Podcasts are exploding in popularity, and they don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. I decided in 2023 to begin my podcast, The Earley Show. I had no clue what I was doing, so I just hit “record” and figured things out as I went. Since then, I have learned a great deal about how a podcast can be leveraged into a tremendous marketing asset for practitioners looking to expand their reach at scale and further build out their brand. Here are some lessons I have learned through my podcasting journey thus far that I hope inspire you to begin or continue your own podcast.
I believe the best podcasts are topically focused and intended for a very specific audience. For example, my podcast is narrowly focused on the journeys and struggles that personal injury law firm owners face as they scale. This narrow focus influences the guests I ask to be on the podcast and the conversations we have on the show. Before you launch your podcast, I encourage you to really drill down on the topic and the audience you want to reach through your podcast. My audience is fellow attorneys, but perhaps your target audience is non-attorneys. Maintain a laser-like focus on your target audience as much as possible because, as with any marketing, if you are speaking to everyone, then you are speaking to no one. I have found that this narrow approach truly delivers value to the audience. That, in turn, grows the podcast audience, which I have discovered makes it easier to attract high-caliber guests to the podcast.
I am fortunate to have my show sponsored by Answering Legal, a phone answering service for attorneys. I record each episode on a platform called Riverside. After each episode, Answering Legal will edit and later release the final product. This is not a very heavy technical lift. There are numerous podcasting platforms you can utilize, and you can also hire someone fairly cheaply to edit each podcast. AI podcasting tools are also available. The barriers to entry to podcasting are coming down by the minute. Many lawyers overcomplicate what is needed to podcast, but in reality, it is fairly easy to get one off the ground.
As soon as the podcast is released, I get to work on promoting it. I post each episode to LinkedIn and tag the guest so they can then share the podcast with their audience, too. This way, the podcast goes beyond my network and into the network of the guests, too. I do the same with Instagram, tagging the guest on an Instagram post, which I also make into an Instagram “story.” I will also include a link to my podcast in my weekly attorney email newsletter (you can sign up for free at practicetipoftheweek.com), as well as my weekly client email newsletter, and I also have a link to the show in my monthly paper newsletters. I do this very intentionally because I want to get the podcast out to the greatest number of people possible.
In addition to starting your own podcast, I strongly encourage you to reach out to other podcasters so you can be a guest on their podcast. This is a powerful complement to having your own podcast and gives you even more reach. In fact, I recently recorded back-to-back podcasts where I appeared on a podcast, and then, immediately after, we switched seats, and I interviewed him for an episode of The Earley Show. That was an investment of 90 minutes that will provide tons and tons of content and will reach both of our respective networks and beyond. Each and every podcast episode released (whether your own podcast or an appearance as a guest on someone else’s) results in content that can be cut up and repurposed into multiple different types of media. A single podcast episode can be made into multiple different pieces of content that can then be distributed via different media modalities.
If you want to take your marketing up a level, start your podcast. And if you already have a podcast, keep going. Rome was not built in a day, and I find it takes time to see traction from a podcast. Podcasting unquestionably is exploding, and this hyper-accessible medium gives you serious reach that will expand your brand exponentially. If you have questions or comments about podcasting for attorneys, please email me at [email protected] because I would truly love to hear from you.
