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Your business probably has a website, Twitter account and Facebook page, but does it need a podcast? Consumers enjoy podcasts because it gives them alternative and more convenient ways to consume content, says Deborah Shane, a Florida-based branding expert and podcast host.

She says that more professionals are using podcasts as a marketing tool to establish expertise and distinguish themselves from the competition. Shane's Metropolis Radio business podcast has featured more than 350 guests and has been downloaded 245,000 times in the last four years. The 15 to 30 minute segments consist of interviews with expert guests on topics such as branding, social media, and entrepreneurship. "Podcasting has opened up more doors than just about any platform I've used," Shane says. By inviting experts as guests on her show, she's networking, building credibility, and making professional connections.

But podcasting is a time commitment. Shane suggests waiting a month before you start promoting your podcast. Use that time to create visual branding for your site, think about the content you'll provide, the show's format, how frequently you'll record the podcast and which guests you'll invite on the show, etc.

Shane recommends using BlogTalkRadio, which offers a free, turnkey solution to record your show and link it to iTunes, Facebook and Twitter. Once a show is scheduled through BlogTalkRadio, the host and their guest(s) call a special number and are patched through to a "studio" dashboard that the host controls on his or her computer where he or she can take calls live or interview through the switchboard.

The show is recorded live and archived as a podcast, where it's made available on iTunes and can be shared on social networks or blogs. Editing is not available with the free version, but premium paid levels (which range from $39-$249 a month) allow users to edit their shows.

Here are six things to consider before starting a podcast:

1. Choose your format. Shane uses a late night talk show format and discusses talking points with her guests beforehand, but allows the conversation to evolve on the show. Another popular format is giving a tutorial or lecture on a topic relevant to your business that many people have questions about.

2. Record a podcast at least once a week. You want to listeners to know when to expect new content. While "live listeners" (people listening to the show as it airs) are great, Shane says the goal is to increase the number of downloads your podcast receives once it's posted.

3. Find guests with energy. Your guest may be brilliant in their field, but you want someone who's interesting and with whom you can have a good conversation. Shane suggests reaching out to experts in your field who have written a book or have a lot of Twitter followers, so they can promote their appearance on your show. The appearance is mutually beneficial, as they are gaining credibility as an expert, and you're building an audience and area of expertise.

"Great guests are actively marketing on their own social media platforms. They have energy, articulate well and know how to tell their story," Shane says. 

4. Practice. Do two or three practice shows to get the feel for podcasting. Shane recommends recording a few test shows and posting them on your site to become comfortable with the process before promoting the podcast. You can set the show as "test" or "private" when scheduling your podcast.

5. Promote your podcast consistently. Use your other social media platforms, blog, website, etc. to promote your podcast before, during, and after the show has been recorded. BlogTalkRadio allows you to post updates automatically to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

6. Get ideas from the competition. Visit podcast.com or iTunes to see how other businesses are using podcasts to promote themselves.

I am a big believer that marketing is a spectator sport. We can learn a lot from each other's brand activities in the marketplace. When it comes to brands that give us a lot to learn from lately, J.C. Penney offers some valuable lessons. It certainly has been a roller-coaster year for the retailer since Ron Johnson was appointed CEO at the end of 2011. Despite his efforts, Johnson’s superstar reputation as former head of Apple's retail stores didn't translate to success at J.C. Penney, where annual sales reportedly dropped 25 percent.

Johnson's departure this week marks a good time to step back and see what core marketing lessons we can learn from his tenure at J.C. Penney.

1. Know your core customer.
The first principle of marketing is to continually know your customer better than ever and better than your competition. J.C. Penney ultimately didn't seem to know what their customers wanted -- something that can stop a brand in its tracks. Johnson changed the retailer's pricing strategy from offering discount sales to "everyday low prices," a strategy that aims to offer customers low prices all the time so they don't have to wait for or expect merchandise to go on sale. While the strategy may have seemed smart on paper, the brand was not able to break their customers' penchant for "sales," signaling that perhaps they didn't fully understand how their customers shop.

Remember you can't simply trust your gut when it comes to issues like motivating purchase and changing pricing. They require a thorough analysis and a solid research plan.

Lesson learned: Make sure you know how your customer is going to react before you make a radical change in your brand by doing some form of market testing. Do your homework to prevent a problem later.

2. Don't expect customers to change their behavior easily.
Building awareness is one thing, altering perceptions is another, but creating behavioral change is at a whole other level. Changing deeply-seeded shopping behaviors and challenging the industry's status quo are nearly impossible, creating the hardest of all marketing challenges. For Johnson, creating a strict “no sales” policy along with introducing new product lines turned out to be too much for customers to handle in such a short amount of time.

Lesson learned: Know when you are biting off more than you can chew. Ask yourself the question: "Am I asking my customers to accept too much?" Keep it simple for customers and they will return the favor with loyalty.

3. When you've got a plan, stick to it.
Yes, moving to an "everyday low prices" model was a bold move. I had a lot of respect for the strategy. The problem is that J.C. Penney may have caved in too quickly at the first sign of weakness. If you are going to make a bold move, you need to stick with it long enough to see if it's actually going to work. You shouldn’t fold at the first sign of trouble and jump from one strategy to another.

Successful brands navigate through choppy waters and manage for the long haul. Or, in the worst case scenario, they modify their game-plan to an entirely new strategy and make a clean break. J.C. Penney eventually tried to straddle the fence by offering a mix of "sales" within a "no sales" campaign, which left consumers not knowing what to expect and as a result, not shopping.

Lesson learned: Stick to the plan and when you are ready to abandon ship, don't waffle -- jump entirely.