Hi, my name is Maria. I'm a podcast producer for my own business, Creatively Contenting, and today I'm going to give you a tip about planning your podcast for the year. I work for myself, helping to make podcasts for businesses and individuals who want to make an impact with their audience through podcasting.
I work on each part of the podcast production process, from idea creation and guest acquisition to editing and right up to the scheduling, the completed episode and repurposing clips for social media. How I got into podcasting is a bit of a mix of things. I have been working in podcasting for about two years independently now, but I'd also worked on podcasts when I was a production assistant a few years back.
I studied business followed by a master's in journalism, and once finished I was lucky enough to get quite a variety of experience. I worked as a production assistant in a media production company, which is where I first saw that I could use my journalistic skills in a more business environment. And at the same time I was training in a newsroom in a radio station, while also producing a weekly current affairs show. And then I was also working as a researcher in another station. And...
Around that time, I also started working in a youth organization creating content, which is where I kind of learned the impact that good content can have when it reaches people at the right time. So I loved everything I was doing, but I was just out of college and wanted to see the world. So I went to Canada, took a job in finance while I just figured out what to do next.
And after a while, I really missed radio and realized that with the skills I had developed and the knowledge and stuff through my work experience, um, that it kind of put me in a position that I could start producing my own podcasts. And I was really, really happy to be back working with content again and absolutely loved it and kind of things escalated. I started producing more podcasts and it just became something I could do as my full time job.
And the fact that I can do it from anywhere that has Wi Fi and help businesses and individuals to make an impact, just makes it better. It's just, yeah, perfect for me, I think. So one thing I love about podcasting is that it's a really intimate medium. If a podcast is done well, it feels like you're kind of having a chat with a few friends rather than listening to some sort of report.
Um, I think this is what makes podcasting a really amazing marketing tool for individuals and businesses who are trying to establish their brand. When a podcast is genuinely providing value for the listener, they are a lot more likely to feel a personal connection faster than people would if they're reading a blog or seeing social media posts. but I do think with this privilege that podcasting affords us, we also have to be really careful to not take advantage of it and respect.
intimacy and that trust people form with the podcast host. So, my big tip for podcasting is to plan your year of podcasting now. So that you, you can relax and actually enjoy your podcast throughout the year. so how to plan a podcast for the new year. I am a really big spreadsheet fan. So I recommend using one for planning your content for the entire year. And then in a document, I write my internal and external kind of notes of how I'm going to plan for the year.
So in the internal category, I break it down by goals for the year and personal milestones. So by setting your goals for the year, it's going to kind of dictate some of the other things, like, for example, if you want to grow your listenership, you're going to want to consistently appear on other podcasts. So that would be in your external goals. Um, your personal milestones could be something like your 50th episode or a certain number of downloads.
Obviously, you can't really tell when you're going to hit a certain number of downloads, but you can have a plan in place. And then as you're approaching that, you know, to just. Like fall back on that plan that you set at the beginning of the year, because you probably have a fair idea if you're going to hit X many downloads in a year.
Then under external, under the external category, I have holidays, awareness days, weeks or months relevant to your niche, events in your niche and other podcasts you would like to appear on or partner with in some way. So think about the kind of content you would do based on these things. Like making a target list of guests and events that you would like to speak at or reach out to as well as other podcasts that you might want to speak at or partner up with. You can find me at www.
creativelycontenting. com and you can see all my links in the show notes. Thanks for listening to Podcasting People.