What's the best way to pick a topic for your small business podcast or blog?

1 Know your goals

Before you pick a topic, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your podcast or blog. Do you want to educate, entertain, inspire, or persuade your listeners or readers? Do you want to showcase your products or services, or offer advice and insights? Do you want to grow your audience, generate leads, or increase sales? Having a specific and measurable goal will help you narrow down your topic and tailor your content to your desired outcome.

2 Know your audience

Another key factor to consider is who you are creating your podcast or blog for. Who are your ideal customers or clients? What are their needs, challenges, problems, or interests? What are their demographics, preferences, and behaviors? How do they consume content and what formats do they prefer? You can use tools like surveys, interviews, analytics, or social media to research your audience and understand their pain points and desires. Then, you can choose a topic that will address their needs and offer value and solutions.

3 Know your competitors

You also need to be aware of what other podcasts or blogs are covering in your industry or niche. You don't want to choose a topic that is too saturated or too obscure. You want to find a balance between relevance and uniqueness. You can use tools like Google, iTunes, Spotify, or BuzzSumo to search for keywords, trends, and popular topics in your field. Then, you can analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, and look for gaps or opportunities to differentiate yourself. You can also use feedback, reviews, or comments to see what your potential audience likes or dislikes about your competitors' content.

4 Know your passion

Finally, you need to choose a topic that you are passionate about and knowledgeable in. You don't have to be an expert, but you do need to have some credibility and authority on the subject. You also need to have enough enthusiasm and curiosity to sustain your podcast or blog for a long time. You want to choose a topic that you enjoy talking or writing about, and that you can explore in depth and from different angles. You also want to choose a topic that will allow you to express your personality, voice, and style, and connect with your audience on an emotional level.

By following these tips, you can pick a topic for your small business podcast or blog that will match your goals, audience, competitors, and passion. You can also test your topic by creating a few episodes or posts and seeing how they perform and how your audience responds. Remember, you can always refine or pivot your topic as you go along and learn from your experience and feedback.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?