5 Reasons Why Building a Platform You Own Can Help Your Podcast and Business Succeed
I recently had the opportunity to speak with entrepreneur Sharvette Mitchell about leveraging podcasting to build your own platform. Sharvette is an experienced marketing consultant, author of 5 published books, and host of the popular Charvette Mitchell Radio Show, which has aired over 700 episodes. With such an impressive track record, I knew she had valuable insights to share on the power of building an audience on a platform you own.
Throughout our conversation, Sharvette outlined five compelling benefits of owning your digital real estate versus building just on rented social media land. These strategic reasons resonated strongly with me as both a podcaster and entrepreneur seeking to grow my own influence and online properties. Here’s what she had to say.
1. Protect Yourself from Changing Platform Rules
Building an audience solely on rented space leaves you extremely vulnerable. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram frequently change their algorithms and rules, sometimes with little warning. The changes often make it much harder for creators to reach their followers without paying.
For example, I once worked for a company and grew a huge following of over 130 million followers across all their social platforms. But then Facebook tweaked its News Feed algorithm, and overnight, only a tiny fraction of the company's followers would see their posts without paid promotion. This instantly devastated their business model and crushed all the effort they had invested in building that audience.
Don't let that happen to you too! You must anchor your brand and business to digital assets you fully own and control, not just social media real estate. Cultivating an owned platform is like constructing your skyscraper on land you own, rather than land owned by Facebook or Instagram that could kick you off anytime.
2. Expand Your Reach with Multi-Channel Content Distribution
The top podcasters understand the power of using their show as a central content hub that can feed many distribution channels. A single podcast interview can be repurposed as a YouTube video, tweetable quote graphics, blog articles, and more. This allows hosts to maximize the value of each piece of content and extend its reach far beyond just audio.
This multi-channel distribution of content across social platforms, owned websites, and video channels massively amplifies your message as a host and draws more of the target audience into your orbit. More touchpoints means more ways for ideal customers to discover you. It also means more opportunities to redirect followers to your owned platforms, where you can capture emails and extract more value from your audience.
3. Future-Proof Your Platform for the Explosive Rise of Video
We live in an increasingly visual world driven by apps like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Video consumption is exploding as users flock to digest visually engaging content on their mobile devices.
Savvy podcast hosts have recognized this trend and adapted by incorporating more video elements into their shows. Many live-stream their recording sessions on YouTube or Facebook to create video versions. Others share B-roll clips across social media. Some repurpose their interviews into YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos that cater to viewers with shorter attention spans.
Sharvette directly credits adding live streaming as the catalyst that took her show to a whole other level in terms of audience growth and engagement. The video instantly creates stickier content tailored for both audio and visual learners, and future-proofs shows for the continued rise of video.
4. Drive Traffic to Your Own Digital Properties
While leveraging third-party social platforms can help grow an audience, smart digital marketers steer followers back to platforms they fully control - like email lists, membership sites, online courses, etc. These are digital real estate and assets YOU own. No one can revoke your access or make it harder to reach your customers.
A podcast brings fresh listeners into your world and exposes them to your broader ecosystem. The show becomes a conduit for converting listeners into email subscribers, community members, course students, and loyal customers. But that only happens if you actively drive them to your platform with clear calls-to-action, lead magnets, and links during episodes. Don't leave money on the table. You can funnel podcast listeners into your sales process.
5. Showcase Your Expertise as an Influential Thought Leader
Having an established podcast under your belt earns hosts instant credibility and authority. It flags them as industry experts and influencers worth paying attention to. Podcasters stand out because they've proven an ability to generate interesting conversations and content consistently over time.
Sharvette shared that media outlets now actively recruit podcast hosts to interview or collaborate because they come with a built-in audience. Podcasting turbocharges your influence. Suddenly, you can become a magnet attracting more high-profile interviews, speaking opportunities at virtual or live events, brand partnership deals, and joint venture invites. But those influencer benefits are harder to come by if you don’t own your show on your own platform.
Sharvette Mitchell built an influential personal brand and wildly popular show completely on platforms she controls. Follow her lead by planning out your own platform ecosystem anchored to assets you own.
Brainstorm creative ways you can launch a podcast, repurpose its content across channels, drive traffic to your digital properties, and leverage your show to showcase your expertise. What’s holding you back from starting?
Key Takeaways
1. A platform is like a stage to raise your visibility and get more eyes on your business. A podcast can help build your platform.
2. Incorporating video into your podcast creates a more engaging multi-media piece of content. Video boosts engagement.
3. Direct podcast listeners to lead magnets and sign up for the email list that you own. Don't just build audiences on platforms you don't control.
4. Consistency is key - stick to a regular release schedule. Inconsistency is a big mistake that hurts growth.
5. Interview-style podcasts let you tap into guests' audiences and expand your reach.
6. Build relationships with guests and have a good conversational flow to put guests at ease and create an engaging interview.
7. Incorporate live streaming to boost engagement and grow your following.
8. As a monetization strategy, use your podcast to drive traffic to your own products and services
If you're looking for a great all-in-one podcasting platform with 35 integrated modules, you can get a free trial at PodUp.com.
Thanks for joining us for this episode. I wish you success as you strategically build a platform that you own.
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