All You Need to Know About Podcasting for Small Businesses

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re certainly familiar with a small business’ daily operational challenges, budget constraints, and tight deadlines. And when it comes to marketing your company, ad spending on search engines and social media takes away a massive chunk of your budget. 

So how can you cost-effectively market your business and expand your network simultaneously? Enter podcasts. 

These prerecorded audio shows not only allow people to gain knowledge about a particular subject but also let them multitask –– because all they need to do is plug in their earphones and stream the cast.

So it’s time to sit in a comfortable chair, grab a microphone, and start recording a podcast. Here’s everything you need to know about podcasting for small businesses.

But first, what is podcasting?

Podcasts are audio programs, similar to talk radio, which listeners can download or stream on platforms like Spotify and Apple. Typically, these talk shows consist of several episodes about a particular topic, such as a true crime story or an instructional series. 

As far as podcasts for small businesses are concerned, entrepreneurs use these to increase their companies’ brand awareness, inviting new clients and boosting their revenues.

How does podcasting work for businesses? 

Pew Research Center reports that more than 41% of people in the U.S. aged 12 and above listened to a podcast in the last month — and many of those listeners are bound to be part of your company’s target audience. 

Here’s how a podcast helps your business grow:   

• Provides more content opportunities: Podcasts are another medium to reach potential customers or clients. Mentioning your business during episodes increases brand awareness. You can also repurpose podcast episodes for other platforms (using clips from episodes for Instagram or TikTok videos, publishing interview transcripts as blogs, etc.), saving you time and money. 
• Establishes you as an authority in your niche: People listen to podcasts to learn from an expert. When you start a podcast, you put yourself in that “expert” role, which inevitably boosts your brand’s value and you as an entrepreneur. 
• Humanizes your brand: In this digital age, consumers interact with companies online. Podcasting is a great way to put a human face — or, more accurately, voice — on your brand so clients feel more engaged with your organization. 
• Expands your network: Remember, you’re not the only entrepreneur promoting a business online. So why not collaborate with other professionals from your industry? Whether you invite other entrepreneurs to your podcast or launch a collaboration with a fellow solopreneur, you can build your professional network, boost your reputation within your industry, and pick the brains of people you admire.

{{mid-cta}}

How to create a podcast for your small business

A podcast offers definite benefits for any business owner, so it’s no surprise that many professionals want to try it. And whether you run a small business or a multinational corporation, you must start at square one. Here’s how to start podcasting: 

1. Set goals

Before starting a podcast, ask yourself: “What is my goal?” Your podcast will be most successful if you have a specific aim around which to structure the series. Goals for your business’ podcast might include the following:

• Introducing your brand to a new consumer demographic
• Promoting a product or service
• Dispensing insights to establish your place as a thought leader in your industry
• Sharing training content for new employees

2. Choose a topic

Your podcast’s subject should relate to your business. This lets you demonstrate your knowledge and experience. And ensure that your topic is specific and reaches the intended audience. For example, you could discuss a particular aspect of entrepreneurship (like managing taxes as a business owner or hiring employees) or current events within your industry.

3. Create an outline

Once you know what you plan to discuss on your podcast, it’s time to decide how to structure each episode. Figure out the following elements:

• Episode length (the average podcast is 20–40 minutes long)
• Post frequency (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.)
• Type of material (interviews, round table discussions, narratives about businesses, etc.)
• Responsibilities and share of work (if you have more than one host)

4. Set up your space

Some novice podcast hosts record their shows on their cell phones while sitting in a conference room or at home with their cohost or guest. While this method is serviceable, it rarely results in top-quality content. If you want your podcast to be successful, you’ll need to invest in recording and editing software, sound equipment like mics and headphones, and even a recording space or some soundproofing for your walls. Think of these costs as investments in your business. If your podcast takes off, your business will, too — plus, you can make money podcasting.

5. Hit record

Once you set up your recording space, it’s time to take the plunge. It’s best to record a few episodes before publishing anything, so you can get the hang of the format and create a few solid episodes for listeners to “binge” if they like. Here are some podcasting software to consider:

• Adobe Audition: A popular choice, Adobe Audition is a professional-grade software that helps you record and edit your podcasts. It offers state-of-the-art sound quality with noise cancellation.
• Auphonic: This is an editing software where you can post prerecorded podcasts, and the platform takes care of the rest. It studies the audio, enhances the sound quality, and reduces noise. It can also transcribe your audio in more than 80 languages.
• Audacity: A free podcast recording and editing software, Audacity is compatible with all operating systems, including Windows, iOS, and macOS.      

The 11 best podcasts for small businesses

So you have a topic, outline, and microphone. You’re ready to start recording but not sure how a podcast “should” sound. Don’t worry. More than 5 million podcasts are available today, and listening to them can help you understand this medium and learn a thing or two. 

Here are a few valuable podcasts for business owners and entrepreneurs: 

Business advice

1. HBR Ideacast: This podcast comes from Harvard Business Review and offers a wealth of advice and insights you can use when managing your business.
2. Do Weekly: This podcast focuses on a single business element each week. It walks you through the process, giving you valuable insight.

Productivity

3. The Productivityist Podcast: Host Mike Vardy offers actionable advice to help listeners manage their time wisely and maximize their days in this podcast. 
4. Beyond the To-Do List: On this podcast, host Erik Fisher interviews people to discover their productivity strategies and how they implement these in their personal and professional lives.

Marketing

5. Call to Action: This podcast breaks down digital marketing, making it a must-listen for business owners new to content marketing, social media, A/B testing, and more. 
6. Youpreneur: Marketing isn’t only about your business but also about your personal brand. With Youpreneur, host Chris Ducker discusses how to create your brand and market your expertise in your industry and beyond.

Start-up-focused

7. Second Time Founders: This podcast is cohosted by Julien Smith (Practice and Breather’s founder), Kevin Gibbon (Airhouse and Shyp’s founder), Andy Berman (Nanit and Vowel’s founder), and Joe Fernandez (Joymode and Klout’s founder). The cast features the cohosts’ experiences with sustaining operations without investors.  
8. No-code Growth Stories: This podcast focuses on launching a start-up without a technical background. Host John Ozuysal discusses how business owners can automate processes, improve their products, and build their companies without extensive programming knowledge.
9. Masters of Scale: LinkedIn’s cofounder and Greylock Investor Reid Hoffman interviews successful professionals from companies –– such as Netflix, TaskRabbit, and Airbnb –– to understand how they handled leadership, fundraising, management, and more when their businesses were still start-ups. 

Motivational

10. The Goal Digger Podcast: Host Jenna Kutcher helps listeners learn to define success on their own terms, set goals for themselves and their businesses, and reach new heights. 
11. How I Built This: This podcast speaks to many entrepreneurs and asks them to recount their challenges and doubts while building their businesses. Each story is riveting, inspiring, and excites you about your company’s future. 

The bottom line

Podcasts can make a world of difference for your business, whether you listen to them for your own development or record them to promote your company. If done right, podcasts can introduce your business to a wide audience, boost your reputation among competitors, and help you learn even more about running your small business.