What’s keeping you from starting your own podcast? For many financial advisors, the resounding answer is “compliance!”

You might consider compliance to be “the business prevention department.” I used to feel that way. I can remember times when a client and I would come up with a great idea for a podcast only to get a lengthy delay for approval or, even worse, a big “NO” from compliance. 

What I’ve learned is that compliance is practically a non-issue if you know how to work within their rules. 

To help you learn the rules and clear away your compliance concerns, I’m answering advisors’ top questions about compliance and podcasting.

Let’s get to it…

 

Question #1: Before I record a podcast, do I have to submit a full script to compliance for their approval?

Answer: No, you don’t need to submit a script for approval. However, most compliance departments want to have an outline of what you will talk about before you record so they can guide you on which topics (if any) to avoid.

In your outline, include your main topic and then list your subtopics. A super organized outline is more likely to get your compliance’s stamp of approval quickly.

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Question #2: How do I archive a podcast?

Answer: If you use our done-for-you podcasting service, we will provide you with a transcript of each podcast episode for you to submit to compliance for archiving purposes. 

Giving compliance access to transcripts also gives them the ability to point out anything that they want to be edited out. Let’s say you slip up and say something compliance doesn’t like. They can then tell our editing team to edit out that section of the audio. If we can remove it and still make that part of the podcast sound smooth, we do it! If not, we find the best edit-point and take out even more — and compliance won’t complain about that!

 

Question #3: How do I get a podcast episode turned around quickly if I need to talk about something that’s timely?

Answer: Many of our clients podcast about current events or seasonal topics, like tax planning, Medicare, and new laws. If needed, our team can rush your podcast episode through editing and post-production so it can be released as soon as humanly possible. Hopefully, by this point, your compliance compartment has gotten into the flow of reviewing and approving your podcasts in a quick timeframe. 

Do keep in mind that podcasting isn’t a substitute for picking up the phone and updating your clients. For the most part, podcasting is for timeless, evergreen material. 

 

Question #4: How do I stop people from commenting on my podcast and potentially saying negative things about my company? 

Answer: Certain podcast channels, as well as YouTube, will allow you to turn off the commenting function. Since we have produced hundreds of podcasts, we know which players allow what level of listener interaction. We have the ability to turn off comments and ratings on different players for you.

 

There you have it — your answers to the top compliance and podcasting questions. I hope you feel encouraged to pick up that podcasting dream again and don’t let compliance-fears stop you!