Dallas Entrepreneur Shares Tools She Used to Write her Book

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You've heard about podcasting. You've probably even listened to a few at one point. Is it worth doing a podcast for business? I recently spoke with Dallas resident Sarah St. John is an entrepreneur, podcaster, author, and world traveler. We chatted a bit about the power of podcasting and how it can help you grow your business. Here are the highlights of our conversation.

Sarah’s Story

Sarah started her entrepreneurial journey back in 2008. She decided that she wanted to work for herself and realized that she liked taking photos of architectural landscapes and animals. She didn’t like taking photos of people. But that’s where the money was, so was doing portraits and weddings. Over time, she decided to do something online. She tried different things like drop shipping, affiliate, marketing, and all these different things. But it was in the process of trying these different things, she discovered many free or affordable tools and resources that can help you run a business on a budget. Sarah got the idea to write a book called FrugalPreneur, where she would talk about the different types of online businesses and how you can run them affordably. She decided to start a short-term podcast to coincide with the book. Sarah realized she was getting more traction leverage from the podcast than the book. So she kept doing podcasts and basically fell in love with the medium and the connections she was making.

What Podcast Production Looks Like

A lot of people might want to start a podcast, or they’re thinking about starting a podcast. But many people may find it overwhelming due to technology and the post-production. So when Sarah is working with clients, the client records their podcast episode and then sends it to her. Sarah then does the editing, producing and the mixing. She then uses a service called Chartable to track podcast statistics. This service gives more information than most other podcast services and then each month she sends a report to each client.

Why Podcasting Is Important For Business

Podcasting is great because it’s a way to get your content out there. And Google transcribes podcasts now. So even if you’re searching for something in Google, it’s a possibility that a podcast might show up. Of course, every podcast directory is a search engine too. In addition, podcasting has a shareability or viral aspect to it, because people will actually share podcast episodes. When you interview guests or being a guest on someone else’s podcast, you’re getting access to that person’s audience and you can cross promote. You’re reaching people you wouldn’t otherwise. Sarah also says that she thinks podcasting is only going to continue to grow and get bigger. In the same way every business needs a website, Sarah says that every business is going to need a podcast at some point. A podcast can act as a business card, but it also forms relationships. You get to know the person, and people do business with people that they know, like and trust.

Consider These Things When Starting A Podcast

It is important to niche down as much as you can. For example, Sarah’s Frugalpreneur podcast is about entrepreneurship, which is broad, but it’s about building a business on a bootstrapped budget. And so it’s very niche in that regard. You don’t want to create something that is too vague or general. In addition, don’t overlook the importance of podcast cover art. You want it to look clear and professional. The cover art is how your audience will find out about your show, so make sure it looks good.

Thanks to Sarah for our great conversation.