Start A Talk Show - Business Ideas

Pat Walls

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Updated: September 15th, 2022

Start A Talk Show

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

A talk show is a live or prerecorded broadcast where a host asks the guests questions, the most popular format being interview-based ones. Talk shows are usually syndicated for airing on radio and/or television stations.

Talk shows can also be described as podcasts, where listeners subscribe to certain podcast channels to get entertainment, news, and educational content.

Starting a talk show requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell talk show, or selling talk show online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size

$548B

starting costs

$5.89K

gross margin

65%

time to build

210 days

growth

Organic social media

business model

Subscriptions

time investment

Full time

Startup Costs

	Min Startup Costs	Max Startup Costs
Office Space Expenses	$0	$7,000
Training & Education Expenses	$0	$1,000
Software Expenses	$0	$594
Advertising & Marketing Costs	$0	$2,750
Website Costs	$13	$215
Specific Industry Expenses	$0	$100
Total Startup Costs	$13	$11,659

See all startup costs ➜

Successful Businesses

Business	URL	Rank
Fox News	foxnews.com	166
TED Talks	ted.com	1,125
BlogTalkRadio	blogtalkradio.com	18,005
UNewsTv	unewstv.com	25,557
Sean Hannity	hannity.com	31,066
Car Talk	cartalk.com	51,044
Talk To Me In Korean	talktomeinkorean.com	66,244
TalkStream Live	talkstreamlive.com	83,813
The Mark Levin Show	marklevinshow.com	85,054
Ellentube	ellentube.com	98,702
WABC Radio	wabcradio.com	112,317

See all businesses ➜

Pros & Cons

Pros	Description
Flexibility	You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.
Ability to start your business from home	It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!
Little startup costs required	The cost to start a talk show costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 12 to 11,659.
Rewarding work	Starting a talk show can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.
Scalable	With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.
Traffic to your website	A talk show gives people a reason to visit your website and to keep coming back to you!

See all pros ➜

Cons	Description
Crowded Space	Competition is high when it comes to your talk show, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
Constant maintenance of publication	You may find yourself constantly needing to update your talk show in order to stay relevant for your audience and for those searching on google.
Lack of benefits	With a talk show, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.
Isolation	Often times, as a talk show, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.
Taxes	As a talk show, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.
No safety net	Typically, as a talk show, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.

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Marketing Ideas

1

Affiliate Program

Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

Learn more about affiliate program ➜
2

Direct Sales

Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

Learn more about direct sales ➜
3

Word of mouth

Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

Learn more about word of mouth ➜

See all marketing ideas ➜

Key Stats

Startup Costs

Successful Businesses

166

1,125

18,005

25,557

31,066

51,044

66,244

83,813

85,054

98,702

112,317

Pros & Cons

Marketing Ideas

Affiliate Program

Direct Sales

Word of mouth