100 100th Episode Special… Is It Worth Having Your Own Podcast?

This week’s episode is a big one… I’m celebrating 100 episodes of Beyond The Clinic 🎉 (which still feels slightly surreal to say out loud).

And to mark it, I wanted to answer one of the questions I get asked all the time — should you start a podcast for your business?

Because whilst podcasting can be one of the most powerful tools for building trust, authority, and sales… it’s also not something you want to add to your already full plate without a clear plan.

So in this episode, I’m sharing the honest truth behind what it really takes — from the questions you need to ask yourself before you start, to the mistakes I made early on (hello perfectionism 👀), and how to actually make a podcast sustainable alongside a busy clinic and life.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering whether a podcast could work for you… grab a cuppa, this one’s for you 🤍

What you’ll learn in this episode:

•  Why starting a podcast without a clear purpose can quickly become overwhelming 
•  The one question that matters more than “should I start a podcast?” 
•  How a podcast can support your business growth (beyond just visibility) 
•  What it really takes to stay consistent week after week 
•  The perfectionism trap that nearly made me quit (and how I fixed it) 
•  Why podcasting builds deeper trust than social media alone 
•  How to know if you’re ready to share your voice and clinical thinking out loud 
•  The importance of defining your ideal listener (and how it impacts growth) 
•  The simple tech you actually need (and what you don’t) 
•  How to repurpose your podcast into blogs, emails, and social content 
•  What makes a podcast sustainable long-term (especially alongside clinic work)

Lets keep in touch!

Website:  https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

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Discover the 22 steps you need to take (in the right order) to build a successful business so you can earn enough to live the freedom lifestyle you dream of. https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan 

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Transcript

Today is a big day. This is officially my 100th episode of the Beyond the Clinic podcast. And that really does feel like a huge milestone for me because when I started this podcast, I didn't really know what I was doing or actually if anyone would even listen. And somehow here we are 100 episodes later. We have covered so much in the last 99 episodes from

shifting NHS habits and building confidence showing up online to the practical business strategies that you need to attract clients and build a profitable private practice. We've also had some incredible guest experts join us along the way and I want to say a huge thank you to every single one of you for all the amazing expertise that you've shared with us. Now today

I want to make this episode a little bit different for our

100th episode special. People ask me all the time whether they should start a podcast too. So today I want to break that down properly and share with you my honest advice based on 99 and soon to be a hundred episodes of experience. Now, I'm not just going to tell you go and start a podcast tomorrow. It is amazing because

you've really got to make sure it's the right fit for you and your business. Starting a podcast without a clear purpose is one of the quickest ways to add something draining to your already full plate. So in this episode, I'm going to give you some really important questions to ask yourself. And these questions are going to help you figure out if you are ready to start a podcast. And I'm also going to share a few little golden nuggets and some things that I wish I'd known sooner.

including the setup you actually need and what you definitely don't need,

as well as how to make it sustainable alongside a busy business. So even if you've never really considered starting a podcast before, or you're not sure, you're not confident enough, or it just feels like something you might think about in the future, it's still well worth giving this one a listen, because at the end of this episode, you'll have some real clarity on what it actually takes. And that's a lot of what most people get wrong. And whether it's something

that could actually genuinely support your business. Let's get into it, shall we?

So when people ask me, should I start a podcast? My answer is nearly always the same. It depends on why you want to. Which leads me to the very first question to ask yourself if you're considering doing this. And that question is, what purpose would a podcast have in your business? Most people start thinking about podcasts because they've heard it's good for authority or because a business coach might've told them that they needed one.

or because they love listening to other people's podcasts themselves. And none of these are bad reasons, but actually they're not really good enough reasons on their own. What you really need to think about is how a podcast would actually support your business's growth. It needs to have a clear job. I'll be honest, when I first started my podcast, my thinking was quite different to what it is now.

At the beginning, my main focus was on visibility. I wanted it to help with brand awareness and growing my audience. But over time, that's evolved. Now it plays a much more intentional role in my business. It's not just about visibility anymore. It's become far more strategic. So for instance, the topics that I choose often link directly to what I'm going to be promoting at the time.

which means the podcast isn't just content for content sake, it's supporting specific offers and conversations in my business. So my podcast, yes, it still does help me with my visibility, but it also contributes directly to the sales in my business. So the real question isn't, should I start a podcast? It's what job would this actually do in my business? And is that a job?

I want to do right now. Is it a visibility play? Is it a nurture tool? Is it a way of supporting inquiries and sales coming into your business? Or is it a combination of all three? And this is something I always come back to in my work. You start with the intention first and then you build your strategy around that.

Okay, now let's move on to what I think the most important question.

to be asking yourself when you're thinking about starting your own podcast. And that question is, can I sustain this? Because it's really easy to get excited about the idea of a podcast and to start thinking about topics you could cover. But you also need to think about what it actually takes to keep it going week after week after week. Now, recording is the easy part. What actually takes time is the pre and post production.

So things like scripting your podcasts, the editing, and by the way, you can hire someone to do this for you, but it isn't usually cheap. Things like getting your SEO keywords in there. And of course then promoting the episode to help get more listeners. And all of this requires time. So for me, it's been well worth it,

But I want to be honest with you so you can see the full picture, not just the exciting parts, but what it actually involves behind the scenes before you decide whether it's something you want to commit to. OK, I'm going to be honest. Even though I'm now able to create episodes relatively quickly, there was a time when I really struggled to keep up with a episode every single week.

It was actually around October, 2024. I've been podcasting every single week for about six months at that point. And in all of that time, I'd only missed one episode and that was the week my daughter was rushed into hospital. But I got to a point where I was just exhausted and looking back now, I know why that was.

It was major perfectionism getting in the way. I was spending hours writing the scripts and making sure it flowed well. Then I'd record the episode and more often than not, I'd listen back and decide, it wasn't quite right. So I'd rerecord it again, sometimes more than once.

And then I'd go into the editing and spend so long making sure it sounded as polished as possible. Everything took longer than it needed to. The moment I knew something had to change was when I caught myself dreading recording day. And if you know me at all, you'll know that that is not me. I love this podcast. I love talking to you. So the fact that it had got to that point was a sign that I really couldn't ignore.

A podcast can be one of the most rewarding things that you build in your business. It can be your best marketing channel. It can build the kind of trust with an audience that no Instagram post ever will. But it can also become something that drains you if you don't build it in a sustainable way from the very start. So how can you actually do that? How can you have a podcast for your business and not let it consume too much of your time?

Well, for me, it was a lot around learning to do things smarter rather than harder. So for instance, trusting myself to speak from an outline instead of writing a full-on script and also building a repurposing system around the episode so that one piece of content could do the work of several. We'll go into more of how you can do that in a bit, but the one thing I wish someone had told me before I started this,

Decide upfront how you're going to make this sustainable before you even start.

Okay, now let's move into the third question that I want you to ask yourself if you're thinking of starting a podcast. Are you ready to share your clinical thinking in depth and out loud? Because podcasting is very different from a lot of other forms of content. It's not a social media post. It's not an email. It's not a blog that you can carefully refine every word of until it feels perfectly safe. Podcasting is deeply personal. It's your voice.

It's your opinions. It's your reasoning said out loud. And you're often going much deeper into your interpretation and your clinical judgment. For a lot of health professionals, especially those who've spent years in a system that rewards caution, that can feel quite exposing. Which is often why fears show up. Fears of someone dissecting your words or fears of people not fully agreeing with your approach.

But it's often those episodes where you share your unfiltered thinking, your real opinions, your unique approach that makes you stand out. That's what people connect to. And actually it's what makes you memorable. So are you confident sharing your clinical thinking out loud? Because if the answer is yes, then podcasting will be a really powerful space for you. And if the answer is no, or you're not quite sure yet, that's completely okay too.

It doesn't mean that podcasting isn't for you. It just means that you're still building that confidence. And the good news is podcasting actually really helps with all of that because the more you practice talking out loud about your opinions on topics in your niche, explaining your reasoning, sharing your judgment, the more and more confident you'll become doing this.

Okay, the fourth and final question to ask yourself when considering launching a podcast is, do I know exactly who this podcast is for? this is one of the most important parts of a podcast strategy. One of the biggest mistakes I see people doing is defining their audience too broadly. You need to build it around one specific ideal listener and every single episode needs to be created with that person in mind.

Now this is important for two reasons. Firstly, because if you want people to actually connect with what you're talking about in your episodes, they need to feel like you're speaking directly to them. And secondly, because it allows you to create content that's specific, relevant, and actually being searched for. The podcast audio itself won't show up in Google. It won't automatically generate discoverability. But if you're repurposing your episodes into blog posts, which we'll come to in a bit,

That content can rank in search engine results.

And when it does, it works best when your episode is built around something that your ideal client is already searching for. Because vague topics create vague content, but specific topics? Well, that's what gets found. It gets clicked and it actually brings the right people into your world.

Okay, the last thing I want to cover is the tech side of things, because it's likely that you're wondering, well, what tech do I actually need to start a podcast? And by the way, this is where a lot of people overcomplicate it before they've even started. You really don't need as much as you think. You don't need to hire a professional studio. You don't need lots of expensive equipment and you definitely don't need a big audience before you start. What you do need is actually pretty simple. You need.

decent microphone.

⁓ Yeti mic which works really well. It's probably about a hundred quid so not a huge amount of money. You'll need a webcam if you're recording video too. I've just been using the built-in one on my Mac and it's been absolutely fine for the last almost two years but I will probably upgrade to a 4k webcam at some point but it's not something that's held me back at all.

Then you'll need a hosting platform. I use Buzzsprout, which essentially distributes your podcast to all the different platforms like Spotify and Apple podcasts. And I also use it alongside YouTube. Now for recording and editing, you can keep it really simple. You could use Zoom and something like iMovie if you wanted to. Personally, I pay...

to use a program called Riverside, which is designed specifically for podcasting. It's a virtual studio. And for me, it's been really worth the investment. And you know what? That's literally all the tech you need.

When I first started, I actually worked with a professional podcast producer, mainly because this was completely new to me and I didn't really know what I was doing. And then over time, I decided I wanted to learn the process myself and properly understand what goes into creating each episode. And now more recently, I've handed off a lot of that to my VA to support with the editing and the assets to save me more time. So how I've done things.

totally has evolved. And actually that's the point. You do not need to have everything figured out from day one. You don't need the perfect setup or the perfect system. You can start where you are and you can build from there just like I did.

But beyond the tech, there are a couple of things that I would really recommend. So the first is having a clear structure for your episodes. It doesn't mean you have to script every single word, but it does mean you need to have a simple framework that you can rely on. So for example, think about how you open your episodes, how you'll guide someone through the content, and then how you'll close it. I always think about this as opening the loop and then closing the loop.

So giving people a clear reason to keep listening at the start and then making sure you actually deliver that by the end. And I also use a writing framework when I'm planning episodes, which just helps keep things focused and valuable for the listener.

do go and Google writing framework so you can use these as well. Now, the next thing I'd recommend, and this is quite a big one, is making sure that you're actually repurposing the content. If you're not repurposing the content from your episodes, it is such a missed opportunity. One podcast episode can and actually should become multiple pieces of content. It could become your email for the week.

It could become several social media posts. It could become a blog post. It could even become short form video content if you're recording it. I repurpose each episode into blogs, emails, social media content, which means that one piece of content is doing the work of many. It's helped me become far more efficient with my time because instead of constantly trying to come up with new ideas from scratch,

Everything flows from one core episode. And this is how you make podcasting work with your business. Not as something that adds more to your plate, because instead of constantly trying to come up with new ideas, everything just flows from that one core piece of content. And that's where the real value of a podcast comes from.

Okay, so let's bring it all back to that big question you came to this episode with. Should you start a podcast? Well, my advice would be if you can say yes to the questions we've covered today, then absolutely. So before you go and buy that shiny new microphone, I want you to write down the answers to just three questions. How does a podcast connect to my business and what I offer?

Who is this podcast for specifically? And can I actually make it sustainable? If you can answer those three questions clearly, you're in a really strong place to start planning your podcast. If you can't yet, that's not a bad thing. It just means that that's your starting point.

So whether you're feeling ready to start your podcast or whether you're still figuring out the answers to those questions, hopefully this episode has given you a little bit more clarity on where you stand and a reminder that you don't need to be perfect, but you do need to be willing to learn as you go. If you've got any specific questions about building a podcast, feel free to send me a message over on Instagram.

You can find all the links you need in the show notes.

Now join me next time where we're going behind the scenes of my business in a bit more detail. We spent a month, we called it growth month, really focusing on growing our Instagram following, trying all sorts of tricks and tactics that the big gurus say we should be doing. And the outcome wasn't as we expected. Join me next week and you'll learn all about it.

Bye for now.