Member Article

Women Not Podcasting Due To Visibility and Tech Fears Leading Podcast Expert Reveals

British Podcast Award judge, PodFest speaker and top 1% podcaster Anna Parker Naples, from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, has further enhanced her knowledge sharing mission, with the launch of her 3rd podcast, ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’, created as part of her mission to further reduce the gap between the professional audio world and the business world, both of which she is a respected part of, ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’ brings in Anna’s prestigious industry experience and blends it with her real life experience of entrepreneurship having created a multi 6 figure business from scratch over the last 3 years, and provides other business owners with advice on how to use the audio world to build authority.

Passionate about removing the barriers many entrepreneurs place in front of themselves when it comes to entering the ‘unknown’ audio space, Anna is keen to help other business owners see how they CAN tap into this fastest growing marketing medium, especially on the back of poll results from her community highlighting that 39% of female entrepreneurs particularly fear the tech and 42% are struck by visibility fears.

Anna said: “There is no doubt that the podcast industry is booming with over 2.5million podcasts now live, yet it’s clear there’s still heavy resistance to tapping into the huge opportunity here from many business owners - and it’s no surprise to me that a huge proportion of resistance is down to visibility fears. I know all about these! Following rejection from RADA at 18, I decided to quit my dream career of being an actress and keep my face away from the cameras using my voice instead to pave out a successful career. When I became wheelchair bound during my third pregnancy, depression hit and I wanted to hide - but thanks to NLP and the start of a personal development journey I instead found a passion within me to help others who were feeling trapped, to step up and get visible and that path has led me here.”

Anna is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs tackle their fears so more business owners can successfully use podcasts to grow their businesses, particularly other female entrepreneurs.

Audio and podcasting continues to be a male dominated field, with 2020 stats (from podcastmovement) showing that only 21% of podcasts are hosted by women , but Anna continues to challenge this. She is proud to be the first British woman to write a book on Podcasting - the No.1 Bestselling ‘Podcast with Impact: How to Start & Launch Your Podcast Properly’ and she is a number 1 International Podcast Host herself, with ‘Entrepreneurs Get Visible’ which sits in the top 1% of podcasts globally and has received over 200K listeners in 106 countries. She is also the UK’s leading podcast launch expert and has helped other women launch over 300 successful podcasts since January 2020, enabling them to amplify their message and be featured alongside the likes of; Tony Robbins, Joe Wicks, Jay Shetty, Fearne Cotton, Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield, Tim Ferris, Gary Vaynerchuck.

Anna’s audio knowledge built up whilst wheelchair bound, when she was unable to work and travel and so dedicated her time to learning everything about the world of audio, also investing in a recording studio at home. Having re-ignited her passion again she went on to become an award-winning voice actress and audio producer working with brands such as; Coca Cola, CBeebies, FC Barcelona, CITV, Aardman Animation, Virgin and BBC and winning awards, appearing on red carpets alongside stars such as Ruby Wax and Paul McKenna, Adele, Holly Willoughby and Rio Ferdinand. She recognises that this puts her in a unique position but that most entrepreneurs don’t have this audio knowledge, so it’s no surprise that the tech then feels overwhelming.

“I’ve been asked, why this and why now?’ Anna said: “and the answer is that I’ve walked the walk and talked the talk and I can’t see anyone marrying the two specialisms in such a way that enthusiastic entrepreneurs can really get hold of something and practice it. I tried and failed with my first podcast but it didn’t put me off. I evaluated and created something totally different with Entrepreneurs Get Visible, which is listened to in 106 countries and has ranked in the top 1% of podcasts globally for the past year and now I love letting others in on the secrets. Audio is a very different world, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard, or inaccessible - I want to open doors so more passionate business owners can share their messages globally through the power of a podcast. This field was always set to grow but people’s thirst for audio content has grown exponentially during the pandemic and if you want your business to soar, you really can’t ignore this space.”

She added: “I’ve seen very real results for both my business and clients’ businesses with 1 being fought over for a book deal with a leading publisher, another winning a 25K contract with no sales call and others being submitted for awards - but the impact is also much more than that. When you give a passionate mission led entrepreneur a podcast magic happens, because in that moment of them choosing to share their knowledge and expertise and connect with someone else very directly human to human, a ripple effect is triggered. That advice will impact that listener, that listener will take action as a result and that message will be multiplied. I truly believe that with ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’ we are changing lives one listener at a time, because of the power of the messages that are being shared”.

The podcast covers everything from the impact of a successful launch to growing, monetizing and strategizing your podcast. Anna continues: “This isn’t a podcast for people who merely want to dip their toe in the water. It takes planning, strategy and commitment to build an engaged listening audience, providing the best quality content that has people coming back for more! But if people will stick with me they’re going to learn exactly what it takes to explode their personal brand and turn the power of podcasting into audio profit.”

“Knowledge is key in launching a successful, profitable podcast. Episodes include the minute detail of which microphone to use and which platform is right, to formats to consider, repurposing your podcast and how to land the best guests! Podcasting is both an art and a science! You have to get the basics right and when you do, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.”

Top Tips from ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’:

1. Treat your podcast launch with the same attention you give to the launch of a new product or service
2. Craft each episode title so that it ‘hooks’ the listener in to wanting to listen and learn
3. Make sure your audio quality is as good as it can be. Poor audio is the biggest reason for people switching you off
4. Prioritise promoting your podcast throughout the whole week. Don’t just share a social post once and expect great results.
5. Use your podcast to interview and connect with more established influencers in your industry. This relationship building process can be the start of powerful allegiances to accelerate your business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .