Got dreams of being a professional podcaster, but have no idea what you're doing. This is impossible. That's about to change. A new kind of school. Welcome to the PodSchool podcast. Hello there. Welcome to the show. dreamsofbeingaprofessionalpodcaster, buthaveno ideawhatyou'redoing.Thisis impossible.That'sabouttochange. A newkindofschool.Welcometo thePodSchoolpodcast.Hello.Welcometotheshow. It's beenalongtimesinceIdid thelastone ofthese,anditis nicetobeback behind
themicrophone.I havehadalotonmyplate,including having ababy onmyown.SothathasbeenatimeandI've actuallystartedapodcastaboutit.AndsowhileIwas firing upanewpodcast, Ithought,youknowwhat,Ibetterbringthis in and they realise, lot ofquestionsandif youhave oneaboutpodcasting,youcansubmititviathelinkinthedescription of thisepisode.And Icannotgetbackto every singleemail,everysinglequestionthatI receive.And soIthoughtI I'm not sure I can maintain it.
But the biggest reason is that people realise how much work goes on behind the theshowbytakingyouthroughthetopfivethingsthatyouneedtodo if youwant tostartyourpodcastthis year.Alotofpeople havejustcomethroughtheNewYear'sresolution soseason andhave probablyputafewresolutionsonthelistthattheyhad onthelistlastyearandnevergot around to. Soifpodcastinghasbeenone foryou,thenIreallywanttohelpyouthinkaboutsomeofthe thingsthat you needtodo.Alotof peoplejumpintothisanddo
notgiveitmuchthought.They don'tunderstandwhatit takes.Theyseealot of thegoodnews storiesonInstagramandtheythinkthisis theonlyoptionforwhenyou not start it, then start it. And then three episodes in, go, jumpinginto thissoonerbecauseallofthese peopleareearningmillionsofdollarsandIcouldbetoo.Andtheanswer isjustthatit'snotreallywhathappens for everybody.Ithappens fora selectfew.Anda lotofthosepeoplespeakveryloudly onInstagram andthere'sa
lotofnewsaboutalotofmoneythrownaroundtheindustry.Butthatisn'tthestoryforeverybody.Andcertainly it'snevergoingtobethe storyifyoudon'tproperlyjump into this understandingwhatyou'regettinginto.Sohereare afewofthethingsthatyou needtoreallykeep inmind ifstartingapodcastisreallyimportantfor you. Andit'sbeenonyourtodolistandyou just wanttocrossthedamnthingoff, becausethere'snothingworsethanlookingatthisThingconstantly,everysingleyear,andthinking,Ididn'tdoit
again.Andforget.Fearshouldnotbeholdingyouback.Youreallyneed to getstartedtoseewhatthisthingcould be.Itcouldbe oneofthosethingsthatgetsmassive,massivedownloadsandearnsalotofmoney.Itcould bejustsomethingthatbringsyou alotofpersonaljoy.So whateverit is,youjustwillnotknowwhatitisuntilyougetstarted. Sohere'swhatyouneedtodo.Numberone,comeupwith agoodidea.Now,beforeyoustartgoing,wow,whatan expertopinion.That seemspretty obvious.Itisnoteasytocome upwithagoodidea. Anda lotofpeoplestartapodcastandtheir
ideaain'tgreat.Andtheyhaven'treallythoughtthatmuchaboutwhetherthereis anaudienceforthat idea,whetherpeopleneedthis idea.And that doesn'tmeanthattheyneedto learnsomething fromit.Itcouldjustbethatthey'reentertainedbyit.Theyjust need togetsomekindofvalueoutofit.AndIsee alotofpeoplestartingashowbasedonkindofwhattheiregowantsthemtodo,ratherthanwhatanaudience is actuallycrying out for.So agoodidea hastohaveafew things.
Ithastohaveanaudience, andthatrequires somethought.That'snotjustsomethingthatyoudon'tgiveanyconsiderationto. And thenallofa sudden,you'relike, oh,mygosh, peoplelikethisshow.You havetoactuallythink, willpeoplewanttolisten? Isthere amarket outthere for this?And if thereis, howcanImakesure thatI'm servingthosepeopleexactlywhat theywant?Itneedstobeeasily definable. So Ihavealotofpeople pitchideastome thatI couldnottellbackto theminasentence.
Andifyou cannotexplainwhatyourideaisinasentence tosomebodyandtheyare findingyoufor thefirsttime andthey don'tknowyoufroma barofsoap,andthey're like,isthisashowI wanttocheckout?Iftheydon't getit immediately,they'llmoverightalong.Youneedto makesurethatitis anideathat they go,oh, thatisrightupmyalley.I'vereallybeenlookingforsomethinglike that.Sothatisreallyimportant.Itcan'tjustbe.I'mjustdoinga show onstuffIfindinteresting.That's notaninterestingideaforotherpeople.Mightbefor you,butit's
notforpeoplelistening.Becausewhattheythinkisinterestingisdifferent and theywant to know, okay,butarethe thingsthatyou'regoing tofindinterestingthethingsthat Ifind interesting.Soyou'regoingtoneedtotellmekindofabitmoreaboutwhatyouthinkisinteresting.Sothat's reallyimportant. Thethirdthingthatyouneed todois haveenoughcontentso thatyoucan keep this thingaliveforalongtime.Ifyourgoalisaudiencegrowth,you havetobeconsistentlyreleasingepisodesoverthe restofyour
days.Now,ifyoujustwanttoget thiscreativeprojectout,youcanjustdrop10episodesandbe done withit.Ifyouwant todoseasonsbecauseyoureallywanttodoashowandyouwanttogetitout,but youcannotcommitto having52 episodes liveperyear,goforyourlife,that'sfine.Butifyourmaingoalis growing your audienceto themaximum thatitcouldbe, thenyouhavetobereleasingepisodesconsistentlyovertime.Andevenifyoudon't wantthat to
beyourgoal,youstillneedenoughcontenttogetpeopleinterested.Ifyou'redroppingasixpartseries,youhaveto reallyhavean audiencealreadytherethat'sgoingoran idea that'sjust goingtogoabsolutelybunthat peoplearejustgoingtoseekout becauseit really ishardtofindpeopleina shortamountoftime.And thelongeryourshowison,themorechances yougettobringpeoplein asyou'regoing andtogo,oh gosh,thisshow'sbeen aroundforawhileago
andcheckthingsout.Soyoureallyneedtobeableto consistentlydeliverthecontent tobe abletoget anaudienceto stickaround.Sothat'sthereally importantthing,comingupwithagoodidea,thinkaboutallthosethings and youwillmuch bemuchbetterplacedtocreateashowthat peopleactuallywantto listen to.Andthen everythingcomesoutofthat.Ifyoucanfind anidea thatpeople aresort of yearning forreally,orwhen theyfindit,they'relike,ohgosh,this ismadejust forme.Thisis exactly
whatIlove.Thenyou'vereallyhitthatsweetspotandyouwillhaveamuchbetterchance ofgrowingaudience. Thesecondthingtodoisto defineyourideallistener. Sothisis reallyimportantwhenyoudon'thaveanylistenersbecauseyouneedto bemakingdecisions withthis personinmind.Youdon'twanttobe makingdecisionswithyourselfinmind.Especiallyifyouaregoingtocreateashowabout yourexpertise.Youare theexactoppositeofwhere your audienceis.
You needtobecreatinga showforpeoplewho wanttoeventuallygetto where youarebecause youaretheexpertinthat topic.Soifyoureallysitdownandthinkaboutwho isthispersonthatIamdoingthisshowfor,thenyouwillbemuch betterplacedtomake contentdecisions,formatdecisions, decisions,decisions
aboutthelengthofyourshow.Allofthose sorts ofthingsthatyoureally needtothinkaboutstrategicallywillbemucheasier if you havesomebodyinmindand ifyou'rethinking,youknowwhat,Myideallistener isJan,who'sgotthreekids andacouple ofjobsandnot alotoftimeonyourhands.Idon'tthinkyou'llbe makinghourandahalfepisodesforJan becauseJanain'tgot timetolisten toyourhourandahalfepisodes.Sothose kindofdecisionsbecomemucheasierwhenyou're thinkingaboutsomeone andsomeoneisin mind.
Youalsowanttomakesurethat youaremakingdecisionson whattheywanttohear,notwhatyouwanttosay.Soagain, this is thiskindof audienceand egothingthat Isee alotof peoplestruggle with.You needtobe thinkingaboutwhatbrings them most value,notwhat brings me most value.Eventhoughyou can'tdiscountyourdesireandyourneedsinthiskindofprocess andwhat youwanttobringout, youreallyneed tobethinkingaboutyouraudience first.That'sthemostimportantthing.Thethird thingtodo,workout if thisissomething thatyou
cancommitto.Itain't foreverybody,itain'teasy.Ifyouare doing thisproperly,itwillbetakingyouhoursofworktogetoneepisodeoutthedoor.And thatdoesn'tneedto belikeareallylongepisode.Thatcouldbea 20or30minute episode.Ifyouare doingthings properlyandreallygivingeveryaspectofpodcastingyourbestpossible crack, thensometimesyoucouldbespending eighttoninehoursaweekononeepisode.
Iwasjust cuttingupsomepromovideosfor mypodcasttheotherdayandtocutthosepromovideos,putthebrandingonthem,getthemallinmyspreadsheet, readyto gettothepoint whereIwasgoing toschedulethem.I hadn't evenscheduledthemyet.IthinkIspentaboutfourhours onthattaskforoneepisodeandthatwasn't even recordingit,preppingit,editingtheactual audio,puttingtheshownotestogether,schedulingallof the socialmediastuff.So ifyouarereallygoingtogivethisyourbestchance,itis going totakealot
ofyourtime.Andifyou'renotmakinganymoney,whichmostpodcastsdon't,andyouaredoing this ontopofyour9to5, whichmostpodcastersdo,thenitis goingtoreally needtofeedyour soulforyoutokeepthisup,becauseit'shardand youneed toknowwhat you'regettinginto becauseyoudonotwantto getthreeepisodes inandgo,nobodytoldmeitwasgoing tobelikethisbecausethenyou willdropthe show andyouwon't
continue.Soit's reallyimportantto even havea practicerunwhenyou're going throughthingstoseeifyoucanworkouthowmuchtimeisthisactuallygoing to takeme,thatcanbereallyhelpfulwhenyou'retryingtoworkoutifthisis somethingyou cangenuinelycommittointhelongterm. Andifyoucan't,thatdoesn'tmean there'snootheroption.Maybeyoudo justaseasonofa showandyoucomebackwhenyou candoit again.Butideally, ifyouwantyourshowto grow audience,you'regoingtobereleasingthose
showsconsistentlyovertime.Soyou needtoknowwhatthatcommitmentis going totake,becausetheygive youthe hot tip,it'sgoingtotakea lot.Andoneofthemostboringthingsaboutpodcastingisthataudiencegrowthisincremental.The ideathatyouhavetwolisteners todayand750,000tomorrowjustain'ttheusualpathofmostpodcasters.Yousort of,you launch,youhitakindof base,andthen
youslowlybutsurelygrow,ideallyovertime.Sothose shows thatareshoutingabouttheirmassivedownloadshaveoftenbeenonfor years andhavebeendroppinganepisodeeverysingleweek consistently, sometimes morethan thatforthatentire
time.Soifyou really want thistobesomethingthatgrowsandissuccessful andbuilds audience andthatyoucanhavea reallyengaged relationshipwiththosepeoplethatlistentoyou, thenyou really needtobeshowingupconsistently me with questions around podcast monetisation thingis tosetyourselfupforrecording highqualityaudio. Gone are the dayswhere youcoulddevelopanaudienceoff thebackof acrappysoundingpodcast.There are
someexceptionstotherule.LikesometimesI hearsomeshowsandI'mlike,you guyshaveadecent audience,youneedto getyourselfabettersetup.Orlike stoprecordinginyourkitchen.Butaudioqualityis reallyimportant.Thelandscapeisvery,verycrowded.Therearealotofbig,bigorganizationswitha lot of techin theirfavorthataremakingshowsandyoudonotneed anyof that.Youcandoallofthis at home.I'msittinginmyloungeroomright now recording
thisepisode.Soit isverypossibleto createashowthatsoundsreallyhighqualitywithouthaving tobe ina half amilliondollarradiostudio.But,youjustneedtoknowwhatyou'redoingandyouneedtomakeafew smalltweaksathometomakethatpossible. But themainthing is youjustneedtothinkaboutit.Youcan'tjustset things upand go,I'mnotgoing to wearheadphones.I'lljustparkmyselfwherever. Won'ttestthe audiotoseewhatthissoundslike orjustgiveitagoandreleaseit.No,no,no,
no,no.Like,evenwhenIsatdownnowthecicadasaregoingnutsoutside.AndsoIdidthreetests workingout,howamI,am IgoingtobeabletodothissothatIcan'thearthecicadas?Youknow,I'mturningmyairconditioningoff. Icouldhear somethingoutofthebathroomdoor. So,like,I'veclosedthedoor.Youneedto bethinkingabout how youraudienceisgoingtohearthispieceofcontentandreally adjustyour recordingspaceaccordingly.
Thefifththingissetrealisticexpectations.I'vegone througha bitofthisalreadyinthisepisode,butthe ideathatyourshowwill getamilliondownloads andmakeamilliondollars,itain'tgoingtohappen.I hatetobethebeareroftheharshtruth,but for thevastmajority ofpodcasters,theyain'tmaking adime. Andthemajorityofpodcasters aregettingprobablycloserto ahundreddownloadsthanthey are ahundredthousand.Ifyouwanttomonetizeyourshow, youcandoitwithasmalleraudience,forsure.Ihaveseensuccess withsomepodcasters whoI've
haddirectcontactwithsponsors.I'vealsohadsomepeoplewhohavedecent smallaudiences.They'reengaged,andthenthey'vetriedto contactsponsors,andthe sponsors are like, youdon'thave abig enough audience.Alotofadvertiserswho are jumpingintopodcastingnow,theyareinterestedin reach,theyareinterestedinnumbers.Sotomonetizeeffectivelyviaads, you have tobe,ataminimum,getting10,000downloadsper episode,andthatwouldputyouinthetop5%ofpodcasts.Notmanypeople getthat. Soyou
reallyhavetothinkaboutwhatismysuccessmetric?Becauseifitis moneyanddownloads,you'rejustconstantlygoingto bedisappointed.Andnothingkillsyourmojolikedisappointment. Youwillbeveryswiftly packingup theheadphonesifyouarelike,thisisnotdeliveringmewhatIthoughtitwould deliver.AndsoIreallydo adviseanybodywhohasbeenthroughmypodcastingcoursewhohascome to oneofmypodcasting webinarswillknow.Iamvery passionateabouthaving reasonable
andachievablesuccessmetrics.Andthatcouldbe assimpleas,I amgoing tobereallyproudofmyselfwhenI releasethis. Andthatis abrilliantsuccessmetricbecauseyoucanachieveit.And if youcanachievethat,thenyoucan setthenextmilestoneandthenextmilestone afterthat.Andtogetanykind ofprogressand tofeelanykindof positivityaboutyourprogress,youmustbeabletodo thethingsthatyou'retryingtodo.So thatisessential.Andyoureallywant to make surethatyouaresetting goalsthatyoucanachievesothatyoujustfeelgood
aboutyourself.Andthenyou cankeepgoing. Becauseas soon asyoustart to go,I'mnot takinganyofthesegoals off,you're justgoingtothink,I've failed.Andyouhaven't failed.You justhavesetyourselfunrealisticgoals. Andifyou'realwayschasingthesethings,youjustwon'tstickitout.Noneofuscan.Whocan muckthrough the idea of,I'mconstantlymissing Markonthis?Nobody wantsto feelthatway.Sosetyourselfsomerealisticexpectationsand youwill bemuchbetterplacedto make
yourshowasuccess.Sothosearesomeof the thingsthatI thinkyouneedtoreally getyourheadaroundthisyear. Ifyou wantto startyourshow. Ifit'sbeensomethingyou'vebeendreamingabout, Ireally dohopethatyoudogetitstarted.Because itcanbesuchawonderfulexperiencetobeabletoA, knowyou'veachievedit,andB,to have acommunityofpeoplewhoare enjoyingandgettingvalueout ofthecontentthatyouareproviding.Andif youcanthinkabout
somethingthatwillprovidevalueforpeople,it'sareally,reallyrewardingthingtodo.SoIdohopethatthathashelpedyouthinkabout things.And ifyoudowantabitof extrahelp,Ialsohavea podcastingcoursethatcanassistyou that youcanfindoutmoreatpodschool.com.auifyouhaveaquestion aboutpodcasting,pleasejustheadto the linkinthedescriptionof theepisode and submitit. And Iwillbecollatingall ofthequestionsthatIhave.Ihavesomany.Butyou wanttotalk abouthavingenoughcontenttokeepgoing.
There'scontentthere,soIwouldlovetoaddyours tothemix. AndI willseeyounextweek. TodayI'm goingtoanswer aquestionfromAmy,whosaid, Ireallywanttostartmypodcastthisyear, but Ihaveheardyoutalkalotaboutthefactthatalotof podcastsdon'tmakeit.HowdoImakesureminedoes?Greatquestion, becausethisisallaboutaconceptcalledPod Fade,which happensa lot.Itis basicallythe ideathatapodcast fadesintooblivionafterusuallyabout seventotenepisodes.Thestatssay,that'sbecause peoplejumpinandthey realize,I'm notmaking
moneyasfastasIthoughtIwouldbe.It'slike,yeah,itdoesn't happeninthefirstweek.Also, peoplego, oh,Iactuallydon'thaveasmanyideasasIthoughtIwould.AndI'mnotsureIcanmaintainit.Butthebiggestreasonisthatpeople realizehow muchwork goeson behindthescenes andhowmuch timeit takes
togetanepisodeout.Sosome ofthisI talkedabout in thelast for enrolments a few times through the year and when it's not, it's got a little wait list there so you can find But ifyouare goingtogetstarted andyou'vethoughtaboutthose thingsandyou'relike,okay,I'vegotmyideanailed,thenyoureallyhavetothinkabout, well,howdoImakesurethisshowsurvives?Because ifitdoesn't, what'sthepointin starting it,youknow,you'd ratherjustnotstart it, ya.
Oh,andifyou'vegotaquestion,makesureyouheadtothedescriptionoftheepisode,clickonthelinkandjustsubmityourquestionthereasIwouldlovetoanswerit.Seeya.