Zweig Group’s podcast has gone through several evolutions over the years – and it just had its biggest yet.
I can’t believe it’s been seven years since Zweig Group rolled out The Zweig Letter Podcast in 2015. I rejoined Zweig Group two years earlier, and I was trying to figure out a way to increase The Zweig Letter’s readership. I somehow managed to convince Mark Zweig and Chad Clinehens to create a podcast for the newsletter and as an extension of the Zweig Group brand.
Enter The Zweig Letter Podcast!
But, before we go any further, let me back up a minute and tell you how we got here.
Before returning to Zweig Group in 2013, I fell in love with the medium of podcasting way back in 2007. Some of you may remember those were the early days for podcasts. There weren’t nearly as many podcasts available to listen to and only a handful of podcast players.
Fast-forward to 2015, and we were looking for ways to increase the reach of what has been one of the longest-running newsletters in the AEC industry. By this time, I had produced several long-running podcasts and I was all-in on the effectiveness of storytelling via podcasts.
I figured, if nothing else, we could take the leading article from each issue of The Zweig Letter and either have Mark read it, or he and I could talk about it. We started with Mark reading some of his most popular articles, and then we also looked at The Zweig Letter’s back catalog for themes that were timeless and relevant to design professionals. We would batch record episodes and do four at a time in about an hour.
It was a lot of fun doing those early episodes, and the outtakes were hilarious. I think I still have some of those recordings somewhere.
Mark would do all of the article reading, which went great for a season. Then we decided to try some different formats. I suggested that we start interviewing The Zweig Letter’s guest writers, as well as featuring Zweig Group’s expert advisors, and we could still sprinkle in Mark from time to time.
That’s when the fun began.
Zweig Group has produced so many publications, and we have content for days, maybe years. It was apparent that because of our business model, best practices, and thought leadership in the AEC space, there was plenty for us to talk about, including strategic planning, HR, recruitment and retention, marketing, valuation, ownership transition, M&A, survey results, and on and on.
When we started the podcast, we published an episode every week for a couple of years and then found our current cadence with a bi-monthly show.
Today The Zweig Letter Podcast is more than just a branding tool for Zweig Group. It is a platform for elevating the AEC industry, one story at a time.
That’s one of the reasons we decided to do a rebrand of our logo and other associated materials for the podcast. You need to slap on a fresh coat of paint to turn something old new again.
So, if you used to be a listener of The Zweig Letter Podcast but stopped listening, or you’ve just been rotating out new shows, we encourage you to tune in again. Add us to your current podcast rotation and check out the direction we are headed. There is always a new and fresh topic for you to consider.
If you are new to the podcast or podcasting in general, now is your chance to dive headfirst into great content. You can find us on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible, Google, Amazon, etc.
Also, keep in mind that we are available on most smart speakers like Alexa. Just say, “Hey Alexa, play The Zweig Letter Podcast’s latest episode!“ and she will oblige you.
If you want to hear a topic that we haven’t addressed, we are all ears. This podcast can be as much yours as it is ours.
We’ll keep pressing “record.” You keep listening.
Randy Wilburn is host of The Zweig Letter Podcast and a training services advisor with Zweig Group. Contact him at rwilburn@zweiggroup.com.
