What’s up everyone, What’s up everyone,

This week we’re going to break down how you can use your podcast as a competitive edge.

It’s important to understand what benefits a podcast will give you versus traditional marketing.

If you’re running an ad, you’re purely thinking of the return on investment.

“Put one dollar in. I want two dollars back.”

That’s kind of how advertising works.

This isn’t how you should view your podcast.

It’s the number one mistake I see people make or when they say:

“Well, it’s not making me any money.”

That is an amateur mindset.

Instead, as an entrepreneur, you want to view your podcast as a tool.

It is the central hub in the ecosystem of branding.

In other words, it’s how you build your authority.

Here’s the true benefits of podcasts and how you can capitalise on it in 2024.

1. Network

At all stages of your entrepreneurial journey, your network is vital.

When I was young, dumb and clueless, I was recording with $10M founders who were happy to chat with an ambitious kid.

I had no experience, no following and not even a proper podcast, yet I was slowly building a powerful network.

As I went to leave my boring finance job, the people I podcasted with became my mentors.

As I built my first business, my guests became my tutors.

As I scaled my business, my guests’ achievements became my new targets.

At all stages, from the start right until today, these people have become a huge part of my journey.

Some even became close friends.

The thing is, you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s the shit that keeps me up at night as a founder.

A podcast is a way for you to find out what you don’t know, for free.

Now these people are just one WhatsApp message away.

What’s the ROI on that you may ask?

Invaluable.

2. Communication

Being a great communicator is one of the most overlooked skills.

Everyone assumes they’re a good communicator.

They talk a lot to people they meet. Whether it’s in the bar, sauna, or gym.

That’s good communication, right?

Completely wrong.

Communicating is listening. It’s understanding.

When you speak, it’s about persuasion and speaking in the interests of others.

It’s not about you in the slightest.

When you sit down to record a podcast, you should have spent hours researching the guests’ work and ideas.

The conversation is a listening competition. It’s about how much can you listen, understand, analyse and interpret their ideas.

This is a fundamental skill you can transfer into your writing, marketing and sales.

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Side note: If you’re a good listener, you are likeable. Have you ever noticed when two people are speaking and one person dominates the conversation with 90% of the talking? That person leaves the conversation and says to himself - ”Damn, he was a great guy, wasn’t he?”

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If you want to improve your speech, start recording podcasts.

It’s simple.

You don’t know how bad your speech is until you hear yourself again and again.

After 185 episodes, my speech has completely changed.

It’s clearer and sharper.

I’ve even been able to shake off the Irish accent a little.

3. Influence & Authority

If you want authority, you need influence.

If you want influence, you need leverage.

If you want leverage, you need media.

Traditional media is dying a slow death.

Personal media is growing exponentially.

Become your own media company with your podcast.

You run the show; you captain the ship and steer it in whatever direction you want.

This is how you become a key person of influence in your niche.

You don’t even need to be the best; you need to be better than the herd blindly following everyone else.

The best way to become a category of one is through your podcast.

You don’t need to be a celebrity.

As an entrepreneur, you need to have that edge over someone else, and that is your podcast.

4. Social Selling

This is everything combined: network, communication, influence and authority.

Social selling is not messaging someone on LinkedIn saying, “Hey Darren, let’s connect!”

(Those dudes are the worst)

It’s having a pull factor, a special magnet attracting prospects to your work.

Creating free flowing demand generation content is the answer.

Don’t be fooled, you might need to put in 1000 hours for the first sale.

But when the work is done, the leverage is built, the media machine is moving.

Once it’s built, it’s impossible to get off the conveyor built.

People want to work with you for the brand and distribution you’ve built.

Once again, that becomes invaluable.

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That’s all for this week people, see you next week!

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

→Schedule an Introduction Call: Voics is the straightforward podcast agency that creates, markets, and scales your podcast in a “done-for-you” model.

→Podcast Accelerator: Remove the stress, pressure and countless hours of growing a podcast. This comprehensive course will teach you the system I used to grow Kickoff Sessions and record with the sharpest minds in the world.

→Listen to Kickoff Sessions: Learn from 145+ entrepreneurs who have scaled businesses to millions in profit that will help you on your journey.