Starting a podcast might be the fastest way to grow your brand… or the fastest way to waste your time.

That’s the uncomfortable truth most entrepreneurs don’t want to hear.

If you want to start a podcast you have to have a damn good reason and a strategy for success. I discuss how to develop those in this episode with my guest, Jeff Dauler.

Jeff spent 25 years building top-rated morning radio shows before turning that same audience instinct toward a different medium. Today he co-leads tentwentytwo, a boutique podcast strategy firm that helps executives and brands turn ideas into shows that actually move business forward.

He’s here to talk about what makes a podcast worthwhile, the mistakes 90% of podcasters make, and how to build something that actually grows your business.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

Jeff started his first podcast in 2016 and started doing podcasting full-time in 2019 when he was asked to leave the radio industry. He’s not bragging about getting fired.  If you’ve worked in radio for 25 years and you’ve only gotten fired once, that’s a good track record. Jeff had a 25-year radio career, working a morning radio, working in a lot of different cities as an executive producer of a morning show and the co-host of another morning show and finally as a host of a morning show.

When Jeff got fired in 2019 he had a severance package. That gave him the room to step back an take a look at his life. He didn’t have to rush out and immediately find another radio job. Jeff decided to sleep past 4:30 AM for the first time in his adult life and start a podcast business.

The business took off and Jeff never looked back. A couple years after starting the business Jeff’s wife left her full-time job to run the podcast business with him. Her background is also in entertainment. She worked in music and live television. Together they make a pretty interesting and unique team for podcasting.

Jeff says that more often than not, when somebody comes to him saying “I need a podcast” they rarely have a reason why they need a podcast in terms of goals, objectives or outcomes. They just think that they need a podcast because somebody told them they needed one or their competition has podcasts. Other times they know they’ve needed one for a while to help establish their brand and get their message out there.

But most of the time they don’t know what measurable outcomes they want to achieve. That’s what Jeff’s company does. They help them define their strategy and determine what the goal of the podcast should be.

The first question Jeff asks every client is the same. “What do you want your podcast to do?” Most people candidly don’t know, they don’t realize everything that a podcast is capable of, so they don’t know how to answer that.

Many people don’t realize that there’s a lot of work that goes into creating and maintaining a podcast. Too many people start a podcast to create content without ever thinking about what they want as an outcome or the end result to be.

First, you have a clear goal and a clear objective for  your show. The first question Jeff asks anybody is, “What does your podcast need to do for it to look like a success?” And then he reminds them that people like Mel Robbins, Joe Rogan and Dax Shepherd, and all of those shows, they exist to get as many listeners as possible because they make their money from advertisers. That’s why they release an episode every week or twice a week because they need a ton of listeners to get enough advertisers to be profitable. For 99% of the people that Jeff talks to, that is absolutely not necessary.

Instead, what you DO need is six episodes or twelve episodes of really strategic content that is going to deliver a specific outcome. For example, networking or getting new clients. Jeff has to help most of his clients identify exactly what outcome they need to achieve to justify the existence of the podcast.

Jeff says for nine out of ten people, it’s money related. They need more clients. They want to sell more books. They want to book more keynote speaking engagements. They usually discover that you don’t have to do what Dax Shepherd, Mel Robbins and Joe Rogan are doing. You don’t have to constantly put out endless episodes and try to grow a large audience.

What you need to do is create a podcast that talks directly to a specific person who can move you in a specific direction and engage with you in a way that puts money in your pocket. You can usually accomplish that in six or twelve episodes. It’s not necessary to start a podcast and be committed to one episode every other week for the rest of your life.

And that is just the beginning!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

Jeff Dauler is co-founder of tentwentytwo, a boutique podcast strategy and production company that helps executives, thought leaders, and brands build shows with a purpose. With a career rooted in radio production, Jeff brings a rare combination of showbiz craft and business strategy to every project.

tentwentytwo specializes in finite podcast seasons: twelve episodes designed around a clear goal, a defined audience, and a measurable outcome. Jeff’s philosophy is simple: a podcast that doesn’t serve your business isn’t a strategy, it’s a hobby. He helps clients close that gap.

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Jeff’s business!

Want to learn more about podcasting? Check out this episode “How to Build Your Business with Podcasting with Steve Ramona“