I found a story about an interesting Podcast Success story. Here is the run down.
Kathy and Steve Elkins own WEBS, the largest independent retailer of knitting, crochet and weaving supplies in the United States. Although they have a 16,000 square foot retail store, most of their sales happen online.
So when a local radio station asked them to do a weekly show and podcast about knitting, they saw it as a great opportunity to connect with their geographically dispersed customers on a personal level.
“It’s like inviting people into the shop and having a cup of tea, and it’s the same conversation I would have as if I were sitting there knitting with them,” Kathy explains. “It’s not hard pushy sales, it’s informative.”
208 podcasts later and with about 13,000 listeners per week, the results are evident in the company’s sales.
When she and her husband discuss a particular yarn or pattern on the show, Kathy can see the traffic to that order page on the company’s website spike. People write e-mails asking how their kids’ hockey games, which they ocaisionally discuss on air, turn out, and she’s been recognized by her voice at trade shows.
What made it successful? Kathy cites promoting the podcast on the company’s other social media channels, keeping content interesting, sticking to a schedule, and not using the podcast as a commercial.
“Be true to who you are,” she says. “You don’t have to be super polished, you don’t have to have the booming radio voice — you have to be authentic.” For more information check out ready set knit.
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