After a company records its first podcast episode, I often get asked, “What did you think?”

And I used to stumble through some feedback. I picked a few things that stood out to me when listening to or watching the episode.

But after a period of time, I realized I wasn’t helping customers that much. It’s not that the points I identified weren’t helpful. It’s that the entire feedback loop wasn’t constructive.

I realized the feedback process had to be more actionable. And I realized there had to be a way to incorporate feedback so your company’s podcast improves.

Your company’s podcast doesn’t have to be a series of back & forth interviews.

There are a lot of ways to share stories. And there are quite a few formats you can use to connect with your audience.

But when you’re trying to plan out your podcast recordings, where do you go to get inspiration for the actual topics for each of your podcast episodes?

Only 24.454% of the active podcasts on ListenNotes (i.e., the RSS feed hasn’t been deleted) published an episode in 2022. This means that only 713,653 podcasts out of nearly 3 million have published an episode this year.

But why is podfade such a problem for podcasters? And why do companies who throw a lot of resources at podcasts experience the same issue?

When new customers come to us for help with launching a podcast, we hear about the struggles.

We learn about how their team produced 15 versions of cover art. We uncover how the company’s leadership team took 4 weeks to review the first podcast script. And we hear about all the different names the team created before choosing one.

But one of the biggest hurdles we hear companies struggle with is getting the host to hit record for the first time.

Creating a video podcast requires more than just hitting record on your webcam. There’s a lot of software involved in putting together a professional show.

But let’s say you’re leading a small marketing team. Maybe you’re the only person in marketing or maybe you have a team of fewer than ten people. How do you determine what video podcast software to use?

A podcast host is one of the most important roles in your company’s podcast. The host is responsible for building rapport with guests, guiding conversations, and ultimately ensuring each episode helps your audience.

But what if you’ve never hosted a podcast before? Is there a path to becoming a great podcast host? What should you focus on as a new podcast host?