The continued growth of platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have made the consumption of audio immensely accessible, and Podcasts are more popular than ever before.

I've always been interested in learning more about how to start a podcast, and I've contemplated breaking into some form of audio or video production for WebMonkey.

Since I figure many other people are interesting in launching their own podcast, I was lucky enough to sit down and interview a Top #100 Business Podcaster on iTunes, Ben Leavitt to pick his brain about what it takes to start a podcast and what beginners should know.

Hope you guys are ready for one truly awesome and informative interview!

*Note, I'm only going to be transcribing the main points we cover about podcasting during our interview, but you can also listen to the entire 22 minute version as well.

Ben Leavitt & The Do Dope Sh*t Podcast

A quick bit about Ben and his various side hustles and businesses before getting started!

Ben is a 23 year old student, entrepreneur, podcaster and YouTuber. He also runs a digital marketing agency Bunny Media, where he helps businesses leverage social media to grow.

On his YouTube channel, Ben provides videos covering social media, podcasting, business, as well as lifestyle vlog content. He also is the host of the Do Dope Sh*t podcast where he interviews a diverse group of entrepreneurs to capture their story and provide unique inspiration each episode.

Let's get into the questions and interview!

I highly encourage listening to the interview rather than reading my edited version, but to each their own!

Q1: Why Start A Podcast Now, Especially Considering Everything Else You Have Going On?

Ben: I think a lot of people are coming to the same conclusions that I did when I decided to start a podcast. I'm from a small town in Canada but I have big dreams, and I wanted to interact with new and interesting people, but how do you grab their attention and time?

I actually saw a post by Gary Vaynerchuk that covered the premise of ‘the highschool party,' which basically said that even if you aren't the most well-known kid in school, if you start throwing some, you'll also start getting invited to other ones too. I wanted to start networking with some influential and interesting people, so I realized I needed a platform.

The great thing about today is that the internet makes everything so accessible. I started with podcasting because it is such an intimate way to network, and if you end up speaking with someone for an hour, you leave being friends. Plus the approach of inviting someone to join you on a podcast is way different than just asking someone to have a chat for an hour.

So for me, starting a podcast was an effective way to network, to grow as a professional, and to continue to build my personal brand.

Q2: How Did You Come Up With Your Specific Podcast Idea/Premise?

Ben: This is a great question because this is really the first step if you are looking to start a podcast.

Personally, I always wanted to interview people who are like me/are entrepreneurs, and this is how I conceptualized the idea for my show. I actually started very niche and was planning to solely interview young entrepreneurs, but after a few guests I decided to not limit myself and to open the doors to more opportunities.

The whole essence of Do Dope Sh*T is to empower people and to teach them that they are capable of doing the things that they love. To accomplish this I try to capture the stories entrepreneurs from all different walks of life who are currently doing the things that they love to do and to outline how they got there.

So, anyone listening to my show that has similar interests to my guests doesn't really have an excuse afterwards for not pursuing their dream, and I ultimately try to empower people to take action.

Q3: How Do You Find Prominent/Interesting Guests For Your Podcast?

Ben: I actually just released a YouTube video that covers how to get podcast guests, and here is what I recommend for finding people for your show.

Firstly, using Instagram direct messaging is incredibly powerful, especially because of their recent update. Now, your Instagram DM requests are actually broken into 2 categories: priority messages and messages the system thinks are spam.

If you take the time to write a thought-provoking and personalized response to a potential podcast guest on Instagram, it is likely to fall under the priority message bin, and if it is personalized enough and also provides them with some form of value, they are probably going to reply. I've actually been blown away by how many people respond. I've reached out to people on Instagram with hundreds of thousands or even a million plus followers and they will reply.

It's also a bit of a snowball effect. Once you build a rapport with someone you gain access to their network in a way and you can even use having the previous guest on your show as a selling point to get your next guest.

I also use emailing as a way to contact potential podcast guests. It isn't always easy to find the right email address, but you can use a free tool on the website Hunter.io to pull email addresses from webpages.

Also one more thing: join Instagram live videos from people you want on your podcast.

Instagram live streams are such a small subset of a someone's audience and a lot more intimate, and you can capture their attention far more easily on live video because there is less competition. Plus, if you ask someone to join you as a guest on your show it sort of puts them on the spot in front of their other fans and they might be encouraged to say yes.

Q4: Do You Have Guests Planned Months In Advance? How Do You Go About Scheduling?

Ben: You want to a avoid scrambling as much as possible.

Personally, if I come across an Instagram page of someone I think I want on my show, I screenshot it and save it to a folder of potential podcast guests. Then, I'll dedicate some time to outreach and contact them all to ask if they want to be on my show, and I try to schedule all the recording for the same day so I can get a few weeks of work done at once and not stress.

‘Batching' is extremely important to make sure you work effectively and are never left scrambling.

Q5: What Podcasting Equipment/Software Do You Need To Start?

Ben: I think a lot of people get scared out of trying to start a podcast because they assume you need a lot of high tech and expensive gear but that isn't the case.

There are some things that can help you out tremendously. Even being in a room that is carpeted or putting up some sound tiles on your wall can make a dramatic difference and cost practically nothing (you can even put blankets up on the wall) and it will really improve your sound.

Beyond that, I record all of my podcast episodes on my computer. I don't have any audio mixer, and unless you're planning to have both people in-house for recording it doesn't make sense to have an audio mixer because you'll still be recording through your computer/over WiFi anyway.

Choosing the right podcast microphone is important and can go a long way, but you don't need to spend $600 on gear. I use the Audio Technica ATR2100 and I suggest this microphone to any beginner podcaster. It's around $80 Canadian and it sounds on-par with some of the $500 microphones. Maybe not quite as crisp, but definitely comparable and great for the price point.

I would really advise to go into podcasting as cheaply as possible at the start and to look at using the minimum viable product you need to start out.

One other common mistake people make is buying the Blue Yeti microphone since it's suggested quite often, but you're better off buying 2 of the Audio Technica ATR2100's than the Blue Yeti because it's better if each person has their own microphone.

Some other affordable podcasting equipment and software Ben mentioned include:

• The Adjustable Microphone Boom Arm.
• A mobile mic stand.
• Skype and with Zencastr for audio recording.
• Garage Band for file editing.
• Auphonic.com for improving sound quality/leveling.

Extra Reading – YouTube vs Podcasting.

Q6: What Are Some Common Podcasting Mistakes Beginners Make?

Ben: I've actually also made a YouTube video breaking down the podcasting mistakes I have made and the biggest ones I made were surrounding the launch of my podcast because launch is so important.

The launch of your podcast is important because of how the algorithm works for finding podcasts to listen to. The algorithm favors an influx of traffic to a show, so launching your podcast with a few episodes (rather than just one) helps a lot because if a visitor sticks around and listens to all of your episodes that can help you rank much higher.

I actually got into the Top #100 Business Podcast list in my first week after launch because I had an influx of traffic, but I had only launched with one episode. Imagine what would have happened if I had launched with another three episodes for people to listen to? The main mistake I made was not launching with at least three episodes. 

Anyone who wants to start a podcast should definitely launch with three or more episodes, plus they should have some recorded for a backlog so they aren't scrambling.

Getting a high ranking for your podcast is also great because you can use that as a credential for your show. I was ranked #69 in Business Podcasts, and I can now say that about Do Dope Sh*T to promote it.

Plus, getting organic traffic to your podcast is nearly impossible. It doesn't work like a search engine or like YouTube. Almost everyone who listens to a new podcast is either directed there from a referral, word of mouth, or social links.

If you have a great launch, you can actually end up in the New And Noteworthy section on iTunes and that helps with organic exposure. If you can make it to this section it's really incredible because this is a curated list done by Apple, and there is an immediate association of quality if you are included in this list.

Q7: What Are Your Promotional Strategies? How Does Instagram, YouTube, & Podcasting All Mesh?

Ben: Podcasting was actually my beginning point to facilitate everything else. Because I've been running a podcast for over a year now I'm qualified to talk about the space, and that has really helped my YouTube channel grow and the content I make about podcasting.

Podcasting has also been massive for growing my Instagram. If I have someone on my show they're going to promote my content to their fan base as well, and I'll also become more of an authoritative figure for their audience and helps to establish credibility across all my platforms.

It really all feeds together at the end of the day.

Another massive tip is to make your podcast look and sound as professional as possible. This will really go a long way when it comes to outreach and marketing, so I've put a lot of work into upping my audio quality and podcast graphics to continue to build credibility.

Q8: Any Final Words Or Recommendations For Someone On The Fence?

Ben: You should definitely dive right in. Starting a podcast has been one of the best decisions I have made in the last few years simply because of what it leads to. Plus, starting a podcast teaches you that you can actually turn an idea into a reality.

However, you should definitely go into it with some realistic expectations and be 100% alright if no one ends up downloading your podcast. If you go into podcasting like that, you can't lose because at the end of the day you're growing your skills, network, personal skills, and it might take off one day.

I think there is a tonne of value in podcasts in general, and I think there's a reason podcasts are becoming so popular. I also think that the popularity is extremely positive, even if a lot of people might say it increases competition or floods the platform. I really think it's a game of ‘best' and not ‘first,' and the more people who start listening to podcast, the more opportunity there is to grow your audience.

One final tip: don't be afraid to ask for help or reach out to your own network. I spent a tonne of time on my launch day sending out messages to friends asking them to check out my show and to leave a review or rating (which are incredibly important for the algorithm and ranking), and it made a difference.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it folks!

If you have ever considered starting your own podcast, I really hope you heed Ben's advice and just dive right in (without taking on too much cost, that is).

At the end of the day it really is all about starting somewhere. You might not become a Top #10 Podcast sensation overnight, or ever, but that is okay. The skills you develop and people you meet along the way are incredibly valuable, and like other side hustles I've mentioned on this blog, the journey counts just as much as the destination.

I'd like to give a massive thank you to Ben for taking the time to answer my questions, and I encourage everyone to check out Do Dope Sh*t and to leave a review/rating. There are some really incredible episodes on there, and anyone who is a fan of business or entrepreneurship is going to enjoy the show tremendously.

Also, definitely check out Ben's YouTube channel and Instagram for some other awesome content!

Catch you guys in the next post!

The post How To Start A Podcast – Incredible Beginner Podcasting Tips from Ben Leavitt appeared first on WebMonkey.

I spent a lot of time manually pinning resources from my blog, joining group boards, following other people in my niche, and creating eye-catching graphics that have the potential (I hope) to go viral.

For the longest time, all of my efforts Pinterest marketing efforts resulted in barely any website visitors at all.

After putting a lot of effort into a lackluster social media strategy that wasn't panning out, I finally decided to purchase Tailwind, a useful Pinterest marketing tool, in late December.

This is how my Pinterest blog traffic developed over the first few days:

And this is how my Pinterest traffic is developing after a few months of tinkering with my pinning strategy and optimizing how I use the Tailwind app:

I've gone from barely receiving any Pinterest traffic to getting 25-100 visitors a day, and the traffic seems to be growing steadily.

However, there are a few important things I think bloggers should know about Tailwind, and this software is not for everyone. 

Contrary to what a lot of other bloggers in the space might promise, I believe the Tailwind app that should only be used in specific scenarios.

Time to break down the truth behind this marketing tool in my official Tailwind review!

What is Tailwind?

Tailwind is a marketing tool for Pinterest (and recently Instagram) that allows users to manage their Pinterest account from a centralized platform, saving Pinners time and helping to increase their reach.

With the Tailwind app, it's incredible easy to schedule Pins to be published throughout the day, create an automatic ‘Smartloop' that continually publishes evergreen content, and to bulk upload new Pinterest graphics.

In other words, it's a way to automate the manual process of creating Pins and posting them to your various boards.

As you can see, I have 186 pins currently queued in my Tailwind schedule, and my pins consist of evergreen content I systematically re-pin throughout the month and new content I add or create.

Theoretically, by consistently pinning every day and at optimal times, Tailwind will allow me to steadily grow my reach on Pinterest while driving traffic back to make money with my blog.

Most of the Pins I schedule with the Tailwind app are my own content and direct people back to WebMonkey, but many of the pins also come from some of the Tailwind Tribes I have joined.

What are Tailwind Tribes?

Tailwind Tribes are the most powerful feature of using Tailwind in your Pinterest marketing efforts, and this is also how bloggers can successfully use Tailwind to drive traffic to their blog in a matter of days or weeks.

Tailwind Tribes are groups of Pinterest members who create content in similar niches and have agreed to work together as a community.

I've been able to publish plenty of viral pins thanks to Tailwind Tribes, and this has truly helped accelerate my growth on the platform.

In the Tailwind app, you can access Tribes, which are basically community pools where people upload their Pins and select other ones to share.

Most Tailwind Tribes have a ‘scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours' approach where Tribe members are expected to maintain a 1:1 ratio in terms of the content they upload to the Tribe (seeking shares) and the Tribe content they add to their Pinterest scheduler (giving out shares).

This mutual agreement to grow alongside one another is how bloggers effectively use Tailwind to market their blogs on Pinterest.

Here is a small data set from my Tailwind Tribe results after using the platform for about a month and a half:

You can also breakdown Tailwind Tribe effectiveness on a per-Tribe basis, which I recommend doing to keep track of which Tribes are the most effective for your Pinterest marketing efforts.

What I find interesting is that in almost every single Tailwind Tribe, I receive more reach than I return even with share/upload ratios of 2:1 or 3:1.

I've received as much as 275K in reach from the Tribe ‘Bloggers Chalkboard', yet I have only contributed 27.4k in reach despite sharing almost 4x as much content as I have contributed.

This truly indicates that small players have the most to gain from using Tailwind Tribes, and this is because Tailwind Tribes allow small Pinterest accounts to gain shares from some massive and already established Pinners.

It's not uncommon for a pin to be shared by multiple people after you upload it to a Tribe, and many of the members you will encounter on Tailwind already have 1K+ followers on Pinterest and can instantly give you reach.

Tailwind Price:

While Tailwind pricing might seem straightforward on the signup page, there's a lot of hidden costs when you consider potential Tailwind Power Ups.

So, how much does Tailwind cost?

Well, at first glance Tailwind only costs $9.99/month, and unless you operate a very large blog or have multiple team members, you don't need to venture beyond the Tailwind Plus plan.

However, where Tailwind gets you with an up-sell is with their Tribe Powerups.

Tailwind Plus only gives members the opportunity to share 30 pieces of content to Tribes in a 30 day period, and since Tailwind Tribes are a main way bloggers can actually see results with Tailwind, this often isn't enough.

I realized this fact pretty quickly, and pretty soon I elected for the $9.99/month plan plus a $119.88/year Tailwind Tribes Max Power Up, which provides me with unlimited Tribe memberships and 200 submissions per month:

There are plenty of other powerup levels as well where bloggers can gain even more Tribe submission slots or expand their Tailwind Smartloop automatic pinning system.

Ultimately, this means Tailwind pricing can vary greatly depending on how much you use it.

I recommend just starting out with the basic $9.99/month plan to see if it is for you, but keep in mind, it may be worth investing in things like the Tribes Max Power Up or more Smartloop slots as you grow.

Who Should use Tailwind?

Time to get to the main point of this Tailwind app review and to dispel some of the bullshit advice that is passed around on seemingly every blogging forum or group.

If you've ever seen a thread that covers ways to generate blog traffic, you've probably seen some advice like this:

Now, this advice is terrible for a few reasons.

Firstly, pinning 200 or even 30 pieces of content to Tailwind Tribes requires you to actually have some content depth, and new bloggers will lack the article variety to take advantage of everything Tailwind has to offer.

Secondly, getting results with Tailwind or Pinterest require time and effort, and the second you stop putting in work, you will stop receiving traffic.

Bloggers who are just starting out should focus on SEO basics and growing a foundation of organic traffic because this is the backbone of developing a successful blog.

What would happen if you put all your eggs in the Pinterest traffic basket, and an algorithm change or the growing state of competitiveness on Pinterest made all of your traffic disappear overnight…This happened to Facebook organic traffic and pages with thousands of likes, and I'm betting Pinterest will become pay to play in the next 2-3 years anyway.

Finally, paying $200+ dollars a year on software when you are starting out as a blogger does not make sense.

If you are willing to spend the money and want to use social media as your primary traffic source then I say go for it, but otherwise, run a cost analysis to see if it is worth it.

In order to judge if you can afford Tailwind or if you should buy it, I think you should consider if your blog is in a position to pay off the cost of Tailwind (and make a profit) within one year.

Personally, I decided to buy Tailwind because:

• I'm trying to push towards 25,000 monthly sessions to join Mediavine.
• I am confident Tailwind will actually net a profit within 365 days between the extra Monumetric ad revenue I gain from the extra traffic (I'm already seeing AdSense revenue increase and more affiliate sales).

You can approach this decision making process in a few ways, really.

If you blog has advertisements, look at your page RPM (revenue per 1000 views) and see how many Pinterest visitors you would need from Tailwind to recoup some of your cost. Also consider the fact that within one year, you can probably generate some affiliate sales from Pinterest if you send people to the right sort of article.

If the math works out, buy Tailwind. If Tailwind's pricing is too steep or you lack content depth, don's waste your money.

Other Tailwind App Reviews

I wanted to update this post because there have been some shifting opinions in the blogging community about Tailwind.

Lately, it seems like Pinterest traffic is tanking for a lot of bloggers.

Additionally, many users are dropping Tailwind. Just checkout a screenshot from a recent blogging thread I saw (there were dozens of comments like this):

I've been seeing the same thing with my Tailwind account: lots of pins, almost no impressions, and a steady decline.

Manually pinning has been way better for me so far, so for now, I recommend sticking with that strategy.

My Tips for Effectively Using Tailwind:

I'm going to finish off this Tailwind review with a few of the tips and tricks I have started to use in order to save time, increase efficiency, and gradually develop more reach on Pinterest.

I still think manually pinning is better right now, but I'll admit that Tailwind Tribes can still work quite well.

Have ‘Canva' Sessions and Create Pin Images in Bulk:

Canva is a free tool that makes it easy to create eye-catching graphics for social media posts or other forms of media. Canva also has a nifty tool that lets you create vertical images that are the perfect size for Pinterest.

When creating Pins for Tailwind, Canva is your best friend because you can bang out 5-10 designs within a few minutes and repeat the process for multiple articles on your blog.

Once you've found a layout you like with Canva and have created your first graphic, simply use the Canva image search to find several relevant images per design. By shuffling in a few images for each post of yours, you can have some variety in your Pinterest content and share more of the same content without looking spammy.

As you can see, I simply changed the image for these 3 pins, but that gives enough variety for me to share each one of these to a Tailwind Tribe or through my scheduler without spamming the same graphic.

Join Pinterest Group Boards:

Pinterest group boards are collective boards in which many members can share their content, and it is a good idea to join these sorts of boards if you use Tailwind.

Many group boards are niche specific, and scheduling your content (or content from Tribes) is a nice way to expand your reach and mix up the boards you save to.

When you're pinning several hundred pins a month (or more), it will be helpful to have some extra boards to spread your content to.

Monitor tailwind Tribe Performance:

The Tailwind Tribes Max power up gives access to an unlimited number of Tribes, but you should still be selective with where your 200 Pins a month are shared.

Tailwind sends out weekly emails that summarize the reach you have gained from all of your Tribes, and you can also view this data in the Tribes Insight tab on. Check this tab every 1-2 weeks to see if there are some clear winners in your Pinterest marketing efforts.

Always Return the Favor:

I try to maintain a 2:1 or higher ratio in terms of shares to uploads for my Tribes, but go one step further and make sure you share content from the people who have shared yours.

When you receive a re-share in a Tailwind Tribe, you will see the notification under your Pins in the ‘Yours' section of a Tribe:

If you click on the icon of the person who shared your content, you will also be able to quickly filter the Tribe content to only show things they have uploaded to quickly share some of their pins.

I've tried to do this for all Tribe members who share my content, and you can actually end up in a sharing contest with people where you just try to one-up each other on shares…everyone wins!

Mix up Tribe Share Times:

I'm still working out this theory and am waiting for more data, but I'm fairly certain that sharing content to my Tribes in the morning, lunchtime, and after dinner is more effective than randomly adding content to Tribes at random points in the day.

This is just a hunch, but I figure if you can time your Tribe shares to when people are more likely to be checking Tailwind and doing some work, you can get to the top of the Tribe queue at the opportune time.

Don't Spam:

This one is a fairly simple one, really.

It can be easy to get lost on Tailwind, but you should always try to pin a variety of your own content and the content of others. Additionally, I wouldn't recommend pinning more than 30-40 times a day, especially right out of the gate with a fresh account.

Take some time to build a schedule that works for you, use your Smartloop wisely, and monitor traffic to see what works.

Pin Manually:

The Tailwind app is great because it saves time and Pins your content as if you were pinning it manually, but I think there is value in actually hopping on Pinterest sometimes to Pin, comment, and follow people.

The Pinterest algorithm is weird, and part of me even wonders if they like this sort of manual action every so often. Better safe than sorry, anyways!

Final Thoughts:

Well, there you have it!

I hope you have found this Tailwind review and set of Pinterest marketing tips to be somewhat helpful!

As a new blogger Pinterest can seem like the answers to all of your problems, but trust me, Tailwind and Pinterest have a specific time and place and you shouldn't spend money on resources you aren't ready to use.

There's plenty of ways to make money online or to leverage social media to drive traffic to your blog, but you need to approach it in a sensible manner.

Focus on developing organic traffic first, and then use Pinterest and Tailwind as a way to diversify your blog traffic and grow!

If you would like to try out Tailwind while supporting WebMonkey, you can signup with my link!

The course breaks down Pinterest strategies, graphic design tips, scheduling/algorithm information, and plenty of optimization/SEO tips!

Hopefully, the tips I have provided can get your Pinterest marketing efforts back on track!

Catch you guys in the next post!

The post Is Tailwind Worth It? My Tailwind App Review for Bloggers appeared first on WebMonkey.