It is astonishing how quickly the field of work is evolving and how a myriad of new ways and routes to launch businesses and careers keep appearing. One of the newer, but quickly growing, fields is podcasting. Ever digging deeper into understanding how to use business as a force for good, I was eager to explore if and how podcasting could serve as a tool for change. The business model, after all, requires little to no waste and is one of the easier (albeit time-consuming) businesses to set up as compared to a tech startup or retail store, for example.
To learn more about the industry and the potential impact, I turned to expert podcaster Katie Dalebout. Dalebout has been podcasting for longer than most people even knew to listen to podcasts— her podcast, Let It Out (formerly the Wellness Wonderland) has been on air weekly for more than five years. Her experience as a podcaster has allowed her to write a book, interview hundreds of guests, and even launch a new online workshop to help others launch podcasts of their own— Let [a Podcast] Out, which takes participants through the process from start to finish of launching and growing a podcast.
Dalebout shared with me her experience starting and operating a podcast, the impact it makes, the business model, and how it leaves an imprint on her and her listeners.
Podcasting as community building
It may seem counterintuitive that a podcast, which we often listen to alone in our cars or on the subway, could connect us to others. But that was Dalebout’s real inspiration for starting her podcast— to connect to both her guests and listeners. “I started my podcast as a way to get to meet people I admired and have an hour of their time where I got to ask them anything I was curious about. I wanted to build a community and feel a part of something and podcasting allowed that for me,” Dalebout explained to me. Many podcasts, including Dalebout’s, have a private Facebook community, a place where listeners can go to connect and learn from each other as well as the podcast host. Dalebout has spoken on panels and given lectures, all from the platform she has built with her podcast, which allows her to “elevate people and ideas that have positively impacted” her, sharing what she is inspired by with others, spreading the work of the entrepreneurs and creatives that she features.
Podcasting as a tool for impact
As with any business, I am most curious about how podcasting allows for social impact— at a personal, communal, and global level. Most of that depends, of course, on the content of the show or episode itself. Since much of Dalebout’s show is about wellness, mindful living, and creativity, it impacts the listeners on many levels and topics. “The show has impacted people’s mental health, physical health, behavior, career, self-worth, body image, financial well being, and more, depending on which episodes they listened to. The list could go on but above all what I hear over and over again from people is that the podcast makes them feel less alone. They can see some of themselves and relate on some level to the raw vulnerability of me or my guests,” Dalebout shared.
Of course, some episodes of Dalebout’s podcast, as well as others, are more actionable— here are exercises to try, mindfulness practices, business skills, or sustainability tips. These can directly impact the listener’s behaviors and beliefs. Some of the changes are more subtle, influencing listeners' approach to a topic or helping them to change habits over time, or even be a conversation starter, spreading the knowledge to others. “Podcasts impact our lives because they became such an interregnal part of our individual lives that the information or content we learn inevitably bleeds into our conversations and relationships with others. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said, ‘I heard (insert fact/topic) on a podcast’ or someone has said that to me,” said Dalebout. The applications and opportunities are seemingly endless— Dalebout also speculates the opportunities for academic learning via podcast, for example. Podcasting amplifies important conversations, giving them a global stage, access to all, and therefore the opportunity to wide-scale impact on every possible domain.
Podcasting as a business model
While it might take time to build up an audience big enough for sponsors, it certainly serves as a business model. Since it’s a relatively new field, advertisers are still figuring out how to work best with podcasts, recognizing that the often-niche content of the programs can allow for hyper-targeted (and therefore successful) advertising. Dalebout has about a dozen sponsors, and curating them is an important aspect of her work— ensuring value for both the brand and her listeners. “The intimacy of podcasting doesn’t allow for faking it in terms of how a host feels about their sponsors—which I think is a real value to brands. I get feedback all the time from my listeners that not only do they tolerate the ads on my show, they actually like them because they’re a way for me to curate products and services for them.” For the podcaster, this revenue allows the podcast to not only sustain itself but, in many cases, serve as a significant source of personal income. And, as mentioned, podcasting can serve as a platform for other revenue streams— such as Dalebout’s online course and book.
As for Dalebout, her podcast journey is only beginning— she is currently transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship to pursue growing her podcast as well as the Let [a Podcast] Out workshop, which is currently accepting participants for the first cohort. She didn’t expect to have a booming business when she started her podcast from her bedroom more than five years ago and is looking forward to seeing where else the platform she has built takes her next.
