YouTube VS Podcast: Which To Start With? (PROS AND CONS)
We all know that we need authority-building content to get more clients from the internet but there are so many ways you can make that happen and that's where most entrepreneurs get stuck. You could choose either YouTube videos or podcasts, but the issue is that we don't know which one to use because there are pros and cons for each.
Advantages of Starting a Podcast
It's Very Easy to Get Started With Podcasting
The first pro is a low barrier to entry. Anyone can start a podcast and hop on whatever audio platform they're using to go ahead and start recording. You don't have to be dressed up. You don't have to put on makeup or get your hair cut, like how I do. You don't have to do any of that stuff to produce and deliver a podcast. You can sit down in your closet and go ahead and record it or you could be recording it on your phone with a podcast app like Anchor. It's very easy to get up and running.
Podcast Listeners can Listen Anywhere They Want
Another big podcast pro is you have access to people in other places that content doesn't. With a podcast, it's just an audio file, so anyone could listen to it. They listen to it on their morning commutes, their afternoon commutes, when they're at the gym, when they're walking, and when they're cleaning around the house. They could actively listen to the podcast while they're doing other things so, you have access that other people don't. Overall, the idea is the content is mobile and can be anywhere. Because of that, your podcasts can be as long as you want them to be. It can be 20 to 30 minutes and no other platform rewards you for having content that is that long. You can go ahead and make a 30-minute-long podcast, someone is listening to it, and more importantly, they're building a connection with you. They're getting to know you a little bit better, so it does help you build that connection with someone even more.
You Only Need to Upload One New Podcast Episode a Week
If you have the user's attention, you don't have to post every day for a podcast. All you must do is upload one audio file once a week and that's it. So that's great as far as consistency. You don't have to do that much whenever it comes to producing it. You can just take one day out of maybe one month and go ahead and record four podcasts and then start editing.
Disadvantages of Starting a Podcast
Now, it's time for us to go into the podcast cons because there are a few.
Can be Difficult to Build a Podcast Listenership
The number one con is that it's very, very hard to build a following. Podcasting is not a social media platform, so it's difficult to build that following up. In fact, you need to have your own following for a podcast to be successful. Because otherwise, it's only going to be you and your mama listening to your podcasts, and we don't want that. Now, speaking of following and how people are finding your podcast everyone finds it differently. They find it because they know who you are.
Podcasts are Undiscoverable
The next podcast con is that your podcast can’t be discovered. There's no way for anyone to search for your podcast. There's no way for anyone to know about this podcast without you actively doing something like getting onto someone's Live and talking about your podcast. You must actively promote this podcast every single day for you to get that return on investment, which is a pain.
Why can't it just work for you? Why can't you just put it out and then be done with it? We're already busy. Now, we have another baby to take care of. Oh my gosh, that's what it feels like because you're putting in all this work, recording this podcast, and now you must work so hard on getting more people in it. It's not discoverable. No one can find it in search. No one can find it on Google. No one can even find it if they search Instagram.
So, it's very, very hard for you to build that up without having that extra help from an algorithm or a search engine of some sort to help push people to your podcast. It's all on you. When I say it's all on you, that means that this is what you must do to promote your podcast.
Buckle up and get ready!
If you have a podcast manager or a podcast team, they normally give you an audiogram for you to post up on your stories, Instagram, or wherever you need to but that's the extent that they go.
Now it's up to you to get onto other people's platforms and promote yourself to promote your podcast.
Now, you have to bring in guests to your podcast so that you can use their platforms for people to know more about your podcast.
Do you see how you have to actively do these things? Now you're including all these other people, that's how you're trying to insert yourself into their own audiences. That is a lot of work, girl. Wouldn't it just be great if you could just record your podcast and then let people just come to you? That is literally all that I have time for! Because time is money, honey, and if we're working this hard for people to learn about our podcast, why don't we just get them to work with us?
If we're working this hard for people to learn about our podcast, why don't we just get them to work with us?
People don't think about this stuff whenever they do a podcast. They think, "Oh, it's easy. Everyone is doing it, and everyone must be good at it and so I should be able to do it." Then when you start your podcast or when other people start their podcast, they don't recognize how much work they have to do to get their followers off Instagram to watch the podcast. That's the tricky part.
Advantages of Starting a YouTube Channel
You Don’t Need Expensive Equipment to Start on YouTube
Let's go ahead and get the elephant out of the room. No, you don't need a big old, YouTube set. You don't need big flashing lights. You can literally just start with your phone and a window. Just sit near a window, put your phone on a stand, and then start recording. That's really all that you have to do. A YouTube Channel can also be a low barrier of entry. You can do it with your cell phone.
YouTube is a Search Engine. Your Content Can Be Discovered.
Another pro is that YouTube is a search engine. In fact, it is the second-largest search engine, and it's owned by the first largest search engine called Google. Here is what happens.
It's YouTube and Google's job as a search engine to deliver the most relevant information to someone that is searching for something. So, people are searching for solutions all the time up on YouTube. I challenge you to go to YouTube right now and look at whatever field that you're in. Next, find a question that you're asked all the time and put it inside the YouTube search bar. I can guarantee you there are other people in your field talking about that same issue. Why are you not up there?
