Hosting a Podcast Without Guests? Here Are 3 Tips to Get You Started

Years ago, the whole “talking to yourself” thing had a negative connotation. You were crazy, right?

But with the rise of social media and vlogs, the tides have turned: Creating content and having an online presence is the norm.

Financial advisors aren’t an exception to this rule, either. You need to have digital content to connect with prospects and engage your clients. And a great way to boost your engagement and show off your expertise is through the power of podcasting. 

You might think a podcast takes a huge team, a stellar lineup of guests, and the best equipment around. But in reality, you can start a podcast with just your phone, a trusty laptop and yourself!

Related: 10 Best Podcasts for Financial Advisors in 2023

A solo-hosted podcast is an opportunity to answer common questions from your prospects, challenge misconceptions around working with an advisor and even answer questions straight from your clients. 

To help you get started, we’ve put together this guide for hosting a solo podcast – let’s dive in. 

3 Tips for Hosting a Podcast Without Guests

Hosting without guests can feel intimidating. After all, there’s a lot of space to fill up in an average 38-minute episode. But with the right preparation and strategy, you can successfully establish your firm’s podcast in the market as a solo host. 

To help you get started, here are our top three tips for hosting alone and sans guests, including establishing a brand, planning ahead and distributing your content.

1. Establish your brand 

When you’re hosting a podcast with guests, they often guide your brand. For example, a podcast that interviews accountants each week probably revolves around, well, accounting. 

But when you’re going solo with your podcast, it’s completely on you to establish your brand. You get to choose what you talk about, how you talk about it, etc. 

Before you start buying recording equipment, it’s important to establish what you want your podcast’s brand to be. Here are a few questions to get you started:

🗣️What’s your voice? Are you informative or casual? 

🎯 Who are your target listeners and why are they tuning in?

🚀What goal(s) do you hope to accomplish with your podcast? 

🦔What’s your niche?

Most importantly, you’ll want to establish a running theme for your podcast. When it’s just you speaking, keeping a consistent voice that’s also relevant and interesting is tough. A theme to tie together your episodes can help you stay on track an episode (or ten) down the road. 

Once you’ve got a solid brand and theme, be sure to keep it consistent across all your podcast materials. Your show notes, logo – even podcast name – should align with your brand. 

2. Plan ahead with a script

A script can help you avoid going too off topic or worse, blanking on any thought that’s ever passed through your head. 

We’re not saying you should write down everything word for word and then read it back – that would come off boring and disingenuous. 

Instead, bullet out a few key topics and a few thoughts for each that you know you want to hit. Grab some statistics or studies to reference as you speak, too – this can add authority to your podcast and brand. Just be sure to properly cite your sources!

3. Focus on distribution

When you have guests on your podcast, you can usually count on them to share the news and spread it within their network. But as a solo host, it’s on you to get the word out. 

Before you begin recording your podcast, think about how you’ll distribute content. Will you create blogs to accompany your episodes? Will you share snippets on Twitter and LinkedIn? Where are your target listeners most likely to find your podcast?

Additionally, it’s a good idea to create accounts specifically for your podcast so it’s easily accessible to the masses. Then, share posts from those accounts on your firm’s main profiles. 

When you do post clips from your episodes, be sure to give a taste without giving away the whole meal – especially in video clips like TikToks. You want people to be interested in learning more, which will prompt them to listen to the whole episode. 

Consider a Co-host(s)

Hosting a podcast without guests doesn’t mean you have to go totally solo – you always have the option of adding a co-host!

Sometimes, adding a co-host can help fill in those awkward silences or even create a sounding board for your ideas. And your co-host doesn’t have to be a financial expert, either. 

Take the Retirement Readiness podcast, for example. This show is hosted by Tim Regan, the Founder and CEO of PrairieView Wealth Partners, and Katie Umland, Head of Marketing. While Tim is the SME on most of the financial-based topics, having Katie as co-host keeps the conversation flowing and gives a voice to listeners. Whenever Tims veers into financial jargon, Katie is there to ask for clarification. 

A co-host can also steer you away from the “tell me about yourself” format that often plagues guest-driven podcasts. 

If you’re ready to dive into your own solo-hosted podcast, these three tips will help you start off on the right foot. 

Perfect Your Content Strategy with Three Crowns

Our team can assist your firm with brand creation and content strategy to fuel your firm’s growth and introduce you to a podcasting partner to help with your ongoing production needs. Click here to connect with a member of our team and get started today.