How To Make The Change From Broadcast Radio Professional To Successful Podcaster

Few people are better qualified than professional radio broadcasters to build a successful, income-generating podcast. Radio broadcasting on-air skills like branding, teasing, encouraging time-spent-listening (TSL), refined storytelling, and creating an emotional relationship with your audience are extremely valuable to a podcast effort. However, there are striking incompatibilities when traditional radio, TV, and print media business strategies are applied to a podcast. Anyone who builds their podcast on a traditional media business model will likely fail. For the best chances of success, podcasters must change their business strategy from the conventional TV, radio, and print model to a modern model that generates income for you, the creator, not the broadcast company.

Income Generation

First, I will address the biggest concern for most: income generation. The mechanism used by traditional media (TV, radio, & print) to generate income doesn't work with the modern podcast distribution platform. Let me explain some of the differences. Using the traditional media model (TV, radio, & print) creates value when a large audience is cultivated with content delivered by talent. With this model, content is chosen, produced, and presented to attract the largest audience possible for as long as possible. Most broadcast professionals understand that this is their sole mission. Access to the audience is offered to sponsors for a fee through commercials and endorsements. Then, the broadcast companies (employers of the talent) generate substantial income from those sponsors. This traditional media business model has been lucrative for decades but falls short when used with a modern podcast effort.

Audience Fragmentation

A traditional media income generation strategy doesn't work for a podcast effort due to the recent fragmentation of audiences. Audience fragmentation is when people split into smaller groups because they can now watch, read, or listen to whatever they like on tons of different channels or devices instead of everyone seeing the same thing as they used to. For example, in the United States, in the 1950s, there were only a handful of TV channels, primarily dominated by networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC, with limited options for viewers. Back then, to capture a large audience to offer to sponsors, content was created and designed for mass appeal. The same audience fragmentation has happened to radio and print media. Today, instead of everyone watching the same few shows on a handful of TV channels, people can choose from thousands of streaming options, social media platforms, and niche online content tailored to their specific interests—meaning a family might all be in the same room but watching completely different things on their own devices. Each is consuming content that they are passionate about.

Avoiding Failure

This new way people consume content is where many podcasters fail to grow an audience. The failure occurs when podcasters offer mass-appeal content on a podcast distribution platform designed for a fragmented audience. This method is ineffective because it employs a broad-casting content strategy for an audience that feeds on narrow-casting content. The failure is further compounded by attempting to monetize the podcast using the same traditional media model. Substantial sponsor income or platform monetization is nearly impossible without sustaining a large audience. The lack of audience is discouraging to most podcasters. And the harder they work, the more content they pump out doesn't improve the outcome. The lack of real audience growth and engagement causes most podcasters to give up, feeling defeated.

The Solution

There is a solution to this problem. There is a contemporary version of the traditional broadcast media business model that works, and it is a massive opportunity for content creators! I call it the Modern Synergy Podcasting Model. However, it requires that professional, traditional broadcasters shed some concepts that have been baked into their DNA for years. As a sole content creator (and former broadcaster), you can generate substantial income with this new strategy. This new model thrives on audience fragmentation and empowers content creators. We can see this happening all around us. For example, writers no longer need a publisher to distribute their books. Actors no longer need a big movie studio to produce and distribute a show. Musicians and composers no longer need a record label to create and distribute music. Artists and creators no longer need to be discovered. Audiences discover them directly on streaming platforms and social media through audience fragmentation.

As a sole content creator (and former broadcaster), you can generate substantial income with this new strategy.

So how do you do it? How do you choose and create the best content to engage listeners in a new world of segmented audiences? How can you convert access to that audience into income that supports you and your family and builds wealth? You can accomplish it with the Modern Synergy Podcast Model. The Modern Synergy Podcast Model requires that you embrace two key principles. First, you must accept that your podcast is a marketing effort. Second, your podcast content must focus on your passion and authentic natural Gift.

Content focused on your passion is automatically suggested through search and SEO to a fragmented audience that is highly likely to consume content on the topic. Here are a few examples of podcasts that focus on the host's passion and authentic natural gifts. If a person is naturally good at gardening and specifically growing cactus, their podcast would be comprised of episodes showing how to care for desert plants properly. The value here is that the content helps others who share the passion. Another example might be if someone is naturally drawn to self-improvement through meditation; their podcast can be based on self-care meditation affirmation and how it can help someone's daily life. Again, the value here is that the content helps others who share the passion. If someone is naturally passionate about modern animation, their podcast could be about the pop culture around the latest viral animation. Content that helps others who share the passion is magnetic and grows the audience segment effortlessly.

Niche content attracts a specific audience segment. And when your niche is your passion and authentic Gift, it attracts others who share your passion. When you produce podcast content this way, the internet suggests your content to likely consumers. When you offer your Gift to help others, your content is magnetic, and audience growth is effortless. Your content becomes a favorite among an audience segment who shares your passion. 

Income generation follows when you become your own sponsor. You become your own sponsor by offering products to your audience that are distilled versions of your passion and natural Gift. Products can be guides, e-books, consulting, training courses, and more, which are bottled versions of your Gift offered in exchange for a fee. Income can be generated quickly with a small audience. Your podcast goal becomes attracting likely customers, not the largest audience. The idea of celebrity and fame equating to success, where you're recognized on the street, no longer applies. However, attracting and retaining an audience of passionate customers who value your Gift is a success. Best of all, your talent as a broadcaster to attract, retain, and grow an audience is applicable and extremely valuable to obtain this success.

I can show you how to use the Modern Synergy Podcast Model for your podcast with my step-by-step podcast coaching. You will learn to choose, produce, and deliver the right content for your podcast episodes. This program will teach you how to structure your content to optimize engagement with your individual audience segment. You will discover how to create valuable content that resonates and attracts ideal customers. Additionally, you will learn how to develop and offer in-house products based on your passion and natural gifts that can generate real income. Finally, you'll learn how to create a brand that works to attract likely customers. Sign up for Podcast Coaching here and start for free!

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