44. The #1 Podcasting Mistake (And How to Avoid It!)

If you're frustrated with the slow growth of your podcast, you might be tempted to make this tragic mistake. Tune in to find out what this mistake is, why you might be tempted to make it, and some strategies for avoiding it.

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Transcript

Hey. Hey. And welcome back. Today, we're going to talk about the number one mistake that I see podcasters make, and that mistake is simply quitting too soon. I get it. Podcasting has some unique challenges, and it's definitely not the easiest road. But it's so worth it if you stick with it. And I have some tips to help you avoid falling into the category of podcasters who make this tragic mistake.

So if you're a podcaster who hasn't seen the traction that you're hoping for and stopping your show has crossed your mind, listen in closely. Podcasting is a long game. Very, very rarely do podcasters experience, quote, unquote, overnight success. And I'm not including celebrities in that statement. When there's name recognition, they don't have to work at the things in the same ways that the rest of us do. Anyway, podcasting is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a slow growth strategy where we're trying to push a boulder up a hill. It takes time and effort.

But once you reach the tipping point, that boulder starts to snowball. It goes further and faster without as much input from you. There's momentum. So it's not all sunshine and roses in the beginning, but I promise that it will be worth it once things take off. Let's talk a little bit about why you may feel frustrated with your podcast's growth in the early months, and then we'll get into some ways to push through it. Often, a show is launched and there's a positive response. Thanks to the support of friends and family, the numbers often make it look like there's someone out there listening. Yay.

But then the launch excitement fades. Friends and family who tuned in just to support you but aren't really your target audience move on. So the numbers take a dip. The Groundhog Day like cycle of podcasting continues week after week, and 90% of podcasters don't end up making it past episode 10. This pattern happens like clockwork. And so when I help aspiring podcasters launch their shows, I try my very best to prepare them to expect and how to navigate the inevitable post launch slump. I'm happy to say that 100% of my clients and students have made it beyond episode 10. Woo hoo for crushing the odds.

But then a few more months go by, and they haven't seen any tangible benefits of podcasting yet. And, understandably, they start questioning if this is worth continuing. If you're listening to this episode, I'm guessing that you've had at least a few moments of feeling this way. That makes you normal. So let's move into how to handle this and not succumb to the temptation to quit. Remember how I said a few minutes ago that podcasting is a long game? The first thing I urge you to do is commit to an absolute minimum of 1 year of podcasting. Yep. 1 year.

If you've already launched your show, but you haven't been super serious about it until now, start your 1 year clock now. Why 1 year? Well, the odds of your show being, quote, unquote, highly successful in less than a year are pretty small. It takes time to get to know your audience, to create content that resonates with them, to engage in two way conversations, to try different marketing avenues, to find your production rhythm, and so on. Commit to a minimum of 1 year and give it your all during that time. And there's a reason that I'm using the word commit here. Being committed to something means doing it even when you don't want to. And there are surely going to be moments when you don't want to, but you need to do it anyway. In the beginning of your podcasting journey, you're fueled by excitement and motivation, but those will fade, and therefore, you're only left with commitment.

This is starting to sound a little bit dark. Sorry. I'm just trying to be realistic for you. I'm sure there are days when you don't really feel like walking the dog and cleaning up poop, but you do it anyway because you committed to having a pet. And the rewards of tail wags and snuggles and the goofy things that make you laugh are worth doing the things that you don't necessarily want to do. Even if you don't have a dog, I'm sure you can see my point here. You might not feel motivated to do some of the tedious podcasting tasks every single week and keep going when there's no tangible benefit yet, but you do it anyway because you know the eventual reward of an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you will be worth the effort. And just so you know, I have these moments too.

This episode in particular has been a beast to pull the ideas out of my head and into some kind of coherent monologue that's going to help you. I've had several moments of wanting to scrap it and just skip the episode this week, but I won't because I am committed. This episode may not be my best ever, but I know that if I continue to show up and refine my craft, my episodes will get better and better over time and move me toward my big goals. Okay. I digress. Let me get back on track here. So I have a few pro tips for you. When you're being committed, remember why you decided to do a podcast in the first place.

Celebrate consistency. Track data other than downloads. Celebrate small wins and milestones. Growth often happens in 1% increments, so celebrate those 1% wins. And one other tip for you if you're frustrated with slow growth, and that is to work in 90 day cycles. So most podcasters will try something new for a week or 2, maybe even a month, and then claim that it didn't work. Remember that podcasting growth is slow, like snail speed slow. I encourage you to give something 90 days before deciding if it did or did not work.

So if you're focused on SEO strategy and you put some new keywords into your show's subtitle, give those keywords 90 days before you decide to swap them out for different keywords. Give them a chance to work over 90 days. If you're focusing on emailing your list to drive traffic to the podcast, focus on that for 90 days. And when you're focusing on something like email marketing that has a lot of different facets, you can try different techniques within that 90 days. So you can experiment with which day you send out the email, different subject lines, etcetera. Track the number of clicks that you're getting so that you can truly determine if increased downloads and podcast growth is happening as a result of your emails and people clicking over to the podcast from there. That will help you decide at the end of those 90 days if this is a strategy worth continuing and then just adding something else in the next 90 days, or whether you're going to stop this and replace it with a different strategy over the next 90 days. If you're someone who's willing to show up on social media, experiment with different options.

If you're posting on Instagram and not getting traction, try reels instead of carousels to advertise your episodes. Try with your face, without your face, using b roll, etcetera, etcetera. Try giving episode highlights. Try highlighting mistakes that they can avoid by listening to the episode. The point is to go all in on something for 90 days before deciding whether or not it's worth continuing. Then repeat the process with something else for the next 90 days. Breaking things into 90 day cycles also helps to reduce the overwhelm that you may feel with committing to a 1 year minimum of podcasting. I still want you to commit to that 1 year, but you don't need to have your exact plans and strategies figured out beyond the next 90 days.

Remember that podcasting is a long game, and the biggest mistake that you can make as a podcaster is giving up on your show too soon. Give it a minimum of 1 year of all in effort. Be committed even when you're not motivated, and focus on 90 days at a time. You've got this. Until next time. Happy podcasting.