Is There a Podcast in You?

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

By: Theresa Jacobellis

As an entrepreneur who had been working out of a home-based office since 2017, the day-to-day aspects of my business life did not change much as a result of the pandemic. But as a solopreneur, I had become an avid networker, belonging to several groups (including Moxxie Network), attending a variety of in-person events, and even serving on a couple of boards. All of that came to a grinding halt last March. Suddenly my home office felt very isolated.

Zoom meetings rushed to fill the void, and to some extent they did. How much more isolated would we all have been if not for the gift of technology to keep us connected even when we had to stay apart? But Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and the like don’t provide us with the ability to connect one-on-one with other meeting attendees or to engage in deeper conversation. I missed that.

As the weeks wore on, I began to toy with an idea that had been percolating for some time. Why not take this opportunity to launch a podcast? I was encouraged by a colleague who had used podcasting to help build his health-related business. The internet provided me with a vast array of resources for learning about the tools and techniques that would be necessary to create a professional-sounding show. I purchased a microphone and headset, subscribed to a podcasting platform to host my recordings, downloaded an audio editing program, came up with a name and designed a logo, and was soon on my way.

I launched my show, “Healthcare Confidential,” in May 2020. It is a 30-minute weekly interview-format audio program that is hosted on the Helium Radio Network. Each week, I talk to guests about the non-clinical aspects of healthcare. The business of healthcare is my passion, and it is guaranteed that we will never run out of topics.

The podcast has allowed me to reach out to people from my past, broaden my network and even gain new clients. I have interviewed colleagues who in turn recommend guests, connected with new people via Twitter or LinkedIn, and contacted experts whose work I have seen in The New York Times. I have been able to reconnect with my graduate school professors and once interviewed the woman who wrote a textbook I used in grad school.

Maintaining a weekly schedule of new content can be a heavy lift. I am a person who likes to do it all, so I book my own guests, write the scripts and show notes, edit the recordings (I worked in radio back in college and rely on the skills I developed way back then), and promote each episode on social media. While it is a lot of work, it’s the type of work that’s fun. The business and professional rewards of the podcast have been tremendous.

Is there a podcast in you? You can focus a podcast on any topic, be it business or leisure. Love books? Parasailing? Knitting? Talk about it on a podcast. Or devote your podcast to your area of business expertise. Legal issues, medicine, sales, finance…if it is your passion, you’ll never tire of discussing it. You can set the format and schedule that works for you. Daily, weekly, monthly, or sporadically, your podcast will give you a voice and a platform. Meet new people without leaving your bubble, expand your network, learn about what others are doing, build your own reputation for thought leadership, and even earn revenue…a podcast can help you achieve all of that.

Want to learn more? Reach out! I’d love to chat about podcasting and brainstorm about your ideas!

 

Theresa Jacobellis is president and CEO of the health care marketing firm, Prescrxptive Communications LLC, www.prescrxptivecommunications.com.

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