508 - Five Questions Every Podcaster Must Answer Before Expecting Their Show to Generate Clients

For more than twenty years, people have asked me two questions about podcasting more than almost any others:

“How do I launch a podcast?”

“How do I grow my audience?”

Those can be useful questions, but neither one appears on my list of the five questions you must be able to answer if your goal is to generate clients through your show.

Do not ask, “How do I grow my podcast?” until you can clearly answer what the growth is intended to produce, for whom, and why they would eventually pay you.

A larger audience will not solve an unvalidated offer, unclear positioning, vague messaging, or a lack of confidence in the value you provide.

Before investing more time, energy, and money into growing your show, I encourage you to reflect on these five questions.

1. Do you have a validated product or service?

Has someone actually paid you for this solution, or are you hoping the podcast will validate it for you?

Conversations, compliments, expressed interest, and awareness of a problem do not necessarily prove that people are willing to pay for your solution.

My definition of early validation is that two or three people have paid for the product or service and would rate their satisfaction with that investment as an eight, nine, or ten.

A podcast can help people discover and trust you, but it should not become a way to postpone the vulnerable work of asking someone to pay for what you offer.