Podcasts are everywhere. Whether you’re on your morning commute, working out, or just want to relax by listening to a meditation or self-help podcast, there is something for everyone in the podcast world and it is more accessible than ever! More importantly it has become an amazing resource for small business owners and freelancers to promote their businesses, connect with their appropriate audiences, and create amazing contacts to build up their businesses. However, it’s not all sunshine in the podcasting world, and it may not always be the best option for you and your business. Read on to see all the pros and cons before you consider a podcast, or if you’re thinking of starting one, make sure you read this first!

Pro’s

1. Get to Know your Audience and Connect!

Launching a podcast is a great way to connect with your audience. There’s nothing quite like listening to someone speak directly to you for 30 minutes or an hour each week. It becomes regular content for your audience, allowing them to become familiar with you in a more personal way! Moreover, you are offering something more of yourself to potential customers and listeners! A podcast is no small feat, and taking the time to research, plan and execute shows your commitment and leads us perfectly to the next benefit of your podcast.

2. Credibility

Yes, just because you start a podcast doesn’t mean you’re an expert on the topic, but it really does help you build up your own knowledge and thus credibility in your space. Make sure to do your research and familiarize yourself with other podcasters in your space! When you launch your podcast you are becoming an active voice in your niche, which is why it is so important to ensure you take the time to do adequate research on a topic and bring something valuable and reliable to your listeners. Building an audience and asking people to listen to your opinion and stories is a big responsibility!

3. The World is your Oyster

Your podcast should reflect yourself and your business, so do whatever you want with it! This is a great opportunity to let your personality shine and attract people to your business. People tend to listen to podcasts for a longer period of time than they would watch videos – take advantage of this and really put yourself and your story out there. You may be surprised by how many people are happy to relate to someone in their shoes.

Cons

1. Time

While a podcast is a great opportunity to reach new audiences, it takes a lot of work. From researching, planning, branding, recording, editing, and ultimately posting and marketing, this may be too much for you to undertake, depending on where you are on your entrepreneurial journey. For those of you who are already running and facing the daily operational challenges of a small business this may sound like more of a headache than it’s worth, and you may be right. Yet others who are still in the earlier stages of making their business a reality may benefit from grounding themselves in their niche with a podcast before launching.

2. Slow Growth

It is hard to get people’s attention, especially with all the podcasts that are already out there. You are fighting to get people’s attention, and it greatly relies on your marketing and branding, which means making sure you invest plenty of time into these areas for your podcast and business. Podcasts are a long game – building an audience and gaining popularity, just like any other social channel, takes time, and consistency. You may have 30 listeners for the first few months, and that’s ok. You will eventually see growth and all that hard work will pay off!

3. Is it Really Free?

You will see a lot of guides out there, saying it’s easy to start a podcast; all you need is your phone and free hosting. This is definitely true, to an extent. Recording on your phone means you’ll need to ensure you’re in a completely quiet and enclosed space to get good audio, which is important since there are so many other podcasts out there for people to choose from. Secondly, your title, and branding does matter! You can absolutely DIY it, but much like the recording factor, it’s important to look professional so people take you seriously and give your podcast a chance! Lastly, while there are plenty of places you can host your podcast for free, you may want to consider the landing page, and your statistics. Both of these are very important in growing your podcast and many times are not free.

We all love podcasts, and they are undoubtedly a great way to get your business out there to your desired audience, but they’re also not for the faint of heart. As entrepreneurs you are all at different stages in your journeys, and some of you may have the time and effort to dedicate to a podcast in the name of your businesses. Others may need to focus on other things, or are too busy handling different parts of your lives or business, and that’s ok. We hope this guide was helpful for you as you weigh the pros and cons of starting a podcast, and make sure to follow our very own podcast: Never Too Late!