Podcast consumption is on the increase in France. Every week, no less than 5.8 million French people listen to these programs. The growth in the number of listeners is taking place at the expense of FM radio stations, which have already lost over 3 million listeners in 4 years.
How do you listen to these programs, which are increasingly popular with the French? What are the different applications available to listen to them? And who are the entrepreneurs who are embarking on the podcast adventure? These are the questions we're here to answer.
The advantage of podcasts is that they can be listened to anywhere, thanks to cell phones in particular. To do this, you need an application, and that's exactly what we'll be looking at in the next section.
To understand why you need an app, you need to know how podcasting works. You're probably familiar with the term streaming, which is characterized by a stream of data sent to a large number of listeners.
Podcasts are the exact opposite. To listen to a podcast, you need to subscribe to the desired podcast in order to access the multimedia files, which are also available for download. This is RSS feed technology. Here, the listener fetches the podcast content, rather than having it "pushed" to him or her, as in streaming.
So, when an individual or company records a podcast, they place the content on the servers of a hosting company. The host then provides the customer with the link to the RSS feed, which the host is then responsible for delivering to specialized podcast distribution platforms.
This means that each time a new recording is published on the server, it is automatically made available to distributors.
💡 That's why, to listen to a podcast, it's necessary to go through specialized platforms, which distribute them via hosts.
Podcast distributors are numerous. The main podcast-playing applications are :
- iTunes (Apple),
- Google,
- Spotify,
- iHeart,
- Juice (Windows).
To use them, all you have to do is go to their site and choose the theme for which you'd like to access podcasts. These include topics such as business and finance, political science, sports and comedy.
We need to distinguish between English and French speakers. We'll present five for each category, starting with English speakers.
1. The Tim Ferriss Show
In the Business category, The Tim Ferris Show is quite simply Apple's number 1 podcast. Being number 1 means having beaten more than 500,000 other podcasts. A tour de force that makes Tim Ferris a man to listen to.
The author of The 4-Hour Week takes an in-depth look at the techniques used by successful men and women. Whether they're chess players, business leaders or top athletes, Tim Ferris brings the tools of success within reach of all his listeners.
2. Contractors on Fire
John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, a podcast that attracts over a million listeners every month. In more than 2,000 episodes, he gives a voice to entrepreneurs who carry within them the sacred fire.
To stay motivated, inspired and on fire, Entrepreneurs on Fire is the podcast to listen to to stay focused on your goals. Able to conduct his interviews to perfection, this former U.S. Army captain is the one to turn to when your spirits are low.
3. Smart Passive Income
This is the podcast for digital entrepreneurs. Those who dream of passive income, but still struggle to know how to go about it. From renowned Youtubers to entrepreneurs who've made their fortune in e-commerce, this podcast reveals the strategies to follow.
Rich in the stories of these digital entrepreneurs, from their setbacks to their successes, Smart Passive Income knows how to unlock the secrets of these genius entrepreneurs. For inspiration and to follow in their footsteps, this is the podcast to listen to.
4. Startup Stories - Mixergy
This podcast, hosted by Andrew Warner, gives a voice to the small businesses you rarely, if ever, hear about. These are start-ups that have the wind in their sails, and that really know how to do business.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs looking for answers to the hundreds of questions they may have. From how to run your business from a war zone, to when a start-up should use a COO, Andrew Warner brings you all the answers.
5. How I Built This
Guy Raz is a journalist, and one of the greatest podcasters of all time. With his podcast "How I Built This", Guy Raz gives a voice to entrepreneurs who have built successful businesses.
What makes this podcast one of the best around is the journalist's ability to make real stories out of them. So, if you like to hear stories too, and especially true, inspiring stories, this podcast is for you.
6. The Do It Yourself generation
Hosted by Matthieu Stefani, this French podcast is aimed at those who have realized that to succeed, you have to go it alone. Through interviews with business leaders, Matthieu Stefani reviews their most bitter failures, but also their greatest successes.
Génération Do It Yourself is a podcast that reminds us that failure is an integral part of success. If you still doubt it, listen to a few episodes of one of the best podcasts on entrepreneurship in France.
7. Tech Off
The French-language counterpart to the famous American podcast How I Built This, Tech Off is led by another journalist: Guillaume Bregeras. A member of the editorial team at Les Echos, he uses his address book to interview the heads of France's best start-ups.
The intimate format of these interviews allows us to enter into the lives of these extraordinary business leaders. From the way they work to the way they approach business and company creation, Guillaume Bregeras and his guests take us deep into the bowels of French entrepreneurship.
8. Digital Doers
If you're looking for a French-language alternative to the Smart Passive Income podcast, Les Digital Doers is definitely the one to turn to. Focusing on e-commerce, this podcast traces the journeys of those who have exceeded all expectations in this type of business.
Whether you've decided to start dropshipping, open your own online business, or do business on Amazon, Les Digital Doers is a podcast full of good advice.
9. Growth Makers
It's another English name for a very French podcast. Growth Business focuses on the marketing aspects of growing your business. If LinkedIn doesn't mean much to you, if a 30% response rate to a cold-mailing campaign sounds like a myth, if going from 0 to 3,500 customers sounds like a myth, then this is the podcast for you.
Featuring some of the greatest French advertisers of all time, this podcast will open your eyes to some extraordinary marketing campaigns. Sales techniques, canvassing, advertising - everything is covered to help you become an expert in the field.
10. I can't, I have business
Hosted by Aline Bartoli, Je peux pas, j'ai business offers you the opportunity to learn how to get your business off the ground, and finally achieve financial independence. From the mindset you need to succeed, to the organization you need to ensure your success, Aline Bartoli takes you through it all.
