[Updated] Niche content is where it’s at!<\/p>\n
Last week we spoke with Kate Erickson<\/span><\/a> who is the engine at <\/span>Entrepreneurs On Fire<\/span><\/a> (EOF) and co-author of <\/span>The Podcast Journal: Idea to Launch in 50 Days<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> We talked with her <\/span>about the importance of establishing content systems to prepare your podcast for monetization.<\/span><\/p>\n This week, Kate gives us her take on the importance of niche content to draw in those monetization opportunities and provide direct income paths. She used her own podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire, and Katie Krimitsos\u2019s <\/span>Women\u2019s Meditation Network<\/span><\/a> as an example.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And boy, does she have some great insight!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen John launched <\/span>Entrepreneurs on Fire<\/span>,\u201d Kate begins, \u201cit was not focused on entrepreneurship as a niche.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was focused on the fact that he was doing the only daily podcast that there was \u2014 THAT was the niche.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cSo we were filling a void. There were no other podcasts like that. It was the timing, and of a lot of other things that worked for us, that might not work today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Niche does not equal one thing. We often think that a niche has to do with serving a specific audience, like iguana dealers, ER nurses, or stay-at-home moms. But sometimes niche involves audience and something else, like in the EOF example, a daily podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n EOF focused on serving entrepreneurs DAILY. They did their best to get into their audiences’ minds to discern what they thought they needed and took a chance on a daily podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n Kate also shared some thoughts about The Woman\u2019s Meditation Network.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTake Katie Krimitsos, for instance. Just look at <\/span>the network of podcasts that this woman has created<\/span><\/a> \u2014 yoga, meditation. Not health, not fitness, but meditation, sleep for mom \u2026 and, she’s doing amazing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Everybody has an area or topic that they’re interested in, but the key is to challenge yourself to go deeper because you’re probably not quite there yet. Katie’s there. She found it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Going deeper can mean a lot of things; looking for the opening, the thing that is not being done, a better way of doing it. Maybe it’s even something that you\u2019ve always wanted to do but everyone has told you that it\u2019s not gonna work. (The next time you see John Lee Dumas, ask him how many times he was told not to do a daily podcast.)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, you have your niche content and now you want to use that content to begin to monetize. I asked Kate what her experience was with <\/span>EOF.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was towards the end of our first year of podcasting that people started reaching out and asking if John did coaching. But, our first sponsorship opportunities came from John looking for recently published business books,\u201d Kate recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe did outreach to the authors he found on Amazon, asking them if they wanted to advertise their new newly released book on a business podcast with a business-based listenership. <\/span>A lot of them said yes, and those were our first sponsors.<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Brilliant!<\/span><\/p>\n She continues, \u201cThat means thinking <\/span>creatively and outside of the box.<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n For instance, Kate knew that at that point she couldn\u2019t go to Zip Recruiter and ask them if they wanted to sponsor. On the other hand, \u00a0the business book authors who were looking for a business audience were the perfect fit.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nNiche Podcasting<\/b><\/h3>\n
Going Deeper<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span> \u201cWhen you start to get that momentum \u2014 listening to your audience, what their biggest struggles are \u2014 you start to think about how you might be able to create a product or a service to solve that,\u201d says Kate.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>She gives us this example: \u201cAt first, there were so many podcasts about podcasting with lots of guys behind the mic talking all about gear and tech. Now there’s a slew of women hosts, and they’re all so nice \u2014 and very niche. They\u2019re providing information about podcast coaching, podcast workflows\u00a0 \u2014 very specific podcasting topics. They are also breaking gender norms along the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nOut-of-the-Box Thinking<\/b><\/h3>\n