A new Amazon podcast for small business owners

Are you into podcasts? Like listening to them for a bit of inspiration? Last month saw the launch of Amazon’s latest venture – a brand new podcast aimed at small business owners.

Say hello to This is Small Business

This is Small Business is Amazon’s brand new podcast, putting the focus on small business owners around the USA. Every two weeks, they chat with industry experts and small business owners all about their journey. They talk about pivotal moments, how they started, built and scaled their businesses, and about challenges faced along the way.

Over half of the products sold on Amazon come from small and medium-sized businesses. Host, Andrea Marquez, wanted to put the focus on them instead of big businesses for a change. We all have to start somewhere. This podcast hopes to inspire other entrepreneurs and provide a platform that other business owners can relate to.

Keri Cusick, director of Amazon’s Small Business Empowerment team, said, “we’re excited to launch This Is Small Business as a new way to offer entrepreneurs inspiration, education, and connection.” Podcasts are an easy and accessible source to learn from and enjoy. You can listen while you work, out on a walk, or driving to the office. Each episode is about half an hour – perfect for slotting into your day.

The Brand Monkey verdict

Despite being pretty heavily edited with unnecessary background music, to the point where a lot of it sounds like an advert, there are good ideas and interesting stories in there.

Marquez interviews both business owners and industry experts, with live interviews interrupted occasionally by her voiceover. The natural back and forth that happens in the interviews feels organic and honest, whilst the interruptions tend to break the flow and feel a little forced.

Saying that, the content and stories in the interviews definitely make it worth a listen and it definitely improves each episode. In particular, Episode 4 with Cora and Stefan Miller, founders of Young King Hair Care, and Episode 2 with Eva Jane Bunkley, founder of The Makeup Bullet, and PR expert, Chelsea Whittington, has some great takeaways. For example, Chelsea says at one point that, “People support people. When they hear your story and passion…they’re more likely to support you”. We did a blog post recently about the importance of your brand story. Stories are inspirational and motivating – don’t hide it.

Perhaps they’re trying to follow in the ever popular footsteps of Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast. What works for Bartlett is the raw honesty behind it. It contains details that wouldn’t normally be shared in interviews and that’s what people want to hear about. We’re not sure This is Small Business is quite there yet, but it’s certainly going in the right direction. Either way, we’re excited to see where it goes.

The first season will feature 12 episodes, with new episodes dropping every two weeks. To listen, click here.