#189 Mail Right Show We Talk About How Agent’s Can Use Podcasting to Promote Themselves

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#189 Mail Right Show We Talk About How Agent’s Can Use Podcasting to Promote Themselves In Their Local Community

We discuss how new real agents should consider doing a local podcast which will increase agent local brand and also is a great way of opening the doors to the leading local communities shakers and movers. It just a great way of meeting people in your area that can become great referral partners.

Also compared to other marketing activities podcasting is pretty cheap connected to the equipment you need to get started. In this episode, we go into what are the key things you need to know that will allow you to get started.

Here two great free recourses for you to get started with podcasting

1 – National Association of Podcasting

2 – Free Podcasting Basic Course developed by Bill Conrad that goes though everything you need to know to get stated with Podcasting.

Jonathon: Welcome back folks to the Mail Right Show. It’s episode 189. It`s me and my great cohost Robert. Robert, would you like to introduce yourself to the new listeners and viewers?

Robert: Sure. So, John just informed me this morning that we had an almost record month in March, which makes one of a very long series of almost record month. So we’re really happy. We’re so pleased that we’re getting you content that you guys like. I am the founder of Inbound Rem, which stands for inbound real estate marketing. We are an inbound marketing company that focus on SEO, building websites for clients and things like that. You can learn more about www. inboundrem.com.

Jonathon: That’s great. And I’m the founder of Mail Right. We’re a suite of software solutions. We’re your marketing company in a box in a way. So go to Mail Right and find out some more. And in this episode, what we’re going to be discussing is podcasting. I think it’s a great way if you are an agent and you’re looking to build credibility in your community. To do podcasting. I know a couple of agents that do podcasting to build their credibility. To increase the network of movers and shakers in their local community that they personally know. And I think it`s a great thing to do. What do you reckon Robert?

Robert: All right, well, so for everybody that’s listening, what I’ve noticed about podcasts is, especially if it depends on who you are. But podcasts can be amazing. It can do a number of different things. You can drive engagement for your website. It can create additional content as I use it for my site. So I have a lot of content on my site and I use this podcast. It’s kind of like what would be referred to as filler content. But somebody could really learn a lot about me if they decided to run through all these podcasts episodes. I have a lot of people, more and more mentioning that they’ve listened to podcasts episodes about one out of every four clients that I talked to you now. Mentioned that they’ve heard me or that they’ve listened to one or two or more of these podcast episodes.

Today we’re going to talk to John because I don’t know if a lot of you know this, a lot of our listeners know this, but I came on as a guest speaker. I was approached by John’s cohost at the time who is an active rain follower of mine. And he approached me about doing a podcast episode. Actually he found my website first. But here’s the thing, John, as established, not one but two successful podcasts. As the numbers grow for Mail Right. My understanding, which I am not the expert John is, but my understanding is that we’re doing a pretty good job. And that our podcast is actually becoming fairly popular. Again, that’s thanks to our amazing listeners and we really are grateful for that. So now here we are and it occurred to me and John as usual as humoring me, that we don’t, we’ve never talked about how to start a podcast. And the guy that knows how to start them is my host is or not. My host is the host and I’m really close so it shows really his. But he’s made it ours, which is another thing I think about, about a brilliant guy doing podcasts.

Jonathon: It`s a lot easier to do with a good cohost. And you are a good cohost Robert.

Robert: So today what I convinced John to do is we’re going to interview John on how to start your own podcast. And we’re going to focus on the real estate space, which means that we’re going to be talking to John about his ideas about doing a podcast in the real estate space, which means you’re not going to be focused on what we focused on. Real estate marketing makes no sense in terms of, unless you’re trying to recruit agents. So John, I know I’ve just gone on this huge diatribe. Why don’t you, first of all, I already know the story a little bit, but would you do, do all of us a favor? So you flashback four years ago. You have two shows. You have WP Tonic, which focuses on. Actually why don’t you explain what the two shows are and why you founded both of them, if you don’t mind.

Jonathon: Well, I do another show called WP Tonic, which is aimed at people using WordPress to build online courses. And WordPress runs about 30% of the Internet websites at the present moment. It’s the technology that you use yourself, Robert for your own websites. I’ve been an active member of the WordPress community for over 12 years. And I’ve been a front end developer. I am a bit of a backend developer myself. So that’s what that podcast is about, is about people looking to build courses and revenue online through their experience building educational websites. This podcast is aimed at real estate agents interested in technology to generate leads. And we cover a broad subjects. Like I said, we’ve been getting more popular. So I think we’re touching a sweet point with the audience.

Robert: Why did you start these podcasts? So flash forward back all the way back to when you started WP tonic, which was your first podcast. It proceeded Mail Right by a couple of years, if I remember correctly.

Jonathon: Yes by about 18 months.

Robert: So what inspired you in the first place? Like why did you think a podcast would be a good way to advertise your business? I want to get people into the mindset of is this right for them or not? So why was it right for you?

Jonathon: That’s a great question. Well, basically I was influenced by the former cohost of WP Tonic and Mail Right. And that’s Bill Conrad and Bill’s wife is the active agent in the Reno area. Bill builds his own websites using WordPress. He’s the head of the National Association of podcasting. He started that about three years ago and he`s got an active membership. He is big into podcasting. We met at a WordPress meet up in Reno. And he had just moved to Reno, him and his wife from Central California. And he said why not do a podcast? And I had been thinking about it, but folks, the biggest hurdle to this is actually doing the first podcast. Well, a thousand mile journey is the first step. So I’ve been thinking about it for a while, for over a couple of years but I have done nothing about it. And Bill said I will do the mechanics. We just talked about WordPress. And he was my cohost for WP Tonic for I think the first 60 to 80 episodes. With WP Tonic we’re up to 380 knowing episodes now. But actually I’ll me even more bonkers folks. I actually do two episodes a week for the WP Tonic. But that’s how you build audience, by doing a little content folks.

So that’s how that started. And then I wanted to build using WordPress, a SAS product that will really help real estate agents. And that’s how Mail Right started.

Robert: Okay. So let me just recap. You met a gentleman, Bill Conrad, who is the president of the National Association of Podcasting. He convinced you to start a podcast for WP Tonic. Somewhere in there you started to realize that the real estate space was underserved maybe through a relationship with Bill and his wife. And then you decided that in order to advertise you knew you at some point need like if you’re going to have a product, you figured that having a platform like a show, a lot of real estate agents listened to would be a useful way to discuss that. And you decided to start a show on real estate marketing. Is that basically it?

Jonathon: Yeah, and actually it has been helpful for myself as much as the listeners.

Robert: Okay. So I think that touches on a great point so far listeners, guys, it’s very helpful. Like let’s say there’s a part of your real estate arsenal that you’re a little weak in such as the transactional side. Or the property maintenance or insurance side. Where you don’t necessarily know that much about how you’d repair a property, who you’d call. It might be an interesting thing for you to consider starting a podcast of your own talking about those things. Because as John just said, I have discovered that having a podcast is a great way to learn that. Like I know a lot about marketing, I’ve been in it for 30 years. But I didn’t necessarily know about direct mail. Some of our guys that we have coming on here and talking a lot about Facebook, which I’m not that personally fond of. But I’ve learned so much about these incredible marketing strategies that people are following and are very successful with.

So there’s no doubt that there’s a lot of different ways to be successful inside the marketing space. And I’ve learned a ton and my respect has grown for some of these other methods. What am I saying? You as our audience member, if you’re thinking about starting a podcast, should and maybe could focus on a podcast topic that isn’t your strongest strength. Something that maybe you’re a little weak on it. Like property maintenance, property repair, because if you get a great how to properly repair podcasts going, that’s going to be something that a lot of homeowners listen to. And you could focus it even more by saying the homeowners in Tennessee. Or the homeowners of some particular area and you start talking about home improvement projects for that particular area. So now we know how John got into his, like how he started these podcasts. So John, I’m curious to know what kind of equipment do you need when you’re starting a podcast? Like what is it specifically did you need to get to get to for yourself before you felt you were ready to do your first episode?

Jonathon: I just want to expand on the subjects because I think what you said is great. I also think there’s two other areas. If you are in an area specializing in investment property with a specialization in your own area. So branding it. Like, if you were living in northern Nevada, which I do. The northern Nevada investment property podcast. Niche defining it to your local area. Or just doing a general podcast about the movers, shakers in your local area, the politicians, and the business leaders. The people that are doing stuff in your local community nonprofit. It’s just a great way if you aim your podcast at that particular sector. It’s just a great way of meeting people that probably buying and selling property. And it’s a great way of individualizing yourself from the all the other agents that are in your local community.

Before we can quickly go fair break. The good thing about podcasting is that you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment folks. You can get almost 90 to 95% of the sound quality from rather inexpensive equipment. But to get that last 8 or 5% to get that last five to 10% it increasingly does get expensive. But for podcasting, you don’t need that kind of equipment, which is more necessary if you are on the professional scene. A rock band or you didn’t know you got a top podcast that’s touching tens of thousands of people, which normally comes from the professional radio background. So what do you need? Well, if you’ve got a PC or a Mac, the first thing is you need a mic. And the mic I’ve got here is a USB mic. And what does that mean?

Well a USB mic will plug in to your computer for your USB. They are other mic’s, but they need a mixer. Mixer`s give you more functionality, more flexibility, but they increased the cost and the complexity of setting up. If you starting on with podcasting, get a decent USB mic. This one is auto tech. You can get it on Amazon between $80.00 to $100.00. And for a USB mic it is the recommended one by a number of professional podcasters that do training for other podcasters. And I’ve had this mic for about four years. And its I’ve used from day one. I did have a Yeti, which is another popular mic. I still have that. And that comes with its own stand. It’s fine but I find, this is a directional mic, so you got to get it close to your mouth. And as long as it is close you get a rather nice noise sound in tone. So we’re going to go in and go for our break folks. And when we come back, I’m going to delve in some more the mechanics of podcasting. And we will be back in a few moments’ folks.

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Jonathon: We are coming back. We’re talking about podcasting and how you could use it in your local community to build out your brand, your prestige in your local community. People love talking about themselves, especially politicians, nonprofits. They need to publicized the nonprofit. So it’s a great way of interviewing some of the top people in your community. Now obviously you need a computer Robert. It can either be a Mac or PC. And then you need to be able to record the interview. Now it might sound strange but actually recording the interviews remotely is probably going to be easier. Than going into somebodies office and recording it in their office. Because you’re going to have to have two mics, then probably going to have to have some mixer. So you could input two mics into the mixer. And then into the computer.

It just gets a bit more complicated. So the best thing to do folks is to interview the people in your local community. If you’re going to do an interview show, and I would suggest that you do look at that initially. Because actually talking to the mic, on your own for any sustained period is a bit of a skill. Some people can do it, others can`t. So interview is probably the best, I would aim at 30 minutes. Because in length because most commute in the car are around 30 to 40 minutes. So aim for 30 to 40 minutes. You can do bonus content. You can also if it’s remote. Most people got a webcam built into their laptop or some camera device. So also using that for video as well for Facebook live for your YouTube channel was a lot easier than it was a few years ago.

So basically I would suggest do the interviews remotely. And what should you use to do that with? Well, you’ve got two alternatives that are generally used. You’ve got Skype. Now Skype doesn’t record, it hasn’t got a recording mechanism. You have to buy some additional software. The one for the Mac, I forgot its name. But I will make sure it’s in the show notes. But I think it’s only around $40. And there’s some alternatives for the PC. So that will enable you when you’re doing a recording using Skype, you can actually record the actual interview. And it will turn it into MP3. And then you can do something with that MP3. The software solution we use for this podcast, we use zoom. And zoom is excellent for this. You can buy a year, you can try zoom for free. And it will record 45 minutes, and then it will cut you off.

So I would pay for the next level up which if you pay for the year and will probably cost you about $150. or you can pay it monthly and it will cost you $15 a month. And then I use a add on of zoom webinar. But you actually don’t need that if you’re just doing normal interviews. Because I do webinars and other things. So zoom is a great platform. It’s rock solid, the sound quality is very good. And it will record the video and the audio. And you can record. Because I’m using the Webinar, I don’t know if you can push it. They offer cloud storage and or you can download it to your computer. I don`t know if with the basic paid zoom, you get two options. I would have to investigate that. It is a great way of recording it. So you got your mic, you make sure your clients got a half decent mic. Aim for half hour and you do your first podcasts folks.

Robert: All right, I’m going to recap real quick for everybody who’s listening. So how much is zoom?

Jonathon: It’s about 140 for the year. If you pay

Robert: $140.00 for the year. So what basically John has said that his mic is about a hundred. I have a mic called blue ice, which is okay. His is probably better. And I think mine cost $89.00. So somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 for a good podcast quality mic that plugs into your USB. That’s what he said. In terms of tools, and he also said you can have some remote or external equipment such as a laptop. You can record off a podcast of a lot of different pieces of equipment is what I heard him say. But you could do a desktop, you can do a laptop, you do a Mac book, there’s lots of options. Some of the sound quality on these devices is enough to get you started. In my opinion, it’s not going to be the best.

You should move into the hundred dollar microphone category as quickly as possible. My brother kind of spanked me verbally when I started to do recorded material and I was still using like my logic tech $30 camera thing here. To record my stuff on. He’s like, no Robert, don’t do that. So He’s 20 years my junior. So I got chastised by him. And then also he’s saying in terms of recording services, he really only gave you zoom as a choice in my opinion to zoom is a great choice. You also have joined me in many, many, many other services that you can move into that can do recording. So really it’s a matter of what do you like, what we’re using on this show is zoom. And we’re using the zoom webinar features specifically because there’s so many fantastic features.

A lot of these services to get a little confusing because there’s many different things the services say that they do. I do like the fact that in the dashboard, zoom does specifically say Webinar and as long as you understand that that’s the best setting to do for these podcasts, then that’s a great way to go. So that’s the recap on that. So great. So let’s see your brand new agent, or not a brand new agent, but let’s say you’re an agent John. And you’re trying to come up with some ideas on content or no, no, no, no. Actually we cover a lot of stuff with content and I think we’re going to run out of time here in about 9 or 10 minutes. So let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk instead about the thing that you do that that confuses me. I’m always in awe of your ability to come up with guests. So why don’t you explain how you get guests for your show? How do you get people to come on and spend 30 minutes of their morning doing this crazy ass podcasting with you?

Jonathon: Well, I just kind of listen to a lot of. I just kind of delve in specific press that covers the real estate industry. Look at those that got anything interesting to say. I look at other real estate podcasts. Their previous guests. I look at any kind of media event that’s going on. Where they got guests because those type of people tend to be up for coming on the podcast. Because they’ve got something to say. And so that’s what I looked for somebody that as spoken before has been on another podcast. Because it reduces your chances that A you are going to have terrible sound. And B, they’re not going to be able to communicate that effectively through a podcast medium. And I think we’re reasonably friendly. Aren`t we Robert? We try and keep our guests at ease or I do.

Robert: I don`t know about me.

Jonathon: Now when it comes to what I’ve suggested where your real estate agent and you’re looking to interview like politicians, nonprofit people in the business community. You have no trouble getting them as guests. Like I said people love talking on a mic and being asked questions. Some people don’t. There will always be the very introverted that the idea of being recorded for interview. They will just run to the hills and you just got to accept that. But the majority people now in 2019 know that they’ve got to get out there, especially if they’re in their CEO or a higher managerial position. And you have no problems getting guests. The interview format is one of the more easier ones to get started with. Like I say talking into the mic. It seems a bit easier if you do it yourself. And you just talk into the mic. I can tell you from experience that actually do that effectively and not ramble is a skill.

Robert: Just to steer this a little bit, so you’re saying that one of your methods finding new guests is to listen to podcasts in your segment. And I’m assuming throw invitations to people that you hear on those podcasts. Is that right? I’m going to also suggest that at least to get started, that you can also approach other podcasters to be a guest on their show so that you can see how they run it. And ask them the question of how do they get their guests? It might be a little. I don’t know that I’ve heard any real estate home improvement podcasts. I’m sure they exist. If you can find a popular one, that might be a great way to approach it. Say I’m a real estate agent. I’d love to be on your show. This is what I have to offer. Come up with a good pitch. Email the host. Since we’re all just basically usually small business people, it’s really not that hard to get on podcasts in my opinion.

Jonathon: There are some t bits that we have not touched. What I will do though, we could sit and it ended up being an hour. So we’ve got a guest next week. What I will do is that one of my former podcast host, Bill Conrad. It’s actually got a rather good free course. And I will make sure it’s on YouTube. And also it’s on his website. I will make sure there’s a link to his course where he goes through every step of what I’ve discussed in this podcast. And also the bits that we’ve missed out. Because we are running out of time. And there’s some key parts that you need to do after you’ve recorded the interview. And you got it on your computer. Then there’s some keys steps that you need to do. But like I say Bill’s provided an excellent free course that goes through those steps. And I’ll make sure that’s in the show notes. So we’re going to wrap up today`s show. Hopefully I’ve just given you the encouragement to look, find out some more about podcasting and actually having a go at it. Cause I say the biggest barrier is doing that first episode.

Robert: Today I want to participate heavily in the wrap up because I have a strong. I’m struggling to develop a strong opinion about podcasts. Because I get the traffic to my website and they get to see how users engage with the podcast content. I’ve also watched some of my heroes in the Internet marketing industry such as Neil Patel and Dean. I forget his name right now. But there’s a couple of guys that I follow the biggest guys in search engine marketing. And they are all moving to podcast and video formats. Everybody that I know is doing a lot of this kind of content. And we’re scaling back on our written content because here’s what we know for sure. Google treats video content differently.

They treat podcast differently. It’s content like this raises the engagement of serious followers inside all of your digital media spaces. So in other words, if you develop a fan, a lot of people are going to come to your website or your Facebook page or however you market yourself and they’re going to bounce off. And then you’re going to have somebody that your message resonates with. And that person is going to end up probably reading and listening to about as much content as you possibly have produced. If you happen to own a website, having extra additional content on it for these users to engage with is going to do two things. It’s going to bring that person closer to the top of the funnel in terms of being a buyer. In other words, that serious prospect is going to listen to and read like to so much of your stuff that they are going to become more likely to buy from you to make a major decision regarding you.

That’s number one. Number two, from an SEO perspective, that one user engaging with hours of your content actually can change your SEO rankings. Because more and more and more, Google is focused on user intents, including how long people are staying on the site. Now, I don’t know this reassured nor does any other internet marketer, but we all believe that there is something that Google takes the average time that people engage with your content. And one of the things that creates an average is those power users that come on and really engage with a ton of content. So if you only have one or two people out of a hundred that engage deeply with the content, you would think, well, what does that matter? The answer is it could matter a ton for the way that Google perceives engagement on your site. So having this podcast stuff and other stuff, even though you might be appealing to a very small percentage of your total audience is a really great way to go.

That’s why I’m doing it. That’s why I wake up at God awful 8:00 AM because I’m a night worker. But I do it and I’ve been doing it. How many? I think we’ve done six months of episodes now, maybe even more.

Jonathon: It`s probably longer. The time goes quickly doesn’t it?

Robert: So anyway that’s the wrap up folks or from me. Sorry John, I’m going to hand it off to you. I just wanted to make sure that got in there.

Jonathon: So Robert what`s the best way to get a hold of you, and find out more about you, your company and what you are up to and your latest ideas?

Robert: I will use my website even though I don’t produce a lot of new content, you’ll find these episodes on my website. You’ll find what I do produce like the handful of posts that I do every year posted on my website. What’s coming up for me next is a much requested and I’ve resisted for a long time but I’m doing a KV Core review, which is something that I’ve pushed off for literally like three years. So that’s going to be hitting my website in the next and the next couple of months. So stay tuned.

Jonathon: And if you want to find out more about Mail Right, have a personal review with me. I will go through the whole program with you. And you can make your own decision if you think it’s good to help you in your business. But go to the Mail Right website. That`s mail-right.com. And it’s got all the episodes of our previous podcasts. And you can book a free walk through with me. And we can also have a quick discussion about some of your real estate problems. If that sounds helpful. We will be back next week with either a great interview between me and Robert or a guest. And we’ll see you next week, folks. Bye.