A few days ago, I recorded a virtual roundtable with about 8 podcasters from Europe. I wanted to get their perspective on podcasting for profit because one of the chapters in my upcoming book will present a global viewpoint on the subject.

Many on the call shared with me that the constant upselling found on websites, blogs and podcasts are actually a turn-off for many Europeans. In other words, they were not really attracted to the integrated way of making money podcasting and instead, felt very comfortable with the direct and indirect methods of podcasting for profit. (See an explanation of all 3 methods here)

This is a conundrum for me. I make it no secret that I make money podcasting. I made money early through podcasting using the integrated model – that’s where I used the upselling technique to sell thousands of CDs. On the other hand, podcasts are not an infomercial and if you use it to sell, no one will listen.

What a dilemma. Until I came across this article.

In Business Week, I stumbled upon an article that stated that it’s best to use different channels to get your message across. While the article is geared to selling, all the tips could very well apply to podcasting. Here are the five points on how to use repetition to sell more:

1. Listen for repeated complaints from customers.
2. Repeat your benefits.
3. Repeat your prospecting calls.
4. Ask for the order repeatedly.
5. Encourage repeat customers.

Can you see how this would apply to podcasting? I would encourage you to use repetition to gain an audience. Let’s take a look at the 5 points above, but from a podcasting perspective:

1. Listen for repeated complaints from customers and listeners. Great way to generate new episodes. Complaints mean that there are problems and you can interview a guest on a future podcast who has a solution to that problem.
2. Repeat your benefits. Remind people why they should listen to your podcast.
3. Repeat your prospecting calls. Better to have 500 dedicated people in your audience who respond regularly, then to have 50,000 and you never receive an email.
4. Ask for the order repeatedly. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. In this case, the order is your call to action and each week as you put out new episodes, your call to action is repeated, asking your audience to sign up for your ezine, subscribe to your podcast.
5. Encourage repeat listeners. Similar to #4 above, your call to action will help your audience build trust with you. Once they enter your sales funnel, you can then market other products and services to them.

Read article – Repeat: It Pay to Repeat Yourself