This summer, I did a bunch of market research interviews. In the process, I uncovered some really useful data points (as one does when they do the research!) that I’m now using to shape my messaging.
One of the most interesting data points I uncovered was that a lot of business owners and consultants who have been running their businesses for a few years find themselves at the same crossroads with their content: should I write a book or start a podcast?
Obviously, BOTH AND is a great option here.
But if you’re running a business, doing both projects simultaneously is a recipe for mediocrity (or burnout), so you need to decide which project to start with (and yes, I do recommend thinking of each one as a project—that means looking ahead at all the other projects, including client projects, you have and deciding what 3 to 6-month slot this project fits into).
There’s no one size fits all answer here. There is a clear podcast-to-book pipeline and a clear book-to-podcast pipeline. Which path will grow your business faster depends on the type of business, what excites you the most, and your goals.
But where should YOU start?
In this article, I share some branches to add to your decision tree.
Write a book if…
1. You’re looking to grow your audience.
As a business owner, both a podcast and a book can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. So the first question is what do you need from your marketing?
The general answer is: “I need my marketing to bring in more high quality leads.” But this is not specific enough to be helpful. Like many marketers, I think of the marketing cycle in three phases: grow, engage, and promote.
Here’s a quick gut check to figure out which of these phases you want to focus on now:
- Is your biggest challenge that not enough people know about you and the solution you offer? Then you should focus on growth.
- Is your biggest challenge not that you need more people to know about you, but that you need to nurture the people you have so they recognize the solution you offer is for them? Then you should focus on engagement.
- Is your biggest challenge not that you need to grow or engage with your audience, but that you need to talk more about your offers, put on your lights, and publish more sales content? Then you should focus on promotion.
In the growth phase, where you are bringing new prospects and partners into your world, you need easy ways for people to discover you and share you with their network. Thinking in terms of know, like, and trust, this is the phase where you are working to get more people to know about you and think of you as the go-to expert in your area of expertise.
Is a book or a podcast more helpful at this phase?
While many argue that starting a podcast is a good way to grow your audience, I actually think a book is a better tool for discovery.
- Books have a longer shelf life than most podcasts and definitely any particular podcast episode. And while prospects can certainly discover you through your podcast, when they discover you in this way, they may only listen to one episode, since most business podcast episodes are created to stand alone. Whereas, if they buy your book, they’re more likely to read the whole thing (assuming it’s well written).
- A book introduces people to your POV and immerses them into your world quickly. Whereas it may take weeks for someone to listen to all of your podcast episodes after a season or two has been posted, a book can be consumed in a few hours. And while someone may start to get a sense of your POV by listening to a couple episodes of your podcast, unless you carefully engineer your podcast to be comprehensive, listeners still may not get the big picture.
- Books are more likely to lead to media coverage and speaking engagements. Writing a book gives you a level of credibility and authority that most podcast hosts do not enjoy. Sure, as a podcaster, you may meet other podcast hosts who may be willing to do a swap with you and help you get the word out. But the audiences you reach this way are likely to be smaller and less focused than media opportunities that come your way as an author.
- Amazon is a powerful search engine. Books are easier to search (both digitally and physically) than podcast shows and episodes. And your prospects are more likely to discover your book than your podcast via search.
- More mature buyers are likely to seek out a book than a podcast. How prospects discover you will tell you a lot about their level of maturity. More mature buyers—those who want to go deep with you and download everything you have to share with them—are more likely to seek out a book. If you prefer to work with less mature buyers (and there’s nothing wrong with that!), then a podcast might be a better bet.
Tip: As soon as you come up with a book title, you’ll want to buy the URL for that title. This is the first step in using your book as a growth marketing tool. Now, I’m not suggesting that you rush this process, but once you have a book idea, it’s smart to start brainstorming (Google-able, memorable) book titles, so that once you create your book website, it will be as searchable as possible.
2. You’re ready to create a single piece of evergreen content to house your Big Idea.
There are two types of business books you may be considering. There is the thought leadership book, which contains status quo challenging thoughts about your industry, your work, or the broader context of your business. Think Adam Grant’s Think Again or Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead.
You may want to write a book like this because you want to change your industry, start a movement, or because you feel strongly about leaving a legacy.
But you may instead have in mind something more practical in terms of growing your business. Perhaps you’re a business consultant who has come up with a unique system for developing leaders in the healthcare industry. And you want to write a book about this system as a way to prepare your clients to work with you. This is what I call a topic-focused or technical book.
In either case, you may feel the pull to put that Big Idea down on paper as a resource that you can share with others. If this is how you’re feeling, then I recommend you start with a book. The podcast can come later.
3. You enjoy writing or would enjoy the process of pulling your ideas together into a book.
Perhaps the biggest consideration as to whether you should write a book or start a podcast is which process you would enjoy the most. Neither project is a good one if it can’t get off the ground because it feels like pulling teeth.
If you hate writing, but you love to talk about your ideas, then the podcast is the place to start. However, if you’ve been happily blogging for your business or you can’t wait to post on Substack, or writing time is your favorite time of the week, then you should start with the book.
Enthusiasm for the project is undoubtedly important. At the same time, remember, whenever you start a project in your business, you don’t have to go it alone. Inevitably there are parts of every project that feel less than fun.
Sure, you have to consider your budget, but there are always creative ways to find help that can take the pressure off of you having to do absolutely everything to get your book done or your podcast out there.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the process of writing a book or starting a podcast requires a different type of discipline. In one case, you need to validate your idea, create an outline, and stick to the discipline of writing your book for several months (I recommend 6 months or fewer). On the other hand, you need to think in shorter bursts and commit to a cadence for posting episodes. Though a season of a podcast may take up a particular theme (in fact, some of my favorite business podcasts follow this structure), it need not. You could have different themes for each episode. So podcasting lends itself to thinking in smaller chunks and dipping in and out of themes.
Now, let’s look at some reasons a podcast might be a better fit for you.
Start a podcast if…
1. You’re looking to nurture or engage with prospects who are already familiar with your work.
If you believe you have a solid strategy for bringing new prospects into your world (i.e., you have a plan for growing your email list, you’re meeting new people by borrowing others’ audiences, or networking is bringing plenty of new people your way), then you may be in need of marketing tool that will help you engage with your audience.
A podcast is a great way to nurture an already growing audience. Now that they know you, you can work on getting them to like and trust you by hearing your voice each week. Podcasts give you the opportunity to speak directly to your audience too. You can do Q&A episodes or even interview members of your audience to give them more of that personal feel.
Starting a podcast is also a great medium for testing out ideas with your audience. Because podcast episodes have a shorter shelf life, you can feel free to be a bit more experimental than you might if you were writing a book chapter, say, that will live on library shelves indefinitely.
And because testing your angle is also an essential part of writing a book, starting a podcast is a great step on the journey to writing a book. You can track which episodes resonate with your audience the most and find your way to your book idea.
2. You aren’t sure that you have one big idea or you’re not ready to create a single piece of evergreen content.
If your work touches on several different themes and you don’t like the idea of being known for ONE idea or you have several big ideas floating around in your head and you’re not sure which angle is the best for helping you meet your business goals, then a podcast can help you work that out.
Writing a book assumes that you are looking to be known for ONE big thing. But this doesn’t describe every business owner. Many people prefer dabbling in several ideas and curating ideas from other experts.
Not everyone is ready to upend their industry. And contrary to what the book nerds would have you believe, not everyone feels like they have a book in them.
If you know you don’t want to write a book, but you still feel like you want a home for all of your ideas—a repository where people can choose to get deeper into your world—then a podcast is a great option.
3. You enjoy the process of creating and editing audio or think that you would enjoy this process.
Again, the question of what you enjoy and what resonates with you should play a role in your decision making. Many business owners (including yours truly) enjoy guesting on others’ podcasts. This can rightly serve as a gateway to wanting to create your own podcast.
Or perhaps you’re a podcast fan and you have an idea for a podcast the likes of which you have never heard before. Identifying a gap in the market is always a smart way to get started on a new business project.
And given all of the different platforms for starting a podcast (Buzzsprout, Anchor, Podbean, YouTube, Substack, going live on your favorite social channel, Zoom, etc.), it’s easy to bring your podcast to life, even if you’re not the most tech savvy.
Whether you choose to start with a book or a podcast, you really can’t go wrong. These two projects definitely complement one another, and once you choose which one to start with, there’s always the option to come back to the other project in the future.
Figuring out which sequence works for you is a matter of refining your business growth strategy, picking a lane, and confidently heading in one direction (until you’re ready for the next project).
