How To Find and Hire a B2B Podcast Host

Once you make the decision to start a B2B podcast, one of the first and most important tasks you will be faced with is deciding on a host for your show. Your podcast host will be the voice of your podcast. Take time and do your research. You need to know that you've got the right host.

This article examines everything involved in securing the best host for your B2B podcast. It includes information about the types of hosts you can use, best practices when it comes to a host search and how to negotiate with a new host during the onboarding process. 

Internal Hosts

The first type of host for business podcasts are internal hosts — people already employed by your company. If there is someone at your company with the charisma and personality to host your show, that's great, you've already found a host. In addition to being a subject-matter expert and a good conversationalist, the ideal candidate will have a strong social media presence and enough time to record podcast episodes on a regular basis. 

However, we have found that the ideal situation if you do go the internal route, is to have two rotating hosts. The reason is simple. Sometimes people move on. Sometimes they take parental leave or they just get so overwhelmed with other aspects of their jobs that the podcast hosting work gets moved to the back burner.  

As podcast producers, we have come across many situations like these. If the host is unable to continue with the show for some reason, it's a lot of work to find a new host and keep the podcast production on schedule. 

In reality, what often happens is the project grinds to a halt. This is never good if you want a successful podcast. It can often take weeks or even months to find a new host. It can be easy to lose the audience that you've worked so hard to build. This can be tough to recover from. 

If you can start with at least two rotating hosts from the beginning, you can avoid that kind of situation. A common way for companies to introduce their show is to do a short trailer episode that gets you listed in the directories. With multiple hosts, you don't need to have guests for that first episode. The two (or more) hosts can have a conversation about what the show is going to be about.

After the trailer, most companies will rotate hosts in some capacity. It doesn't have to be a 50/50 split, but both hosts should contribute even if it's only occasionally. Having that experienced second host is good news if one of the hosts has to leave. While the search proceeds for a replacement host, the remaining host can continue recording new episodes to keep the release schedule on track. 

An exception to the multiple-host rule is when a founder or CEO takes full ownership of the show, including being the host. This is one of the most popular podcast formats for small and medium-sized businesses, and it's a great way to promote a thought leader in your industry.

But, beware. Once again, life happens and it's always good to have a backup plan. When they start the show, they may be very enthusiastic, but founders and CEOs are busy people. There may be situations when they can't do the show for long periods of time, throwing the entire process into disarray. 

So the founder or CEO can certainly be the real star of the show, but it’s always a good idea to have a backup in place ready to fill in when the regular host is unable to record. Remember, being a founder or CEO is already a full-time job. While a good B2B podcast production company can take care of most of the work such as podcast editing, audio engineer edits of audio files, graphic design creation of quote blocks and audiograms, and whatever unique needs your producer identifies, the hosts still have to record a new episode on a regular basis and if you want a great show you can’t lose the momentum.

External Hosts

Another option, generally used by larger companies, is to hire an external host. The reason it’s mainly larger companies that use external hosts is due to the associated costs. 

There are two host types to consider when looking to hire an external host. We'll take a closer look at both.

The Industry Celebrity or SME

The first type of external host to consider is the industry celebrity who is usually a subject matter expert. This person may be a big blogger, author, YouTuber or even famous on TikTok. Another place to look for this type of host is other podcasts that target your industry. Unless they have some kind of exclusivity agreement with another show, many of those hosts are willing, and able, to take on another podcast. 

This type of host will be an active part of the conversation and will bring in their own experience and expertise. If they have celebrity status in the industry, they will more than likely have the conversational skills to get the kind of deep niche information out of guests that your podcast listeners are looking for. 

The Professional Speaker

The second kind of external podcast host is the professional speaker or professional host. These people often have a media background and are comfortable talking to people on any subject.

The professional speaker or host will act more as a facilitator. It will be the kind of person who can ask the right questions to extract good information from the guests, as opposed to the SME who dives in with the guest as an industry insider. 

At Content Allies, we've run into situations, usually with a large brand, where the company has preferred this method. They will often have their own people on as guests. The way they look at it, they already have great industry experts on staff and they want the charismatic, professional facilitator to get that deep industry knowledge out of them. This approach can turn a good podcast into a great one. 

I've personally hosted podcasts for very recognizable brands. I was not an SME in their business, but with some homework and a deep knowledge of podcasting, I was able to successfully facilitate conversations on all kinds of topics. 

Compensation

As already mentioned, hiring an external host is more often done by large enterprise companies and many times it comes down to the cost. Rates for a professional host will vary. In our experience, you will need to budget between $500 to $2,000 per episode for an external host. 

There are people who will do it for less than $500 and there are certainly people who will charge more than $2,000, sometimes way more, but that is the range for the majority of professional hosts. 

Unlike internal hosts, you don't necessarily need a rotating system. However, we recommend that you do have at least one other host. Since the hosting of the show is a business transaction, it’s a pretty straightforward process to hire more than one host and rotate them.

If you hire a celebrity in your industry, you might want to use their name as part of the name of the show. That doesn't mean that hiring a second host is not necessary. It depends on the situation. Keeping a second host on standby to record episodes when the regular host is unable to record will keep the production flowing. 

A question we get asked a lot when setting up a new B2B podcast is, "Shouldn't we have the same host every time so the listeners will have a familiar voice they can count on?" The answer is no. 

We have found that in B2B podcasting, the subject matter is what people are tuning in to hear, not the host. Even if you're including the host's name in the title of the podcast, there is nothing wrong with having a guest host on standby to record the occasional episode. Your show isn't This American Life or Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, it is a show about your particular industry that is targeting people who are interested in what you do.

Finding a Professional Host

As I said, the minimum time frame for finding the right external podcast host is one to two months. It can be time-consuming. In nearly all cases, clients at Content Allies have relied on us to help perform that search for them and to identify a pool of candidates, narrowing it down to a few finalists.

One of the biggest challenges of finding the right external host is that there is no central marketplace where you can find the talent needed for hosting a B2B podcast. So a ton of research has to be done on the front end before the search can begin. 

We start by looking at industry experts experienced at podcasting, or they might be industry speakers or bloggers, or someone involved in a trade organization. We usually identify 15 - 20 potential candidates before we start our outreach.

That number may sound high, but we've found it to be necessary. A certain number of people will say no and there will always be people who simply don't respond.

Once the email outreach is complete, we narrow the field of people who said yes down to four or five candidates. Then, after at least one round of interviews, we narrow it down to two or three candidates to talk to the client. At that point, we'll decide on the one or two hosts we want for the show. 

Onboarding Your Host

Once you've identified your hosts and agreed on compensation, you'll need to onboard the host before launching the podcast. What we'll do is put together a contract for the host to sign as an independent contractor. 

If you're doing this on your own, without the help of a B2B podcast production agency, one step you don't want to overlook is including a name, image and likeness release for your show. Your host may become famous, or for any number of other reasons, they may decide to send a cease and desist order demanding that you take down all the episodes they appeared on. A release will ensure that never happens.

Then you’ll go through prep calls to work with them on hosting episodes, determining the conversational style, finding open times on their schedule and just generally getting them ready to host your show.

No matter how much experience someone may have, we have found that they always need a little hand-holding and guidance, at least through the launch and the first few episodes. 

If you want help with your search or you want me to host your B2B podcast, click on Work With Jake at the top of the page.