How to maintain and run your company podcast

Last year I studied the best practices in podcasting before reintroducing The Onlinification Pod. In this article, I'll share some tips on how to run your company podcast, everything from defining the purpose to generating great topic ideas.

A couple of years ago, my colleagues Qarin and Charlotte published the articles Why use podcasts in your inbound mix and How to start a podcast. Fast forward five years, and those articles are still very relevant. We followed the steps carefully when we recently reintroduced The Onlinification Pod.

Yet, starting a podcast is relatively easy; the difficult part is maintaining and running the show. The first episode of the Onlinification Pod was published two years ago, but we had a break for about a year. Now the pod is back, and we plan to keep the pod running for an extended period. Below are the procedures we rely on to keep the pod alive.

Define the purpose of the podcast

Today, listeners have endless choices of podcasts to listen to. Thus, you need to give them an apparent reason why they should listen to your podcast. However, that is not the only reason why you must have a purpose for your podcast. Having a clear purpose will make it easier for you to invite relevant guests and defining the topics. 

At Zooma, I'm lucky to be surrounded by experienced people who have worked online and digital for a long time. After two years of taking part in daily conversations, it was quite obvious what the purpose of The Onlinification Pod would be:

"The purpose of The Onlinification Pod is to make our internal conversations about online and digital available for everyone."

Assign a podcast team

Running a podcast is time-consuming, and if you are not working with the podcast full-time, it can be difficult to handle everything alone. Thus, to maintain your podcast, I recommend you assign a smaller podcast team.

Our podcast team at Zooma consists of Doug and me. I'm the host of the pod, and Doug is the producer. He attends the recordings, edits, and publishes the final episodes. Together we share the responsibility to invite guests, handle the podcast equipment and repurpose the content. 

Always keep your eyes open for possible topics

So, as already mentioned, a clear purpose will help you to come up with topic ideas for your show. Whenever I read an article related to online and digital, I'm thinking about how we can make a podcast episode of the subject. It can be both a big or a niche topic. 

Doug and I document all ideas we can come up with in a shared document. Believe me; we have over a hundred topic ideas by now. 

Record several episodes before publishing 

At a seminar that I listened to at INBOUND 2019, I received a tip that I am very grateful for; Record at least ten episodes before you publish your first one.

Creating a library of episodes doesn't require a lot of time. It prevents you from ending up in a stressful situation where you need to do last-minute recordings week after week. By relying on your stock of recordings, you can increase the quality and better plan your topics. 

Schedule fixed recording times

Each Friday, 13.30-14.00, I have a scheduled appointment with some colleagues to record an episode of The Onlinification Pod. Having a fixed time makes it so much easier to maintain the production and keep the tempo up.

Good luck in getting your company's podcast off the ground - if you want some more knowledge, take a look at our in-depth guide to business podcasting, or download our free PDF guide with some practical tips on how to get started.

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