8 Simple Ways to Grow Your Personal Brand with Podcasting

The Power of Personal Brand

Your personal brand is your greatest asset. It tells the world who you are, what you do, and why you’re the resource that can provide solutions to one’s problems. When you build your personal brand effectively, you will position yourself as an authority, a thought leader, and open up a world of opportunities to grow and thrive…no matter what industry or niche you exist in.

Ask entrepreneurs who’ve left successful corporate jobs and many will tell you they owe the ability to transition from ‘9 to 5’ life to the freedom of working for themselves to personal branding. Their ability to showcase their expertise, build strong, lucrative relationships, and transcend their employer’s standards earned them a reputation that allowed them to seamlessly move into the launch of their own enterprise…with many of their established clients following them to their new venture.

To effectively build your personal brand today, you need a platform to make connections, network, put your expertise center stage, and tell your story in a compelling, relatable way that attracts people to you.

And that stage…is podcasts.

Why Podcasts?

The podcast medium allows you to check off all the aforementioned brand-building items AND THEN SOME. Whether you start your own podcast, collaborate with other podcasters and bring your knowledge to the microphone as a value-driven guest, or a combination of both, podcasts give you an uncanny ability to establish authority in your niche, put yourself in front of a new audience with each interview you do, increase your overall reputation and visibility, accelerate your personal brand growth, and so much more.

Entrepreneurs and professionals across the globe are using podcasts to take their personal brand to the next level. By bringing significant value to the microphone, they’re finding dynamic, innovative ways to welcome new people into their world, nurture them, and transform them into loyal brand advocates.

With this guide, you will learn how to do the same.

These eight simple strategies will help you understand the power of personal branding and why the podcast medium is the best stage for building your personal brand with confidence and clarity.

Let’s get started.

1. Establish the Right Mindset

Everything starts with mindset. Developing a positive mindset extends far beyond personal branding, starting a podcast, or being a guest on podcasts. If you don’t have clarity when it comes to your mindset and approach life from a place of scarcity instead of abundance, making significant strides and accomplishing your goals will be impossible.

When it comes to building your personal brand in the podcast space, your mindset needs to be locked in on commitment, development, and patience. Let’s break each of these down:

Commitment

This is where many aspiring podcasters fall short. They start a podcast and instantly expect the world to show up and listen. This NEVER happens. And when they don’t, they feel their efforts are all for naught and they stop producing new content before they ever give themselves a chance to break through. Or, as a guest, they do a few interviews sporadically with no real plan of action, they see little to no results, and they immediately conclude that podcast guesting doesn’t work for them.

Building your personal brand with podcasts means you need to commit to your mission. You need to commit to staying passionate about your brand objectives. You need to commit to getting better at your craft a little bit each day. You need to commit to finding your voice and establishing a powerful way to tell your brand story with conviction and confidence. And, most importantly, you need to commit to solidifying your presence on the podcast platform for an extended period of time (a year minimum).

Development

Now that you’re committed to building your brand on the podcast medium, it’s time to focus on your development. The quality of the content you produce, as well as the growth of your podcasting skill set, are both elements you can control. What you can’t control is how quickly your audience grows. So put your attention where it needs to be: on getting better at your craft. Whether you emphasize launching your own show or being a guest on established shows, developing your skill set is a requirement and will take place the more active you are in the space. That activity, naturally, will lead to the enhancement of your reputation and strong positioning for your personal brand.

Patience

Real results do not come overnight and this statement rings just as true in the podcast space as it does anywhere else. It takes time to grow a loyal audience. It takes time to establish authentic authority. As you continue to put effort forth, you’ll begin to see things fall into place for your brand. Those who become impatient and expect things to happen rapidly are the ones who walk away from their efforts before any significant gains can be made. Be the person who works consistently to produce quality content and it will pay off over time.

2. Root EVERYTHING In Value

When your efforts are rooted in value, it shows. You don’t look like someone simply trying to complete a transaction, but rather a person who’s looking to make a significant impact on the world. The simple act of being genuine and being a constant beacon of assistance and guidance to those who find you will make you stand out and help your personal brand skyrocket.

With podcasting, your goal is to be a resource people turn to for education, entertainment, and solutions to their problems. With your own podcast, you can serve this purpose by cultivating powerful content that serves a specific niche and allows people to gain new perspectives each and every episode they consume.

As a guest, you can root your efforts in value by positioning yourself as a valuable asset to podcasters before, during, and after your guest appearance takes place. This showcases you’re not just showing up for an interview to sell something, but that you’re genuinely invested in the success of that podcast because your knowledge and expertise is part of that portfolio. The more listeners find that show, the more opportunities you have for your message to be heard.

Someone who operates from a transactional mindset is easy to spot and focuses solely on their own gains…completely oblivious to the fact that serving others and bringing value to the world not only helps others grow, it positions them for gains in spades.

Use the podcast platform to project value from your personal brand and everything will fall into place.

3. Collaborate with Podcasts (and Podcasters) That Align with Your Brand Objectives

In order to experience real, tangible results for the growth of your personal brand in the podcast space, you need to keep a tight focus on who you collaborate with. You may be thinking that producing a ton of content just for the sake of quantity will help your cause or that making as many guest appearances as you possibly can will accelerate your brand growth even faster. And if you are, you’re wrong.

The best way to take your efforts to new heights is to collaborate with the right people and the right podcasts. For your own podcast, don’t let just anyone fill the guest seat. Make sure their message aligns with yours and will resonate with your audience. If someone has their own agenda, they may not have your best interest in mind and the content you produce could have a negative impact on your audience, thus causing them to turn your show off…and possibly never return.

When making guest appearances on other podcasts, find podcasts that run parallel with your mission, message, and brand objectives. If you work in the finance sector, going on a podcast that talks about fly fishing won’t lead to any positive results. Why? Because that audience listens to that podcast for fly fishing content, not how to be smart with their money. Therefore, it makes more sense for you to make guest appearances on podcasts that your target customer is listening to. In this case, finance-based podcasts, financial literacy podcasts, etc.

Producing content for the hell of it and going on any podcast that will have you as a guest will not serve you. Always keep your focus on the following phrase: Quality Over Quantity.

4. Don’t Let Download Numbers and Analytics Drive Your Motives

In the podcast space, many creators, as well as aspiring guests, are governed by download metrics. The higher the number, the better. This number defines the success of my podcast…….

*QUEUE THE RECORD PLAYER SCREECHING SOUND*

No matter what your objectives are in the podcast space, this belief couldn’t be further from the truth and, quite frankly, it’s a plague on this industry that’s causing too many false beliefs.

If you want to leverage the power of the podcast medium to build your personal brand, it’s important to understand the following in as clear and blunt of terms as possible: DOWNLOAD METRICS AND ANALYTICS ARE IRRELEVANT.

As I mentioned in Section 1, it takes time to build an audience. The only way to do that is to create quality content on a consistent basis that triggers people to recommend said content to others. The more you do that, the more you’ll grow. That has nothing to do with download numbers and everything to do with the quality of content you’re producing. That’s something you can control and it’s far more productive to focus on what you can control versus what you can’t.

When finding and scheduling guest appearance opportunities, the number of downloads a podcast receives should NEVER be what makes or breaks your decision to collaborate with that show. You should be looking at the content of that podcast and whether it aligns with your objectives. You should also be looking at the quality of their content and how consistently they’re producing it. Again, quality has nothing to do with metrics.

You never know what will make a podcast gain the momentum it needs to explode. It could be the contributions of one person (perhaps you) that puts it on the map. Disqualifying yourself from that epic accomplishment because a podcast “doesn’t have enough downloads” (an arbitrary distinction if there ever was one) is the worst thing you can do for the growth and development of your personal brand.

5. ABC – Always Be Compelling!

Think about the podcasts, live presentations, speeches, lectures, and internet content you’ve consumed in your life. What was the common denominator that sucked you into that content? More than likely, it was the fact that the content (and those presenting said content) were compelling as hell!

Now, think about all the content you’ve scrolled passed, flipped by, or tuned out – why did you do that? Because nothing compelled you to give it your attention.

Your personal brand is what endears people to you. When others know who you are, what you do, and how you can help them, they’ll enter your orbit and give you the opportunity to deliver the transformation they seek in their lives. And the only way to make that happen is by being your unapologetic, value-driven, compelling self!

When people hear your voice via the podcast waves, the more compelling your disposition, your demeanor, and your story, the more it will resonate and provide the impact you need. No one wants to listen to a monotoned robot drone on and on about mission statements. They want to hear your expert thoughts, intriguing commentary, and compelling brand story. Do this consistently and your personal brand will soar.

6. Don’t Go Into Sales Mode. Think About the Listener’s Experience

There is a major no-no when it comes to building your personal brand on podcasts: DO NOT SELL.

Many people feel inclined to use the podcast platform as a stage through which to sell their products, services, courses, books, etc. not realizing that going into sales mode on a podcast does way more harm than good. ALSO not realizing that providing value to the audience and being compelling is all the selling they need to do. Let me explain…

There’s an important, unspoken “golden rule” in the podcast space: “It’s all about the listener experience.” When you keep this golden rule front of mind, everything you do to grow your personal brand on the podcast space will instinctively change.

Put yourself in the shoes of a listener. When you tune into a podcast, do you want to hear A) compelling, engaging conversation, or B) an infomercial? The vast majority would chose Option A. Very, very few people want to listen to an extended sales pitch. They want to hear stories and perspectives that change their mindset and stimulate growth in their lives!

Going into sales mode will lead to the listener experience suffering AND, for all intents and purposes, cost you sales. On the other hand, if you do your part to bring value to the table, people who resonate with your message will instinctively look for more ways to be impacted by you…thus driving sales. And, if you’re a guest on a podcast, when you provide meaningful, valuable content to the show, the hosts will do the selling for you, eagerly and unapologetically telling their listeners why they need to check out your product, service, etc.

7. Use Podcasts As A Networking Tool

The podcast platform is the greatest digital networking tool on the planet. IF…you utilize it in the proper fashion.

When it comes to building your personal brand on the podcast space, you have a choice: A) you can be transactional, looking for nothing but the content and any exposure said content may provide. Or B) you can be rooted in value, unselfishly making an impact on every person you meet and placing laser focus on building quality, lucrative relationships.

By now, you should know which way to be leaning. 😉

When you approach the podcast medium with the right mindset, the relationships you build via podcasting’s built-in networking feature can be game-changing. Not only do you have an opportunity to connect with someone via the interview process, there’s also that ever-so-important time before and after the interview where real magic can happen. We call this the “Green Room Effect.”

This is when you get to know one another and discover chemistry.

This is when you learn whether your offer is right for the person you’re connecting with and vice versa.

This is when you can get leads for your business, for more interviews, for more guests, and for more referrals.

This is when you can offer affiliate programs and potentially monetize your guest appearances BEFORE THEY GO LIVE.

This is when you get to make solid connections that can lead to growth you never imagined.

Building your personal brand on the podcast medium isn’t just about hosting your own show or making guest appearances. Of course, that’s a major factor…but the people you meet during the process of creating exceptional podcast content can elevate your efforts far and beyond your wildest expectations.

Root everything you do in value and good things will come your way.

8. Share Your Content Proudly

One of the biggest gripes podcasters have when they publish a new episode is their guest goes MIA and does absolutely nothing to acknowledge the interview is live. Personally, I’ll never understand why you wouldn’t want to share your interviews on other podcasts with your audience…but to play devil’s advocate, the sharing of content is a two-way street paved by communication and relationship-building.

If you’re on creator side of things, be sure to keep the conversation going with your guest after the interview concludes. Interact with them on social media, share content you may find that’s relevant to your conversation, and keep them in the loop as to when their content will go live. In addition, give them ample assets to share the episode (imagery, video and audio clips, a link to the show notes, etc). Don’t just record, have zero communication, post their episode, tag them, and expect your guest to bend over backwards to share the content. Some may, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to do the heavy lifting when it comes to promotion. When guests do share the content, treat it as a bonus.

Now…ALL of that said…on the guest side, as I said before…why wouldn’t you want to share this content?! If you’re building your personal brand as a podcast guest, this content is the fruits of your labor. And that labor is light considering your contribution came from lending your expertise to the show. The creators did all the back-end work to produce this piece of content that you can now use to showcase to the world YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!

As the guest, share your latest interview on your website, with your email subscribers, and your social media followers. Your audience is following you because they find value in what you have to say. Ergo, it makes complete sense that they’ll gain even more value when they check out the podcast you just guested on.

Final Thoughts…

Building your personal brand on the podcast space is dynamic, innovative, and offers an exceptional way to connect with new people. However, it requires a foundation on which to grow, a strategy on which to execute, and a commitment to ensure your skill sets improve and tangible results can be experienced.

To summarize, here are some of the great advantages at your disposal when you build your personal brand on the podcast medium:

Build trust and authority
Grow your know/like/trust factor
Establish thought leadership in your space
Amplify your brand message across the globe
Experience high-level networking opportunities
Make an impact on a new audience with each guest appearance you make
Welcome new people into your circle
Have insightful conversations about ideas and philosophies you’re passionate about
Expand your customer and client base
Collaboratively create evergreen content that will serve your personal brand for years
Generate backlinks to your website, thus enhancing your SEO and website authority
Sell without selling
Have FUN!