10: How to go about repurposing your old podcast episodes
Play • 17 min

You've created so many episodes of incredible content over the years:

  • Guest interviews
  • Teaching segments
  • Tricks of the trade
  • Step by step tutorials

All of that and more... such great content you've produced over the years.

It's a pity that it could be sitting on some server, at the bottom of your archives, seldom being heard any longer.

How do you jump-start all that great, older content you have in your archives?

Through repurposing!

What is repurposing?

I don't want to assume that you know what I'm talking about, so here's my best stab at a definition:

REPURPOSING: The re-use of older content or material.

So, imagine looking through your podcast show archives... you might have 100, 200, or even 900 shows in there.

You want to figure out how to get the evergreen stuff (the content that still applies and will always apply) - into the airwaves again so that more people can benefit.

And I've got just the way for you use your old podcast audio in new ways.

I want to walk you through this idea I've had for reusing older podcast audio - and I want to challenge you to consider doing it yourself.

I'm even going to include an example of what it might sound like, using some audio from one of my old podcast episodes.

So stay tuned... you're going to love this!

Repurposing old content can be challenging

Before we move ahead, we need to be honest about the difficulties you're going to face if you try to repurpose your old podcast episodes.

You don't want your current audience to feel like you talk about the same things over and over... and repurposing sounds kind of like that. What if they've heard the episode before? What if it seems like "old stuff" to them?

Those are very real concerns.

But you also have to realize that there are also people who haven't followed you for very long. For them, repurposing could enable them to hear that content for the very first time. You don't want to withhold valuable, helpful information to potential new customers, clients, or listeners, just because you're afraid someone else might have heard it before - do you?

Could there be a way to walk that balance between boring the old timers and inspiring the new ones?

I believe there is.

The Quick Tips podcast repurposing strategy

I call this the "Quick Tips" strategy because I picture repurposing that old content in short, powerful, inspirational sound bytes.

Imagine quotes from past guests, from yourself, from webinars or teachings that motivate and inspire people.

They can serve as reminders, quick calls to action, productivity prompters that your listeners need to hear again.

If you're willing to serve as an inspiration and motivation to your listeners in an whole new way... keep listening.

EVALUATE YOUR OLD CONTENT

Let's imagine for a second that you do an interview style show.

Over the years, you've interviewed industry leaders, big names in your niche who have tons of knowledge and expertise to share with your audience.

If you were to pull out one of those old episodes and give it a listen again, how much of the content of that one episode do you think would still be applicable to your audience today?

  • 10%?
  • 30%?
  • 50%?
  • 80%?

Unless the sole focus of your conversation with that guest was the launch of a particular product, service, or book, my educated guess is that you'll be closer to the 80% mark when it comes to that episode's relevance for today.

Even if I'm being totally unrealistic in my estimation and you only come up with 50% relevance, you've got to stop and think through what that means for you and your audience.

You've got 50 to 80% of one of your old episodes that is STILL relevant to your audience today... and it's sitting in your archive helping no one.

Now add up how many older episodes you've got in the archive.

Say you've got 100, and we'll subtract 15 of them as an estimation of book releases or product launches that would not be relevant today.

That's 85 old episodes, each with 50 to 80% usable content.

That's a GOLD MINE of podcast audio to repurpose. Here's how to do it.

HOW TO REPURPOSE ALL THAT GREAT CONTENT

Here comes the fun part. Or the difficult part.

It probably depends on your personality.

You get to decide how to go about repurposing that old podcast audio

You can create an entirely new show OR you can add a new segment or weekly/monthly episode to your existing show.

What? I'll give you a couple of examples to show you want I mean...

One podcaster I listen to regularly is James Schramko. His podcast is called Super Fast Business.

James's show is NOT a "one-style-of-episode" show.

  • He does interviews
  • He does event promos
  • He does shorter "quick tips" episodes
  • all in the SAME podcast feed

It's not a problem for his audience because we've come to expect the variety. Some episodes will be short, actionable tips. Others will be lengthy conversations or webinar audio.

And we, the listeners, don't mind because we're sold on James and the way he does business!

Get that through your head.

Adding to the flavor of your show by adding segments to it, or even entirely different types of episodes will not throw your listeners for a loop.

It will help them. Tremendously.

It will add value to your show, thereby increasing your value to your listeners.

That means your listeners will trust you more. Turn to you more. And some of them will become your clients or customers.

So here's the questions you need to ask yourself and your team:

  • Should I just add a small segment to my show, reusing some of my old content?
  • Should I add a new "type" of episode to my show that consists entirely of old content that I'm repurposing?
  • Should I consider a new show altogether that is the "Quick Tip" show?

And there may be other options besides those.

But you've got to choose how you're going to put these bite-sized morsels of podcastificating goodness out on the airwaves again.

MINE THE CONTENT FROM YOUR OLDER SHOWS

Now's the time-intensive part - which is probably why I've not gotten many people to try out this idea.

You need to go through your old audio and identify the GOLD NUGGETS that you're going to use for your repurposing efforts.

Depending on the size of your operation, you may:

  • do this yourself (Listen to the old audio, pick out the quick tips or quotes you want to use, cut and paste them in your audio editor, and produce the new audio)
  • assign it to your VA or assistant (Give them your criteria and they can listen through and write down the time stamps of the nuggets they find.)
  • outsource it to a company like mine (Provide the criteria and we'd do the actual editing and production for you).
  • or who knows, there may be some high-powered audio tech on Fiverr who's itching to get his first job (You can always hope).

Regardless of how you go about it, you've got to do it. You've got to pick out the gold nuggets to highlight for your new quick tips.

Taking that kind of content from older podcast episodes where 50 to 80% of the content is still relevant to your listeners, you're probably going to find 10 or more quick tip quotes per show!

Wait a minute... let's do the math on that...

85 episodes X 10 quick tip quotes = 850 new segments or podcast episodes!

Wow... talk about repurposing! This is the way to do it

You've just repurposed 85 pieces of forgotten content, multiplying it into 850 new gold nuggets to help your audience, build your brand, and position yourself as the go-to-guy or gal in your niche.

WHAT WOULD I DO?

With that much repurposed content, I think I'd give it its own show.

I'd leverage my current audience to get lots of ratings and reviews on iTunes the minute the show is live.

I'd encourage them to pass these quick, actionable tips on to their friends or associates.

And I suspect I'd also pick up an entirely new demographic of listeners who prefer short, concise, easy to apply podcast content.

Here's a sample episode of how I'd do it, taken from my old show - the Christian Home and Family podcast... (you'll have to listen to this episode to hear the sample I created)

Are you willing to try this repurposing idea?

If you're willing to give this a shot and report your experience to my listening audience, I'd love to chat with you about

  • How to do it
  • Your experience
  • The results you get

Get in touch with me: Carey AT PodcastFastTrack DOT com

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