Four years ago, my friend Kevin Hunt (General Mills) and I had a crazy idea: Why don’t we start a podcast focused on social media and communications?

Actually, not so crazy, right? The market is full of podcasts covering these topics. BUT, there are very few (any?) based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. And, there are very few (again, any?) hosted by someone on the big company side (Kevin at General Mills) and someone on the solo consultant side (me!).

Four years later, we just recorded our 100th episode! We’ve interviewed leaders from Walmart, Dell, Sleep Number and US Bank, among others, over the years. We’ve taken road trips to local universities and companies to interview communications professionals. And, most importantly, along the way, we’ve had a lot of fun doing it.

But, after four years of producing the show, we thought it was high time to act like a grown-up podcast. So, starting today, we’re offering sponsorship opportunities on the Talking Points Podcast. In fact, we already have our first sponsor (tune in to the January show for the big reveal!).

To be clear, we’re not expecting to make millions of dollars in sponsor income. Dax Shepherd we are not. But, as anyone who hosts a podcast will tell you, there are expenses. We’re just looking to cover those expenses and maybe make enough money to pay for the instances when we take the show on the road each year.

So, if you’re interested in sponsoring the show, send me a note at arik@arikhanson.com. We’re offering three sponsor levels–see below. All three offer you and your company an opportunity to have at least one guest on the show, so it’s not all about “reads”!

Here’s to four more years of Talking Points Podcasts!

Sponsor Level: Silver

Cost: $500/year

Included in your sponsorship:

• One live show host read during each of our 12 monthly shows (at the top of the show).
• A link to your web site (or site of your choosing) in the show notes for each of our 12 monthly shows.
• Brand logo included on the Talking Points Podcast site
• One interview with an employee/person of your choice

Sponsor Level: Gold

Cost: $1,000/year

Included in your sponsorship

• One live show host read during all shows (monthly shows + interview episodes + Hot Topics).
• A link to your web site (or site of your choosing) in the show notes for all of our shows (monthly shows + interview episodes + Hot Topics).
• Brand logo included on the Talking Points Podcast site
• Opportunity to feature up to four employees/clients as interviewees on the Talking Points Podcast.

Sponsor Level: Platinum

Cost: $2,000/year

Included in your sponsorship

• Two live show host reads during all of our shows (monthly shows + interview episodes + Hot Topics) as the Title Sponsor of the Talking Points Podcast.
• A link to your web site (or site of your choosing) in the show notes for all of our shows (monthly shows + interview episodes + Hot Topics).
• Brand logo included on the Talking Points Podcast site
• Opportunity to feature up to eight employees/clients as interviewees on the Talking Points Podcast
• One monthly guest co-host opportunity for someone with your organization
• One-minute previously recorded segment by the sponsor offering thoughts on one of our Talking Points for the month