Podcasting is celebrating its 20th birthday. It's no longer the new kid on the block. With so many podcasts floating around online, the idea of starting one might seem like an uphill climb. And if you're looking for a get-rich-quick scheme based on a flood of advertising dollars, podcasting is not the way to go.
However, if you're trying to grow your network and produce high-level, audience-grabbing content, all while deepening your expertise, look no further.
As director of marketing at Summit Virtual CFO by Anders, I've made podcasting a central part of our strategy, specifically as it relates to
It may seem counterintuitive, but you don't need to be a well-established thought leader in your niche before you launch a podcast. That's the beauty of podcasting: It gives you the opportunity to have conversations with industry experts and, as you invite the audience to listen in, to position yourself as an expert.
"The challenge is not so much your skill set," says Pat Helmers, a guest on a new podcast series we recently launched. "The challenge is coming out of obscurity so that others know about you, your mission, your value." A self-taught podcasting expert, with 600-plus episodes under his belt, he argues, "Podcasting is a great way to do that because it gives you dedicated time to talk to someone and others get to listen to it."
In this noisy world, long-format content like podcasting offers a powerful opportunity to cut through all that noise. According to Jeff Bartsch, communication and thought leader coach at Story Greenlight, "People who listen to podcasts expect a long-format piece of content, and they're more likely to give you their attention for half an hour or longer just by virtue of what a podcast is. You could say the exact same thing on a social media platform, and the same people might swipe on by and miss you completely."
So yes, starting a podcast is an investment. But it also has a very high potential upside.
Podcasting and accounting: perfect together
One of the reasons why podcasting is a pillar of our marketing is because it goes hand-in-hand with our business model: niching.
We've written extensively about the benefits of niching for accountants, but one of the most compelling reasons is that it allows CPAs to work smarter, not harder — which is more important now than ever with the number of CPAs leaving the profession.
In the words of one of our favorite podcast guests, Geraldine Carter: "Focus on a niche. Become more specific on who you work with. It makes your delivery easier. It makes your marketing effective. Instead of going down a black hole, it makes your sales conversations so much easier. Your confidence goes way up. Your ability to articulate your value goes way up and then your conversion rates go up, which means you spend less time in discovery and you get more time back and you plow that extra time into figuring out how to provide more value for your niche. It becomes a virtuous cycle."
To determine a niche, you need to understand your audience: their problems, their passions, their opportunities. Once you've done that work, it naturally translates into a podcast audience, since you're already thinking from their perspective: What problems do they have? Who could you invite on the show to help them address those problems?
Do a deep dive
Podcasting is an opportunity to connect with, and learn from, experts: You get their undivided attention for 30 to 60 minutes to ask them the questions you want. Once you start recording multiple episodes, you develop a nuanced understanding of what's happening in your industry and where your voice fits in that conversation.
Don't hesitate to reach out to people you admire and invite them to be guests (after you try a practice run on some trusted colleagues or friends). People love talking about themselves (especially people with a new book or service line to promote), so do your homework and reach out to people in your industry.
Speaking of doing homework, another major benefit of podcasting is the accountability it provides in terms of developing your expertise: If you invite a guest on a show, or agree to guest on someone else's, you're going to make sure you're ready. As Bartsch explains, "There's no way you'll let yourself show up unprepared and risk looking stupid, so you force yourself to do the prep work you know you need to do anyway."
For Helmers, hosting a podcast enabled him to build a wealth of information from his interviews that he then transformed into the skeleton of his book project, "
Build a content windmill
If, like most CPAs, you don't have a background in marketing, you probably aren't the biggest fan of "self-promotion." Have you ever caught yourself asking: "What do I have to say?" "What can I put on my social media?"
Podcasting is a great way to answer that question. Podcasts can be the centerpiece of an omnichannel content marketing strategy:
- With AI tools, you can clip the podcast into multiple short-form videos.
- You can repost the episode audio or video to your blog with a short intro and a transcript that you can then promote on social media.
- You can write individual articles based on the podcast, which your guest may be willing to cross promote. (If you don't have the bandwidth for this, freelance platforms can connect you with specialized content creators.)
And, if you've done the work to ensure your guests are well matched to your audience, it'll be more likely that the audience will engage in a meaningful way.
Make sales less salesy
Few CPAs like marketing and guess what? Not many like sales. "It's too … salesy!"
But that's one of the benefits of podcasting: "When you position yourself as an expert through podcasting, you put your information out into the world where others can see it," says Helmers, whose long-running podcast has a sales focus. "That's a much better and different selling experience than going out and trying to sell yourself."
When you podcast, you create several important relationships. You show your audience you know the industry by providing them excellent resources. You give your guests a platform to share their expertise. Maybe some of your listeners will become clients of yours; maybe they'll reach out and tap a guest for their support; maybe a guest will end up enlisting your services or vice versa.
None of this is quid pro quo, and it's a long game, to be sure. But when you use a niche podcast to develop relationships, you get better,
That's by design: Bartsch explains, "If people invest a good amount of time with you through listening to podcast episodes, you're building that relationship. There's a transformation that happens in the conversation — people hear you, they begin to trust you, which means they're that much closer to doing business with you."
How to get started
Podcasts don't just start themselves. Helmers put together his first podcast over a series of six months, researching every element and asking for help along the way.
That's his best advice for how to get started: "Probably one of the best things I ever did was be fearless about asking for advice. Just admit you don't know what you're doing. Ask people, 'If you were me, what would you do? How would you approach this?' Some really great people helped me, just by me asking, 'What advice do you have?'"
If all this sounds a little too daunting, there are professionals who make it easier:
- Communications coaches, like Jeff Bartsch of
Story Greenlight , can help you hone your message before you go on air. - Consider guesting to dip your toe in the water: Platforms like
PodMatch or concierge services likeInterview Valet make it easy to find the right podcast for your expertise. - Agencies like
Habanero Media work with individuals and businesses to start podcasts.
