It starts with understanding why you’re doing it in the first place.
Many of us dream of creating and hosting a successful podcast. Your marketing team might have even approached you with the idea, saying you need a podcast to help grow your business. I have been doing The CEO Project Podcast for almost 5 years now, and I have done hundreds of episodes.
Podcasts have exploded in popularity. Some people might get most of their information and news by listening to them. But they’ve also multiplied to the point where it can be challenging to get any attention for your podcast among the thousands and thousands of alternatives out there.
While it’s relatively easy these days to create and produce a good podcast, the challenge of standing out among the crowd demands that you become clear about why you’re doing it in the first place. Otherwise, you can quickly realize you’re wasting valuable time on something you shouldn’t bother with.
To ensure your podcast is successful on your terms, start by identifying your purpose and what you want to achieve with it. Consider some key guidelines as you answer that question.
Intellectual Curiosity
One reason you might have a podcast is to have a platform to talk about the things you like and to meet interesting people who share your interests. It’s all about intellectual stimulation. It’s fun to talk about cool subjects with smart people. And because you have a podcast, most people will accept the invitation to join you. The catch is that pursuing these goals probably doesn’t connect with your business objectives. And that’s ok if you understand what you’re doing and why.
Ego Stroking
I’ve met people whose sole goal in creating podcasts is to attract as many listeners as possible. Now, you need to be realistic in that you’re not likely to compete with big names like Joe Rogan, who has millions of listeners. But bragging about having 5,000 or even 100,000 listeners or subscribers to their show can be good enough. To reach this level of subscribers, you need to shift from talking about what you want to discuss to talking about what your audience wants to hear. For instance, Rogan identified an audience of young men aged 18 to 35, and he talks about things that interest them. There is a lesson from politics: you don’t want to build a coalition. You want to find one and then lead it. If you can do that with your podcast, you can create a substantial audience.
Demonstrate Expertise
Another reason to start a podcast is to demonstrate your expertise, like writing a book or giving a TED talk. The podcast becomes your opportunity to discuss an area of expertise with guests you invite to the show. A podcast can effectively position you as a thought leader in your field, generating more exposure for your business. For example, I work with a company that hosts a successful podcast on customer experience management. By showing deep expertise on that topic, which is also their business, they can leverage the podcast audience to acquire new customers.
Client Acquisition
A more direct way to use your podcast to acquire customers is to identify potential clients and invite them onto your show. Your whole goal is to use your conversation with the person —on air or in the green room — before and after you tape the show to build a relationship that you hope will eventually blossom. I worked with one executive who used his podcast for precisely this purpose. And he didn’t care if the only person who listened to it was the person he interviewed. This idea speaks to the law of reciprocity, which holds that a networker always gives first. Ultimately, this podcast strategy aims to provide you with access to potential clients who can become significant revenue generators over time.
Grow Your Network
Another reason you might start a podcast is to expand your reach into wider social networks. Rather than targeting clients one-on-one, your goal is to invite people onto your show connected to networks you want to do business with. In other words, you’re trying to build a relationship with someone who can give you access to hundreds of different relationships. Perhaps they are a so-called “influencer” or an industry expert, followed by people you’re interested in connecting with. You’re hoping that with one interview, you might generate multiple leads for your business.
Plan Ahead
So, before you pursue your dream of becoming a podcast superstar, spend some time thinking about why you want to do it and how you will use it. Whether it’s purely as a hobby or as a lead generator for your business, it’s best to be clear about what you want to accomplish before investing the time and energy into making your podcast dream a reality. That’s how you’ll help ensure you get the best bang for your buck in terms of your time, energy, and money.
