Why should there be a Human Performance Podcast?
In no uncertain terms, the data says podcasts are the best vehicle to deliver a message to people waiting and wanting to hear it. I looked high and low for a Human Performance-type podcast niche but couldn't find one, so, I started one. My niche is Human Performance and Training, because it's what I am most passionate about, and what I am intrinsically motivated to do. There is no competition here - if you want to start a blog or a podcast, but you don't know how, just contact me and I will explain how I got started. Maybe you're up for an interview? Your "call-to-action" is to learn how to get podcasts on your smartphone and start enjoying a different type of on-demand audio. I put together a small culmination of the internet available statistics that drove my decision you may find as compelling as I did.
Podcast Listener benefits:
- It's easy and free!
- Content you want, when you want it - pause, stop, add, delete - you are in control
- Niche content to suit your specific passions
- Professional Development as you ride in or home from work (on a walk, at the gym, etc.)
- Live streaming - you don't even have to download an episode on your device/computer
- Downloaded episodes can be listened to it even if your phone has poor reception (no dead time)
Podcast Producer benefits:
- It's fun
- Get your message and content out as fast as you want
- Be recognized as an expert in your field - podcasting builds authority
- Meet amazing like-minded people you would have never met otherwise
- Possibility of monetization
- Steer people to your blog or products
- Get better at conducting interviews
Here is the data:
(1) Early 2013: 450 Million active English-language blogs in the U.S. and only 200 Thousand audio podcasts in iTunes (and some think 9 out of 10 of them have horrible audio quality). Over 1 Billion people have smart phones with direct access to podcast player applications. Approximately, 97 Million people drive to work each day (alone) in America.
(2) July 2013: 1 Billion iTunes podcast subscriptions and counting, spread across 250,000 unique podcasts in more than 100 languages and that more than 8 million episodes have been published to the iTunes store as of July 23, 2013.
(3) Oct 2012: The 3 most important elements of successful content. Survey respondents resoundingly chose:
- Engaging and compelling story telling (81.5%)
- Originality (52.6%)
- Custom content (49.2%)
(4) Comparative to 2008, in 2012 twice the number of Podcast will be downloaded by Americans . An increase from 17.4 million to 34.6 million in 4 years
If you want to educate, entertain and serve people with great content, podcast radio is hard to beat.
[Source 1: Cliff Ravenscraft, podcastanswerman.com, 4 Reasons Why You Should Podcast video]
[Source 2: http://www.macworld.com/article/2044958/apple-one-billion-itunes-podcast-subscriptions-and-counting.html]
[Source 3: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/10/podcasting-is-becoming-more-popular.html]
[Source 4: emarketer.com]