As I have said in the past, everyone has something to say, and nearly every company has a reason to be podcasting and engaging in other new media. Whether large or small, every business is looking for new business, more business, better business. Even more important, you want to find great clients and customers who understand what you do and why they need it. In many cases, a podcast can do exactly that. A regular podcast can help you to build your best clients by offering a little education to everyone.
When I was in Columbia, Missouri this summer, I met some great people who run a local PR company. They serve a large area of north central Missouri, in the rural lands between Kansas City and St. Louis. As with any business outside of a major metro area, they find they often have to spend a lot of time educating potential clients in order to show them the benefits of advertising and how it is done.
As we talked about ways of using new media in their business, we also discovered it could be used to build their business. Based on their extensive knowledge and work experience, I recommended that they start a regularly scheduled podcast that teaches small business owners how to work with a PR agency.
From my personal experience, most small business owners rely on the tried and true methods of yellow pages and newspaper advertising, simply re-running their advertisements week after week. They could use all benefit from the many new advertising methods and strategies that exist today – if they only knew about them.
Creating a podcast to teach the public about your business specialty not only bulds good will but gives dramatic proof of your expertise. It also teaches potential clients how you work. You are growing your own clients from those that might otherwise might not know about your services, or be too intimidated to call you directly. You might even find your company expanding beyond its traditional geographic boundaries, as people all over the world start to hear your message.
So, if you haven’t yet seen how podcasting and other new media might fit into your business plans, consider starting your own podcast to spread your knowledge, build your prestige and create the customers you always wanted.