How Hosting A Podcast Can Help Your Business

Podcasts are a popular medium, with radio stations, comedians and political commentators all using them to spread their message and raise their profile. According to research conducted by Edison in 2012, 29% of American smartphone owners have listened to podcasts. By maintaining a high standard of content and engaging your listeners regularly, your podcast may help you to be recognised as a leader in your industry.

The first question you should ask yourself is “is podcasting right for my business?” Podcasting is a commitment, if you don’t have the time to write, record and post a regular podcast then it's best not to start. If you don’t have a good niche or theme to explore throughout your podcasts then, again, maybe podcasting isn’t the way forward.

However, if you have a good idea, even if it’s only just formulating, and you have the time, then podcasting is a great way to promote yourself, your business and to connect with a likeminded client and customer community. You don’t even need that much time: the first podcast is the hardest, as it can take a while to set up, but after that – as long as you have planned ahead properly – they get quicker and easy to create.

The benefits to podcasting are multiple: podcasts are more intimate and engaging than blogs or white papers thanks to their vocal medium. People can listen to podcasts whenever they want while they go about their day-to-day tasks, such as driving, running or even working, by downloading them or streaming them on their phones. Podcasts are cheap and easy to make as long as you have the right equipment, and they can be embedded and shared across numerous social media sites. Here is some advice on how to go about creating a podcast:

1. Planning

First of all, you need to make sure that you have all the write equipment and software to create podcasts. You’ll need a decent microphone, a computer with audio editing software such as Audacity and, if possible, a noise-free environment in which to record each podcast. Next, you’ll need to work out where you can host your podcasts. If you don’t have a website, which is the obvious choice, then use a platform like Libsyn.

Wherever you host your podcasts, they should be easy to play and pause, with sharing and embedding options. Each podcast needs a relevant description and a title to make it easy to find using search engines. Make sure the site on which you host your podcasts has a design relevant to your niche and industry.

Work out what your niche or theme is going to be. Make sure it’s something you know a lot about and you are enthusiastic about. Loosely plan your series, work out what you want to talk about and when – if you don’t plan ahead you may run out of ideas. Focus on a different topic each episode, making sure that they progress naturally from one episode to the next.

How long do you want each podcast to be? I’d advise around 10 minutes, no longer than 20. Some podcasters successfully post 40 minute to an hour long podcasts, but they have already made a name for themselves in the podcasting world. Make sure you script every podcast and, if you need to, rehearse them. Decide how often you are going to post your podcasts and when, let your content dictate how long your episodes should be and how often you post them.

2. Content

Your content needs to be interesting and engaging and, most importantly, something that you can wax lyrical about. Podcasts are not advertisements – if all you talk about is how great your products are, no one will listen. Instead, talk about your industry and your niche. Give your listeners advice and helpful hints about how to get ahead in your industry. Talk about new products and services on the market that aren’t yours, but if you are releasing something big, or you have a product that’s relevant to the subject, then you can mention it. Keep in mind, though, that your podcast is for people interested in your niche, not in your products.

Of course, if your company has a large enough support base you can make a podcast that is just about your business. Use a podcast to make company announcements, record interesting meetings or to talk to employees. Podcasts are all about creating a community, if you want to create a community atmosphere within your company, then a podcast could certainly help.

How you talk about the content is just as important as the content itself. Use an authentic intimate voice. Make sure that you are interested in what you talk about so that you can sound enthusiastic. The more enthusiastic you are, the more you will engage your audience. If you don’t have a voice for radio – let’s be honest not everyone does – is there someone in your company who could help you out?

Make sure that each of your podcasts has a similar and familiar structure. Start with a jingle and an intro, like: “this is the [your podcast’s name] podcast with [your name]”. Include a date so that regular listeners know that they are listening to the right thing. Break up the different sections within your podcasts with a jingle as well, this will make them easier to follow. You should always start your podcast with a rundown of its content and you should always end it with details of what you are going to talk about in your next podcast – this will encourage people to listen again.

3. Guests and Commercials

Make sure it’s not just your voice that your listeners have to listen to. Invite guests in – industry leaders, company employees, frequent listeners – who will contribute to the conversation. You could even invite respected figures from outside your industry onto your show who might have an interesting perspective on what you are talking about – this will both surprise and entertain your listeners, making your podcast unique. Host interviews, debates and shows, or record conversations with people you meet at the events you go to.

Ask other podcasters within your industry onto your show and make guest appearances on the shows of other podcasters. You will be exposed to an entirely new group of listeners, helping you to network and increase the size of your following and community. If you feature on a radio show, or even on another podcast, you should share it on your social media sites. Social Media Frontiers’ co-founder Mili Ponce appeared on Star Radio’s The Business Hub on Sunday 5th of May, so we posted it on SoundCloud – a fantastic audio social network – and YouTube, then shared it on Twitter and Facebook.



If your podcast becomes successful, or you really want to promote your products on it, then you can include commercials. You could even sell advertising space to other companies. Make sure your commercials are no longer than 15 seconds so that they are long enough to be heard without intruding on the rest of the podcast. If you have built up a rapport with another podcaster, why not advertise each other’s shows – if another podcast compliments but doesn’t compete with your own, then promote it.

4. Community

As I have mentioned before, podcasts are all about creating and engaging with a listening community. You want people to engage with your podcasts so that not only do they keep listening, they also recommend you to their friends and colleagues. On that note, make sure that people can subscribe to your podcast so that they will be notified when you post one.

Make subscribing to your podcast clear and easy. Inform listeners that they need a feed aggregator if they want to connect to your podcast’s RSS feed, as well as a media player to listen to your podcasts.

Use your podcasts to answer common questions, or questions that users send in. Read out emails and messages and respond to them. Invite your listeners to call in then record the calls/conversations to play on air. Listeners will like to know that they are a part of your podcasts so make sure that you involve them.

If you are in tune with your community's wants and needs, and you know all about your niche, you should be able to pre-empt and identify the problems your listeners will encounter with new products and services in your industry. Address these problems: if your listeners agree with what you say, they will enjoy listening even more.

5. Share and Monitor

It goes without saying that you should advertise and share your podcasts as much as possible. If you want your podcast to be available on iTunes, you need to submit an RSS feed. More importantly, you need to make sure that your podcast is FREE: no one will listen to you if they have to pay for the privilege.

Upload your podcasts to SoundCloud, YouTube and your blog. Share your podcasts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Advertise your podcasts when they come out, or even before, with teasers and snippets about what you’re going to talk about.

Use analytics to monitor the success of your podcasts. Work out how many subscribers, individual plays and shares your podcasts get, as well as what sort of devices listeners are using. Don’t be disheartened if your podcasts don’t do very well to start with, as long as your content is good and you advertise and network well, your podcast should gain in popularity.

Has hosting a podcast helped your business?

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Will Sigsworth

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