THE FASHION EDITION
TECHNOLOGY Get Your Fashion Brand the Recognition It Deserves
START A PODCAST
by: Heneka Watkis-Porter
Rather than pump scarce resources into directly marketing the clothing line, I decided to start a podcast. The Entrepreneurial You is geared towards passionate and dedicated Caribbean entrepreneurs seeking inspiration. Each week a global high impact entrepreneur is featured to motivate and inspire a community of Peak Performers. On each episode, I promote Patwa Apparel to the podcast audience, which is global.
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t’s almost unthinkable that many persons are still unaware of what a Podcast is when so many are building brands using this free, on-demand medium to communicate their messaging. It is one that has nowhere going anytime soon. It has come to stay; we may as well get used to it. If you somehow fall into the category of one who is oblivious to its existence, a podcast is simply an audio file fed from your website through a rich site summary (RSS). Using standard web feed format, it publishes frequently updated information with the file you’ve uploaded. To get a little perspective on its history, the term podcast has been coined from the words ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’. At the very beginning, podcast creators used their iPods to listen to their RSS broadcasts. The genesis of this ground-breaking content creation is credited to Adam Curry and Dave Winer from a mere meeting between the two technology practitioners 17 years ago. However, kinks and know-how weren’t quite ironed out until in 2005 when podcasting started finding its footing, gaining support from iTunes (Source: blubrry.com). In an era, where reading has become increasingly less favoured by many, podcasting provides a viable option to consume content in audio form and in some instances, video. Your audience is waiting on you! Let me give you a perfect example of what I’m talking about. I wanted to get access to a wider audience for my clothing line, Patwa Apparel.
Since its launch in March 2017, already The Entrepreneurial You has been ranked as a top podcast in the category of Marketing and Management in iTunes right next to Pat Flynn and Gary Vaynerchuk (iTunes account for 70% of the podcasts that are available). The TEY podcast is listened to in several countries globally, with Japan, Jamaica and USA being the top three.
Here’s Why You Should Do It Now! It’s free – your listeners will flock you for the value you provide to them and you can build genuine community of loyal supporters from that. It’s accessible from Smart phones – Your listeners never have to worry that they will miss an episode. It is available by the tap of a button – as long as there is WiFi available, your podcast is accessible to just about anyone with access. Connect with your audience – Your audience has an opportunity to connect with you as the host. You also connect with the guests and increase your network and hence your net-worth.
Broad reach – You may be local but you can go global reaching guests and an audience from The TEY podcast has secured guests like anywhere in the world. Business Magnate and Investor, Sir Richard Branson; Entrepreneur On Fire’s Founder, John Make Money – monetize your podcast through Lee Dumas; International Marketing Sensation, a variety of ways while making a global impact. Amy Porterfield; Tech Beach’s Kirk Anthony- Podcasting is really fashionable right now. Be Hamilton; Trello’s Founder, Michael Pryor and careful not to delay considering starting your a hosts of other giant players in their respective podcast any longer. fields. Many of these are Oprah, CNN, CBS, Fox, If you are just thinking of launching your fashion ABC, Forbes, Huffington Post, etc. featured, brand, I have a FREE eBook I’d like to give you. It sharing their entrepreneurial journey with those is the Complete Quick Start Guide to Launching who are hungry for growth. Your Own Fashion Brand. Not only do I have access to a wider audience, I If you are interested in starting a podcast please have been able to directly monetize by securing send me an email at henekawatkisporter@gmail. sponsorships on the podcast. com. It’s not just Patwa Apparel that is leveraging podcasting as a growth strategy. There are several other fashion brands that are using podcasts to grow their businesses and their network along with it. As a fashion designer, you can opt to: Interview other fashion designers and industry insiders; Learn from others that you admire by bringing them on your show; Directly promote your brand to your audience; Become an authority on fashion related subjects and speak locally and globally
JULY - SEPTEMBER 2018
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