It feels like everyone has a podcast these days.

Celebrities, business leaders, journalists, artists. While they’re far from a new concept, the age of the podcast has proven that people still value the power of audio and how important jumping on trends can be for small businesses looking for that extra edge.

Are podcasts still worth the time and effort for a small business? That’s difficult to answer, but some industries will see value from diving into audio. Even if you’re not achieving hundreds of downloads every day — if you’re connecting with your core audience and making your mark on your industry, then investing time and money into podcast production is absolutely worth it.

In this article, we’ll look at how you can build your small business through audio.

Develop great content

The first step to growing your business through podcasts is to think about what exactly you’re going to make.

What is your niche and what do you excel at? Are you making a straightforward podcast that outlines actionable advice, or something a little more unique?

Not every podcast has to be completely original in concept, a fairly standard piece of audio can still find an audience if it offers genuine advice in a clear and concise way. With so many different podcasts out there right now, just offering a differing opinion could get you to stand out.

Rather than just loading up an audition and hitting record, consider doing the following to get yourself podcast prepared:

• Listen to podcasts you enjoy and take notes
• Search for answers to questions you’re interested in/excel in
• Search podcast platforms for topics you specialize in
• Enquire on forums and subreddits for topic/other podcast recommendations

This preparation will give you a clearer idea of where there might be gaps in the market and where you might be able to lend an expert voice. Once you’ve got your idea, it’s time to dive in and start ironing out the creases.

Go on the podcast circuit

Okay, so you might not get the chance to go on Joe Rogan or get yourself featured on a Spotify original. However, packing your suitcase (or loading up Zoom) and getting on the podcast circuit is a brilliant way to get you and your business noticed.

Try and land interviews and guest spots within your niche. Whether you’re being given the chance to speak about your career or just adding a bit of context to a current industry development, being featured on another podcast allows you to build a following from their audience. It positions you as an expert and makes their listeners curious to find out more.

Speaking on other podcasts before you really commit to your own gives you a chance to learn from experts in the field. You’ll pick up what guests need before you start recording, how to introduce a topic, and how the pros create audio that flows effortlessly.

Best of all, being interviewed yourself can lead to a guest exchange where the host comes on your podcast. Win-win!

Know how to promote your audio content

Making your podcast is only half the battle. You also need to know how to promote it.

While that might sound straightforward, there are also loads of other businesses, celebrities, and online figures trying to get people to listen to their contact. Chances are, they have a greater online presence than you do, so you need to be smart about how you use your promotional time.

Rather than posting your podcasts into the void of your Facebook or Twitter timelines, find specialist groups to post in where users are more likely to take an interest in your content. This is where podcasts that suggest a new theory or offer answers to topic questions are particularly good. It allows you to wade in on an existing discussion and offer a solution.

Similar to our last point, building your podcast around guests is a great way to get it off the ground. While this can be limiting for people who want full autonomy over their content, it does give you immediate audiences to put your podcast in from of and allows you to build inroads with certain parallel industries.

How to make great audio

Now that we’ve covered how to use audio and podcasts as a means of growing your business, let’s take a look at how to craft that audio to the highest quality.

Invest in the right tools

If a year working remotely with Slack, Zoom and Basecamp by our sides has taught us anything, it’s the importance of having the right tools for the job. Tools might not make the worker, but they do make their jobs much easier to manage.

The same can be said for creative professions, specifically audio-based ones. You can have wonderful podcast content with charismatic guests and lively debates, but without the right tools to adjust sound quality and hit editing deadlines, you’re left with a mediocre finished product.

Make sure you’re investing not just in money into quality recording and editing equipment, but also time into learning how to use these tools. There are brilliant editing tutorials for every program imaginable out there, so make sure you’re not loading up your audio files blind four hours before publishing time.

Spot emerging trends

Podcasts are modern hotbeds for audio originality. To make sure yours doesn’t feel out of date, make sure you’re about to spot and hop on emerging trends.

Notice an interesting audio mix in your latest sports podcast or a great way of integrating audience content into your show? Try it yourself. Before you know it, every other podcast your size will be incorporating these new industry-standard techniques.

Great podcast production is all about picking out little pieces that inspire you and making them your own. Keeping yourself across the podcast world (not just your own niche) is important for developing something that feels current and enjoyable. Listen to big productions for interesting audio quirks, and smaller enterprises for an idea of how to conduct a great interview,

Be prepared to work remotely and on-the-go

We might live in a work-from-home world right now, but audio production is something that’s always had to be adaptable.

To keep your podcast up to date and please your baying audience, you need to get that latest episode live as soon as possible. That means working from your home office or getting the last few minutes up to snuff on the train to the office. People need these podcasts ready for their commutes or after-work gym sessions, and will switch to other brands and businesses if you’re not giving them what they need.

That might mean refining your WFH setup. Many businesses have been getting by in the last year, afraid to fully commit to a remote working lifestyle for themselves and their employees. However, the best remote desktop software can make a remarkable difference to your business productivity and help to replicate typical office conditions.

Making a great podcast doesn’t even require spending money on market-leading, premium software though, but rather creating a setup that works for you. At home, even just having a multi-monitor set up to track multi-channels can make a huge difference, saving you time flicking between windows. To get that right for your device, you might need to establish the differences of mini displayport vs thunderbolt alternatives, with beginners finding guidance of which combinations will and will not work together from this article.

This might not feel as crucial as your next guest, but it could offer the productivity to go from one podcast a month to one a week.

Conclusion

It might feel like you’ve missed the peak of podcastmania, but there’s still plenty of time to build a committed audience through compelling content and a unique vision.

Don’t rush to get your project out the door. Put time into it and make sure you’re investing in the right ways to improve the content of your audio. Producing a great podcast doesn’t happen overnight, so only commit to brand building through audio if you have the time and patience.