Why Are You Podcasting?

When you podcast as a passion project, you need to have a?why?that keeps you going.

When you podcast with the intent of turning it into a business, you need a plan to generate?income?to support the work.

When you podcast in support of your existing business you need... well, it depends on your business.

• You might need a podcast to help you build the relationships (clients, partners, referrers, co-promoters, influencers etc.) you need to grow.
• You might need a podcast to have an official source for your IP, and generate the material you send to news outlets, disseminate to your team and audience and increase your stature in your industry.
• You might need a podcast to nurture your leads and keep your audience invested in what your business is doing.

But whatever your business is, and however your show supports it, you need to?know that what you are doing is working.

So the question you should be asking is: what is my podcast supposed to be?**doing for my business

In a perfect world, that’s an easy question to answer, and you have clear data to back that answer up.

In this world, most company podcasts are doing a lot of things right and a few things wrong. While it’s plainly successful enough to keep doing it - it’s really hard to figure out?why.

But it is possible to identify the specific ways your podcast is generating value for your business, and track exactly how much value every month, giving you the clarity you need to make decisions about it.

Here’s how:

1. Identify the most important, overarching goal of your podcast. It will usually be one of the Business Podcast Blueprints: Thought Leadership, Relationship Building, Audience Engagement, Conversions or Content.
2. Figure out the specific outcomes that indicate how well your podcast is meeting that overarching goal. (Think: referrals, SERP rankings, sales, labor cost savings, speaking opportunities etc.)
3. Regularly track that outcome as a metric, and optimize your podcast to get more of it. Then do it again and again for every different way your podcast is creating value for your company.

Easy, right?

Well, easy to say. Doing it when you’re 6 months or a year into production and there’s always something running late is somewhat more complicated.

So I wrote a book about it.

Podcasting for Business: How to Create a Show That Makes a Bottom Line Difference In your Business has been called:

“…highly practical and relevant for entrepreneurs looking to integrate podcasting into their marketing toolkit.” - Roshni Baronia, Produce Your Podcast

“…literally a must read for every business podcaster, whether you have been podcasting since 2012 or you want to start in the fall of 2024.” - Tom Fox, The Compliance Podcast Network

…innovative and practical.” - Julie Fry, Your Expert Guest

“…a comprehensive step-by-step guide to launch your business podcast…” - Fatima Zaidi, Quill and Cohost.

“an essential read for anyone considering starting a podcast.” - Nikki Rausch, Your Sales Maven

And it has some jokes.

But in seriousness, this book lays out the formula for a profitable podcast and will teach you how to modify it for your own business goals, beginning to end, A to Z, everything you need to know. It’s not all easy - but it is all possible.

It’s releasing on September 10th, and to celebrate, there are some cool things happening:

1. Everyone who orders up to and during launch week is entitled to a free ticket to this year’s podcasting for Business Conference, where over a dozen industry leading experts are coming together to teach critical podcasting for business skills. There is also abundant networking, deep dive workshops, new data being presented, and opportunities for Q and A. Check out this year’s speakers right here!
2. I’m hosting an ROI clinic on the 10th (3pm-4:30pm EST) where we are going to dig into YOUR podcast and discover how to improve your return on investment by aligning your show’s structure with your goals, optimizing your workflows and upgrading your tracking infrastructure. It might not sound sexy - but this is the work that makes the difference between investment and expense, so come and get it done in 90 minutes with some live expert support.

Get all the details, and your very own copy of Podcasting for Business right here: PodcastingforBusiness.com/Book.

I hope you’re able to join us at the ROI clinic next week, and in the meantime, if you’ve got a podcast - what is the thing you most want it to be doing for your business… and is it doing it?