For most people, their exposure to the world of podcasting is simply through entertainment. That wasn’t enough for Elzie Flenard III. He has taken his love for podcasting and used it to create a full-service agency called Podcast Town.
Before starting Podcast Town, Flenard was a podcaster himself. His flagship show, Enterprise NOW!, features conversations with B2B founders, entrepreneurs and thought leaders. He began the show in 2016, growing it into a business as he continually sought feedback from guests.
“At the end of all of my podcast episodes, I got smart at some point and started to figure out that I could basically have several focus groups with these guests because they’re in the industry and seeing things I don’t see,” said Flenard. “Instead of guessing what the market needed, I just asked a question.”
After hearing from business leaders how difficult it is to create and promote content, he rebranded his company to Podcast Town and began offering a more extensive suite of services to B2B companies, including coaching, editing and marketing strategy. There’s also a full Podcast Town Academy.
Podcast Town does a deep dive with each client to determine what the end goal in creating a podcast is and how much time they can dedicate to the product. For most clients, the top goals in launching a podcast are to drive additional revenue and increase brand awareness.
“We try to go a bit deeper and really understand what actions we want to drive with the show, and we literally build the show around that,” said Flenard.
One of Podcast Town’s clients is a pair of coaches that hosts a show called Activity Coaching Conversations. Since working with Podcast Town, the duo has tripled attendance at their clinics and become known as experts in their field, according to Flenard.
“We really try to become a partner in their business,” he said.
While Podcast Town is currently headquartered in Wauwatosa, the company also has a larger Brookfield location that includes a training room, studio, control center and space for live events. Most training sessions take place in Brookfield.
Aside from a $1,500 cash prize from participating in Project Pitch It and a $10,000 grant through Milwaukee’s FOR-M incubator, Podcast Town has mostly been bootstrapped.
“I always tease that we built the business with no boots or any straps,” said Flenard.
His long-term vision for Podcast Town is to expand the more tech-focused aspects of the business and open more locations for the academy.
“The message I always try to drive home is the ability to create relationships, because that’s a language that businesspeople understand,” said Flenard.
Leadership: Elzie Flenard III
Address: 11220 W. Burleigh St., Wauwatosa
Website: podcasttown.net
What it does: Full-service podcast agency
Founded: 2019
