Latest / Business Podcasting: Production Strategy / How do you start a podcast for your business?

Transcript

How do you start a podcast for your business? · Business Podcasting: Production Strategy

• 0:00
  [Synthetic version of Lam Hoang's voice]
• 0:07
  This is Business Podcasting: Production Strategy, produced by WorkHacker.
• 0:13
  I'm your host, Lam Hoang, co-founder of WorkHacker.
• 0:16
  You're hearing a synthetic version of my voice.
• 0:19
  Each episode I take one question about making a podcast for your business,
• 0:23
  tell you what I would do and how solid the evidence is.
• 0:32
  Today's question: how do you start a podcast for your business?
• 0:36
  About four in ten new podcasts from the first
• 0:39
  half of 2026 had stopped publishing by July.
• 0:43
  That's one podcast-data company's count, and it doesn't define stopped.
• 0:47
  So hold the number loosely.
• 0:50
  What does a start that lasts look like for a business?
• 0:53
  Here's where I land.
• 0:55
  Start with the job the show should do for your business.
• 0:58
  Not with a microphone.
• 0:59
  Before you record, settle three things.
• 1:02
  Who it's for, what only you can make and how many hours it takes.
• 1:07
  Launch it to people who already know you.
• 1:10
  Then give it a fixed run, and judge it on the job you gave it.
• 1:14
  Making it perform for your business?
• 1:16
  That's what this series is for.
• 1:17
  Here's what you'll leave with.
• 1:19
  A test for whether you're ready, and what to settle before recording.
• 1:23
  Then the price in hours, a launch plan and how to judge it.
• 1:27
  First: are you ready to start at all?
• 1:30
  Jay Acunzo has made more than a dozen shows.
• 1:33
  He asks companies one question more than any other.
• 1:36
  Why do you have a podcast?
• 1:38
  If the show exists because someone wanted one,
• 1:41
  he says you have to be okay with getting no results.
• 1:44
  So the show needs a job outside itself.
• 1:47
  Something should happen for the business because the show exists.
• 1:51
  But be realistic about what that something is.
• 1:54
  One studio that makes shows for companies puts it this way.
• 1:57
  If your goal is next quarter's sales, an original series might not be the best fit.
• 2:02
  And nobody has published an independent measure of what a business show returns.
• 2:07
  So when someone promises you leads, treat that as the seller's claim.
• 2:11
  To me, a business show is a slow way to earn trust with the right people.
• 2:16
  Then run two checks from NPR's training team.
• 2:19
  Is a podcast the best format for this idea?
• 2:22
  Do you have the people and the time to make it?
• 2:25
  And the resources?
• 2:26
  If either answer is no, that's an answer.
• 2:29
  You might start as a guest on other shows instead, or by writing.
• 2:34
  Here's a test that costs nothing.
• 2:36
  Who is the show for?
• 2:38
  What should they do or believe after listening?
• 2:41
  And why does that help your business?
• 2:43
  If you can't answer them yet, you're not ready to record.
• 2:46
  Second, what do you settle before you record?
• 2:50
  Settle the listener first.
• 2:52
  Pick one, and the problem the show solves for them.
• 2:55
  Eric Nuzum was once NPR's vice president of programming.
• 2:59
  In his words, "successful podcasts solve problems for listeners."
• 3:04
  He has a test for a show idea.
• 3:06
  Describe your show in ten words or fewer,
• 3:09
  in a way that describes nothing else in the world.
• 3:12
  Can't do it?
• 3:13
  Then you have a topic, not a show yet.
• 3:15
  What gets you past that test is an angle that's yours.
• 3:19
  Dan Misener ran audience development at a branded-podcast studio,
• 3:22
  and he asks what show only your company could make.
• 3:26
  His answer is sometimes access to unique guests,
• 3:29
  proprietary research or a niche perspective.
• 3:32
  He also has a warning.
• 3:34
  A show only about what the brand wants to say is heading for infomercial territory.
• 3:39
  So build on what your business knows, and aim it at the listener's problem.
• 3:43
  A lot of times it's research, data or expertise you've never had time to share.
• 3:48
  Say you run a small accounting firm.
• 3:51
  Your listener is an owner who dreads tax season.
• 3:54
  Your angle is the mistakes you fix each spring.
• 3:57
  If more owners call you before they file, the show is doing its job.
• 4:01
  Your format should follow from that, not from a guest list.
• 4:05
  A podcast agency puts it simply: start with the topic, not the guest.
• 4:10
  Interviews can grow your network.
• 4:12
  But a podcast-software company's guide says they take booking and scheduling.
• 4:17
  It adds that they build less loyalty, because the guest changes every week.
• 4:21
  No study compares formats for a business show.
• 4:24
  So pick the one your calendar can carry.
• 4:27
  Why the calendar?
• 4:28
  A podcast is a series.
• 4:31
  Third, what will it really cost you?
• 4:33
  Mostly hours.
• 4:35
  Not money.
• 4:36
  Dave Jackson has taught podcasting since 2005, and his test is simple.
• 4:41
  Time one episode, start to finish.
• 4:44
  If it takes seven hours, ask yourself honestly whether you have seven hours a week.
• 4:49
  Then pick a schedule those hours can carry.
• 4:52
  With agents doing most of the production, the cost moves to review.
• 4:56
  It takes more of your time at first and less as the show proves itself.
• 5:00
  One guide says the best schedule is usually the most frequent one you can stick to.
• 5:05
  It also says one excellent episode a month beats a very average one every week.
• 5:10
  A hosting company's guide recommends weekly instead.
• 5:13
  Nobody has tested which pace grows a show.
• 5:16
  I'd pick the pace you can hold.
• 5:18
  What about gear?
• 5:19
  A major listening app's beginner guide from
• 5:21
  February 2026 says your phone or computer will do.
• 5:25
  It calls them not perfect but sufficient for your first episodes.
• 5:29
  The same app runs a free podcast host, so it's not a neutral party.
• 5:34
  And a camera?
• 5:35
  If you sell expertise or services, you can start without filming.
• 5:39
  Video has its own episode.
• 5:41
  Hosting can be free at the start, too.
• 5:44
  About half the hosts checked for this episode have a free plan.
• 5:47
  Paid plans mostly start at twelve to twenty dollars a month.
• 5:51
  But free means different things.
• 5:53
  So check three things before episode one: the cap, the ads and the exit.
• 5:59
  Some free plans cap or expire what you publish.
• 6:02
  Some are paid for with ads in your show.
• 6:04
  And leaving takes a redirect that sends your listeners to the new host.
• 6:08
  Not every host keeps it running after you cancel.
• 6:11
  Gear and choosing a host get their own episodes later.
• 6:14
  Fourth, how do you get the first episodes out?
• 6:18
  Don't wait until it feels perfect.
• 6:20
  Pat Flynn has podcasted since 2010,
• 6:23
  and he took a year and a half to publish his first episode.
• 6:26
  His warning is blunt.
• 6:28
  Wait until you feel good about the show, and you'll never have one.
• 6:31
  But don't publish the first thing you record unheard, either.
• 6:34
  Play it to one honest listener first.
• 6:37
  Fix what they point at.
• 6:38
  Then launch the way Apple describes it.
• 6:41
  As of October 2026, Apple requires at least one
• 6:45
  episode and cover art before you can submit a show.
• 6:48
  Its editors also hand-pick new shows to feature, though not every show gets picked.
• 6:53
  To pitch yours, you need at least a trailer live in your feed.
• 6:57
  Apple asks for the pitch at least two weeks before
• 6:59
  your first full episodes, with advance audio of them.
• 7:03
  So that's my order: trailer and pitch first, full episodes two weeks later.
• 7:07
  Teachers split between one, three and up to five with no data either way.
• 7:13
  I'd launch with as many as you can finish without delaying.
• 7:16
  Then tell people yourself, one at a time.
• 7:19
  Make a list of ten people who'd really find the show useful, and message each one.
• 7:24
  Ask them to follow it.
• 7:26
  And to rate it once they've listened.
• 7:28
  Why?
• 7:29
  Apple's charts count listening and follows.
• 7:32
  Ratings and reviews aren't counted directly,
• 7:35
  but Apple says they sway whether people listen and follow.
• 7:38
  Some teachers also make launch day one big push to everyone you know.
• 7:43
  But launch day is the start, not the plan.
• 7:46
  Finding listeners gets an episode of its own.
• 7:49
  Last, how will you know it's working?
• 7:52
  Expect small numbers.
• 7:53
  And decide in advance what counts.
• 7:56
  One large podcast host publishes its own figures.
• 7:59
  In September 2026, the typical show's new episode
• 8:03
  got twenty-seven downloads in its first week.
• 8:06
  That's every kind of show on that host, not just business shows.
• 8:10
  It can sound tiny.
• 8:11
  But a business doesn't need a crowd.
• 8:14
  Cliff Ravenscraft coaches podcasters, and he puts numbers on it.
• 8:18
  Depending on your model you may need only twenty to fifty clients a year, he says.
• 8:23
  So judge the show on its job, not its downloads.
• 8:27
  Did the right people hear it?
• 8:28
  Did anything happen outside the show?
• 8:31
  One simple way to find out is to ask new clients how they found you.
• 8:35
  And give it time.
• 8:37
  I'd run it for six months of steady episodes before judging it.
• 8:40
  That's one teacher's rule of thumb, not a measured payback time.
• 8:44
  He calls it a minimum.
• 8:46
  His own show was over a year old before he saw what it could do.
• 8:49
  So at six months, judge the job.
• 8:52
  Not the payback.
• 8:53
  If you slow down or stop, do it on purpose and say so.
• 8:57
  The coach behind those client numbers did just that in August 2026.
• 9:02
  He cut two weekly shows to at least monthly, and told his listeners why.
• 9:06
  That's a decision, not a fade.
• 9:09
  So here's the rule.
• 9:10
  Start with the job the show should do for your business.
• 9:13
  Know who it's for and what it costs in hours,
• 9:17
  then tell the people who know you first.
• 9:19
  And judge it on its job after six months.
• 9:22
  The first step costs nothing.
• 9:24
  Before you buy a thing, write down who the show is for.
• 9:28
  Then what they should do after listening.
• 9:31
  And why that helps your business.
• 9:33
  A free prompt for your own AI to set up your podcast project,
• 9:37
  plus the launch fine print, comes with the written version.
• 9:40
  And that's it for today's question.
• 9:42
  Know someone with the same question?
• 9:44
  Send them this episode.
• 9:45
  Thanks for listening.
• 9:46
  The written version is on workhacker.com, with every source.
• 9:50
  And if you want a podcast like this for your business, WorkHacker makes them.
• 9:54
  See you next time.