Agency Management Vacation Rental Marketing Part One of this post explained why I really believe that podcasting should be in your marketing plan, and this Part briefly explores how you can get started, and just how easy it is. I am not going to go into this too deeply as there are some really great tutorials available that provide everything you need to get your podcast published, so here’s a summary of what is out there: Great article from @cottageguru about using a #podcast as a way to market your #vacationrental business Smart Passive Income – How to Start a Podcast Tutorial Pat Flynn is one of my go-to people for anything to do with internet marketing; delivering information and more recently, podcasting. The great thing about Pat is that once he has mastered something, he is out there giving away all he has learned, and that information is absolutely free. In six videos, this step-by-step tutorial covers every aspect of podcast production from the 5 things you need to do before you start, to the equipment you will need; where to host your podcasts and how to publish them and get them seen by your audience. There’s a lot of links to resources, equipment and more advanced tutorials, and this is a great tutorial giving basic instruction for getting started. Podcast Answer Man – Podcasting A – Z Online Coaching Course If you get serious about podcasting and want the gold standard in training I highly recommend Cliff Ravenscraft’s A – Z Podcasting course. I did this one last year and it was my launchpad for Vacation Rental Success. This one is way more than just a course to dip in and out of – it is a month of online training and one-to-one coaching with Cliff, who is without doubt, one of the podcasting industry’s top experts. On my course there were around 20 students, and we were each set up with our own coaching page on the A-Z website where we could ask questions and Cliff would respond personally, along with peer help from the other participants. The extensive set of video instruction covered the initial set up of equipment (complete with diagrams to get all those pesky cables in the right place), management of a WordPress site, how and where to get the artwork done, which editing software suite would be right for you, different ways to promote a podcast and so much more. At the end of the course, there is access to the A-Z alumni Facebook group which continues with advice, support and resource recommendations. I’ve done a bunch of online courses in the past, and this one went a long way beyond expectations. After 18 months, I still go back to the videos occasionally for a refresher. This is the testimonial I sent to Cliff after the course and it could not be more well-deserved. This course has a fairly hefty pricetag at $1999 but is well worth the time and money if you really want to move into podcasting in a serious way. The next A-Z course starts on September 1st(2014), and if you decide this could be a great investment for you, use the code ‘cottage’ to get a $500 discount. Check out this audio promo of the course. http://cbtestsite.cottageblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PodcastingAtoZ-ForAffiliates.mp3 Email Me if you want any more information on the course, and we can have a chat about it. Entrepreneur on Fire – Podcasters Paradise As I mentioned in Part One of this post, podcasting has just exploded in the past year as more and more businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs see the huge opportunity in publishing their shows. This is not just the realm of internet marketers and business mavericks any more – it’s a platform where everyone gets to talk about their passions. John Lee Dumas took the whole industry to the next level in the past twelve months with his 7-day a week show interviewing successful people from all walks of life, and then launching Podcasters Paradise. PP is a training programme, forum, commuunity of poodcasters, and a resource-loaded site of video instruction, webinars with successful podcasters, documentation…in fact as the tag-line says – it has everything you need to Create, Grow and Monetize your podcast. Along with the site, there is a private Facebook group with, at the last check, 859 members. Posting a question usually gets a response in minutes – it is an extremely supportive group. It is worth watching the Podcasters Paradise webinar to get a flavour of the programme and the community. Click Here To Get More Information About Podcasters Paradise So, once again, why do I think you should be podcasting? There is a huge audience out there wanting to hear about your location. They are sitting in cars going to work, walking their dogs in the evening, going on a run or at the gym, and likely they are thinking about their next vacation. Tell them why they should come to your neck of the woods. And at the end of your show, give them a call to action. Send them to your website where they can find out more and book the vacation rental of their dreams. Are you going to take action? Is it in your plan to start a podcast? I want to hear from you, share your journey and help out all I can. Post your ideas in the comments so we can all get this going.
