Do you want to grow your customer base? Are you willing to increase your business’s engagement with your clientele? Then, podcasting is for you!
Why Does Your Business Needs a Podcast?
Today over 222 million people around the globe are podcast fans, with an average increment of 10 million new listeners to this fan base every year. Therefore, no matter in what genre your business operates, your business podcast will never fall short of ears to listen to.
In the current global digital marketplace, podcasting has become a goldmine technology. There are podcasts for everything, from storytelling to interviews. Additionally, podcasts can give your business a major boost by increasing reach to customers and markets, forming extensive networks, and showcasing your industry expertise.
The popularity of podcasts is universal. If deployed correctly, it can create a multitude of channels and benefits for your business!
However, creating an effective podcast for a business is not easy. Especially if you intend on doing this without the help of a professional podcaster, you need to be adequately prepared before embarking on this endeavor. Prior to airing your first podcast episode, you must meet certain technical requirements. Nonetheless, don’t worry. These steps will help you start a thriving podcast for your business:
Guide to Building a Successful Business Podcast
Decide Your Theme
So, you have decided to start a podcast for your business. What’s next? First, you need to decide what content you will deliver to your listeners, i.e., you need to find your podcast’s theme.
For most business podcasts, your theme should correlate with your overall inbound marketing strategy. This simply means you want to educate your listeners about your expertise. In the same way that your blog, eBooks, and webinars provide value to your customers, so should your podcast.
If you are a digital marketing company, you can teach your listeners about marketing content online. If you are a wellness coach, you can teach your listeners about living a healthy life, like Jenny Holla of The Life Adventurist podcast. If you’re a non-profit business share stories about the communities you serve. Consider providing technical “tips and tricks” to your customers or even answering their questions through your podcast if you’re a manufacturer.
The topics you teach will vary by industry, but most organizations can produce a great podcast by teaching and providing value to their listeners.
Selecting the Right Format
Podcast formats vary widely – the most popular include:
- Solo show
- Multiple host show
- Interview show
As in the podcast, Life as P, by Phenix Ash in a solo show, the podcaster speaks directly to the listeners. Co-hosted shows require you to share the microphone with another presenter, Cool Black Nerds is a great example of such a podcast. An interview show like The Life Adventurists podcast is an opportunity to talk with guests, which can be done solo or with a co-host.
Be sure to keep the conversation casual and informal no matter what format you choose. Nothing can be worse than an interminable podcast in which the host reads from a script. Therefore, always try to maintain a natural flow instead!
Recording Your Podcast
There are dozens of free podcast recording platforms, where you can record your episodes without even spending a nickel. Depending upon your podcast’s format and your business’s need, you can choose to record your podcast through:
- Spreaker
- Skype
- Zoom
- GoToMeeting or WebEx
Or you can simply record the episodes through your phone’s voice recorded. If you’re doing your own solo podcast, you can simply record using the voice memo app on your phone. If you want to reduce ambient noise, you can wear headphones, but it doesn’t need to be complicated. The audio file can then be exported for production.
The level of sophisticated devices you use to record your podcast will vary depending upon your podcast’s budget. You can definitely start small, but further, down the lane, you will need to upgrade, especially if you want to sustain your brand amongst your podcast listeners.
Planning and Recording Episodes
You can now start recording your first episode once all the above has been completed. However, you should first create an outline. Make a list of topics you want to discuss in each episode for the next few episodes. You can avoid fumbling by adhering to this plan of action while podcasting. Planning makes a big difference even in this case. Draft a rough outline and start recording.
Need some help in planning and recording your podcast episodes? Leave it to the professionals! SayWHA Radio Network can help you plan and create your business podcast episodes like a master!
Producing & HostingYour Business Podcast Episodes
Next, you must produce your podcast. Typically, this means adding music and making any slight edits necessary to enhance the overall quality. Although you can publish a podcast without any music, adding some tunes really adds a nice touch of professionalism, and your audience will definitely love it!
Our recommendation is to use GarageBand if you have a Mac. It’s free and easy to use. Adding music to fade in and out at the beginning and end of your voice track is all you have to do. Having done this, you then have a template to copy onto, and you can replace the voice track from a previous episode. You can also use Audacity, which is free if you’re using a PC.
Once you can edit a couple of episodes for your podcast launch, now is the time to find a place to host your awesome episodes. Some of our favorite podcast hosting options are:
- SoundCloud
- Castos
- Simplecast
- Resonate
- Libsyn
SWRN has over a decade of experience in producing and hosting some of the most popular podcasts. Schedule a call, and let us help you produce and host the best podcast episodes in your niche!
Go For It!
Having established the basics, the key to a successful podcast is consistency. Keep doing it regularly. Typically, podcast schedules are weekly, which gives you time between each episode to prepare. Podcasts that are interesting will gain listeners over time.
Eventually, you can leverage your podcast to cross-promote events and resources within your company as you build a solid audience. However, you should limit this as much as possible. During the majority of your podcast, you should try to help and provide value to your listeners.
Here is a bold statement. There is a huge majority of people who will read this and enjoy it but won’t start a podcast for their business. Do not be one of them. Launch your podcast now and ahead of your competitors. That way, you can build an audience and stay competitive. Your podcast will have already built an audience in your industry by the time they decide to start it next year or the following year. You’ll already be far ahead of them!
A Secret To Successful Business Podcast!
Here’s one more bold statement. Podcasting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea!
Many new podcasters can take the chance of trying out if podcasting is their game and quit if they fail.
But, as a business with an already established customer base, you cannot take the chance of losing your customer to a below-average podcast. But, you can also not let the huge listener base get away just because you are afraid of taking the chance.
SayWHA Radio Network is here to help you out of this catch 22. As a podcasting network with over eleven years in business, we understand podcasting better than most. Schedule a call today, and take the first step towards becoming the most successful podcast in your business niche!
