16 questions to ask before you start a podcast

A pro-level checklist to help you get more from your show.

I had a call with a contact recently who was looking to launch a podcast for their new business and wanted some advice.

These conversations come up fairly frequently and, as we talked, I realised I was asking the same set of questions I always ask people in this position.

So, this time, I wrote them down.

I’ve written previously about the four questions I always ask before launching a podcast. That was focused primarily on the audience side of things (you can go back and read that post here).

So consider this my expanded checklist of things you need to consider before launching your podcast - or indeed to help scale your existing one.

It’s not pulled out of thin air. The reason I ask these questions of people who want to start a podcast is because I’ve been making shows for major publishers over the last 12+ years. That means I’ve made a lot of mistakes, had a lot of assumptions challenged, and have seen the benefit of answering these questions first hand. The shows I’ve worked on have reached millions of listens and generated healthy profits - in part because we’ve applied this line of thinking to our strategy.

This checklist will help you clarify your strategy and make informed decisions that improve the effectiveness of your podcast.

If that sounds useful, read on…

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