Podcasts can be a challenging product for a content entrepreneur.

Yes, you can track download numbers to see if your content resonates, but you have no direct way to reach the audience as you would with an e-newsletter. Heck, even though social media platforms have numerous challenges, you can usually message your followers and connections.

However, podcasts have power in your content product lineup. Just ask Joe Pulizzi, who recently published his 500th episode of the Content Inc. podcast. 

Content Inc., the podcast, debuted Dec. 4, 2014, as a book marketing tool. He planned to launch a book of the same name about nine months later. Much of the early podcast content was incorporated into the book — Joe refers to it as a podcast-to-book strategy.

The first episode — Defeating Goliath Requires Different Thinking — set the stage for the Content Inc. model, telling Malcolm Gladwell’s true story about David and Goliath. It turned into the first chapter of the Content Inc. book.

TL;DR version: David couldn’t beat the 6-foot, 9-inch Goliath in hand-to-hand combat. So, he slung stones from a distance and killed the giant. You, the single-person business, can beat cost- and resource-heavy media businesses if you do it differently. First, create content to build an audience. Second, launch your product.

For almost three years, Joe produced two five-minute episodes a week. On Aug. 9, 2017, he stopped at episode 200 to take a sabbatical, a year after selling the Content Marketing Institute. At the time, he also ended his first podcast, This Old Marketing, with Robert Rose.

However, less than three years later, he was back to serve up more content after receiving texts and emails from people newly interested in the business model during the COVID pandemic.

In March 2020, he relaunched the Content Inc. podcast, this time as a weekly, three-to-five-minute version. A year later, he published the second edition of Content Inc., which has since become his bestselling book, with over 100K copies sold. In 2021, he expanded that product lineup, launching The Tilt newsletter as a resource for his book’s target audience — creators who want to be content entrepreneurs. And in 2021, he founded the Content Entrepreneur Expo. (In 2023, he sold The Tilt newsletter and CEX to Lulu and helped co-found Tilt Publishing.)

This August at CEX, Joe will continue his Content Inc. journey with the book release of Burn the Playbook under the Tilt Publishing imprint.

So, what advice does a person who has created 500 podcast episodes that earned over 2M downloads suggest? Read on for Joe’s five pieces of advice:

1. Don’t go solo if you want a crazy successful podcast: Growing a podcast audience is easier on a show with guests because you can tap into their networks, too.

2.  Go solo and evergreen if you want an easy-to-produce podcast: Content Inc. is easy to produce because it’s just Joe. He can record it whenever he wants. He can also produce a month’s worth of podcasts in a day because the content isn’t time-sensitive or news-driven.

3.  Do a podcast-to-book strategy: It’s an underrated strategy that he thinks more podcasters should employ. With the ease of transcription today, creating a book is less of a chore.

4.  Publish more frequently: If Joe were starting over, he would break the Content Inc. podcast into 10 short videos per week rather than one episode. Publish short videos and test extensively on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Include a CTA to your book and newsletter to create a powerful combo.

5. Show up every week: Publishing content over a long period seems to be the hardest thing in creation. He says the biggest mistake with the Content Inc. podcast was stopping it for a couple of years. The old audience never returned in the same numbers. Some listeners still don’t know the show is back on. If you want to take a sabbatical, that’s OK. Just record some special episodes in advance to keep people tuning in.

Now that you’ve listened to Joe’s advice, get started on your podcast so others can tune in for what you have to say.

Helpful Podcast-as-Product Resources:

Joe says he’d love to meet you at CEX this year if you’re following the professional creator/content entrepreneur model, which he calls the greatest business model on the planet. Register by June 30 for the best rates!

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.