Eps 7: Six months since I published my first podcast episode
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Host
Jo Gilbert
Podcast Content
Before launching, we spent some time talking about what we wanted to be known for, and what made a podcast different than others. Um, but anyhow, once I put out these first three episodes -- the very first episode was the intro, so just the backstory about myself and what I am about and what I am going to be talking about in The Unconventional RD Podcast, and what to expect, and also sort of my history, like my career journey.
One of the biggest differences with Darren Rowse over the ProBlogger first 10 or so episodes versus now is I am standing up and recording each podcast. Darren Rowse from ProBlogger is very happy with that, because in the first 15, or 16, episodes, I guess, or maybe it was even in the first 20, that I did all of this podcast editing myself. Most people do actually have that experience where they have a big number of people listening to their first podcast, and that is kind of stressful, because that is not the best Darren Rowse from ProBlogger record, but I guess that people really do tend to come back right at the beginning, and they are curious how this whole thing started. After the initial novelty wears off, it is only natural for podcasters to begin asking a is my average podcast downloaded any good?.
If you are a podcaster, perhaps new to the medium, perhaps you are a veteran podcaster who simply wants to hear somebody elses take on the topic, or perhaps you are a person considering if podcasting may be right for you, our 200th episode is worth listening to. You have recorded a few episodes of your podcast, have had it edited and polished, and are now ready to be released into the world. If you wait until you are feeling great about your show before hitting "publish" on your first episode, then I guarantee that you will never get your podcast off the ground. In terms of slowly building up a following for your show, there is a strategic approach to publishing new episodes of your podcast.
A podcast that consistently releases new episodes over the course of six months is bound to have a steadier, quicker, more established process than a podcast with only six episodes. If your subject matter is slightly more topical, or if your subject matter is smaller, then releasing new episodes of the podcast more quickly is smart. For instance, a weekly podcast should not only be producing an episode each week. A weekly podcast should choose one specific moment, on one fixed day per week, to release an episode.
When podcasts are able to release episodes on the same days, at the same cadence, it helps form a habit with its listeners. In fact, many podcasts have different seasons of so that the creators can have a little bit of downtime, go about their lives, and ultimately schedule more episodes. If the creative process of creating a podcast usually takes five to 10 hours, and you are working 50 hours per week, then it is probably not the smartest idea to produce two episodes a week. If your podcasts are longer -- say, between 40 minutes to an hour -- it may be more worthwhile to release episodes in slow increments, so that listeners who are falling behind can catch up before the next major release.
Consistency in podcasting means publishing quality episodes with excellent content in a fixed schedule for a long time. Like anything in life, podcastings benefits accrue over the long haul, so you should ensure that you are willing to commit to publishing that baby for six months before making any decisions on its future.
When starting a podcast with no audience, do not neglect simple things such as inviting the people that you are closest with to listen and share your episodes. Whether or not you include this, you certainly want to make sure that people finding your podcast for the first time are able to quickly understand whatas in your newest episode, and that thereas a compelling reason for them to tap playaas scrolling their preferred podcasting app.
Many successful podcasters actually do share to aplaya their episodes instead of posting a whole episode . In my opinion, I think it is always best to have your podcast episodes also live on their own websites, and to Embe the Little, for example, via Libsyn, for each episode that you release, they give you, um, a bit of code you can use to embed an episode player onto your website.
I am also, you know, trying to think of ways in which I could use the podcast episodes to do a better job at teaching on more niche topics that I am teaching, like SEO, monetizing your blog, email marketing, and sort of drum up interest and get more people wanting to enroll in one of my courses that dive deeper on these topics. I am also setting up guest interviews during the podcast days, and I am submitting pitches on other shows in order to gain some additional exposure for my online business.
My first podcast guest was Megha Sheare, the founder of the Silicon Valley cookie company. If the first episode of the weekly podcast drops Mondays at 10AM PST, then every episode after that needs to be released Mondays at 10AM PST. When I look back at the episodes that have worked the best for me, many are solo episodes, just me, outlines, and the mic.