76. 7 Podcasting Mistakes to Avoid When Starting (or Growing) Your Show | Podcasting Tips for Beginners

Are you thinking of starting a podcast or looking to grow your existing one? In this episode, I dive into the 7 common mistakes that podcasters (both new and experienced) often make, and how you can avoid them. Tune in to learn how to navigate these challenges and set yourself up for success!

This episode was produced by me, The Podcast Teacher! Contact me at Hello@ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hey, hey, and welcome back. While I am not feeling a 100% quite yet, I could not resist recording a new episode for you today because it is an exciting time of year. It is almost the season of podcasting. In case you haven't caught episode 72 yet, which is all about podcast download trends throughout the year, I'll cut to the chase and say that Q1 and even into Q2 is the peak time of year to start and grow a podcast. And if I had a dollar for every social media post that I've seen in the past week or 2, asking questions about best practices for starting a podcast, well, maybe I wouldn't quite be a millionaire, but I would definitely be a lot richer than I am now. So today, I am going to share 7 mistakes to avoid if you are starting a podcast. And these are also things that you should continue to avoid if you are focusing on growing your existing show. The number one mistake that new and experienced podcasters make is quitting too soon.

Podcasting is a long term strategy. You need to be in it for the long haul and give it adequate time to work for your business. What is quote, unquote, adequate time? 1 year minimum. Some podcast coaches will argue that anything before 100 episodes is quitting too soon, or even anything before the 3 year mark is quitting too soon. During that time, of course, you are refining your skills, tweaking your messaging, trying different strategies, etcetera. But if you are serious about seeing the benefits of a podcast in your business, you need to keep going no matter what. So many folks do a handful of episodes, they don't see any tangible return on investment, and they throw in the towel. Remember that podcasting is a long game.

You are building know, like, and then trust with your audience. It takes time and perseverance. Stick with it. Mistake number 2 is trying to talk to everyone. I know it's tempting to try to talk to a bigger and wider audience thinking that it will increase our reach and therefore the number of people that could potentially become our clients. But there's a saying in marketing that when you talk to everyone, you talk to no one. And that's because your messaging becomes diluted and generic. One of the best things that you can do is create a profile of one ideal listener and speak to that person in every single episode.

If you have some people pleaser tendencies, as I do, it can be incredibly tempting to try to serve any and all potential listeners. But I promise that you're doing your show more harm than good by doing that. The best thing you can do for your show is make your messaging so specific and clear that a potential listener can quickly say, yes. This show is definitely for me. Or no, this show is absolutely not for me. We lose people in the maybe zone, that lukewarm zone of, well, maybe this show is good for me. Maybe it's not quite hitting the mark. I don't know.

By invoking a strong no reaction from the people who do not meet our ideal listener criteria, we're not wasting our breath trying to convince those people to give us a chance. We're also actually helping them because they can move on and continue their search for a show that is a better fit for them. I'm running a podcasting 101 workshop at the end of January, and the first day is all about your ideal listener. Registration opens any day now, so keep an eye out for that if you would like my guidance with this and other initial podcasting steps. Alright. Mistake number 3 is focusing too much on yourself, including going on long and irrelevant tangents. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Your podcast is not about you.

It's about your listener. You need to have their needs and desires at the forefront of your content strategy. That said, there's a saying in the podcast industry that listeners come for the information and stay for the host. So it is definitely recommended to let your personality shine through at all times, And it's okay to share pieces of your story in the process. But make sure that the majority of info that you're sharing about you is relevant to the listener's need. For example, I share info about myself here on the show, but it's usually in the context of talking about my podcast or my business strategy. Things that are working well for me, challenges that I'm working through, or lessons that I've learned. I may occasionally drop a tidbit here and there so that you can learn random things like the fact that my husband, Jeff, and I had a Star Wars themed wedding, or that my current favorite on air TV show is The Rookie.

But those tidbits are short and sweet compared to the podcasting information that I share because that's why you're here. Too many podcast hosts make the mistake of thinking that they are the star of their show When it's really the combination of information, technique, and strategy that's the star with a dose of personality on top. Mistake number 4 is having bad audio quality. You don't need to have top notch studio quality sound, but truly bad audio is a big turn off for listeners. Plus, it's pretty easy to have decent audio quality these days. You just need to record in a relatively quiet environment with a dynamic microphone that you can get for less than a $100 by the way, such as my favorite microphone, the Samsung Q2U. Then spend a few minutes, not hours, editing. You wanna reduce any background noise, and you can also edit out any big stumbles in the process.

And that's it. Then you're done. That's the whole editing process. There's really no excuse to have truly terrible audio quality on your podcast these days. Alright. Mistake number 5 is not doing solo episodes. If you're using your podcast as a marketing tool for your business, you need to be positioned as the expert at least some of the time, if not most of the time on your podcast. A lot of new podcasters see interview episodes as, quote, unquote, easier because there's someone to share the conversational load and make it more interesting.

While that is true, that approach isn't the best way to get listeners to know, like, and trust you. Refer back to episode 60 for more information about why I don't recommend many, if any, interview episodes for your show. Mistake number 6 is expecting to monetize your podcast early on. There are several different ways to monetize your podcast, and while it is possible to make money from your podcast from the beginning, it is definitely not the norm. My favorite way to monetize a Podcast is to sell your own products and services. And, the average statistic is that 1% of your Podcast followers will convert into clients or customers. It takes time not only to grow your audience, but to build up that know, like, and trust factor with a listener. So it's fairly unlikely that you're going to start getting clients right away.

Once again, podcasting is a long term strategy. I encourage you to set appropriate expectations and not to anticipate seeing any monetization for at least a year. If it happens before then, it will be a nice surprise. And finally, mistake number 7 is waiting to start your podcast. Waiting until you feel like you have the time. Waiting until you have the perfect title. Waiting until you've saved for the best equipment, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I'm not a fan of the cliche phrase, start messy.

I don't like mess. And I believe that there's tremendous value in putting some time and effort in in order to be strategic. But the truth is that it is never going to be perfect. There's always going to be a reason to put it off. And at some point, you have to just call it good enough and launch it. Trust me when I say that clarity comes through action. I worked in the podcasting industry for more than 2 years before I started this show. I have learned 10 times more about podcasting in the 1 year that I've been doing this show than I did in the previous 2 years combined.

Spend some time learning and strategizing, but then move forward. I'm a big fan of the saying done is better than perfect. And I encourage you to embrace that wherever you are on your podcasting journey. I'm here to help. Whether you're looking to get started or to level up your show in 2025, let's make it happen together. Until next time, happy podcasting.