The Internet, and by extension social media, has provided people and businesses in various sectors with new ways to market brands and products. The same goes for writers and authors – it’s no longer enough to just create a static website. If you really want to boost your author profile, you have to get on various platforms and promote yourself. One new channel for marketing is online radio shows. They’re great for attracting potential readers and engaging existing ones. If you haven’t gotten on this platform yet, here are 6 tips for hosting your own online radio show and boost your author profile:
1. First, think of a theme for your online radio show
You can’t just start an online radio show and talk about any random thing that you can think of. You have to think of a theme first and then structure your topics around that. A good idea would be the kind of books you write – do you write tech books? Start an online tech podcast. Writing action thrillers? Start an action thriller podcast. The only exception that will allow you to start a random topic radio show is if you’re already popular and already have name recognition.
2. Invest in proper podcast starter hardware and software
When it comes to online radio shows, you need to pay good attention to audio clarity. A podcast with a poor quality audio stream is the equivalent of publishing a book where the text isn’t legible. So, don’t rely on the standard microphone that probably came with your desktop PC. You’ll want equipment that will sound professional without breaking the bank. It’s possible on the PC side, as there are affordable packages that include basic noise canceling mics. It’s best to shop around and get help from your local computer store.
As for software, it depends on your operating system. Macs have GarageBand as part of the iLife suite, while Windows users can go with free stuff like Audacity or cheap commercial suites like Adobe Audition. If you’re using Linux, you’re probably tech savvy enough to find suitable podcasting software on your own.
3. Always prepare content beforehand
It doesn’t mean that you have to script every single word that you’ll say during the stream (in fact, don’t do that as that will make your radio show boring). But prepare a simple outline containing the topic you’re going to cover and the key points you want to bring up. If you’re bringing people over, you should prepare your list while getting their input as well.
4. Invite other authors or people from related industries
You can get away with a solo online radio show, but not all the time. To prevent people from being bored having to listen to your voice over and over you should invite guests. It could be another author you know, a publisher, or someone who’s in the same field as the topic you’re covering. Barring that, you can ask listeners to phone in and inject a little bit of interactivity in your show.
5. Set a schedule and stick to it
As an author, you’re pretty much used to the concept of deadlines and schedules. When running an online radio show, you should make a point to set a specific schedule, let your listeners know when they can expect to hear from you, and then commit to the said schedule. Building a regular audience is all about making your show a habit for people, and they can’t make a habit out of it if they don’t know when it’s going to be available. If you think it’s going to be difficult meeting specific schedule deadlines, you can create episodes in advance and keep them as “buffer” episodes, designed to be streamed when you’re unavailable.
6. Promote your online radio show
Last but not least, you have to promote your online radio show. You can’t just start one and expect people to listen in when they have no idea it exists in the first place. If you already have fairly well-trafficked social media accounts or websites, you can promote on there and let the attention snowball. If not, you may want to shell out a little bit in order to advertise your show on other sites or through ad networks. Additionally, you can opt to include the information about your radio show in your books.
Image credit: Patrick Breitenbach on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]