Why Most Business Podcasts Fail: 3 Things You Need to Get Right

“Most business podcasts fail because they were never built with a clear purpose in the first place.” 

In this episode, I talk about why so many business podcasts start with energy, excitement, and good intentions, but slowly lose momentum.

From what I have seen, the problem is usually not the host, the microphone, or the editing. The real problem is that the show was never built with a clear strategy.

I think a business podcast should do more than just exist. It should attract the right people, build trust, and help move the business toward a real outcome. When the niche is clear, the goal is measurable, and the format is sustainable, the podcast becomes much more than content. It becomes part of the business system.

5 Key Takeaways

1. A vague podcast will struggle to grow: Saying you want to “build awareness” or “grow an audience” sounds good, but it is too broad to guide a real strategy.
2. Your niche needs to be clear:  The right listener should hear your podcast description and instantly think, “This is for me.”
3. One measurable goal changes everything: A strong business podcast needs one clear outcome, such as discovery calls, new clients, speaking invitations, or qualified leads.
4. Consistency builds trust: A simple format you can keep producing is better than a big, polished format that burns out after a few episodes.
5. A podcast should be part of your business system: When the show has a clear purpose, every episode, guest, topic, and call to action becomes easier to plan.

Chapters

00:00 - Why most business podcasts fail
03:00 - The problem with vague podcast goals
06:00 - Element 1: Choosing a clear niche
10:00 - Element 2: Setting one measurable business goal
14:00 - Element 3: Building a format you can sustain

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Transcript

v2 of Ep 1

SPEAKER_00 0:48

You need a single measurable business goal for your podcast. Not build an audience, not increase brand awareness, not get my name out there. Those are not business goals. Those are hopes. And you can't build a strategy around a hope. 20 minutes total episode you can produce every single week is infinitely more valuable than an inconsistent masterpiece. Consistency beats quality.

Introduction to Smarter Podcasting

SPEAKER_00 1:20

There are over 4 million podcasts registered right now. 4 million? That's an insane number. But here's the thing most people don't know. Fewer than 500,000 of those podcasts published an episode in the last 90 days. So already the vast majority are dead. They launched, they did a few episodes, and then they stopped. And of the ones that are still going, a tiny fraction are actually generating business for their host. A tiny fraction. So the question is why? And the answer is not what most people think. It's not about talent, it's not about audio quality, and it's not about whether you've got the right microphone or the fanciest editing software. It's a structural problem, a design problem, and almost nobody's talking about it. Today, I'm going to give you the three things that separate business podcasts that actually work from business podcasts that don't. Three specific things, not vague advice, not be consistent and believe in yourself, actual structural elements that you can look at, evaluate, and fix. And at the end of this episode, I'm going to give you a self-assessment. Three questions. You answer them honestly and you'll know exactly where you stand. Whether you've already got a podcast or you're thinking about starting one, this episode is going to give you clarity. I'm Neil McKay. I've hosted over 700 episodes across multiple shows. I run 7 million bikes podcasts where we produce shows for business owners who want their podcast to actually do something for their business. And this is Smarter Podcasting. Let's get

Intro

SPEAKER_00 3:07

into it. Okay, so let's start with the uncomfortable truth. Most business podcasts fail. And not because the host isn't smart or knowledgeable or passionate about their topic, they fail because the show was never designed with a business outcome in mind. Here's what I mean. Someone decides to start a podcast, they're excited, they buy a mic, they record a few episodes, they put it out there, and their goal, if you ask them, is something like build an audience or get their name out there or establish thought leadership. And those sound like goals, but they're not. They're vibes, they're feelings, they're so vague that you can't actually measure them, which means you can't tell if it's working, which means you can't improve it, which means eventually you just stop. And the journey is almost always the same. I've seen it hundreds of times. Enthusiastic launch. Maybe you post about it on LinkedIn, tell your friends, feel really good about it, and then six weeks of consistent publishing, then the momentum starts to slow, you miss a week, then another, episodes become sporadic, and by month four, silence. The show's just sitting there gathering digital dust. The root cause is always the same. There's no clear answer to one very simple question. What should a listener do after listening? If you can't answer that in one sentence, your show has no direction. It's content for content's sake, and content for content's sake is a hobby. Which is fine, don't get me wrong, hobbies are great, but if you're trying to use a podcast to grow your business, a hobby approach will not get you there. And I say this with zero judgment, genuinely, because I made the exact same mistake when I started out. I started podcasting because I loved it. I still do. I love the conversations, I love the craft of it. I wasn't thinking about strategy, I wasn't thinking about funnels or listener journeys or conversion. I was just making a podcast. The strategy came later, and when it did, everything changed. The downloads got better, the inquiry started coming in, sponsors started coming in, clients started saying, I found you through your podcast, and that's when I realized the difference between a podcast that works for your business and one that doesn't isn't effort, it's design. So let me show you the design. Three elements, that's all it takes. Element number one, your niche needs to be specific enough to be useful. And I know everyone says, bind your niche. I say it as well. It's one of those pieces of advice that's been repeated so many times, it's basically become meaningless. So let me be really specific about what I mean. Here's the counterintuitive thing about niching down. Most people think that if they narrow their topic, they'll get a smaller audience. And technically, yes, the total number of people who could listen does get smaller. But the percentage of people who actually do listen, who subscribe, who come back every week, who eventually become clients, that goes way, way up. Because here's what happens when your topic is broad. Let's say you have a podcast about business growth. Okay? Business growth for who? A solo consultant? A SaaS founder? A real estate agent? A coach? Those are completely different people with completely different problems. And when someone lands on your show and the first episode is about hiring your first employee, and then the second one is about Instagram marketing, and then the third one is about funding rounds, they think this show isn't for me. Even if one of those episodes is for them, the signal is too noisy, and so they leave. Now contrast that with a podcast specifically about how consultants can use thought leadership to attract high-value clients. If you're a consultant and you hear that description, you know immediately this is for me. You subscribe, you listen to every episode because it feels like it was made for you. That's what a good niche does. It doesn't shrink your audience, it makes the right people feel like they finally found their show. So here's a practical framework. I want you to complete this sentence. Ready? Write this down if you need to, or type it. This podcast is for specific type of person who wants to specific outcome so they can specific result in their life or business. That's it. One sentence, and it has to be specific enough that the person you're describing would hear it and nod. They'd say, Yeah, that's me. That's exactly what I'm looking for. If your answer is professionals who want to grow their business, you're too broad, way too broad. That could be anyone. And when you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one. Trust me. I'll give you a real example. This show, Smarter Podcasting. Up until this episode, we used to appeal to everyone who was curious about podcasting. Hobbyists, professionals, people who were thinking about starting a podcast, people who'd been doing it for years. We colored everything from microphones to editing tips to podcast audits. We did it all. And look, it was fine, it was great. I loved it, people liked it. We got on some famous lists, it was amazing. But it wasn't for business. It was for people who were mostly hobbyists. And that might be you, and that's fine, but you're not gonna ever hire a production agency like us, like 7 Million Bikes Podcasts. We were giving out tips for free, and that's what everyone was getting. Tips for free. That was the whole relationship we had with people. We've now decided to narrow the show to specifically business owners who want to use podcasting for client acquisition and authority building. Everything has changed. So if you're a hobbyist, you may not want to listen to this anymore. I hope you do. And it's kind of scary to do this, but we're hoping that we're gonna be talking to business owners, the right business owners, and the conversations are gonna get even better, and that we're gonna get even more inquiries on how we can help you make the best podcast possible. This is what Smarter Podcasting was supposed to do. So that's element one, and this is a perfect example of how to do it and how you can pivot at any time. Create a niche specific enough that the right person hears your show description and immediately thinks that's for me. Element number two, you need a single measurable business goal for your podcast. Not build an audience, not increase brand awareness, not get my name out there. Those are not business goals, those are hopes, and you can't build a strategy around a hope. A business goal is something you can actually count, something where in 12 months you can look at a number and say, We hit it, or we didn't. Let me give you some examples. Generate five qualified discovery calls per month from people who mention the podcast. That's a business goal. You can track it, you can measure it, and every episode you make can be evaluated against it. Does this episode move us closer to that number or not? Or close two new consulting clients per quarter who found us through the show. That's a goal. You'll know if you're hitting it or not. Or get invited to speak at three industry events this year by people who listen to the podcast. Specific, measurable, tied to actual business outcomes. Here's why this matters so much for the actual making of the show. When you have a specific goal, every decision about the podcast becomes clearer. What topics do you cover? The ones that attract and educate the people most likely to become clients. What CTAs do you include? The ones that move people towards that goal. What guests do you invite? The ones who help you reach or speak to that target audience. Without a goal, every episode is just whatever you feel like talking about that week. And whatever you feel like is a terrible content strategy, it's random. Your listener can't build a habit around random. When we onboard a new client at 7 Million Bikes Podcast, the very first question I ask is always, what does success look like to you in 12 months? And I'm not asking about downloads. I'm not asking about listener numbers. I'm asking what actual business outcomes are you hoping this podcast will drive? And from that answer, we reverse engineer the entire show. The niche, the format, the episode topics, the CTAs, everything flows backwards from that one goal. For example, you may have a client that says, I want to be the go-to voice in my industry for supply chain sustainability. Perfect. From that, you can design a show that positions them as exactly that. Specific guests, specific topics, specific language. Within six months, I guarantee that they're going to be invited to speak at conferences by people who found them through the podcast. That's what a clear goal does. So if you're listening to this and thinking, I'm not sure what my podcast business goal is, that's okay. That's why you're here, but I need you to figure that out. Because until you do, everything else is just guesswork. Element number three, a format that's consistent enough to build trust. Now this one sounds simple and it kind of is, but I'm constantly amazed by how many podcasters get this so wrong. Here's the thing about trust trust is built through predictability. Your listener needs to know what they're getting every single time. Same kind of show, same kind of length, same kind of structure. Dropping on the same day. Think about the podcasts you listen to, the ones you actually come back to every single week. I'd bet that they're predictable. You know what you're getting, you know how long it's gonna be, and you know the vibe as well, and that's comforting. That's what makes you build it into your routine. When a podcast is inconsistent, when one episode is 20 minutes and the next is 90, when it drops on a Monday one week and then a Thursday the next, when sometimes it's a solo show and sometimes it's an interview with no pattern, the listener can't build a habit around it. And if they can't build a habit, they drift away. Not because they don't like you, just because life is busy and inconsistency is easy to forget. The format itself doesn't need to be elaborate. Solo episodes, guest interviews, a mix, panel discussions, whatever works for your topic in your style, but once you choose, you stick to it. You make it a contract with your listener. This is what you're going to get from me every week. You can count on it. And here's the really, really important part. A good podcast format is one you can sustain. Not one that sounds impressive on paper, one you can actually keep doing week after week, month after month for years. That's scary, but years. I've seen business owners launch with these enormous 90-minute deep dive conversation episodes, incredible production, three cameras, graphics, the works, and they burn out by week six. Because producing a 90-minute cinematic podcast episode when you're also running a business is just not sustainable for most people. You know what is sustainable? A 20-minute solo episode planned in advanced, recorded in one take, published on the same day every week. Now that's not glamorous, it's not sexy, but it works. 20 minute solo episode you can produce every single week is infinitely more valuable than an inconsistent masterpiece. Consistency beats quality. Especially at the start. Your quality will improve over time, don't get me wrong, I promise you that. But consistency is the thing that actually builds the audience and the trust that generates business. Don't sacrifice it for perfection. Okay, so those are the three elements. A niche specific enough to be useful, a single measurable business goal, and a format consistent enough to build trust. Now here's what I promised you all at the top. Your self-assessment. Three questions, answer them honestly. Not what you wish that answers well, what they actually are right now. Question one can you describe your podcast target listener in one sentence? And not a vague sentence, a specific one. Specific enough that if that person heard it, they'd nod and say, Yep, yep, that's me. That's exactly my situation. If you can't do that, your niche isn't clear enough yet. Question two, what single business outcome are you using this podcast to drive? Not three outcomes, not a bunch of things, one specific measurable outcome that you could check in 12 months and know whether you hit it. If you don't have that, your show doesn't have direction yet. And question three, could you maintain your current format and publishing consistency for the next two years without burning out? Two years. Not two months, two years. If the answer is no or even I'm not sure, then your format needs to change because a format that stops isn't a podcast, it's a false start. Now, if those three questions expose some gaps, don't stress, please, seriously. That is exactly why this show exists. That's why we're doing this. This is episode one of the new Smarter Podcasting. Now, over the next 11 episodes, we're gonna work through every layer of what makes a business podcast actually work. Content strategy, SEO, guest strategy, the conversion funnel, metrics that actually matter, production systems, the full roadmap. So follow Smarter Podcasting wherever you're listening from right now. Subscribe, hit follow, whatever the button says, because you don't want to miss the next one. We're going to talk about how to define your target listener, like really define them, the actual process we use with every single client. It's going to change how you think about your audience. And if you want to talk through your specific situation, if you want someone to look at where you are and help you figure out your next step, go to 7millionbikes.com and book a discovery call. It's free, it's just a conversation, and I'm always happy to chat. Thanks for listening. I'm Neil McKay, the podcast guy, and this has been Smarter Podcasting. Cheers.