This week our guest for the Agent First Summit was Phil Treadwell, a podcasting superstar who has been in real estate for nearly 18 years. He is passionate about carrying real estate forward and helping agents continue to grow along with the zeitgeist of the day.
Our Agent First Summits happen every Tuesday morning! It’s a perk for all our real estate team members and any of their guests who want to grow their real estate business. To get an invitation, RSVP here: Save Your Seat!
In this session, Phil is going to share with us how he started podcasting for real estate and how we can do the same!
Why Podcasting?
Podcasts are something that most people listen to while multitasking—doing housework, cooking, walking, working out, etc. Once you have someone listening to your podcast, you will have them for an extended period of time—they’re invested in your business and platform and you have the chance to impact them.
It’s helpful to realize that 40% of podcast listeners are between 45 and 54 and 45% of listeners have a household income of $250,000+. This is an absolutely ideal audience, and if you get them hooked on your podcast, they will be yours for at least 30 full minutes!
As you think about diving into this lucrative platform, realize that podcasting doesn’t have to be just about real estate. It can be about anything, and as long as people know what you do after listening to your podcast, you’ll find that they are more eager to work with you.
So, before you even start creating that initial podcast, consider what you’re passionate about. From sports to books to games to local restaurants, whatever your passion is is sure to bring some followers with it.
Create your podcast and people who care about the same topics as you will find you. Once they listen, they will begin to trust you and may be willing to come to you for real estate help if they ever need it.
How To Start Podcasting
There are a few important steps to master before your podcast will really take off.
1. Define Your Podcast
The important thing to remember before you begin a podcast is that you need to put in the time and effort for the long term. Be willing to do at least a podcast a week for two years—if you’re that willing, you know you are committed to seeing this podcast succeed.
Here are the steps to starting your podcast:
- Define your target market.
- Decide what message/value you want to provide to them.
- Determine what platform (podcast, social media, etc.) is best to provide that message to that audience.
Most people are listening to podcasts to learn new things and increase their knowledge. They’ll pick your podcast to learn about a topic they are passionate about, which will inherently increase their trust in you as a person. Once they trust you, they’re a better potential client than most of those you’ll pick up with typical lead generation strategies.
So, create a podcast that you’re passionate about and that offers some value. If you’re providing genuine value to your target audience, they will show up to listen to what you have to say. They may even want to carry the conversation further into real estate at some point!
2. Develop Relationships
One of the greatest benefits of a podcast is the opportunity it gives you to build more relationships with experts in your field. You can connect with powerful people in your community by inviting them on the podcast—which could encourage them to promote your podcast and possibly even work with you if they realize they have a real estate need.
Plus, people may be more interested in connecting with you if they see that someone they trust has connected with you first. Remember that relationships often begin with mutual friendships—if you connect with someone famous or well-known, their influence could bring you many more relationships and connections in the future.
So, don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals and ask them to join you. Through social media, email, or in-person, simply ask if they’re willing to offer as little as 5 minutes of their time to share their expertise on your podcast.
Most people are willing to share the information they have with you and your audience. As influencers, they realize that their time and knowledge are out there to be available to people. That’s literally their job.
Once you’ve connected with someone, it’s easy to send them to your Calendly to schedule a time they want to meet you. On the event invitation, ask them to add notes about what they want to discuss, how long they want to talk, etc. With that info, you’re on your way to creating the perfect conversation!
3. Determine the Cost
It’s cheap to start a podcast! You may want to spend $100 to $200 initially to purchase a USB microphone and webcam so you can record something with decent sound quality. You’ll also need to spend approximately $15 a month to use a hosting platform on which you upload the podcast.
It won’t cost a lot and it also won’t take a lot of time. You simply need to invite a guest, then start recording and deliver the podcast (a great average time is around 30 minutes).
You may need a couple of hours to market on social media, edit, and add any music or other gimmicks to the podcast episode. However, you shouldn’t have to take more than a few hours a week to get an episode produced and delivered!
Keep in mind that you will need to be patient before you build any kind of an audience. Before you launch, you may want to record between 3 and 8 episodes so that people have enough content to get hooked immediately. Then, you can always slow down once you have a good thing going.
Creating Your Real Estate Podcast
It really is simple to create a real estate podcast. Pick a topic you love, find people who want to discuss it with you, and set aside a few hours and a few dollars to devote to getting started. Once you’ve done that, you’re on your way to becoming a podcast star and increasing your income exponentially!
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