I successfully avoided having a podcast for about 5 years after I started producing them for a living. I’m a behind the scenes person. And as much as I love the medium of podcasting for its flexibility, creative possibilities and efficiency, I never wanted to be A PODCASTER. I still don’t, to tell you the truth. It’s a functional activity for me, not a driving passion.*So, I call myself a reluctant podcaster. A podcast is the best way to achieve some specific goals that I have for my company, not a part of my identity. I suspect I’m in good company. If…•People are always telling you “You should have a podcast!” but it’s more work than you want to take on…•You look for shows in your space and see that viewpoints like yours are under-represented, but someone should be doing it…•Your audience/clients/community wants more of your time than you have to give…Then you could be a reluctant podcaster, too. It’s not that you don’t want to podcast, or don’t like podcasting! Just that it’s part of the job, not the reason to get out of bed in the morning.The trick to making it a pleasant and profitable part of your workweek is to be clear on the business goals the podcast is working towards, focus your energy on that, and ignore everything else.How exactly do you do that?1. Identify the highest-level business goal for your podcast. 2. Choose specific business outcomes you want and optimize your show to deliver on them. 3. Track metrics associated with those outcomes so you have unambiguous clarity about whether it’s working or wasting your time.When you do this you protect your investment, the majority of your time, and most of the hassle. And whether you’re wildly enthusiastic about podcasting, or more focused on practical outcomes, things you never expect can start to happen when you have a good strategy for a show. That was the experience a client of mine, Michelle, had recently when launching a new show with clear, specific goals around creating content for her existing audience at scale:“I'm so happy to let you know that I have been (surprisingly) absolutely flooded with messages from previous clients and connections with business asks, both speaking and direct client work, since the podcast launched.” We see it all the time. Business owners can get piles of value out of having a podcast without making being A PODCASTER part of their identity.Set Goals. Optimize. Track. Then all you have to do is talk.*My driving passion is spreadsheets. There, I said it. I’m not ashamed.