Auto Shop Podcast

Today we will present some information about how to record a podcast episode for the Auto Shop Podcast. If you have listened to the show you may have questions about doing a podcast recording. The goal of this show is to give you information about how podcasting can help your auto repair business. And since we recommend using podcasting to grow your business we need to talk about how to take part in recording an episode.  With that in mind we’ll present introductory information about the two systems we use for the Auto Shop Podcast. The technical process of recording a podcast conversation is not complex with today’s technology.  The stay at home order that we've been dealing with has caused many employees and businesses to use of online meetings. The software we use to record our episodes is the same as the online meeting software. If you haven’t taken part in an online meeting you will find this introduction of how to record a podcast helpful. If you have participated in recording a podcast episode or used an online meeting, that’s great. The following information has some tips you may find helpful. How to use Zoom and SquadCast to record a podcast episodeI work with auto shop owners who prefer using a phone to communicate so the primary method of recording with Zoom will be by work phone. Few shop owners have microphones and headphones for use on their shop computer. With the recent changes due to COVID-19, and the increase of online meetings, they are more common than they were a few months ago. Online meetings use a microphone and headphones and that is the only option with SquadCast. It doesn't use conventional phones lines. Zoom services have a lot of flexibility in how you can record episodes. With the Auto Shop Podcast Zoom has been the primary recording software we’ve used. With it we can:  ·      Record audio with a work phone ·      Record on mobile phone by dialing a phone number (poor sound quality) ·      Record on mobile phone with app ·      Record on desk top computers with a microphone and headphones SquadCast is a system that is built for podcasting. It gives better control and sound quality than Zoom. Here are some features of SquadCast: ·      Uses desktop computers with microphone and headphones ·      Each audio recording file is saved on local computer and is then pushed to the SquadCast server ·      SquadCast works on an Android mobile phone Both of these recording systems have their own specific benefits. This episode is recorded in the middle of May 2020. Zoom just came out with an update to their system. Both Zoom and SquadCast are adding new features. I will be using the new version of Zoom to determine if the sound quality is better than the previous version. As a company we offer done-for-you podcast creation for auto repair shops. We set up a show and provide co-hosted podcasting with shop owners to assist them in developing their show. We assist with coaching and content creation.  In the future if Zoom sound quality doesn't improve we will use SquadCast for more of our podcast recordings. We want to have the best audio quality possible. Now lets go a little deeper into getting ready to do a podcast recording. We’ll answer some questions and give you some details about using the systems. An important aspect of being a good interviewee is to be relaxed and prepared to share your expertise with the audience. How to prepare for a podcast recording We won’t cover all details here. There will be a check sheet emailed to you once the call is scheduled. Here are some basic steps to get started.  Set up your computer if recording via a desktop computer with a microphone ·      Restart your computer around 20...

There are many reasons for auto repair shops to have a podcast. In this episode I’ll present 10 ways an auto shop podcast can be an advantage for your company.  As you read these topics I hope you’ll think about your business and ask yourself if having a company podcast is right for you. A goal for your auto shop should be to improve your website SEO and to increase word-of-mouth sharing about your shop.  This is a list of ways you could use a podcast to increase your impact in your city. When people need their car fixed they’re going to search for help and answers to their questions. Auto podcasts are a perfect medium for auto owners to learn about maintaining their car. Podcasts are fast and easy ways to be entertained and educated.  Let’s discover 10 ways having a podcast for your auto repair shop can help you grow your business. 1. Inbound Marketing with Podcasting In our previous episodes we did a three part series on inbound marketing, which is one of the best SEO benefits of having a podcast. By answering online questions about auto repair and maintenance you can position your company’s website higher in search queries.  2. Podcasting is Like Having Your Own Radio Show Being a small business many auto repair shops are approached by media sales people about buying radio or TV advertising. A podcast is like a radio show except that having a podcast means you own the audio content rather than the radio station.  3. Most Podcast Content is Evergreen and Never Becomes Outdated  The content you add to your podcast will be evergreen. That means it is working for you on your website, Google, Apple and Google Podcasts, and all the podcast networks 24/7 365 days a year.  4. Most New Cars Have Built in Dashboard Podcast Players Podcasts continue to grow in popularity. Listening to podcasts in your car is one of the most popular places to listen. You may not be aware that most car and truck manufacturers include podcast software in their vehicles.  5. Your Listeners and Customers Can Create Audio Content You could have a portion of your show to answer car questions that listeners or customers ask you to answer on your podcast. You could have a phone number for them to call and record their question. Or you can have a plugin on your site that allows them to use their computer or mobile phone to record a message. 6. Audio Reviews are Great for Social Proof You could collect customer reviews by having them leave an audio review on your website. With their permission you could play their reviews on your show. Audio recordings are better than written text because when you hear the person’s voice and emotion the review can have more impact. 7. Sharing Customer Success Stories Builds Trust  Stories on your podcast of times when your employees went beyond the norm and gave extra effort to take care of a customer are great to share. They show the character and values of your company. 8. Podcasts Help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Podcasting is a great SEO booster for your website. The reason is that every episode is on a page of your site. If you do one episode per week you will add four pages per month. Active websites that are creating high quality content give Google information it can share.  9. Interview Other Businesses in Your Community Your podcast will give you the opportunity to interview other businesses in your community. You could interview one of your fleet customers. Once the podcast episode is live you can let him know. Hopefully he has an email list of his clients. You could ask him to share a link to the podcast with his clients via email. That could potentially give your podcast more listeners and possibly get more auto repair customers. 10. You Can Establish Credibility and Thought Leadership in Your Community As you share your leadership style and the values of your company in your podcast you will increase your reputation. Being active...

This is the final episode in our three part series on auto shop inbound marketing with podcasts. In this third part we present a strategy for using your podcast to document your knowledge and experience that you gain from serving auto owners in your business.  We recommend creating an outline of the best helpful tips you can gather for auto owners. Pick the tips that will help them the most with their automotive needs.  Then use these tips and secrets to help car owners save money and reduce their concerns about car repair. Here’s an example of how you could document your experience about clutches. Auto owners might search for information about the clutch in their car. They type or speak questions like these into their phone search browser or home device: ·      What are the symptoms of a bad clutch? ·      Can I drive my car with a bad clutch? ·      How do I know if my clutch is bad? ·      Can you fix a slipping clutch? ·      How do I know if my clutch is slipping? Your answers to questions like these can be done on your podcast episodes. You could also have helpful documents that they can read or downloaded on your website.  You can offer them a free clutch inspection at your shop when they call or bring in a coupon. Remember, you want to get them to take an action so they can grow to trust you and get to know your brand. How to create your podcast content The Auto Shop Podcast website presents the following services we offer auto shop owners: ·      Done for you podcast set help ·      Co-hosted podcasting ·      Helping shop owners create content for their podcast  ·      Providing recording, edit and publishing services for your podcast  Here’s how we can create your podcast content. We could break the above clutch questions into three episodes on clutches.  Here is the process: ·      I interview you by asking the selected question  ·      You share your expertise by answering them ·      Each episode is a blog post on your website with audio for easy listening ·      Each episode is optimized so it’s found in search queries  I’ve only listed four questions above but I have a list of ten that could be used. There are hundreds of questions we could use. If you don’t want to add your podcast to your current website that’s not a problem. You can create a separate site for the podcast and link from your website to the podcast site. Conclusion: In summing up this episode and the three part series on Inbound Podcast Marketing I hope you can see that podcasting is a great way to create content.  Not just any type of content but content that attracts ideal auto repair prospects to your shop. The goal of focusing on inbound marketing is to help auto owners come to know, like and trust you so they visit your shop. We want new customers coming to your shop and your existing customers returning for years to come. Podcasting is one of the easiest and quickest ways for you to position your company as being different than other shops. It gives you the opportunity to participate in your local community by sharing your activities and contributions. It gives you a way to share your personality and that of your employees. If you enjoyed this information please share it with one of your auto shop owner friends. If you’re interested in working with me to create your podcast click here to schedule a call. We will explore the process and answered your questions during the call. At that time we could also do a short recording so you can see how it works. Additional...

In this second episode in the three part series we discuss how podcasting compares to Pay Per Click (PPC). Auto repair shops can buy PPC ads on Google, Facebook and other sites? You may see other terms that describe this type of marketing like Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Google AdWords. The purpose of PPC marketing is to attract new customers to your shop. The book I referred to in part 1 says PPC is not inbound marketing because the prospect that clicks on an ad has not yet tried your brand. When comparing the differences of search engine optimization (SEO) with podcast marketing to PPC, there are several things to think about: ·      The cost of acquisition (acquiring a customer) ·      The cost to manage (having someone manage your PPC account)  ·      The amount of effort and money needed to keep the content producing With PPC if you ever stop paying for ads they quit producing. If you have a low monthly budget for your ads they will show early in the month but once you reach your budget limit they stop showing in search pages. When using inbound marketing with your podcast the content is called evergreen content. That means you create it once and it continues to work for weeks, months, years at no additional cost. Follow Google’s lead on how to market your business Google is a master marketer. They constantly tweak their product to give users the best experience and to maximize their profits. They have embraced podcasting in a big way.  ·      Google search pages are indexing podcasts  ·      Google Podcasts pages are showing in search pages  ·      You can play episodes right on the Google podcast page Early adopters to auto shop podcasting may position themselves well in search pages on Google and other search engines. Build your inbound marketing to match search queries  One of Google’s primary goals or mission is to provide the most relevant, highest quality results for user search queries.  An important marketing activity for your automotive business is to focus on the needs of prospective clients, just like Google.  ·      Auto owners search online to solve their problems ·      Auto shops using inbound marketing can identify those problems  ·      You can create content that may put your podcast on page one of Google Auto owners want to connect with a repair shop. A podcast gives auto shop owners a vehicle to share about themselves, their employees and their company. You can let your prospective customers know things like: ·      How you contribute to your community  ·      What are your values? ·      What do you specialize in? ·      How do you care for your employees? You can use a model that Google has perfected and is proven to work in search queries for your business. Following this podcast model will help auto shops provide information auto owners need, when they need it, from a source (your shop) that they can grow to trust. Conclusion: In this episode we presented a comparison of inbound marketing to PPC. We suggested you evaluate the cost to acquire customers along with the overhead to manage and keep the ads going. We presented a model you can follow to present helpful information on your website to be shared in search queries. The goal of this episode is to educate you about PPC and to recommend using inbound marketing as an alternative to attract new customers to your business. If you liked this episode please share it with a fellow shop owner. You can find links to two other episodes in this series below.  If you are interested in...

This first episode of the Auto Shop Podcast is where I present an introduction to this website and automotive podcasting. It’s my vision of how auto shop owners can benefit by having a company podcast. Podcasts are very popular right now. From a marketing standpoint you could say podcasting is on fire. Everybody's talking about them. Many people are listening to podcasts on their phone for hours a day and it's not just a certain demographic. It’s all demographics at different levels. I'd like to present some information for auto shop owners relating to how you can use podcasts to get the word out about your company. I refer to this podcast and business model as co-hosted podcasting.  How to differentiate your shop from other auto repair shops We can start by identifying what your expertise is? What do you do well? What do you do better than anyone else? What's your repair specialty?  We want to get the word out about your specialty. We want to have you share tips and helpful information on your auto shop podcast. You would share about your skills and expertise and those of your employees. We also want to help you tell your story. People want to know, like, and trust their auto shop.  Podcasting is a way that you can improve relationships with your customers. They can get to know you better and they can get to know your employees better by listening to your podcast. It's a great way to connect with your existing customers. It will also help attract prospective customers who are searching online for help. How to grow your online presence with auto shop podcasts We all use our phone in our pocket or purse to find what they're looking for. Podcasts have a lot of search engine optimization or SEO benefits. Some people say it's as good as videos for SEO.  We know how good video is for sharing helpful tips and other types of information. Things that we want to learn. Well now podcasts are found in Google and another search engines.  Another nice thing about podcast content is that you can convert audio files to text and share it on your website. It can be crawled by Google, which can help your website SEO. You can also repurpose that content and put it out on YouTube. It's not actually a video, but it's the audio with a graphic. There are a lot of people on YouTube. It’s the second largest search engine in the world. Podcasts can attract ideal customers to your shop Podcast listeners who share your values are the type of people that might be ideal customers for your business. When they hear you sharing tips, stories or other information they’re searching for, they value your help.  They might be searching for help with brakes, engine repair, engine replacement or getting a transmission overhaul. When they hear that type of content from you on your shop podcast, then they're going to trust you more.  And wouldn't it be nice to have your customers listen to your podcast in their car while they're driving to work.  So it's a great media that has many benefits. Interview your service advisors on your podcast We know that service advisors are the liaison between the customer and the technician. That's their job. The thing is, they love doing their work and they're good at it. What they're doing is building a long lasting relationship with your customers.  So wouldn't it be something if you interviewed them on your podcast?  You may get in a situation where sometimes someone listening to a shop owner may not connect with them well for whatever reason. It could be values or tone of voice. But they might connect with another person well.  It might be a female service advisor. It might be an older person or any number of situations. But service advisors are someone that would be good to have interviewed on your automotive podcast.  Auto shop owners can be good podcasters I know that many of you have been and still are master technicians who have become...

The Auto Shop Podcast will show you how to use podcasting to grow your auto repair business. Podcasts help auto owners find the type of shop they want to take their car to for service. Auto owners that listen to your podcast can get to know you without even visiting your shop. Here’s an important point about podcasting. It’s the opposite of push email and postcard marketing. People search on Google, YouTube, Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts. They are looking for help! You can attract ideal customers with audio content that is Clear, Quick and Easy to consume. And that describes podcasting perfectly. Improve your company visibility. Share your company expertise with your podcast. Then use that podcast to create website content that never dies. You can have the first automotive podcast in your city. You can demonstrate how your shop is different from all other shops in your community. Technology improvements make podcasting easy. They give you the ability to present yourself as an automotive authority in your community. So, Get started today by setting up a trial recording at AutoShopPodcast.com/trial

This is the first episode of a three part series on marketing your auto repair shop by using a podcast to create Inbound Marketing content. Each episode shares a topic or strategy to show you how to apply this type of marketing to your business. We introduce you to the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. We compare inbound to Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing. Then we give you a strategy to help you see how easy it is to use podcasting to build your inbound marketing system.  The Auto Shop Podcast presents the benefits of using a podcast to attract ideal customers to your business by creating search-optimized content that works 24/7 without becoming outdated.  Solve car owner problems with helpful information When an auto owner is searching online they have a need or a car problem to solve. With an auto repair podcast you can answer questions that attract auto owners to your business.  Inbound marketing is when someone searches online and finds content you created. If they consume it they may want to find out more about you and your services. Podcast have become one of the most popular methods of learning about topics we need help with. Their popularity is growing by leaps and bounds. They might: ·      Search online to find out more about you  ·      Search Google pages which list podcasts  ·      Search Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts websites  ·      Search hundreds of other Internet directories that list podcasts One of the main points about inbound marketing is that they found your information because you where proactive and put answers to their questions in your podcast. Since your podcast is on your website, search pages and podcast directories your content can be found. Inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing Outbound marketing is when you send out emails, marketing materials, advertising, or other offerings. You are asking people to buy without first having them experience your brand. ·      Success percentages of outbound marketing, where they take the action you want, is usually low like 1% to 3% Inbound marketing is when a client has experienced your brand and received something from you relating to a need they have.  ·      Success percentages of them taking action goes up significantly Inbound marketing by the book A book by Tom Poland called the Inbound Marketing Book says and I’m summarizing: ·      If you make an offer to a prospect that has shown interest in your services (this could be by listening to your podcast) ·      They know how you work with your clients ·      They know what services you provide ·      They have confirmed (by their interest) that the timing is right ·      They understand what you offer is unique ·      They believe you are their best option ·       THEN and only then, your Inbound marketing success percentage can be as high as 70% This model described in the inbound marketing book is a good example for auto shop owners to embrace. It’s an introduction to inbound marketing that auto repair shops can use to create content that works to attract clicks in search queries.  It gives auto owners who are searching for car repair help or services the ability to find your content. It then gives them the opportunity to get to know you and your employees better. Conclusion: The goal of this series is to show you how podcasts can increase your online presence. It illustrates how you can differentiate your shop from other shops. And it shows how easy it is to put your years of experience into an audio form that can...