Casey Cheshire, founder, CEO & Podcast Architect at Ringmaster Conversational Marketing, a New Hampshire-based agency, is a fascinating guy with a true passion for podcasting. He’s spoken at many conferences, is an author, and runs the Hard Corps Marketing Show podcast, which offers “fun and mind blowing conversations with the smartest, most badass marketers out there.” Casey is also a US Marine Corps Veteran and active outdoorsman who recently joined the Crotched Mountain Ski Patrol.
I wanted to spend time conversing with Casey about podcasting, particularly for B2B. I was curious about what the catalyst was for him to take the jump into podcasting, and relate my own journey into it. We both agree on the fundamental precept that B2B podcasting is primarily an educational endeavor, where the host functions as connector, not the exponent of his/her own brand or service, making the podcast itself a “pitch-free” zone.
At the same time, however, it’s clear that podcast hosting can sometimes open the door with prospects that would otherwise remain closed. As Casey observes, “You can technically get your whale/dream client on a call with you. We’ll routinely do that with people, where they’re like ‘here’s 100 a companies that I’d freak out if they signed up with us. They don’t want to talk with us, they don’t want to get on a sales call.’ But we can get them on a podcast. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to trick them and try to pitch them a demo and take, take take. One of my favorite quotes from Dan Sullivan is ‘everyone’s competing to get your attention. But nobody’s competing to give you attention.’ So if you can become one of those people — giving attention — making it about the guest, not the host… then that really resonates with a lot of people.”
Casey and I agree that podcasting is about building insight-based relationships in whatever industry you happen to be in. As Casey observes, “there’s nothing quite like podcasting for reconnecting with your customer. And then you’re the voice of the customer. You can then tell other people what’s up; you know what their challenges are; you’re not just guessing.”
We discuss Casey’s experience with different kinds of podcast formats, for example, Zoom-based vs. face-to-face podcasts, and his advice for budding podcasters about whether they should go ahead and build full-fledged studios. And we touch upon how podcasting — which brings together two or more subject matter experts — can serve as a “content engine” that functions as a rich source of other content products, including shorts, reels, and SEO-friendly text content such as transcripts and summaries.
We also talk about the mutual brand-building function that a good B2B podcast can serve, how podcasters seeking budgetary support can better pitch podcast value, and how a good B2B interview can become the beneficiary of social media promotion from the interviewee’s social network. Along the way, I relate a humorous anecdote relating to my “almost” being interviewed by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer some years ago.
I admire Casey’s passion for podcasting and think this interview offers a lot of great, actionable info for podcasters — whether active or aspiring. Check it out below.