So many well-intentioned, fledgling podcast hosts think their podcast is little more than a lively conversation between two colleagues, friends, or experts. And while that’s not a terrible place to begin, that’s all it is: just the beginning of what a podcast can do for you.
Not gonna lie: building a strategic podcast isn’t a total breeze. While I routinely sing the praises of all the jobs a podcast can do for you, it’s not as though the “doing” requires nothing of you or your time.
Depending on the decisions you’ve made re:
- Frequency of episode release (aka cadence)
- Format (aka how your episodes are structured)
- Content (aka what’s inside your episodes)
The time and energy commitment of a podcast can range from rather negligible to quite significant.
If the idea of being “always on” with your podcast (i.e., releasing every week forever and ever and ever) is what’s kept you from starting or continuing with your podcast dreams…
I get it.
That idea has been perpetuated by the podcasts that populate our feeds and zeitgeist and seemingly every single TV show airing in the year 2026 (I see you Trent Crimm, formerly of The Independent, now of the podcast Through the Laces).
The fact is: if you’re someone for whom the podcast isn’t the business but IN SERVICE TO THE BUSINESS, "always on" is not only not the move, it can set your show up for an untimely death. (Bleak but true.)
A truly strategic podcast takes into account all of the jobs your podcast needs to do…
- Lead generation
- Big Idea refinement
- Source material for your entire content ecosystem
- Future-client-sale-closer
- Discovery call stand-in (more on this on my next episode of Talking the Talk...)
- And so on.
…and drafts a blueprint accordingly.
Your podcast can do many jobs. But only if you draft the resume you want it to have before you send it to work.
