With so many podcasts available on such a wide range of topics, listeners can easily find shows that match their specific interests. For subject matter experts like lawyers, this can open up new avenues for reaching clients. However, there’s an art to creating a lawyer podcast that connects with the listening public.
Here are a few steps you can follow to create a podcast that will be a hit.
Related: “No. 1 Marketing Tip for Lawyers: Start a Podcast This Year”
1. Find a Great Topic
Whether you’re aware of them or not, there are numerous legal podcasts. One of the most popular, Lawyer 2 Lawyer, covers issues and news of interest to attorneys, while the Bloomberg Law podcast invites guests to talk about various issues relating to the law. Competing against these giants can be a complete waste of time.
However, launching a podcast that focuses on a niche topic can capture a segment of the audience that is looking for specific information. Personal injury lawyer Robert May, for example, has found audiences especially interested in information on his area of specialization. In his Franchise Euphoria podcast, Indiana attorney Josh Brown focuses on the franchise business. And immigration attorney Jacob Sapochnick produces an amazing podcast, “The Enchanted Lawyer,” where he shares marketing advice with other lawyers.
Related: “Three Ways Podcasting Grew My Niche“
2. Use the Right Tools
If you know of an existing podcast in your area of expertise, the best course of action might be to secure a guest spot or to establish a collaboration. Experienced podcasters not only have a built-in audience, they have the tools in place to get podcast episodes up and running quickly. Either you can ask them to interview you, or they may simply introduce your segment and let you do the rest of it on your own.
However, you shouldn’t feel intimidated by the process of recording your own podcast. You can get started by downloading recording software and purchasing a good microphone. Once you’ve recorded your podcast, you’ll need to upload it to a site that will host it for you, similar to the way YouTube hosts videos. Once your podcast is live, you’ll be able to link to it from your website, blog and social media accounts.
Related: “Podcasting Tips for Lawyers”
3. Regularly Post Content
Once you’ve decided on a theme and you have your recording tools lined up, come up with a podcast posting schedule that is both consistent and manageable. Aiming for a weekly podcast may be too ambitious. Instead, opt for a new podcast every couple of weeks or once a month.
As long as you archive all of your podcasts on your website, you don’t have to worry so much about satisfying your listening audience with a dozen new podcasts each year. Many of your listeners will discover your archived podcasts after multiple episodes have been posted and will go back and listen to earlier ones.
4. Promote, Promote, Promote
Once your first podcast has gone live, you need to let the world know about it. Sharing the podcast link via social media is a given, but you’ll also want to include the podcast on your website or blog. For example, once you’ve completed more than a couple of episodes, create a library of podcasts. If you have videos to share, you can boost the size of your library by including those as well.
While your podcasting host will likely have ways to draw its own site users to your podcast, you can take it further. Getting your podcast in iTunes can greatly expand your reach. Most people search for interesting podcasts directly from the Podcast app on their Apple mobile devices. Some podcast hosting services will facilitate uploading your content to iTunes, but you can also do it yourself with podcast hosting services, provided the content is in the right format.
To boost your audience, it can be helpful to invite guests to join you on occasion, too, since they’ll promote their appearance via their own social channels as well.
When done right, podcasting can be a fun and effective way to spread the word about your law practice.
Note: Updated from a post that appeared in 2015.
Photo by Malte Wingen on Unsplash
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