8 Reasons Why Your Business Might NOT Need a Branded Podcast in 2024!

Podcast Growth Diagnostic: one session, and you'll leave knowing whether to double down, simplify or stop. https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic If you're staring at an edit you can't make yourself finish, and wondering whether your B2B podcast should just be switched off, you're not the only one. I've been asking the same question about mine. The numbers have dipped. Nobody's replying. Recording feels like pulling teeth. And from the inside, a podcast having one bad quarter looks exactly like a podcast that's finished. I'm Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm doing the other side of everything this show usually tells you. I spend a lot of time telling you not to kill off your podcast. But if all I ever say is "keep going", that isn't advice. It's the content version of a motivational fridge magnet. Sometimes stopping is the right call. We look at the three very different podcasts that all feel the same when you're tired: the one having a bad quarter, the one with a strategy problem dressed up as a dead show, and the one that's genuinely done. Then the three questions I'd ask before any founder or CMO pulls the plug, the reasons that really aren't reasons (a dip in August is your buyers on a sunbed, not ignoring you), the middle option almost nobody considers, and how to stop properly if you do, without wrecking the work you've already done. There's also a simple test you can run on your own show this week: write down your kill condition while you still like the thing. What would have to be true for you to stop, and the date you'll check. I've written mine, and I read it out at the end. Useful links B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic Episode 41: B2B Founders: Have You Written Your One Winning Sentence Yet? (the sentence I mention in this episode) https://podknows.co.uk/b2b-founders-one-winning-sentence/ Last week: If I Were My Own Client: 5 Fixes For My B2B Podcast https://podknows.co.uk/5-fixes-b2b-podcast/ Episode 38: Your B2B Podcast Isn't Broken. Your B2B Podcast Strategy Is! (Jane's story) https://podknows.co.uk/your-b2b-podcast-isnt-broken-your-strategy-is/ Podcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/audits Podknows Website https://podknows.co.uk Leave me a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email [email protected] Chapters: 00:00.000 Should I switch my own podcast off? 02:30.500 Three podcasts that look identical from the inside 04:36.400 The three questions before you pull the plug 07:47.700 Bad reasons to quit, and the option everyone forgets 09:26.600 How to stop a podcast properly 11:04.300 My honest answer, and my kill condition 13:32.100 The diagnostic, and final thoughts

Podcast Growth Diagnostic: one session, and you'll know whether to double down, simplify or stop. https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic My B2B podcast's hosting dashboard says 161,000 downloads. Apple Podcasts says 846 people have pressed play. That's a very different number. A lot of those downloads weren't people. The show wasn't bringing my ideal clients to the door. And I'd been polishing all the wrong things. I'm Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm doing for my own show what I'd do for you if you hired me: running it through my own Podcast Growth Diagnostic. The cobbler's children have no shoes, and it turns out the cobbler's podcast gets whatever's left on a Friday afternoon. We look at the three things the diagnostic found, then the five fixes I'd give myself if I were my own client: people, not downloads; being a guest on other business podcasts on purpose instead of waiting to be asked; putting clips where your buyers actually spend their time; sending one episode to one prospect at the right point in their buyer journey; and pointing everything at the one freebie that's ever worked. Plus the one thing that isn't changing. There's also a simple test you can run on your own show in five minutes. Open Apple Podcasts Connect and put your downloads next to your listeners. If they look like they belong to two completely different shows, you've got the same problem I had. And if you're the CMO, or whoever puts the podcast numbers into a monthly report, this is the one to listen to before the next one goes out. I'm checking in on all of this, the three numbers, what worked and what didn't, on Friday 27 November. Useful links B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic Free download: Five Reasons Your B2B Podcast Is Invisible http://podknows.co.uk/5reasons The episode I mention: Your Dream Client Ignores Your Emails. But They'll Say Yes To This https://podknows.co.uk/your-dream-client-ignores-your-emails-theyll-say-yes-to-this/ Podcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/audits Podknows Website https://podknows.co.uk Leave me a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email [email protected] Timestamped summary 00:00 I owe you a correction: 19,000 downloads 01:04 The cobbler's children: why my own show gets Friday afternoons 02:14 What the diagnostic found on my own B2B podcast 05:24 Fix 1: People, not downloads 08:42 Fix 2: Be a guest on purpose 11:08 Fix 3: Put your clips where your buyers are 13:39 Fix 4: One episode, one prospect 14:58 Fix 5: One freebie that works, not a new one every week 17:00 What isn't changing, and the check-ins 18:16 Is your podcast working? The diagnostic 19:00 Final thoughts: a download doesn't tell you who

Podcast Growth Diagnostic: one session, and you come out knowing whether to double down, simplify or stop. https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic If your podcast stops the week you can't make it, you haven't got a podcast. You've got a habit that depends on one person. On the 18th of September, nothing went out on this show. I couldn't make it. Every episode since has slipped by a week. And the plan still hasn't fully caught up. I'm Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm reading out the receipts from my own missed week, and asking what happens to a founder-led B2B podcast the week the host can't turn up. For a lot of shows, the honest answer is nothing. We look at the bit only you can do (the expertise, the opinion, the voice), the bits that are only stuck with you because you never wrote them down, why a spare microphone is no use when the spare host is also you, and why it's an access problem rather than a people problem. Then the three-line handover I'd make tomorrow if I had to, and what changes if you're a founder business or the CEO hosting the company podcast. There's also a simple test you can run on your own show: could it still go out the week life gets in the way? If the answer's no, that's allowed. Just make sure it's a decision and not an accident. Plus a Founder FAQ on whether you should run ads on your own branded show, and a quick tip on why you should record your intro last. Useful links B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic Podcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/audits Podknows Website https://podknows.co.uk Leave me a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email [email protected] Timestamped summary 00:00 If your podcast stops the week you can't make it 01:34 The receipts: what happened when my podcast missed a week 04:29 Which parts of your podcast actually need you 07:40 The three-line handover, and the test 11:20 Founder FAQ: should you run ads on your branded show? 12:55 Quick tip: record your intro last

Free one-page post-mortem for an empty email list: https://podknows.co.uk/list You're 40 episodes in, and your email list would fit inside a Fiat Panda. Mine would. 19,300 downloads in 90 days. Signups from this show's freebies in the same 90 days? Two. This was supposed to be a victory lap. Every freebie I built for the show this year, what each one was for, and which ones worked. Then I opened my Kit account, and the 'which ones worked' section got a lot shorter. I'm Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm reading out the receipts on a whole season of lead magnets, Top 40 countdown style, and working out why a B2B podcast with real downloads can still leave you with nobody to talk to. We look at why a website address said out loud at the end of an episode is a message in a bottle, why a freebie built around a topic attracts other people in your trade rather than buyers (buying triggers, not topics), why an email address with no follow-up isn't a lead, and how Kit's own recommendations feature outsold my lovingly designed PDFs by more than three to one. There's also a simple sum you can run on your own show: signups per thousand downloads. It's a horrible number the first time you see it. But it tells you whether listening is turning into people you can actually talk to, which a download never will. Plus a Founder FAQ from Lorna in Inverness, whose podcast name has just been pinched by a competitor, and a quick tip on why every comma in your script is a suspect. Useful links Empty List Post-Mortem (one sum, four checks, my own numbers as the worked example) https://podknows.co.uk/list B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic Podcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/audits Podknows Website https://podknows.co.uk Leave me a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email [email protected] 00:00.000 Your email list would fit inside a Fiat Panda 01:35.000 The receipts: a whole season of freebies, Top 40 style 04:44.000 Why nobody signed up: no tap, wrong people, no follow-up 08:17.500 What I'm changing, and signups per thousand downloads 10:21.300 Founder FAQ: a competitor has pinched my podcast's name 12:55.000 Quick tip: if a sentence needs a comma, cut it in half 14:04.000 Final thoughts and the Empty List Post-Mortem

If you've got a budget review coming up and someone with a spreadsheet is about to ask what your B2B podcast actually does for the business, downloads won't answer it. Downloads tell you people are listening. That does matter. But a download doesn't sit next to a cost. And that's the only kind of number a CFO can do anything with. I'm Neal Veglio, and this week on B2B Podcasting Insights, I'm showing founders, CMOs and business owners exactly what to bring into that room instead: a fully loaded cost number of your own, and the three counts that show what your podcast has changed in the business, not just what it produced. We look at why bringing your download chart turns your podcast into a media buy judged on cost per thousand, why founders either overclaim or shrug and say "brand awareness", why your own hours belong on the cost sheet, and the three counts that work as genuine buying-trigger evidence: deals where a prospect mentioned an episode unprompted, episodes your sales team sent instead of booking a call, and inbound that names the show. There's also a simple rule for when you go looking and find nothing at all: say zero, then say how you'll measure it next quarter. Plus a Founder FAQ from Tamsin in London, who wants to re-record her cringe-worthy episode six, and a quick tip on checking your show at 1.5x speed. Useful links Podcast Value Scorecard (where you stand out of five, plus the three numbers on one page) https://podknows.co.uk/number B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic Podcast Audits https://podknows.co.uk/audits Podknows Website https://podknows.co.uk Is Your Podcast Doing Its Job? (the one this picks up from) [LINK] Leave a voicemail question https://podknows.co.uk/voicemail Or email [email protected] Timestamped summary 00:27 The question someone with a spreadsheet is about to ask 00:55 Why downloads are the one number a CFO can't use 01:43 How downloads turn your podcast into a media buy 02:12 Overclaiming, underclaiming and Janet the CMO 02:49 First: bring your own fully loaded cost number 04:30 Yes, your own hours go on the sheet 05:06 Second: a number your podcast changed, not produced 05:44 Count one: deals where a prospect mentioned an episode 06:11 Count two: episodes sales sent instead of booking a call 06:52 Count three: inbound that names the show 07:11 Why you don't need an attribution model for this 07:52 Third: if the number is zero, say zero 08:29 What to measure next quarter 09:04 Why a CFO trusts a zero with a method 09:46 Would your sales conversations get longer without it? 10:25 Founder FAQ: should Tamsin re-record episode six? 12:48 Quick tip: check your show at 1.5x speed 13:49 Final thoughts: line item or asset? 14:12 The scorecard and the Podcast Growth Diagnostic