I recently spoke as part of an entrepreneur panel at Dan Fleyshman’s Elevator Nights – which he recently hosted here in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace.

During our talk, Dan asked a question about the importance of podcasting, and I gave three simple reasons that everyone should consider starting a podcast immediately.

Networking

Even if you have zero intention of being a celebrity influencer or a podcasting superstar with millions of followers like Joe Rogan, you should consider podcasting for the networking opportunity alone.

One of my friends, Brad Lea, has a very successful business that does extremely well for him when it comes to bringing in revenue, but even so, his podcast has opened up doors for him that his business wasn’t able to.

Speaking personally, my podcast, which is aptly titled, Build Your Network, has been the foundation of almost every entrepreneurial success that I’ve had in recent years. The relationships I’ve formed with people like Brad Lea, John Lee Dumas, Jordan Harbinger, Grant Cardone, Elena Cardone, Jasmine Star, Rob Dyrdek, Matt Barnes, and others have taught me far more than most courses I’ve ever purchased, and have provided opportunities I never could have imagined. Some of the people I have looked up to for years have even invested in my company Guestio. Many of my heroes have literally become my partners.

None of this would have happened– at least not as quickly – if I didn’t have the podcast as a vehicle for building those connections.

Pro-Tip: If you don’t know how to connect with some of these potential guests for your podcast, try using a platform like Guestio.com – we created it for that very purpose.

Credibility

One of the interesting things about podcasts is that, compared to a lot of the other social media platforms, including YouTube, is that people can’t see the downloads you have. They are looking primarily at the quality of content you have.

If you create a podcast with great artwork, good guests, and professional-sounding audio, the people you want to connect with who have shows of their own are going to see that and perceive you to have more authority in your space than someone who puts out shoddy content (or someone who doesn’t put out any content at all.)

Audience Building

Podcasting is by far the best platform for building relationships with the audience you want to build relationships with.

80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of an episode after they hit the play button. It’s unprecedented across any other social media channel.

YouTube, I believe, would be number two. And there, you’re lucky if someone is watching 30% of your video.

So if you’re putting out an hour or an hour and a half long podcast episode, and 80% of your listeners are listening to the majority of that episode, you’re spending a much higher amount of time with that person than you would be by posting YouTube video or putting a picture out on Instagram or something like that.

Conclusion

Whether your goals are to be a famous influencer or you want to dominate a small niche, there is room in podcasting for you. It’s the perfect place to build credibility and develop a strong relationship with your audience. Get started today! It’s a worthwhile investment.