“Should I make a podcast?”
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is: “Should I make a podcast?”
No one ever seems to like my answer: It depends. And I say that with a certain amount of hesitation. I understand why financial firms want to make podcasts. For starters, podcast listeners tend to be wealthier and better educated than the general population. Ideal clients! On top of that, financial topics aren’t always highly visual (aside from charts) meaning that videos and other fun content can be harder to do well. Finally, financial advisors tend to love talking to people. It’s part of what makes them good advisors. That doesn’t always translate well to writing blogs or articles… but it often translates well to a podcast.
Based on that, podcasts sound like a no-brainer, right? Not so fast.
There are a LOT of podcasts out there. The number of people launching podcasts increases every day. And that means getting your podcast in front of people gets harder. You don’t just decide to make a podcast and then immediately show up on the “new and noteworthy” section of iTunes or Spotify. There’s a lot of work involved. Plus, podcast production involves a lot more than just holding a conversation. There’s equipment and editing… but more importantly there’s figuring out a guest every week, or a setup to your show that feels consistent and on-brand.
Creating a podcast is one thing, but creating a podcast WELL is another.
So when people ask me about making a podcast, and I answer, “it depends” … these are the two things I say it depends on:
Do you have a built in audience? If you know that your clients will listen to this, or you have a high number of newsletter subscribers, or some other reason to think there’s a demand for your podcast, then this is a big check in the pro category. As long as you’re not depending on people discovering the podcast on a third-party site (like Spotify), you’re in good shape.
Do you have a plan? First, you want to have an angle other than “smart things about money.” This will help you decide how to structure your podcast, and who to have on as guests. And trust me, you want guests. Talking solo is hard, and it doesn’t work for much more than a few minutes. (When’s the last time you listened to a podcast that was just a few minutes with any kind of regularity?) Are you going to be able to find and record with guests consistently? If not, how many guests can you line up at a time? You might want to do a __-episode “season” to start, since it requires less commitment. Whatever your plan is, make sure you have one.
Finally, I’ll say that it’s easier to make a podcast with help. There are a number of companies that can help you create a podcast. Here’s a compilation of a few, but would love to hear which companies you use in the comments, particularly if they have experience working on financial shows and topics.