DIY Podcasting for Financial Advisors: 4 Steps to Get Started

Social media, blogs, and email are all great ways to market your firm, but have you ever considered a podcast? Podcasting gives advisors another unique avenue to market their services, tell their story, and develop meaningful relationships with leads.

As of 2020, over 50% of households are fans of podcasts and their popularity will only continue to grow over the next few years. Starting a podcast isn’t as complicated as it might sound, so you should get ahead of your competition and jump on this opportunity! 

Why a Podcast?

Many advisors can’t even bolster up enough time for a blog, and now we’re pushing you to start a podcast? Podcasts give you the ability to reach millions of people that are searching for your expertise and service. While blogging and social posts are a great way to give insight to your firm’s personality, listening to a podcast is almost like having a conversation with your team. It makes your content even more personal, which can help give leads confidence and trust in your services.

If you offer a free introductory call, you know how impactful personal connection can be for leads. There’s not enough time in the day to do 1,000 introductory calls, but if you do a 1 hour podcast and blast it off in an email to 1,000 people, you can still provide tremendous value and insight to those leads.

On top of that, podcasting will set your firm apart. Any advisory firm can jump on social media with little thought or investment, but having a podcast proves that your firm is committed to creating content for your clients.

Have we convinced you yet? If you’re itching to get started on your very own podcast, use these tips to get started.

1. Get The Tech

Many business owners who consider starting a podcast feel intimidated by the technology involved in recording a show. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no need for fancy, complicated equipment. There is some tech required to record a podcast, but you probably already own the majority of it!

At the very least, you need a smartphone and a way to get your recording listed on important channels like iTunes. If you decide to get more serious, you can invest in a digital recorder and a decent microphone, but there’s no need to invest in these pieces at the beginning. Pretty much all smartphones nowadays have a voice recording app, like Apple’s Voice Memos, which makes it easy to record yourself for each episode. 

To edit your voice recording off your phone, you can use GarageBand if you’re using an iPhone. If you want to edit it on your computer, you can also use Audacity, which is a free online tool. Both of these tools are free and easy to get the hang of, so there’s no excuse not to give it a try. 

2. Planning Your Show

Coming up with podcast topics is just like coming up with blog topics. Think about past conversations you’ve had with your clients. What are the questions you always get? What are they most concerned about? Start with their pain points and make a list of topic ideas that would help solve them.

There’s no “right way” to structure (or not structure) the podcast itself. You can dive super deep into a specific topic for a whole hour, or you could keep things more casual and just talk for 15 minutes or so. You could even ask your clients what they’ve been curious about! It all depends on how much time you can invest, what topics you want to cover, and if you’re recording alone or with other people.

In the example below, Twenty Over Ten‘s client, Heller Wealth Management decided to stick with one topic for their podcast – retirement on your own terms.

If you’re recording alone, it’s easy to plan out what you’ll say ahead of time. You could think of it like structuring a blog. If you’re recording with other people, you’ll probably want the format to be a bit more conversational and free-flowing. This will keep readers engaged and make them feel like they’re sitting in the room with your team. 

In the example below, Twenty Over Ten‘s client, Van Wie Financial records their podcasts with two hosts. This makes for a more conversational format.

Regardless of how many people are recording the podcast, you should always be sure to include an introduction to the topic and a quick overview of what it will cover. The rest of it should flow like normal dialogue! The benefit of a blog is that it helps leads and clients get to know your firm better, so you should try your best to relax and show some personality. 

3. Finding Guests

We always recommend advisors try to bring in outside perspective and expertise through inviting professionals to write as a guest on their blog. This same tactic can be used for your podcast! Having a guest on your podcast can introduce specialized knowledge from professionals in the financial services industry, keep listeners interested, and help you get access to the guest’s audience.

When brainstorming ideas for guests, make sure you’re always searching for contacts that would benefit your niche and that are reputable. When you do find guests, be sure to send them over a list of potential questions you’ll be asking them on the podcast. That way, they’ll know what to expect and can prepare some professional and informative answers.

But keep in mind that inviting guests to be on your podcast is completely optional. If you don’t have the time to reach out to prospective guests or if you want to center your podcast around your firm’s speciality, there’s really no need to invite guests. 

4. Promote It!

If you spend all this time planning, recording, and editing your podcast, we know you want as many people to listen to it as possible. Your podcast will be a great way to brand your firm and build trust with leads and current clients, so you’ll want to promote it as much as you can! Simply posting it on your website won’t do anything to generate leads.

At the bare minimum, you should be posting a link to your podcast on your social media accounts with an eye catching graphic and an intriguing caption. This only takes a few minutes and will make all the difference in getting more listeners! In the example below, Top Advisor Marketing promotes their most recent podcast episode on their Twitter profile. 

Another option is to send out an email marketing campaign with your podcast episode. If you don’t want to send an email every single time you post a podcast, you could also make a round up each month of your most recent podcasts. Regardless, an email campaign will help spread word of the episode to people who have expressed interest in your services through a landing page. Listening to your podcast could give them the extra nudge to commit to your firm!