Many people do not like to write. There are many similarities between writing and podcasting. For a host to get more listeners, they should consider writing. I will go over how a host can use their podcast to create written content.

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How

Summarize Episodes

To write, a host can summarize episodes as a blog post. A host can go into more detail than on the podcast or add more content.
The Episode Is Rough Version
Every podcast episode is a rough draft for writing. There is content from the podcast that gets deleted from the writing. Some new content gets added to the written content.

Listen To The Episode While Writing

Since the content for the writing is from the podcast, I listen to the episode while I write. I will listen to each point then add or subtract anything to the writing.

Add Link To Top And Bottom

To achieve my goals, I add links to the top and bottom of the blog posts. On the top, I have a link to the podcast episode in case a reader would prefer to hear the podcast episode. On the bottom, I have links to subscriptions. I figure anyone who gets to the bottom might want to read more content.

Add A Picture To Header For Promoting

Adding a picture to the blog post makes the blog post look appealing on social media. Most social media sites will post links at the end as a card. The link will expand into a card that shows a picture. That was in the header and a small summary of the content in the blog post. The picture is an opportunity to stand out from the other post on social media. The picture will make the link eye-catching. Without the picture, the link will expand, but it will not stand out from other posts on someone's feed.

Fill Out Blog With Links And Contact Information

Since the blog aims to get people to see other projects and to subscribe, I put links around the blog. I added an "about" page where I can link to the forum and the podcast. I added a contact page where I put my email. Anyone that wants to email me has the ability. I send them a reply that would have links to all my other projects.

Benefits

One Link

When sharing a podcast, a host has to choose which links to send. There are many different podcast players. There is only one link for a blog, and anyone can read the blog post from that link.

Broaden Potential Audience

For a podcast, the main audience is people who have an interest in audio content. The blog expands a host's potential audience to people who enjoy written content.

Clickable Links In Blog Posts

For a podcast, the only method for someone to access a link during the episode is by putting the link in the show notes. A blog can have a link in any place. Having clickable links leads to more clicks and views.

SEO

Blog posts get indexed by search engines. If I were to write a blog post such as "how to live-stream a podcast," a search engine would add it to their results. Someone searching "live-streaming" and "podcast" might see my blog post. Search engines have only recently started to index podcast episodes.

Income Stream

Writing can become an income stream. A host can put affiliate links in the articles. If people click and buy from those links, a host will get a cut of the money.

Editable

To edit a blog post, a host only needs to click a button. To edit a podcast, a host needs to use different software and have the knowledge to edit a podcast. Editing a podcast is more time-consuming.

Setup

To set up a blog, a host can sign up for any CMS and get started the same day. The setup of a podcast has more steps. A host needs to record the audio. Upload the audio to a podcast hosting company. Take the RSS feed that the podcast host gives them, then add the RSS feed to all the different players. This takes several days.

Free Traffic

A blog post can get free traffic from other websites. These websites are different from the sites used to promote a podcast episode. Introducing a host's content to a whole new audience. Compared to a podcast episode, a blog post is more likely to go viral on social media platforms. Which will bring in more traffic than a podcast episode.

Feedback

Most blogging platforms allow having comments under the article. Readers are more likely to leave comments because of the simplicity of leaving a comment. For podcasting, where comments and feedback are on a third-party app. If someone is willing to comment on a podcast episode, the listener has to go through extra steps. They can not leave a comment right away.

Turn Into Book

if a host sticks to summarizing every episode, soon, a host will have many articles. A host and take the articles and make an ebook out of them. Any book is an opportunity for a new audience to find a host and make money.

How To Promote

Post Chunks Of Articles Every Day

To promote the articles, a host can write out the article's pieces every day with a link to the episode. A host can separate the blog post into the main points, then post one main point every day. If I were to separate this post out, I post the benefits first. Then, the next day I can post how to promote. After I can post how to set up the blog. Every day new people will see the posts and click on the link.

Guest Post

Some publications will accept articles written by other people. Becoming a guest poster will allow the audience of the publication to see a host's blog post. Those same people will join the host's audience.

Articles For Resources Page

Some websites and communities have resource pages for their community members. A host can ask the moderators of communities if an article can become a resource for the community. On a resources page, any new visitor looking for information might click on a host's post. If the visitor likes the content, they might subscribe.

Directories

Some websites show users links to other website's content. A host can find a directory for their niche and start to post their articles on that directory. An advantage of posting in directories is that people will be able to search for a host's content.

Link To Podcast In Article

To achieve the goal of getting more subscribers is to link to the podcast episode in the article. A host can put at the top of the article "if you prefer audio content listen to the podcast episode here." Anyone who prefers audio content can listen to the podcast episode. If they enjoy the content, they will subscribe.

Send Article To Anyone Mentioned

Sometimes a host might mention an entity in an article. A host should let the entity know about the mention in the article. The entity mentioned might share the article with their audience. An entity has an incentive to share the article with their audience. The article provides social proof for them.

Problems

Skimming

When someone clicks on an article to read, they may only skim, not actually read it. A host can make a blog post more readable. Breaking down the article into small chunks. Separating the article into as many paragraphs as possible. This will increase the chances of someone reading the blog post and not skimming. Do not write a wall of text.

Plagiarism

For ill-intentioned people to plagiarize a host's content on a blog is not difficult. Search engines are aware of plagiarism. These companies have created penalties for users that plagiarized content. Some search engines will automate lowering plagiarized content in search results. They do that by the post creation date. If I write "how to live-stream a podcast episode" on March 1st, 2020. Then, Bill Burr copy and pastes my article onto his blog on April 1st. His blog post will rank lower than mine. The search engines will know he plagiarized my content.

Competition

There are millions of blogs and billions of blog posts. To get readers, a host needs to stand out from the crowd. A host can stand out by adding an extra element to their content. One example would be to make their content related to dogs. Every piece of content is somehow related to dogs. A host can use dogs as an example in their content. For my podcast, I could create a fake dog podcast to use as an example. Dogs would stand out from everyone else. People that like dogs and the content might be more inclined to read the content.

Visual Element

Podcasting has a big advantage with the fact that people do not have to look at their screens. When they are listening to a podcast. Writing does not. A host has to deal with the fact that people might not read their blog posts as soon as listening. Compared to listening to a podcast episode because reading takes more effort.

Formatting

A written piece of content needs formatting. One reason is to establish a hierarchy among the content. This is different from podcasting because a host does not need to format content. Establishing the format for a written piece of content may take some time and effort.

Comedians

Some comedians write joke books. For someone to buy a joke book, they do not need to know who wrote it. Famous comedians might write a biography. The books are another source of income for them.

Conclusion

The more content a host creates, the more people will see their projects. Blogging is another form of content creation. A host can choose to create content that is similar to their podcast. Creating content from existing content subtracts a barrier of entry.

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This post is an excerpt from the Open Podcast Community book. Which is available for purchase here.