Networking has always been a top way to attract high-paying clients, but podcasting is a new spin on the strategy.
Five years ago, Jodi Katz started her top-rated podcast, WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY™, as a way to network within her industry in a way that felt rightsized for her personality.
“I’ve always been someone who feels really at ease one-on-one with new people, but I freeze when in a group,” says Katz. “The bite-sized interview format of my show felt both safe and empowering to me as I explored a medium that was new to me.”
Katz has been a respected voice in the beauty and wellness industry for almost 20 years, 15 of them as founder and creative director of Base Beauty Creative Agency. She started her career in advertising at the legendary agency BBDO, followed by positions on the editorial side of Cosmopolitan and Glamour magazines.
“I saw the podcast as a way to dig deeper and learn more about my peers than I could by quickly asking about their kids or their last job while rushing into a meeting or during chitchat at industry cocktail parties,” says Katz. “The target is the intersection of professional desires and personal backstories. I don’t need to hear about product launches or upcoming marketing campaigns in this forum—there are plenty of other ways I stay current on all of that. I want to learn about my guests’ childhood dreams, their motivations and goals and how they feel about their journey so far.”
To ensure that the wisdom of her guests reaches a wider audience, Katz asked me for editing help in writing a book about facing the seduction of success, which will be published in 2022. I asked Katz to share some tips for getting more success out of a podcast:
- Listen to other shows in your genre. “My show is rooted in the beauty industry, and there are many podcasts devoted to beauty products, tips and tricks,” says Katz. “For my show to stand out, I needed a differentiating angle.”
- Don’t be rigid. “The beauty of this medium is that you can set your own guardrails,” says Katz. “In the early episodes, I recorded shows remotely, which made it easier for me to schedule guests. Then we moved to face-to-face interviews, which made for much richer content and a more fun listening experience for our fans. But once Covid started, we were back to recording remotely. To celebrate our fifth anniversary, we innovated the remote format with live streaming—each episode is now recorded via YouTube Live, so our fans can watch the show get made in real time. For our classic podcast listeners, the episodes are still available for download in their favorite podcast apps.”
- Think long term. “No matter your goal for a podcast, no success is reached overnight,” adds Katz. “Think of this as an ongoing part of your workload, something that over a long time has the possibility to create real impact. But five or ten episodes won’t get you there. Keep going, one step at a time, and momentum will come.”
- Recycle your podcast in many ways. “Be efficient with your time and resources by taking full advantage of your rich podcast content,” says Katz. “Post transcripts of your shows on your website to feed Google rich SEO, use pull quotes from the show to reach new listeners via social media, make partnerships with like-minded industry events to promote their efforts while giving visibility to your show. Be creative here to work smarter, not harder.”
Over 200 episodes later, the show’s role in her life goes way beyond networking.
“It’s both free therapy and free business coaching for me, guided by the talented and ambitious guests that are generous with their time and vulnerability,” says Katz.