Is a podcast right for me? We break down the realities of launching a show so you can decide if it is the right move for you.

Many business owners ask if they should start a podcast to build authority, but the reality of consistent content creation often gets overlooked. In this episode, we deconstruct the common myths around podcasting and look at how to actually build a show that serves your business goals. We explore why audience growth feels difficult when you lack a clear plan and how to shift your focus from simply recording audio to creating a system that works.

We also cover the essential elements of a successful show, including why quality matters more than frequency, how to use personal outreach to connect with the right people, and the importance of telling stories that address specific pain points. By the end of this discussion, you will have the clarity needed to determine your next steps.

Subscribe for weekly podcasting strategy breakdowns, and comment below with your biggest hesitation about starting your own show.

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Welcome to Podcast Done For You,

the show where we make it as easy

as possible for you to make the

right choices to advance your

podcasting career.

So let's get started on the show.

Is a podcast right for me?

I don't know how to grow an audience.

These are the things that I get

asked all the time.

I get it.

You don't know how to grow an audience,

so therefore, why would you bother

with a podcast?

Well, we're going to deconstruct

and reconstruct all of that in

this episode.

We're gonna give you in a context

and some easy steps on how to

build an audience.

You don't want it to be overwhelming.

We want… don't want it to be

painful either.

I wanna make sure that you are going

to be focused on what you love

talking about, and we'll talk about why

a podcast is a great opportunity for you.

But I want to make sure that

you get a whole heap out of this

particular episode.

Pl- so please stay tuned to the end,

because there are lots of important

points about how to build an audience

and why it is so critical for your

business, and how the podcast

just fits in as the answer to

that problem.

Okay.

But before we can get into all of

that, gotta ask why you're here.

Why are you considering a

podcast in the first place?

I mean, what made you tune in

to this point?

Leave us a message in the chat.

I'd love to hear from you.

Or send me a direct message.

I know many of you prefer to do that,

and you can reach me on LinkedIn or any

number of places, and there's details

in the show notes below for you to

be able to do that.

But let me just say, I think the

reason why most of you are here

is there are three common problems

that businesses face all the time.

You're not being seen as the

expert, and your competitors are.

So that is a problem, right?

You need to be seen as the expert.

You need to get in front of the

competition.

Second problem, time spent on building

your profile and taking you away from

what you love doing.

I know, I hear it all the time.

How much time are you spending on just

putting out LinkedIn posts every week,

let alone doing Facebook, Instagram,

any number of other platforms you're

on, before you even consider YouTube?

And don't forget your, your

newsletter.

Don't forget your blog.

Don't forget all of those other things.

It's exhausting, right?

Well, the amount of time that's being

spent on that, that's another

reason for you to be thinking about a

podcast because it's not an additional

add-on to your time.

In fact, it can be the opposite, where

it can take time off your schedule.

We'll get into all of that a little

bit later because that is not the main

thing here today.

But I do want to say this, the third

problem, which is super critical,

that I implore you to think about why

a podcast creates opportunities,

and why, most importantly,

audience growth is actually not what

you think it is, and it is not that

difficult, is when you say there are

not enough growth opportunities in

your business.

Do not confuse audience growth

and listening to a podcast versus

opportunities for you to grow

your business.

We get sucked in by the numbers.

So here's the first really

critical thing that I wanna say.

When you answer this question, that is,

"I don't know how to grow an audience,"

why are you focusing on that as being

the problem?

See, here's the thing

If I could sit you in front of

a thousand people tomorrow, but none

of them were your right audience,

or it might be hit and miss as

to whether there are any in there,

versus I'm gonna introduce you to

two or three people who absolutely are

your right audience, which is the better

opportunity for you?

So why are you thinking about

the mass audience?

Don't let that be an obstacle for

you in creating the podcast.

So, we've got a whole lot of

episodes out there already that talk

about, you know, why a podcast is so

great for you, and the benefits to you.

But the audience growth bit is the

bit that I wanna focus on today,

because it shouldn't be a chore.

Let's go through five important

points when it comes to the idea of

audience building, and I just touched

on a f- on one of them there.

You want to be in front of the

right people, so you have to choose

who you talk to, and who you send

messages to, and do you really need

that mass audience?

Well, I would say that the

answer is no.

You see, if you want to buy a

mass audience, you can do that

in lots of ways.

Like, there are lists out there.

There's lots of different ways

that you can use advertising, but

it is hit and miss.

The great thing about the podcast

is that it is a conversation with

your audience.

What that means is that you are sharing

your stories and your insights, and

putting yourself out there in a

way that people then get to know

you and understand who you are and

what you're about.

That draws the right people towards

you, and eliminates the wrong people,

and that's okay.

You want the wrong people to be turned

away, 'cause you don't want to

waste your time.

So reaching the right people in

building your audience is not

about the mass numbers, it's about

how you use it.

So for example, you can use individual

episodes of a podcast to direct

message people about it, but you can also

very much target an episode to be

about the things that are critical

to the audience that you're trying

to engage with.

So that's point number one.

The second point, be there.

For all of your audience to grow,

you just need to be there.

Sounds simple, but I know this

is the bit where the time-consuming

overwhelm comes in for most people.

Be there is exhausting when you

think about just the social media

platforms alone.

I mean, LinkedIn three times a

week, Facebook, Instagram, uh,

don't forget about Google My Business

every now and then.

Don't forget about maybe

considering Reddit.

What about Twitter and X before you

start getting into TikTok, Snapchat,

any of those other platforms.

And then, of course, you've got YouTube,

the second-largest search engine in the

world behind Google.

You've then got other places to

consider even within YouTube,

like it's not just the podcast, it's

about the reels and the social

elements in there.

There are so many things to think

about, and it is overwhelming

to be there.

But the reality is that we're

in a world where people grab their

media from lots of different sources

at whatever time suits them in

whatever way they want to grab them.

You have to be there, but it

doesn't need to be exhausting.

Here's the thing, that the podcast,

once you have, uh, had that

conversation that creates the podcast

episode, talking to the things

that matter to your audience per

point one Turning that into content

that goes into all of those places

we're talking about is easy.

I'm gonna share some examples of that a

little bit later on.

I wanna get into the other points,

because I think it's really important

that we go through these and understand

how building an audience is not

actually difficult.

Because the first thing I'm saying

to you here is, per point one and two,

is it's actually easier to be

everywhere, because once you have the

podcast recorded, creating that other

content, content I should say, easy.

The next part is you get to engage

personally, and on a social- on a s-

on socials aside from your posts.

That's part of the process in

audience building.

Now, that can seem overwhelming, but

it's not really.

If you choose two, three, maybe five

people maximum per day that you're

going to try and have an actual

conversation with and reach out to

them, it's not a huge amount.

I mean, let's face it, in the not far

past, that's what you were doing on a

very practical way.

You'd go to a, whether it was

to a networking event, or whether

you'd be ringing people up and going

have a coffee with them, and maybe

you still do that kind of stuff.

Well, engaging personally in

your socials, and utilizing your

podcast as a link to be able to have

those conversations, "What did you think

of that episode?"

Maybe, "I'm thinking of getting you on

the next episode. I'm interested in

your feedback so I can plan another

episode. They don't have to be on it."

All of those kinds of conversations are

really worthwhile having with your

audience It provides an opportunity

as well because then they're going

and seeing you.

'Cause it's actually not always about

whether they respond or not, it's often

just about, "Oh, who is this guy

that's sending me a message? Great,

let's look up their profile." Now,

bang, we see what they do, and we

can see that they are a podcast host.

Make sure you put that in your

profile when you've got a podcast.

And once you're doing that, people

will tune in and listen to you

without you having had the conversation

with them in any great detail.

The second part, the second part to

that process, which is point four here

really, is about the relationship

builder.

It's the intent of the podcast.

See, here's the thing, that building

an audience is not that difficult if

you're not focused on it being a mass

number, if you're focused on the idea

that it's building a relationship.

The one thing I learnt many years

ago in working in radio and building

very large audiences in talkback radio,

it's very simple.

Pretend you're having a

conversation with one person, and if

that one person on the other end is

nodding their head and saying they're

talking to me, then they are the

potential client.

And so long as you give them some

action steps to take when they are

ready, and that's the important point,

when they are ready, then they will

take those steps.

You are deepening the relationship

with people.

And remember, this is not just about

relationships with new people,

it's with existing people, people

who don't know the full value

that you offer.

That includes your clients.

Your clients know you do this much

because that's what you do for them.

They don't know about the other

things that you do, so this deepens

the relationship with them.

Remember as well that more often

than not, that the clients you're

dealing with, you're dealing with one or

two representatives from that business.

You're not dealing with all of the

people connected in that business,

whether it's all the staff, whether it's

their suppliers, whether it's their

life partners.

All of those people can matter

in different ways depending

on your business.

You're deepening the relationship

by having a podcast that is easy for

them to listen to.

And that goes into point five here,

which is really important one as

far as building the audience is

concerned, is that you're not just

building it with your existing one,

and building it with potential new

ones just generally by putting stuff

out there on your socials, but it's

also about you being very much

more shareable, much more referable,

because of exactly what I just said

a moment ago.

That you build those relationships.

It's much easier then for people to

have conversations, "Hey, you should

check out this podcast. It's really

interesting." And once you check

out that podcast, well, there are…

It becomes easier for them to go

decide whether you're someone they

want to work with.

It's much easier for me to say, "Hey,

you should check out this podcast,"

than, "Go and talk to this person

about the service that they offer."

So, all of these things are really

different ways of thinking about

audience building, because it is very

much about building with intent.

That's what you want, is

an intentional audience.

Don't be fooled by the idea that this

is just about, wow, I've got to get a

mass of numbers.

I said it at the beginning and I'm

saying it again because it is so

relevant for you to think about.

Don't be caught up by that.

It's about quality rather

than quantity.

So… Oops.

So, you're building an intentional

audience, and the podcast unlocks the

opportunity for you to be everywhere,

taking the pain points of your

audience… So it should say talking

to the pain points of your audience

through stories and insights.

That's the key here.

If you are sharing stories and insights

along the way, and it's talking

to the pain that your audience is

feeling, happy days, they're going

to be relatable.

And let me give you a story right now

I had a conversation just earlier today

with one of my podcast clients

talking about exactly this issue,

that some of their podcasts are a

little bit too high level for the people

that we are talking, trying to talk to

and engage with.

So we're gonna pare it back and

dumb it down to the real pain points,

because they're not necessarily

thinking about the language that is

being used all the time that you might

be familiar with in your business.

It's about talking to what

the real pain is.

It's a bit like using this

analogy, right?

It's difficult to talk to people about

you should go out and buy a new car.

It's much easier to talk to them

about the idea, well, you need to

get to A and from A to B on a regular

basis, and getting from A to B on a

regular basis needs to be efficient.

It might need to be environmentally

friendly.

There might be, you know, might be

able to better cope with your kids and

whatever else that you're doing This

particular vehicle is the solution to

that problem, as opposed to, "You

should just buy a shiny new car."

Talk to the problem.

The problem is the car at the moment is

not very efficient.

The car at the moment is not

environmentally friendly.

The car at the moment is not big

enough for your growing family.

The car at the moment doesn't allow

you to go off-road.

Whatever it might be, those are the

things that you need to embrace.

Okay.

So once you start sharing stories

about who you are and how you solve

the problems for certain people,

then you start being able to grow

your audience.

Let me share a couple of other

stories with you because I

want to- you to understand the

differences here.

So for those of you that might

have heard or seen the IO Insolvency

Options podcast with Darren Vardy,

it's about people who are wanting

to know more about the liquidation

process, about impending bankruptcy

closures, all of that kind of stuff.

His target audience is as much about

businesses that are at that end, but

it's actually more for the accountants

and the lawyers who are wanting

more information in that space

because Darren's business comes in

and helps with that.

And what does he talk to?

He talks to the problems.

We had one episode recently that

was very personal to me because I

happen to use a building company

that has gone into liquidation

subsequently.

So in that particular

episode, Darren was talking about

all of the things around that and

what is happening to the building

industry and what is impacting

them and what to look out for.

He wasn't talking about me solving

my problems because I am not his

target audience.

We're talking about solving the problems

of the businesses that are heading in

that direction, and that they should

contact him earlier, and that there are

avenues to go down.

The podcast hits the mark.

It's got him into a top 10 list

of similar style podcasts, and he's

competing against some very large

organizations and is picking up

speed and momentum in that category,

which is fantastic.

The other one is a good example

is The Connected Accountant, right?

So they're all trying to target

accountants, and they're doing it

through joining three different

businesses together.

It's worthwhile checking out

that episode.

They're building their audience

slowly but surely.

They are doing lots of things to try and

put their content out there and share

it among partners.

They've got three different businesses

coming together effectively, sharing

it on their socials and being out there.

And it's easy because in this

particular case, and the same with

Darren- What, what I do for my clients

with the podcast is for every episode,

there is about 40 pieces of content

that's created, and in the case

of The Connected Accountant, that's

40 times three people that are on

the, um, that are on that particular

podcast because there's a three

regular panelists.

So there's huge amounts of

content that's being generated

and putting it out there.

You keep putting content out there

in lo- in all of the right places

that is talking about you solving

the problems, and the content is easy

'cause it's given to you after you

have the podcast conversation.

You save time, you save money, you

get more people out there, you create

more opportunities.

Those audiences start coming to you,

start building with you, and next thing

you know, there are doors that are

starting to open.

There are lots of opportunities to

engage for less time on your part and

going much further than you can now by

having a podcast.

See, growing the audience is about

being out there consistently,

talking to what matters

to the people you are trying

to engage with.

From there, your audience will build.

Yes, you can spend advertising dollars,

but you don't need to do that.

You need quality first.

Slow and steady comes from

consistency, and it's in a

sustainable way, making them feel

that they understand you and that you

have the answers.

A podcast is going to give

you all of that.

The audience growth will happen because

it's gifted to you.

It does ultimately, as I said,

save you time.

Giving you the final example here, going

back to Darren.

We catch up for two hours, four

times a year.

Turn that into six 15 to 20

minute episodes.

Give them all the material so that

his team can then put that out there

on a consistent basis, and you have

audience growth, and it's consistently

building episode after episode after

episode It's not that difficult

once you commit to the podcast.

I hope you've got something out of

this particular episode of Podcast

Done For You Show.

Lots of gold there for anyone that's

been thinking about having a podcast,

and thinking that the audience may be

the stumbling block.

We're going to include a book that

you can download through a link in

the show notes to give you more things

to think about from this episode,

including some key quotes and questions

to ask yourself, and also a way that you

can book a meeting with me so we can

talk about your business, understand

what it is that you're doing, and

whether the podcast is the right fit

for you, and indeed, whether working

with me might be the right fit or not.

If it is, we'll happily work out

a plan with you.

If it isn't, we'll happily steer you in

the right direction.

All right.

Thanks for your company.

We look forward to it again next

time on Podcast Done For You Show.