How Harry Morton Built a Successful Podcast Agency

Listen in as I interview Harry Morton, founder of Lower Street Media, a podcast production agency. Lower Street Media works with agency owners and businesses to leverage podcasting to grow their agencies. In this Agency Success Interview, you’ll learn the exact strategies and tactics Harry used to grow his podcasting agency.

In this interview we covered:

• Harry’s tips for making your podcast stand out
• His strategies for podcast success
• The important metrics to track for your podcast
• Strategies to grow your podcast audience
• What his programs/packages look like
• And much more!

Click below to watch the interview and learn the secrets of Harry Morton’s podcasting success!

Outline of This Episode

• [0:41] Learn all about Harry Morton and Lower Street Media
• [6:43] Why podcasts are a powerful marketing tool
• [13:13] The most effective podcast formats
• [19:14] The importance of frequency and consistency
• [21:05] The pros and cons of multicasting
• [23:51] How do you know if your podcast is successful?
• [29:39] Strategies to grow your podcast audience
• [40:07] What it looks like to work with Lower Street Media
• [44:26] How to entice potential podcast guests
• [48:41] Who is a good fit to work with Lower Street Media
• [50:05] Why Harry chose to avoid productizing
• [55:47] Harry’s last piece of advice to agency owners

Why podcasts are a powerful tool

People want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Podcasting is a very intimate and authentic medium that allows people to gain a real sense of connection to the hosts that they’re listening to.

Secondly, podcasts can help you become a known name in your space by becoming a thought leader in your industry. Hosting a podcast—and interviewing leaders in your space—is a great way to do that. It’s also a quick way to get access to the minds of your audience.

The bottom line? You want to be the name that comes to mind when people need your services. A podcast can help you achieve that.

The most effective podcast formats for digital marketing agencies

There are around 4 million podcasts but only 1 million are active—still nothing compared to YouTube channels or blogs. But your podcast still needs to stand out. So what are the format options?

• Interview: The interview format is the most common. It’s a great way to interact with industry leaders and experts and build your network but it’s also the most traditional and possibly overused format.
• Short-form: A short-form podcast where you share your top-five tips in 5–10 minutes may be a great option.
• News: News-style shows are under-utilized formats and they’re beginning to explode as part of someone’s daily habit. You can be the news source for your industry.
• Storytelling: Harry creates NPR-style documentary storytelling for some clients. Definitely for a very specific niche.
• Magazine: A magazine format might include a tip segment, an interview, a conversation with a colleague about what you learned in the episode, etc. It’s a great way to stand out.

How do you choose a format? Research. You need to know your target audience and what they want. What are they already listening to? What value do they need from you? How does what you create fit in yet stand apart?

What is the importance of frequency and consistency? What are the pros and cons of multicasting? Listen to hear Harry’s thoughts.

What metrics should you focus on?

Everyone looks at downloads, i.e. how many people are listening to your podcast. But Harry believes there are more important metrics. You want to know if the content you’re creating is resonating with your audience. Do they care about the show? To gauge this, you want to look at consumption rates. What is the average completion rate? It can help you understand if a guest hit or not, if the topic was interesting, etc. If 500 people listen and the average completion rate is 90%, that’s a success. It’s about quality over quantity.

Strategies to grow your podcast audience

Harry notes that it’s hard to drive meaningful growth from social media. People are looking for bite-size content on social and likely won’t commit to 30–40 minutes of an in-depth piece of content. You need to reach people in podcast mode. How do you do that? You could pay for banner ads in certain apps. You can get on a podcast relevant to your audience. You might partner with them, be a guest, or pay to sponsor their podcast.

You want to game the Apple Podcasts algorithm. Why? Because 60% of listeners use Apple. And Apple cares about the number of new subscribers within 24 hours. So an easy way to boost your listeners is to run a contest where people can subscribe to win a prize.

Get to big conferences in your industry and promote your podcast. Put a QR code on merch. Whatever you do, the goal is to get people to subscribe to the podcast in a condensed period.

Ultimately, growing an audience is a slow burn. It will take time to build know, like, and trust and see leads come in. That’s why you have to make interviewing your guests valuable.

How to entice potential podcast guests

For many people, simply being asked to be on an episode is an honor. What else can help? Make your show look and sound amazing to get them on board. To generate good content, you need to do your research and plan your interview.

• What value can they add to your audience?
• What topics can they cover?
• What stories can you draw out?

Plan questions that elicit stories and provide structure. Storytelling is far more compelling. You can’t help but listen to the end. Keep in mind that you want a clear beginning, middle, and end to your conversation.

What other tips does Harry have for crafting a great interview? Listen to learn more about Lower Street Media and hear Harry share some of the lessons he’s learned along the way!

Resources & People Mentioned

• Chartable
• Rephonic

Connect with Harry Morton

• Lower Street
• Connect on Twitter

Connect With Josh Nelson

• Josh’s Coaching Page on Facebook
• The Agency Success Facebook Group
• www.SevenFigureAgency.com
• Seven Figure Agency on YouTube
• Josh on Twitter: @joshnelsonimc
• Josh on LinkedIn

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