If you’ve ever considered starting a podcast for your business — or even if you’re already podcasting — you’ve probably wondered: will it be worth it? What can I expect to see from investing the time and resources?
There’s no doubt about it — podcasting is hot. The industry is growing and listenership rates have been going up.
The opportunity to reach people is there. But, as you probably know (or have heard), growing a podcast audience can be painfully slow. Simon Owens, host of The Business of Content, summed this up well: “There’s no going viral for a podcast.”
Then there’s the issue of metrics. While new tools are popping up to help podcasters get a better understanding of who is listening and for how long, podcast data measurement still lags behind other content forms, like video.
Moderate listener acquisition and imprecise data make calculating the ROI of your podcast pretty challenging. Answering the “what do we get out of this?” question isn’t always clear cut.
To better understand how a podcast can further business growth, I reached out to serious podcast creators (who’ve published at least 30 episodes) and asked them directly.
I asked each of them the following questions:
- What do you get out of podcasting?
- How do you think about podcast ROI? What metrics do you care about? (This question was optional, but most answered.)
I mostly identified podcasts by searching through Podchaser and Listen Notes to identify podcasts that met some basic criteria. The parameters for the list were:
- Podcasts that have published at least 30 episodes. Since many podcasts struggle to even make it to double digits, a show with 30 episodes indicates a degree of seriousness and investment in the medium.
- The podcast is not the primary revenue driver for the business. In some cases, they are a source of direct revenue (like How I Built It and BiggerPockets). But all the businesses included are making money from other service or product offerings.
Beyond those parameters, I reached out to a range of different businesses that produce podcasts so that the findings wouldn’t just be relevant for one industry or sector.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it offers a snapshot of what devoted podcasters get out of podcasting and how they evaluate their own efforts. My hope is that it will be a helpful compilation of anecdotes that anyone creating a podcast to support their business efforts can learn from.
Leveraging a Podcast For Business Growth
So, who exactly is on the list? Respondents include single-person consultancies, venture-backed software companies, service agencies and online media companies. This is an alphabetical list of the podcasts that participated with the business listed in parenthesis:
- Actionable Marketing Podcast (CoSchedule)
- Better Product (Innovatemap)
- BiggerPockets Money Podcast (BiggerPockets)
- FinTech Insider (11:FS)
- GatherGeeks (BizBash Media)
- Growth Marketing Toolbox (Earnworthy)
- How I Built It (Joe Casabona)
- How I Raised It (FounderSuite.com)
- jumbleThink (jumbleThink)
- Limit Up! (TopstepTrader)
- M&A Science (DealRoom)
- Outside Sales Talk (Badger)
- Outsourcing and Scaling (Freeeup)
- Personal Profitability Podcast (Personal Profitibility)
- RecTech (RecTech Media)
- Tech Nest (Nate Smoyer)
- The Heartbeat Podcast (Know Your Team)
- The Hidden Entrepreneur (Josh Cary)
- The Lead Generation (Leadpages)
- The Nice Guys on Business Podcast (TurnKey Podcast)
- The PR Maven Podcast (Marshall Communications)
- The Reboot Podcast (Reboot)
- The Science of Social Media (Buffer)
- The VentureFizz Podcast (VenturFizz)
- This is Product Management (Alpha)
At the time of compiling this, the podcasts included had an average of 167 published episodes. The lowest number of published episodes was 32 and one podcast had more than 950 episodes (hello Nice Guys).
Some podcasts are just a few months old, while others have been at it for five years. All the podcasts are either interview format or discussion-based with two or more hosts. The vast majority do not have external sponsors or advertisers.
Building Community and Beyond
When it came to evaluating what they get out of creating a podcast, the most common response was about building community and connection. At least 10 of the responses touched on this theme. The hosts described podcasting as a unique vehicle for delivering value to the audience (through education and information), which helps build rapport with customers and prospects.
As you’ll see below, many talked about how podcast listeners are more likely to engage with their organization than non-listeners, but emphasized that podcasting is a long-term strategy.
The second most common benefit related to client acquisition. While tracing buyer behavior directly to the podcast can be tricky at times, a significant number of podcast hosts — including Michael Woodward of jumbleThink and Claire Lew of The Heartbeat Podcast — cited examples of generating new business from the podcast.
Access to thought leaders was another frequently cited benefit of producing a podcast. Many hosts described benefiting directly from these conversations (in some cases, gaining insights that could help their business). Apart from the ability to learn from and connect with experts, publishing these conversations has the added benefit of creating valuable content for the audience.
When it came to specific metrics, a lot of hosts acknowledged the importance of downloads. But the vast majority believe the numbers don’t paint the full picture. Many look at other indicators of engagement with their brand (like interaction on social media or mentions of the podcast during job interviews) as evidence that they’re getting a return on what they put into the podcast.
Read on below to get the specifics directly from the podcasters.
Company: RecTech Media
Company: Podcast: RecTech: the Recruiting Technology Podcast
Covers recruiting technology and recruitment marketing and includes interviews with industry execs, vendors and recruiters.
Podcasting since December 2015 | 188 episodes and counting
“I recently got a shout out from a listener who turned into a client via the podcast,” said Chris Russell, the podcast host.
That listener “mentioned the show on LinkedIn which turned into a chat session then eventually a project for a career site audit. It was the time I could directly attribute my podcast to landing a client!” noted Chris, the founder of RecTech Media and its lead consultant.
For Chris, there’s no confusion when it comes to metrics. “My main focus has always been increasing downloads month-over-month. To me, that is the most important metric for a podcaster. Growing the audience is paramount for building your brand and business.”
Company: VentureFizz
Company: Podcast: The VentureFizz Podcast
Interviews with top founders and investors in the tech industry across Boston and New York City.
Podcasting since November 2017 | 128 episodes and counting
“The biggest benefit from our podcast is being able to provide entrepreneurs with inspiration and so much great advice to follow,” according to podcast host Keith Cline. “Building a company is difficult, so it is helpful to hear the ups and downs from other entrepreneurs and all the lessons learned or advice they share across lots of topics like scaling, raising capital, hiring, and more.”
Keith, a startup community connector for 20+ years, acknowledged that podcast ROI is difficult to measure. His team measures success by focusing on the following:
1) Publishing great content that aligns with their audience
2) Branding and credibility.
Keith, who is VentureFizz’s founder, said, “We keep the bar high in terms of our guests and that continues to help build our brand, especially in newer markets where we don’t have a presence.”
Company: 11:FS
Company: Podcast: FinTech Insider
Focuses on all things fintech, banking, technology and financial services. Hosted by a rotation of experts.
Podcasting since July 2016 | 390 episodes and counting
David Braer, CEO of 11:FS, said a primary driver for starting the podcast “way before the current hype around podcasting” was to “increase brand awareness for our company.”
“Me and the co-founders felt that if we really truly wanted to connect with our community we needed to use B2C channels to forge our B2B business,” according to David, who is one of a rotating cohort of 11:FS podcast hosts. “There are only so many presentations, conferences and cups of coffee you can have to convey your messages, whilst with podcasting you can reach millions of people — like we do — super quickly anywhere at any time.”
“For me, the biggest benefit is the depth of connection you create. Voice is such a strong creator of authenticity. You cannot fake it easily and it allows you to show your knowledge and riff with friends and smart people on your favourite topics. If you know your stuff and can make the content both entertaining and informative you’ve got a great recipe for success.”
Braer said the company isn’t super concerned with ROI for the podcast or other media they produce. But they do look for clues related to impact and engagement. For example, Braer said he notices the amount of people wearing 11:FS T-shirts on the London Underground.
“We look for the impact into the community and the value that we create for them. Best scale for that is how many times something is mentioned to us and how many people we see engaging with our content.”
Company: CoSchedule
Podcast: Actionable Marketing Podcast
Interviews, strategy, and advice from marketing geniuses.
Podcasting since October 2016 | 152 episodes and counting
“A major benefit [of the podcast] has been the ability to pick our target audience’s brains on things we truly care about (and we know our potential customers do, too),” said Nathan Ellering, head of marketing at CoSchedule.
“The podcast gave us a way to learn from the most talented minds and create long-lasting relationships with these folks,” he said, adding that in some cases, what started as a podcast interview morphed into a fruitful partnership. These collaborations have helped CoSchedule get in front of new audiences while offering value for its existing audience.
“An example of this is Andrea Fryrear from AgileSherpas. We had interviewed Andrea as one of our earlier guests on the show, and have collaborated on projects like The State of Agile Marketing Report and even a physical book on agile marketing.”
But when it comes to podcast ROI, Nathan said:
“Podcasts can only do two things: 1) Show up when someone is searching for them, and 2) get listens. If you’re trying to measure further, those are lag indicators that are influenced by a whole lot more than a simple podcast episode.”
“The ROI for us, beyond listens, has been intangible. New CoSchedule hires have felt like they know us because they had been listening to the show for months before even interviewing. Our customers report that learning from others like them has helped them become more successful. These are very important factors to us.”
Nathan also said the benefits of producing a podcast are “long-tail.” He said that if you stick with it, “the sheer number of contacts, relationships, and lessons learned will be worth the effort. It has been for us.”
Company: DealRoom
Podcast: M&A Science
Explores the complex world of M&A with the top minds in the industry.
Podcasting since February 2017 | 32 episodes and counting
“The industry we are in has limited free educational resources and engaging our audience with this content is beneficial for them, as well as us, as we capture lessons learned and build relationships with industry leaders,” said Kison Patel, DealRoom’s founder and CEO, who hosts the podcast.
Kison said that lots of small things add up to show they’re getting a return on their investment in podcasting. “Particularly how we repurpose the podcast in various formats. It’s definitely one of the drivers in our marketing. We look at downloads and if anyone has acted on CTAs,” he said.
Company: jumbleThink
Podcast: jumbleThink
Focuses on sharing the stories of dreamers, makers, innovators, and influencers from various segments of life.
Podcasting since January 2017 | 289 episodes and counting
Michael Woodward, host of the podcast and founder of jumbleThink, credits the podcast with rapidly expanding his network.
“This new network includes listeners, guests of the show, and others in the podcast and innovation spaces. These are people that I would have never met without the podcast,” Michael said. “It’s pretty amazing to think that I’m reaching millions of people each month through the podcast and radio show.” His interviews are syndicated on several AM and FM radio stations around the country.
Since starting the podcast, he’s also seen an increase in the number of speaking and event gigs he’s booked. “This is helping us to grow the business, reach more people, and generate more income.”
It didn’t happen overnight, and Michael emphasized that podcasting is for those interested in the long game. Still, he closely measures his month-to-month growth. “It might be small some months but other months it is massive growth. I’m not looking for a specific amount of growth. Instead I focus on consistent and steady growth,” he said.
Company: Alpha
Podcast: This is Product Management
Interviews with brilliant minds across the numerous disciplines that fuel the modern product manager.
Podcasting since March 2015 | 215 episodes and counting
For host Mike Fishbein, the podcast’s biggest benefit is the community that it has helped him build.
“Interviewing over 200 of the brightest minds in product and innovation has been a tremendous opportunity to learn the latest and greatest strategies and foster relationships with the world’s most successful executives and practitioners. This includes leaders at large companies such as Northwestern Mutual and high-growth startups such as Spotify,” he said.
Mike said podcasting “supports several objectives” for Alpha. Apart from the community aspect, the podcast offers “a tremendous amount of brand exposure and traffic and leads” — the podcast website gets around 15,000 visitors per month.
This is Product Management also interviews select Alpha clients almost monthly. Mike noted that “clients appreciate the opportunity to share their stories and promote their accomplishments to our audience.”
Company: Know Your Team
Podcast: The Heartbeat Podcast
Interviews with respected leaders to distill their greatest management mistakes, business learnings, and advice.
Podcasting since July 2017 | 45 episodes and counting
Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team and host of The Heartbeat, singles out audience growth and impact as the biggest benefits from podcasting for two years.
“Because of The Heartbeat, we’ve been able to extend our reach and touch the lives of folks who never would’ve heard about Know Your Team, otherwise,” Claire said, noting that some people who sign up for their software product discovered it because of the podcast.
“Additionally, anecdotally, I’ve had people come up to me in-person, to tell me that they recognize me from our podcast (pretty crazy!) and that it’s had a tremndous impact on how they behave as a leader.”
The Heartbeat podcast team tracks number of downloads and where it ranks among podcasts in its category. But Claire is most concerned about creating excellent, high-quality podcast content. “Our belief is that if the quality of the content of the podcast is high, then more people are likely to listen to it, share it, promote it… and our audience will ultimately increase because of it,” she explained.
To determine whether the content is good, Claire considers several factors: “For example, are we inviting intriguing, thoughtful, diverse guests to the show? Are we asking them insightful questions?”
Company: Marshall Communications
Podcast: The PR Maven Podcast
Features interviews with industry leaders, top executives, media personalities and online influencers about public relations and their personal brand.
Podcasting since September 2018 | 55 episodes and counting
“Podcasting has opened up a whole new avenue for me to build relationships with people I have known and people I have never even met in person. It has allowed me to ask questions and have a really deep conversation with interesting people,” said Nancy Marshall, CEO of Marshall Communications.
“What I’ve found is that podcasting allows you to be really intentional about relationships,” Nancy added. “I like that a lot.”
“You can ask questions of people who you might not otherwise have a chance to even talk to for a few minutes, but on a podcast you can get their focused attention for 40 or 45 minutes,” she said.
Apart from creating a devoted space to connect with thought leaders, Nancy highlighted how hosting a podcast helps build her public persona.
“It has allowed me to deepen many of my professional relationships and meet new people. It’s fantastic for building your personal brand. At first, I think I was somewhat stiff on my podcast but over time I have realized that people like to hear me laugh, and sometimes I even snort a little bit which sounds off-putting, but people find it engaging and human,” she said.
She said guests appreciate the promotional opportunity. “My PR agency team does a lot of social media (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to promote each episode, plus I do an Alexa Flash briefing about each one, so the guest gets a lot of publicity from a professional PR firm — which they obviously enjoy!”
Nancy shared another unique advantage of podcasting: “Another unexpected benefit for someone who has been in the business as long as I have, is that it positions me as someone who stays on top of technology. I haven’t ever wanted to be perceived as behind the times or out of touch with what’s going on with younger professionals and I think my podcast helps me stay relevant to a younger audience.”
Company: TopstepTrader
Podcast: Limit Up!
Explores markets, strategies and trading psychology to take your trading to the next level.
Podcasting since November 2017 | 93 episodes and counting
“Our goal at Topstep and the Limit Up! podcast is to create a community for traders — something that resembles what we used to have before the floor disappeared,” said Jack Pelzer, Topstep’s content manager.
“Having this podcast allows us to spend more time with our users each week, and we see great engagement in terms of the percentage of our audience that listens to every episode of Limit Up! from beginning to end. We hope the show feels like you’re hanging out with friends.”
The team views the podcast as a way to increase brand loyalty. “The more our traders get involved with our community, the more likely they are to stick with Topstep,” Jack said.
Company: BizBash Media
Podcast: GatherGeeks
The destination for information, innovation, and inspiration for anyone involved in planning events and meetings.
Podcasting since May 2015 | 172 episodes and counting
“I believe that one of the greatest benefits of a podcast is to create stronger bonds with our audience,” said David Adler, the founder and CEO of BizBash who co-hosts the podcast.
“We find that while our brand itself, BizBash, is a beloved brand that nearly 200,000 events organizers go to every month, the GatherGeeks Podcast is the DNA of the people behind bringing the brand to life. It has given us a personality that has taken the form of a parasocial relationship with our fans — a relationship with a fictional character. In other words, it allows our listeners to become our friends and turns them into superfans.”
Company: Josh Cary
Podcast: The Hidden Entrepreneur
Features honest stories from successful entrepreneurs, creatives, and small business owners.
Podcasting since July 2018 | 115 episodes and counting
For business coach Josh Cary, podcasting has “provided a sense of connection, meaning and purpose.” Josh has spoken publicly about how he started the podcast when he was at a low point. He credits the podcast with helping him turnaround his career and his life.
“I feel connected to the world around me, I see the value I am able to provide others, and I have a purpose for getting out of bed each morning,” Josh said of producing his podcast. “My confidence has soared, my business has grown immensely because of the podcast, and I end each day with a feeling of pride and accomplishment.”
Company: Badger
Podcast: Outside Sales Talk
Conversations with industry leaders and experts to learn the strategies and tactics that make them successful in outside sales.
Podcasting since April 2018 | 52 episodes and counting
“The biggest benefit has been to have an amazing channel of communicating with our audience and providing them with value,” said Steve Benson, CEO and founder of Badger Map. Steve, who hosts the show, said the podcast is designed for “field or outside sales people,” and that as a group, there’s not a ton of content that addresses their pain points.
Steve said he thinks about ROI in terms of how the podcast creates awareness of Badger’s product and ultimately how many listeners turn into customers. “It’s not something that you can calculate perfectly the way you can a Google ad, but I feel that with some educated guesses I can get pretty close. Then I compare that revenue number with the amount of time and effort that my team and I have put into the podcast,” Steve explained.
Company: Buffer
Podcast: The Science of Social Media
Features cutting-edge social media marketing strategies from brands and businesses in every industry.
Podcasting since September 2016 | 163 episodes and counting
“The podcast has been an incredible source of brand awareness for us in the social media space. When we first started, our only listeners were already Buffer users who wanted more content. However, as time went on and we kept improving the podcast we eventually had people finding our product through the podcast instead of the other way around,” said Hailley Griffis, Buffer’s head of public relations. She helped launch the podcast and is a previous co-host.
“It’s also a fantastic way to give a voice to our brand so that potential users and existing Buffer users can get to know us and our team a little bit better.”
Company: BiggerPockets
Podcast: BiggerPockets Money Podcast
Interviews with unique and powerful thought leaders about how to earn more, keep more, spend smarter, and grow wealth.
Podcasting since January 2018 | 92 episodes and counting
For Scott Trench, CEO and president of Bigger Pockets, the podcast is a channel for customer education, which is intrinsically tied with the company’s mission. “The biggest benefit of creating the podcast is in helping prepare thousands (maybe millions) of people with their financial position such that they can begin making meaningful investments, such as investments in real estate,” said Scott, who co-hosts the The Money Podcast, which is one of several podcasts the company produces.
Down the road, more financially savvy listeners “may turn to BiggerPockets for more investing advice,” said Scott.
In purely monetary terms, Bigger Pockets sees a clear ROI. “We offset all of the costs of production (direct – like editing, producing, etc., and indirect – payment for hosts, office overhead, etc.) and drive a profit from the advertising alone,” Scott noted. “And we have about half as many ads as the industry standard.”
But he sees the real value in the connection and “long-term interaction” the podcasts create with the brand. “Many of the podcast listeners are the same folks who purchase books, and who purchase pro memberships on the BiggerPockets website,” he said.
As far as metrics go, audience numbers are critical. “The value of the podcasts is tied to the value of the platform generally. The economies at scale are huge and powerful ways to engage with listeners. However, they do not appear in our estimation to be meaningful with little listenership,” according to Scott.
“Setting aside profit, ROI, downstream business impacts and such, the primary point of creating a podcast is for it to be listened to. If it’s not being listened to by a meaningful amount of people, the program will not be successful. If a large number of people are listening to it, then all the downstream stuff will make sense.”
Company: Reboot
Podcast: The Reboot Podcast
Showcases the heart and soul, the wins and losses, the ups and downs of startup leadership through interviews with startup leaders.
Podcasting since September 2014 | 115 episodes and counting
“We know that better humans make better leaders. We know our podcast supports that vision,” said Ali Schultz, co-founder and COO at Reboot.io.
The Reboot team sees the podcast, which is hosted by CEO Jerry Colonna, as “a way for listeners to connect to the real struggles that arise at the intersection of life and work, or entrepreneurship and our hearts.”
“Folks will write to tell us that the episodes really open up places for them, and even prompt them to go deeper within themselves than they have with their therapist,” Ali said. “There is a big benefit to hearing other people’s stories.”
Ali said Reboot pays attention to the feedback they get from the audience: “When folks write to tell us that this podcast changed their lives in some way, we know we’ve put good work out into the world.”
“We look at what impact these conversations are having in the world via what folks say about the podcast and the letters we receive about how much it has helped folks. That’s really why we continue to do this,” she said.
Company: Personal Profitability
Podcast: Personal Profitability Podcast
Offers lessons for how to spend mindfully, earn more, grow wealth, and live a better life through personal finance success.
Podcasting since January 2015 | 163 episodes and counting
“My podcast has had a wide range of benefits for my business. While I don’t make money from it directly, it is a place for new clients to discover me as a freelancer,” said show host Eric Rosenberg.
“The podcast is part of four main content channels for my brand, which also includes the blog, YouTube channel, and email list. Readers, listeners, viewers, and followers are ripe to convert into clients of my coaching and consulting business. At the very least, I’m always excited to hear that I’ve helped someone improve their finances whether I earned something because of it or not,” Eric said.
Eric takes a big-picture view when he evaluates the ROI of his podcast. “While I’m very numbers focused on most parts of my business, I don’t look to earn a direct ROI from my podcast. Because I don’t have any ads on the show and I don’t sell a major product (yet…), I know that the podcast will cost more than it earns,” he said.
“But just like grocery stores don’t make much on products like milk, bread, and eggs, they draw us into the store to spend even more elsewhere. The podcast is a loss-leader that drives other revenue for my business.”
Company: Joe Casabona
Podcast: How I Built It
Interviews with product owners and developers to see how they built specific products, from idea to execution.
Podcasting since July 2016 | 143 episodes and counting
“By far the biggest benefit has been the lessons I’ve learned from having such fantastic conversations with smart people. It’s actually how I started the show — I was having them privately and thought others would benefit as much as I did,” said Joe Casabona, show host who is a course creator, professor and web developer. “As a result of my own podcast, I’ve improved marketing, communication, and have been introduced to some fantastic tools.”
Joe has sponsors for the podcast so he sees direct ROI. “I’m pretty lucky,” he acknowledged. “But now I’m also trying to focus on taking my sizable audience and converting them into superfans (à la Pat Flynn!). So if I weren’t making money, I’d definitely try to see ROI in authority building, plus clients and customers that I’ve gotten from the podcast.”
Company: Leadpages
Podcast: The Lead Generation
Features remarkable small business origin stories and marketing lessons.
Podcasting since May 2014 | 202 episodes and counting
Leadpages sees its podcast as an opportunity to create a certain kind of content. “One of the big goals with The Lead Generation podcast is to tell the true stories of entrepreneurship that the Leadpages software enables, and to put a realistic, hype-free face to a software company,” said Bob Sparkins, the podcast host. “The SaaS world is increasingly crowded (and unfortunately pretty spammy), so we want to continue to stand out as a leader with authentic episodes from smart small business owners across the globe who have something important to share,” said Bob, lead evangelist for Leadpages.
Monitoring downloads (and increasing the number) is important, even though it’s a flawed metric, as Bob explained. “Podcasts can be tricky to measure the direct ROI because the only accurate measurement is downloads, which we’re always looking to improve week-over-week. Even with that, it’s difficult to tell how many listeners hear half or more of an episode,” Bob noted.
“Instead, we often track effectiveness of our episodes by including an opt-in text or episode link to a landing page to generate leads. We also create multi-media assets from podcast excerpts for various social media channels. We’re able to track engagement (likes, comments, shares, views) on those.”
“But most importantly, we view the podcast as a long-play marketing channel that keeps our existing and future customers engaged, educated, and entertained,” Bob said.
Company: Innovatemap
Podcast: A Better Product Podcast
Shares the stories of industry-leading companies whose products have a soul, a mission, and a vision.
Podcasting since February 2019 | 33 episodes and counting
“Podcasting is notoriously difficult to measure outside of rudimentary analytics. The benefits we find are much more around the connections we make in the digital product community we work within,” Christian Beck, executive design partner and the show’s co-host.
“Having a podcast gives us an excuse to start relationships with thought leaders that we may have previously been unable to talk to. The most unexpected benefit has been how much I have learned. I find that myself and my company learn a lot from our guests and routinely apply learnings to our work with clients.”
Their thinking has evolved when it comes to ROI. “Initially we were obsessed with subscribers, but lately we’ve been focusing more on finding creative ways to improve the show,” Christian said.
“The biggest indicator for us is reactions we get through other channels. Whether we feature an episode through email or social, ROI is best measured in engagement from our listeners. Often the ROI is much more anecdotal. As we interact with listeners in other capacities (at events, or social media), it’s amazing to hear them mention specific episodes and what they took away. I can’t reflect that ROI in numbers but that means our show is doing what we hoped: helping product professionals in their jobs.”
Company: FreeeUp
Podcast: Outsourcing and Scaling
Advice from leading entrepreneurs, business owners, and startup founders in eCommerce, Amazon, Shopify, and digital marketing.
Podcasting since April 2019 | 52 episodes and counting
For Nathan Hirsch, CEO of FreeeUp and podcast host, creating a podcast is rewarding for the learning and relationships.
“Through starting the Outsourcing and Scaling podcast, I’ve been able to interview and learn how others are running remote companies with their own strategies. It adds tremendous value to my community and also challenges me to think deeper about how I’m running FreeeUp as a remote company. It’s really been an amazing resource for making new, meaningful connections,” according to Nathan.
Company: Nate Smoyer
Podcast: Tech Nest
Highlights the founders and leaders of companies who are working to transform the way we buy, sell, and invest in real estate.
Podcasting since June 2018 | 57 episodes and counting
Nate Smoyer can directly tie his full-time marketing role to his podcast. “I landed a dream role at a dream company, largely due to my podcast. I’ve now interviewed over 50 leaders and innovators in real estate tech. Part of that journey put me in the position to interview Ryan Coon, CEO of Avail. From there we had many more discussions and it turned out me joining Avail full time as the Director of Marketing was a natural fit,” Nate said of the biggest benefit resulting from his podcast, which was a marketing channel for his previous company Real Team Panda.
“Of course building my network, capturing unique content, and making my own way in the proptech scene are all benefits. But building a relationship that led to joining Avail is definitely the highlight accomplishment from my podcast.”
On ROI, Nate said: “When I started my podcast it was initially a method to make a name for myself in the industry I wanted to focus on, which is property technology, also known as real estate technology. I quickly realized the potential of leveraging the podcast to meet CEOs of companies I wanted to work with. And since the podcast got me in the door to talk with these CEOs, I was able to land several contracts with dream clients in my desired industry. That’s really easy to measure ROI, because I know exactly how much time and money goes into producing the podcast, and I measure that against the value of the contracts I won.”
Company: Foundersuite.com
Podcast: How I Raised It
Interviews with startup founders about how they raised venture capital.
Podcasting since January 2018 | 117 episodes and counting
Foundersuite.com CEO Nathan Beckord, who hosts the How I Raised It podcast, sees the podcast as an ideal way to create “high quality content galore.” It’s the hub of their content marketing efforts (full disclosure: Foundersuite is a PodReacher client).
Nathan explained, “Our interviewees are really interesting people — startup founders who have raised capital, which means they are in the ‘5% club’ and thus they tend to be very smart, bold and ambitious. Hearing their stories, especially the ‘tales from the trenches’ is endlessly fascinating to me, and we can take this content and distribute it across multiple channels.”
“It’s literally been a firehose of good stuff — we now publish way more material than we ever could if we were creating everything from scratch,” Nathan added.
“We SHOULD be more metrics-driven, but we’re not… really,” Nathan acknowledged on the question of measuring ROI.
“I pay attention to how many listeners per episode, and of course how many tweets/re-tweets and social shares we get. As for connecting it back to customer additions or sales, we’re not really there yet. But it’s definitely been good for branding, and our topics — every interview is specifically about raising capital — directly ties to our product line (Investor CRM, etc). Overall it’s given us a good platform for branding.”
Company: TurnKey Podcast
Podcast: The Nice Guys on Business Podcast
Interviews with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and experts in social media, business development, and so much more.
Podcasting since February 2015 | 968 episodes and counting
“The biggest gift podcasting has provided me is the network I have built,” said Doug Sandler, CEO of TurnKey and co-host of the long-running Nice Guys podcast. “After five years and nearly 1,000 episodes, I can honestly say every big deal, joint venture partnership, affiliate relationship and opportunity in the last several years has come from my show. Podcasting provides abundant opportunity while providing you and your audience with a great education in the process,” Doug said.
Company: Earnworthy
Podcast: Growth Marketing Toolbox
Interviews marketers, product creators, startup founders, marketing technologists, and more.
Podcasting since November 2015 | 181 episodes and counting
“The biggest benefit of creating my podcast has been getting to connect with and interview so many awesome people. I learn something new from every expert I interview, and it’s great to be able to share these learnings with my audience,” said Nicholas Scalice, founder of Earnworthy and host of the podcast.
In many cases, the interview is just the start — connections can go well beyond that. “I have referred projects to guests and they have referred work my way as well. I have been invited to VIP events, communities, and more. All thanks to the podcast,” he said.
“As for the ROI of the podcast, I don’t specifically measure any one thing, since I’m not selling anything directly through the show. But there have been countless clients I’ve acquired over the years thanks to the show. As well as speaking engagements and other consulting opportunities. I have also been able to build my email list and Facebook group based largely on the success of the podcast.”
Over to you! Has a podcast helped your business grow? How do you measure the impact of your podcast on your business? Leave a comment below or share your thoughts on Twitter.
Thanks for mentionig that with podcasting, you should try to make connections in the digital community. I’m hoping that I can find a new podcast to listen to on my way to work. I’d love to find something focused on mental health.