to listen to something that they can’t learn a thing or two from! Make your listeners feel like they can trust what you’re saying. You’re the expert on the topic, (or maybe you have a guest speaker that is)! They’re coming to you because you know best. Make sure the information you are providing is true and correct, or if you’re discussing a topic you don’t know all of the facts on, say that! Disclosing that you don’t “know it all” makes you relatable, so there’s no need to fake it. Always keep your audience’s best interest in mind and they will turn into loyal listeners!   

4. #1 Content Platform

Podcasts aren’t exactly new, but they’ve definitely been making a statement in the Social Media world, as of late. A huge reason why getting into podcasts is a great idea is that there is so little competition in comparison to blogs and videos! You’re also speaking in a conversational manner, so your listeners feel connected to you. Over time they really get to know you and you end up building a relationship! As you grow in your expertise, you end up connecting with influencers who you may look up to or are thought highly of in your industry. Because you have a podcast, you immediately have something to offer! They can use your stage to speak on and reach an entirely new group of people. Sounds like a pretty great deal for everyone!

We hope you learned a thing or two after reading this! If you still haven’t hopped on the podcast train we hope we gave you the push you need to take the plunge! Don’t forget to purchase our eCourse.