3 Podcasts To Inspire Your Business Strategy

We all want our product or service to stand out.

But most of the time this means narrowing our focus.?

And that takes discipline.?

Because focus can feel limiting.?

As we gain experience, we learn this is just our brain and FOMO tricking us.

In reality, almost any niche can be massive.

Additionally, "scale" can never be achieved without first super-serving a core audience.

In my agency days, we took on a lot of strategy and positioning projects, helping clients grow by differentiating their brands, products and services, customer experiences, and content.

Then, I shifted my focus to studying and experimenting with strategies for long-form content development and narrative storytelling, leading with audio.

In 2017, during the early days of this chapter, I made the PRX Podcast Garage outside of Boston my home away from home.?

Week after week, it was here that I met creators and soaked up the incredible programming.

Coming from the world of business strategy and marketing, I was excited to find that podcast producers used similar strategies and positioning exercises in show development.

Of course, there are nuances, but most content producers invest time up-front to improve their shows by developing a relatively narrow focus, a clearly defined audience, and an undeniable value proposition, just as a business strategist would.

With that in mind, here are three big winners in podcasting who made bold strategy and positioning moves we can all learn from, regardless of our industry:?

1. FLY ON THE WALL

Dana Carvey + David Spade = automatic hit, right??

What else do you need when you have this Hall of Fame comedy duo??

Just find a clever name, book famous guests, and hit record.?

This generic approach might have done well, but instead, the show became a massive hit because it was positioned explicitly for fans of SNL, with every interview conducted through this lens.?

For example, when Paul McCartney appeared on various podcasts to promote his new album, he only talked about partying in the Hamptons with Lorne and his favorite SNL sketches on this show with David and Dana.?

Props to Cadence13 , Audacy, Inc. , and Brillstein Entertainment Partners for calling this play and executing so well.?

2. THE STARTUP IDEAS PODCAST

For years, multipreneur and creator Greg Isenberg interviewed top-notch guests about business.?

He has a dedicated following on X (formerly Twitter), and fans who engage with him across platforms.

But after years making his podcast, Where It Happens, he recorded a few episodes focused explicitly on sharing startup ideas. This generated outsized buzz and positive feedback, so he tested his way through a pivot, ultimately repositioning and rebranding the podcast.

The result: The Startup Ideas Podcast, taking the show from a general business podcast to the place to get your business brainstorming fix.?

It’s daunting to change something that’s been around for years, let alone truly rebrand.?

That's why testing and experimenting, as Greg did, can be so powerful.

Once he made the shift, he published more frequently to capitalize on the momentum and to ensure new and old fans understood the pivot and value proposition.?

3. WISER THAN ME

You’re dealing with entertainment royalty, in this case, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Nobody would think twice about her hosting a traditional interview show rooted in comedy, hoping to land some guest interviews that could tap into the long-lasting relevance of Seinfeld.?

But not in the hands of the always strategic Lemonada Media team.

This show broke out quickly because it’s explicitly positioned around the conceit that Julia is “getting schooled on life by women who are older, and yeah, wiser than me.”?

It’s worth repeating: this was not an obvious foray into podcasting for Julia.?

Props to her, Jessica Cordova Kramer (she/her) , Stephanie Wittels Wachs , and the entire crew at Lemonada Media for giving us this gem, and overall for being so consistent and intentional about their brand and value proposition, and how it manifests in every show from the network.

Thankfully, these examples and many more are available for us to learn from as we create or sharpen our strategies, and differentiate our offerings.

Are there shows, products, services, or creators explicitly inspiring you right now?