How to start a podcast for your business

Want to know how to start a podcast for your business? Maybe you are currently trying to work out whether you should have a podcast, blog or YouTube channel for your business (if so, check out this blog post where I talk through the pros and cons of each option ). Or maybe you’ve already decided that you definitely want to have a podcast, but are trying to work out how to turn the idea of having a podcast into a reality. Either way, you are in the right place. I’m going to walk through the things you need to think about, as well as the things you need to do to get your podcast up and running. Keep on reading to find out exactly how to start a podcast for your business.

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HOW TO START A PODCAST FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Before delving into how to start a podcast for your business I want to clarify one thing. This is about making a podcast that is supporting your business by being a marketing channel. This blog post isn’t designed for people who want to start a podcast, which is a business in itself. Some of the information will still be applicable but this blog post is really designed to help those who want to have a podcast to support their already existing business.

Set your podcast’s purpose

Before diving into the nitty gritty of starting a podcast for your business you should get crystal clear on what the purpose of your podcast is. Knowing the purpose of your podcast will help make other decisions in the future.

A podcast can support a business, and a business owner, in multiple ways. For example, the purpose of your podcast could be to:

Showcase your expertise
Enable you to have interesting conversations with other people
Build your network
Provide your current audience with another way to learn from and / or engage with you
Build your mailing list
Position you as an authority
Sell your services and/or products

A podcast doesn’t have to be limited to just one purpose. It can fulfil multiple purposes, but you should write this purpose out and ideally put them in a hierarchical order.

Define your ideal listener

Once you are clear on how the podcast should be supporting your business the next thing to do is get clear on who your ideal listener is. If you have already done ideal client work for your business then the likelihood is there will be a lot of similarities. However, it is important to remember that not everyone is a podcast listener. If you already have an audience (through your email list, social media platforms etc) then the likelihood is some will be interested in listening to your podcast and others won’t. That isn’t an issue. When it comes to consuming content everyone has their preference. In the same way I know that by having a blog some of my audience will never read it as they can’t be bothered with reading.

Regardless of if you have already done ideal client work or not you should write down who your ideal listener is. This will help ensure that you make decisions around format, length of episodes etc with them in mind.

Choose the format, length and frequency of release

Podcasts have a number of different formats and whilst you aren’t required to declare your format (or stick to it for that matter) it is good for you as a podcast host to choose the format initially. Some popular choices when creating a podcast for your business are:

Solo / Monologue (aka you by yourself)
Interview (You and a guest)
Co-hosted (You with someone else – this is usually conversational rather than an interview)
Panel

You can decide to stick to one format or you might decide to do a mix and match. In my industry of business and marketing it is common for podcasts to be a mixture of solo episodes and interview episodes. This is where having your purpose defined is important. If you have a goal to use your podcast to showcase your expertise and position you as an authority, then doing solo episodes absolutely makes sense. However, if your purpose is to use the podcast to build your network then you’d need to do interview episodes.

Once you’ve decided on the format, you’ll next need to consider length. Now you don’t have to stick to the same length every single episode. You can go with the flow and do what you want. However, some podcasters make conscious decisions about the length of their episodes and then make that very clear to their listeners.

For example, I was a guest on The Freelancer’s Teabreak Podcast (You can listen to my episode – Should you blog as a freelancer? – here ) which is a podcast ran by Emma Cossey, Founder of The Freelancer Lifestyle. Her ideal listener is a freelancer who is likely to be short on time, so she specifically makes her solo episodes a maximum of 10 minutes. This means they are perfect for when a freelancer is having a tea break.

At the other end of the scale there is Tim Ferris who usually has podcast episodes that are between 1.5 hours and 3 hours. Personally, I would think that was too long, but currently (October 2021) he has had over 700 million downloads so clearly there are enough people with a long enough attention span.

As you can see from both of those examples the length of a podcast episode can differ drastically. There is no hard and fast rule with regards to length. It is about ensuring it works for your business and your ideal listener.

Once you’ve decided on format and length, you’ll need to consider the frequency of publishing episodes. Again, there aren’t rules when it comes to this. Some podcasts post episodes whenever they want. Sometimes that can mean multiple in a week and then there is a gap. However, in most cases I would recommend that you decide on a frequency. This blog post is specifically for business owners who want to use a podcast a marketing channel and as with most marketing channels consistency matters. In an ideal world you want to get to the point where your audience is excited about the release of your next episode. When I co-hosted the Free and Figuring It Out podcast we released an episode every Friday morning and one week something had gone wrong with the podcast host and the episode didn’t publish. I found out because a listener messaged me because they listened every Friday morning on their commute. This is the dream and what you should be aiming for you.

If you want your listeners to integrate listening to your podcast into their life than posting regularly is key. If you are serious about using a podcast as your long-form content, then you should aim for releasing a new episode every week. Set a day of the week when you publish it and let everyone know that is the plan.

OVERWHELMED WITH ALL THE DECISIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE?

WISH YOU HAD SOMEONE TO HELP YOU WORK THROUGH ALL THE OPTIONS?

I work 1-to-1 with coaches, consultants and online service providers to help ensure they are marketing their businesses as effectively as possible to help them achieve their overall business goals. Adding a podcast into your business can be a great choice when integrated strategically, which I will help you to do. Click here to find out how we can work together.

Ensure you have the necessary equipment and tech

At this point you’ve made most the foundation decisions and now it is time to start thinking about recording your first episode.

When it comes to creating an episode there are a few things you need.

A way to record the episode

A way to edit the episode

Recording a podcast episode

To record your podcast episodes you’ll first need a microphone. For most business owners starting out I recommend getting a USB microphone that can be plugged into your desktop or laptop.

When I started podcasting I wanted to get a microphone with a USB and XLR port. I knew at the time I would just connect via USB but I wanted the option to be able to switch to XLR in the future. After much research of what was available in the UK under the £100 price point I bought the Samson Q2U. I was very happy with the microphone and even though I never ended up using the XLR feature I had the option.

If you have a bit more money then I’d recommend getting a Blue Yeti microphone. This is a very popular microphone in podcasting and I recently “upgraded” to it.

When you are first starting a podcast you might hear other people saying you don’t need a microphone and technically you can record audio without buying a USB microphone. However, if you are using this for your business then I think a £100 investment is worth it. I have recorded over 150 podcast episodes with a £75 microphone. To me that is a very worthwhile investment.

Depending on the microphone you buy you might also need to buy a pop filter and a stand. Often you can get a bundle where everything comes together.

Once you’ve got all of your recording kit you might be thinking “How do I actually record the episode?”. You’ll need some sort of software to record on. If you have a Mac you can use Garageband (it is usually on your Mac automatically). If you are a PC user a very common choice is Audacity (I’ve never used it as I have a Mac). Now these options are fine if you are doing solo episodes, but if you are doing co-host, interview or panel then you might need to record the audio from different people across the world.

In those situations, you can use Zoom or ZenCastr. If you use Zoom it enables you (if you want to) to see everyone whilst recording and then you get separate video and audio files. If you use ZenCastr you just record the audio. Personally, I prefer Zoom as I like to be able to see people when I’m recording even though I know in the end it is just the audio that is released.

Editing a podcast episode

So you’ve recorded an episode and you’ve got some audio files. Now it is time to edit and you have two options. You can hire a podcast editor and send them the raw audio files or you can DIY it and then you’ll need some software to edit. You can use the same software as what I recommended earlier for recording solo episodes (GarageBand or Audacity). When it comes to editing you have options. Some people don’t do any and just release the original file. Others will top and tail, which means add an intro and an outro, but not really edit the episode file. Others will heavily edit and take out every um or erm etc. When it comes to choosing how edited you want to go think about your brand and your time. If you have a fairly relaxed brand then you can probably get away with an unedited episode. If you have a highly polished brand then a more edited episode might be required.

If you decide that you want to have an intro and outro you’ll need to record these aswell.

Select a podcast host

By this post you have your first episode recorded and edited. You are ready to get it out into the world. However, in order to do that you need a podcast host. A podcast host is where you will upload your podcast files. Your podcast host makes a RSS feed for your podcast and then other podcast directories/players (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Stitcher etc) are able to read that feed and update their directories. You aren’t manually going round and telling every podcast directory. You just upload to your host and the rest happens like magic.

There are a number of options when it comes to podcast hosts. For my podcast I used Libsyn and it worked absolutely fine, although the interface definitely feels very old. Two other hosts that I see recommended a lot of Buzzsprout and Blubrry. Most podcast hosts have different pricing plans so you’ll need to think about your specific needs and work out what is right for you.

Once you’ve selected a host, you’ll first need to set up your podcast first. This will include stating the name, uploading a cover image, including a short blurb and choosing the categories you want it to be included in. Depending on the host you use there might also be some one-time setup you have to do with some of the podcast directories/players.

Then you’ll be able to upload your first episode. For each episode you’ll need to have a title, image (can be the same as the podcast image) and a short description.

After uploading everything you’ll then be given an option to publish your episode now or to schedule the release at a later date.

Market Your Podcast

Congratulations! At this point you technically have a podcast. Your first episode could be live in the world for anyone to listen to. However, if you are starting a podcasting for your business then you need to make sure people know about it. That means that you are going to have to do marketing around your podcast. If you are serious about using your podcast to support and grow your business, then you should have create a marketing plan for the launch and then an ongoing marketing plan.

There you have it! You now know how to start a podcast for your business.

I’ve covered a lot in this blog post and it is easy to think that there is a lot to do and whilst that is true if you are committed to getting a podcast up and running for your business it doesn’t have to take forever. In fact, you can get a podcast set up and live in less than a week.

Starting a podcast can be massively beneficial to your business, but I’ve hope you’ve also realised the importance of really think about its purpose. When you decide to start a podcast for your business you have to be strategic otherwise it can just become another thing in your business that sucks your time and resources, but isn’t supporting your growth and success.

If you have any other questions about podcasting please drop them in the comments.

And if you decide to start a podcast after reading this blog post let me know the name in the comments and I’ll have a listen.

WANT HELP TO ENSURE YOUR PODCAST BECOMES AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING CHANNEL AND SUPPORTS YOUR OVERALL BUSINESS GROWTH?

In addition to having ran my own podcast, I’m a Chartered Marketer, with a decade of marketing experience, who now specialising in supporting solopreneurs and (super) small service-based business owners to get clear on their business goals and then implement the right growth, marketing and sales strategies to achieve build a thriving business that supports the lifestyle they want.

Podcasts can be a hugely successful at supporting sales and business growth when used strategically and when you work with me, I’ll ensure you use your podcast strategically. I’ll be by your side to create a launch plan for your podcast and then ensure that your podcast is properly integrated into the rest of your marketing and everything is working together to result in more visibility and more clients.

If you are ready to be strategic and take your business to the next level you can find out more about how we can work together here.

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