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. dreams ofbeing aprofessionalpodcaster,buthavenoideawhat you'redoing.Thisis impossible.That'saboutto change.Anewkindof school.WelcometothePod Schoolpodcast.Hellothere.Welcome
totheshow.TodayI'mgoingtoanswera question fromAmy,whosaid,Ireallywanttostart mypodcastthis year,but Ihaveheard you talkalotaboutthefactthat a lotofpodcastsdon'tmakeit. HowdoI makesureminedoes?Greatquestion,becausethisisallabouta conceptcalledPodFade,whichhappensalot.Itisbasicallytheideathata podcast fadesintooblivionafterusuallyaboutseventotenepisodes.Thestatssay,that'sbecausepeoplejumpin andtheyrealize, I'mnotmakingmoneyasfastasI thought Iwouldbe. It'slike,yeah,itdoesn'thappeninthe
firstweek.Also,peoplego,oh, Iactuallydon'thaveasmany ideasasI thoughtIwould.And I'mnotsureIcanmaintainit.Butthe biggest reasonisthat people realizehowmuchworkgoes onbehind thescenesandhowmuchtimeittakesto getan episodeout.Sosomeof this Italked aboutin thelastepisode.If youhaven'tlistened toit,headback. Ilookedatsomeof thethingsthatyou reallyneedthink aboutbeforeyou get
started.Butifyou are going togetstartedandyou'vethoughtaboutthosethingsandyou'relike,okay, I'vegotmyideanailed,thenyoureallyhaveto thinkabout, well, howdoImakesure this show survives?Becauseif itdoesn't,what'sthepoint instarting it,youknow,you'dratherjust not startit,thenstartit.andthen threeepisodes in,go,oh,bummer,I'mnot goingtobeableto dothis.Sotoday I'mgoingto talkaboutsomeof thethingsthatyoucando tosetyourself upforsuccessand
tomakesurethatyourshowactuallysurvives.Intermsof someofthestatistics,atleast attimeofwriting,Thereare over4millionpodcastsout there,there,and about10%ofthemhavereleaseda showinthelast90days.Now,some ofthoseshows wereonlydesignedto releaseshowsoveroneseason,or theymight betakingabreak,butthemajorityofthemhave justdisappeared.Sowhenpeoplesaythat the marketisflooded,yes, itis.Thereare alot ofpodcastsoutthere,butit'snotasfloodedas youthink
itis.Becausewhiletherearemillions ofpodcasts,therearen'tmillionsof livepodcasts.Therearehundredsofthousandsoflivepodcasts.Now, thatisstillabignumber,butthe vastmajoritydonotstickaround.Soif youcanreallygivesomethoughttoyourshowbeforeyouget startedand give itthebestchance ofsuccess,thenyouwillhavea muchbetterchanceofthatshow,buildinganaudience,stickingaround,andreally providing alotofvalue foryouaswellasthepeoplethatlistentoit.So whataresome of the waysthatyoucan avoidyour
showfadingout?Thefirstisthat you needtomakesurethatyouknow whatyou'regettinginto.Youneedtohavea reallyclearunderstanding of howlongisthisgoingtotakeme.You cando thatbypracticing.Youcandothatby getting behindthe tools,actuallymakinganepisode,seeinghowlong it takesyoufromend toendrecordingthingsagain.Youcanpracticebeforeyou golive.Youknow, youdon'thave topress,publishonthefirstthingthatyourecord.Youcanrecord mountains ofaudio beforeyouactuallygo,okay, I'm ready to
go.And ifyou areableto dothatand thecontent thatyou are creatingisnottimesensitive, then youcanbatchrecord, recordheaps ofepisodesaheadof timeandthenstarttorelease,buthavethemall therereadyto go.Soyouarenot working weektoweek,ideally,unlessthisisyourfulltimejob,youdonotwanttobeworkingweek toweekbecauseallofthe thingsthatneedtobe doneto get ashow out andpromotedcorrectly,ittakesalotoftimeandit's justnot enoughtimetobeableto do thateveryweekunlessyouarejustsolely
focusedonthat.Soyou reallywant tounderstandwhat you're gettinginto andtocommittoit.atatimewhen you canactuallyaddthat levelofcommitmentintoyourcalendar. Youwanttopracticeas muchasyoucanbeforeyou golivebecausethen you'renotgoing tobedoing theinevitablesortofsixmonthsofkindofworking itoutliveinfrontofan audience,becausethenthey'dbelike, okay,we're outof here.Now. Thatisn'tsayingthatyouneed tobe perfectfromdaydot.Pleasedonotthink
that.Butifyoufeel likeI'mnotconfidentbehindthemicpractice,recordthestuff thatyou'vegotanddoitenoughuntilyou cango liveandfeellike, I'mnotMichaelParkinson,butI amthebestthatIamrightnow,Ifeelmuchmoreconfident.Youcan,ofcourse,improve,grow,getbetterasyourshowdevelopsandyou will dothat,and everypodcaster doesthat.Sothatistotallyfine. Butyou just don'twant togo, oh,youknowwhat?Ihaven'tthoughtaboutthisatall.I'mjustgoing toturn the miconandgive
itago.Becauseyoujustwon'thavepeoplestickaround.Youknow, peoplearen't goingtogoon thejourneywithyouunlessyou arereallyproviding themvalue fromtheveryfirstminutethatyouturnonthemicrophone.Sodo allof thepracticingbehind thescenessothatyou'rereadytogo whenyoupresspublish.Because fromtheveryfirstdayyoustart,youwanttobeshippingoutsomethingthatwillbuildaudienceovertime.Youwant the peoplethatlistento go,oh,thiswas good,I'mgoingto tellsomebody elseaboutit.Andiftheylistenand
go,whatisthispersondoing?They'renotgoing to dothatandthey'reprobablynotgoingto comeback.Soyou reallywanttobeputting yourbestfootforward.Eventhoughit doesn'tneed tobe perfect, pleasedo notbeparalyzedbyperfection. Itreallyjust needstohavesomethought gointoit.Theotherthingyouneedtodois workout ifyou've gotthecontenttomakeitgothedistanceagain.Italkedaboutthislastepisode.Ioften willsitdownwhenI'mthinkingaboutanewconcept andI willhaveapieceofpaperthereand mygoal isto write52episodeideas.Now,
thatisalot.Andyou'lloftennotgetto52,butifyoucan'tgetto3,then youprobablyneedanewidea.Butif you've got15,20prettyeasily10even,you'relike,okay, well,Icouldactuallydevelopmore ideashere.Now, it'salotof contentyouneedto bereleasing everyyeartobe abletodeliveranepisodeweekly.Soyouneedtohaveabigbankofcontentthere togoandtonotbepulling your hair
outeveryweekgoing,whatamIgoingtotalkabout?Sothink aboutyourselfintwoyears time,notrightnow,whenyou'refreshwithideas andyou'relike, oh,gosh,Icoulddo somuchandI've gotsomanyideas. Thoseideasrunoutreallyquicklyandthetimegoesreallyfast.Soyouwanttomakesure thatyou can constantly evolve andgenerateideasforyourshow becausethatistheonlywaythatitwillreallylast.Ifyoucankeepon comingupwith episodes,batchrecordepisodesaheadoftime.As
Imentioned,thatisarealkeytoactuallykeepingyourshowgoing.The peoplewho areabletobatch recordepisodesaretheonesthataremuchmorelikelytohavethatshowcontinue. Now, if you aredoingtopicalcontent,which meansyouhavetodoitin thatweekbecauseitisrelevantthat week,thenthisisn't going tobeaspossibleforyou.And that canbeabitofa bummer.Igetit.Andthatmeansthat youneedtoworkyourcalendar
aroundthat.Butifyoucan batchrecord,itjustmeans thatif you're threemonths aheadofyourselfnow,it'salotofcontent, maybeyoumightnotbeableto getthatfarahead. Butif you'reamonthaheadofyourself,if the kids getsick,if youget sick, ifsomething happens,it doesn'tmeanthat yourshowhastogoon a break.Itjustmeansthat yourbufferisreducedand thenyouneedtogetit backagain.So that canbe reallyhelpfultomakesurethat youkeepon
going.Youalsoneedto chooseatopicthatyou'repassionateaboutthatis soimportantbecauseitcantakealongtime tobuildaudience.Youmightnevermakemoneyoffthisproject.Project.Itmightnot hitthe milestonesthatyouhave thoughtare themilestonesthatyouneedtohit.And that'swhyit'simportant toreally developreasonablesuccessmetrics.But itcouldbea longtime beforepeopleturnup.I'vehad somepeoplesay,I started ashowyears agoandit'sstill notgettingmorethan10
downloads.Now, thatdoesn'tmeanyourshow'sbeen a failureifyouarepromotingitcorrectly,ifyou'redeliveringepisodes everyweek,liketurnupfor those10peopleyouknow.Butyouhavetobepassionateaboutyourshow.Andifyouare passionateaboutitand10people arelistening,or 50peoplearelistening,or100peoplearelistening,thenyouwill happilyturnupandgive them whatthey'vecometohear.Andultimately,if youhad10 peoplein aroom,that'sit.Youcanhaveanentertaining,eveningwith10 peopleina
room.It doesn't needto bepeoplethatarefillingstadiums foryourshowtobe successful.Andyouneedtostart tothinkabouthowmanypeopleareinaroomandcan I reallydeliverthebestthat I've gotforthosepeople,asopposedtothinkinglike,I haven'tgotamilliondownloadsyet,orI haven'tgot10,000downloads.Don'tworryaboutit.You don'twant10,000or50,000 peoplewho arecheckingin timetotime.Youwantahundred peopleorfiftypeoplewho arelovingyourshowand turningup everysingleweek. So don'tworryabout those
smallernumbers.Butifyou'renot goingtoworryaboutthesmallernumbers,youreally havetobepassionateaboutwhat you'redoing.Otherwiseyou'dbelike,well,what'sthepoint? Sothat'sreallyimportant. Also,don'texpecttomake money.Isee alot of peoplecometomewithquestionsaroundpodcastmonetizationandtheprefacetothequestionis, Iwant to quitmyjob.AndI'mlike,youneedtostartthinkingaboutsomething elsebecausethisisnotthe waytodoit.Yes, it can happenfor some people,butyoureallyhavetogetthe idearight.You haveto haveareally
strongaudience.In most cases,youhaveto havedevelopedanaudiencesomewhereelseorworkreallyhard to developanaudiencefromzero.Soitisnotanoptionformostpodcasters tomake money offtheirshow.Andyoureally need togointo thisnotexpectingthattobethepath.If itisfantastic, thatisicingon thecake.Butif itisn't, youstillneedtohave aloveforwhatyou'redoingtokeepturningupforpeopleandtogive themvalue.Soit'sreallyimportant thatyouthinkabout that.You alsowanttobereallystrategicwhen
planningyourshow.Sonot every ideaissuitedtoconsistentlyreleasingepisodeseveryweek fortherestoftime.Andthat'sfine.Ifthatisnotwhat your ideaisorwhatyourideasuits,thenyoucan releasejustashort10run seriesofsomething.Oryoucouldrelease20 episodes andthentakeabreakandthenreleaseanother20episodes.Ultimately, it'swhatworksbest foryourcontent,whatissustainableforyou, whatworksforyour audience.Thereleasingeverysingleweekis justthebestsortof cadenceifyouwanttogrowaudience,ifthat'syourmaingoal.
But if youjustgotan ideaandyou'relike,actuallythis is justa10part series,then fantastic.Makeit. You'vemade a10partseries ofapodcast,itexists,itwillneverdisappear.Youcanalwayspoint toit,youcanalwaysshareit,itcanbesomething thatyouhave onyourresume.It'slikesomethingreallycreativeandbrilliantthatyou'vecreated.Sothinkaboutwhatkindofshowyouneedtocreate,notbasedonwhatyouthinkyouneed todo.Ifyouridea willnotlastforfiveyears,ongoing,butitis areallygoodidea,well,don'tdroptheidea because youcan't
makeitlastforever.Youmight do thatfivepartseriesandthenyoumight workout awayforitto findanotherlife. Downthetrack. Butyou reallyneedtothinkaboutwhat'sbestforyourcontentandyouraudience.Andthenthefinalthingtosay wouldjustbe tobeclearwith your audience.SooneofthethingsI thinka lotofpeoplemakethemistakeofisifthey can'tkeep up with theschedulethattheyhavepromised,thentheyjust godarkandthentheydisappearand people checkin andthey'relike,oh,maybethisshow'scomingon,maybeit's notcoming on.
And thenbythatpointyou'velostpeople,you know,peopleare onto somethingelse.Whereasifyou'reclearwith youraudience,hey,thisisgonnabea 10partseasonandthenwe'lltakealittlebreakandI'llbecomingback.They'relike,great. Iknow I've got10episod,Iknowwhentoexpect the nextbunchof episodes. Butifyougointothisthinking,I'mjustgoingtodropthissortofwhenIfeellikeit,youcannotbuild audience thatway. Youcannotexpectpeopletokeepturning upand checkinginwithyourshowifyouarenotconstantly turning upfor
them.Soit's reallyimportantthatyouareclearwithyour audience aboutwhatthey canexpect.Ifthis isan ongoing show,letthem know that. Ifit's not,letthemknowthatas well.And ifyouhit abitofa roadblockinbetweenand you'relike,youknowwhat, I'vereallyhitasnag andIcan'tactuallykeepreleasingepisodes.Don'tjust,justquietlydisappear.Let your audienceknowthat,youknow,iftheyareturningupandtheylikeyour content,theyhave aconnectiontoyou,theywill appreciatethathonestyandthat
authenticity.Soyouwanttolet them know wheretheystandsothatthey cango,okay,great,that'stotallyfine.Ican understandthat lifegotintheway.I can understandthatyougotsick. Icanunderstandthatthishappened.Andyes,great,you're taking athreeweekbreakandyou'llbeback again.Justletthemknowwhatthey canexpectandtheywillbemuchmorelikelytostickaround.Andthoseare someofmykeytipsto big organisations with a lot me tell in their favour that ifyouarein themixofitrightnowandyouarefindingitdifficult, do not
feellikeyouaretheonlyone.Itisalotofwork,a lotoftimeandit isreasonableforyoutobefeelinglike,isthisworthit?Becausealot ofpeoplefeelthat wayand alot ofpeopledropoff soifyoudon't want your showtobethatway, youreallyjust have tosetupsomestructures andtomakesurethat you giveyourselfabit ofabufferandtogetasmuchinthecanasyoupossiblycanso thatyou cantryandkeep upwiththerelentlessnessofaweekly releasescheduleifthatiswhatyouhavechosen.Becauseit is
tough.Iknow.Anyway,hopefullythat helpsyouIdonotwantyour podcasttofadeout. Itisabummerof asituation, butifit does,it does.But youjust don'twantit tofadeoutbecauseyouhaven'ttakenthe properstepstounderstandwhatyou need togetinto.Andoftenit'snotbecauseyourshoworyouhavefailed, it's justbecause youdidn'tgointo it understandingwhat the expectationswere.If you wouldlikea littlebitofextra help withyourshow,pleasecheckoutmy onlinepodcastingcourse,PodSchool.
Itisopenforenrollmentsafew times throughtheyear and when it'snot, it'sgota littlewaitlistthereso youcanfindoutwhenthecourseisopeningupnextandIwillseeyouforthenextepisode.Oh,andifyou'vegotaquestion,makesureyouheadto thedescriptionof theepisode,clickonthelinkandjustsubmityour questionthereasIwouldlove toanswerit.Seeya. Hello.Welcometothe show.It'sbeenalongtimesinceIdidthe lastoneof these, anditisniceto bebackbehind the microphone.I havehada lotonmyplate,includinghavingababyonmyown.
SothathasbeenatimeandI'veactuallystartedapodcastaboutit.Andso whileIwas firingupa newpodcast,Ithought,you knowwhat, If you want to monetise your show, you can do it with ifyouhave oneaboutpodcasting, youcan submititviathelinkinthedescriptionofthisepisode.AndIcannotget back toeverysingleemail, everysinglequestion that Ireceive.And soIthought Iwouldjustmoveon throughsomeofthesequestionsandbringthispodcastbacktolife.And
hereIam.SotodayIthoughtI would kickofftheshowby takingyouthroughthetopfivethingsthat youneedtodoifyouwant tostartyourpodcastthis year.A lotofpeoplehavejust comethrough So to monetise effectively via andhaveprobablyputafewresolutionsonthelist thattheyhadonthe listlastyear and nevergotaround to. So ifpodcastinghasbeenoneforyou,thenIreallywanttohelpyouthinkabout some of thethingsthatyou needtodo.Alot ofpeople jumpintothisanddonotgiveit
muchthought.Theydon'tunderstandwhatittakes.Theyseealotofthe goodnewsstorieson Instagram andtheythinkthisisthe onlyoptionforwhenyoustartapodcast,isthatyouaresuccessfullikethat.AndI'ma mugfor notjumping intothissoonerbecauseallof thesepeopleareearningmillionsofdollarsandI couldbe too. Andtheanswerisjustthatit'snotreallywhathappensforeverybody.Ithappensforaselectfew.And a lotofthosepeoplespeakveryloudly onInstagramand there'salotofnewsaboutalotofmoneythrownaround
theindustry.But thatisn'tthestoryforeverybody. Andcertainlyit'snever going tobethestoryifyoudon'tproperlyjumpinto thisunderstandingwhatyou're gettinginto.So hereare afewofthethingsthatyou needtoreallykeepin mindifstartingapodcast isreallyimportantforyou.And it's beenonyourtodolist andyoujustwantto crossthedamnthingoff, becausethere'snothing worsethanlookingatthisThingconstantly,every single year,andthinking,I didn'tdoitagain.And forget. Fear shouldnotbeholdingyouback.
Youreallyneedtogetstartedtoseewhatthisthingcouldbe.It couldbeone ofthosethingsthatgets massive,massivedownloadsandearnsalotof money.Itcouldbejustsomethingthatbringsyoua lotofpersonaljoy. So whateveritis,youjustwillnot knowwhatitisuntilyou getstarted.So here'swhatyouneedtodo.Numberone,comeupwithagoodidea.Now, beforeyoustartgoing,wow,what anexpert opinion.That seemsprettyobvious.It isnoteasyto come upwitha goodidea.Andalotof
peoplestartapodcastandtheirideaain'tgreat.Andtheyhaven'treallythoughtthatmuchaboutwhetherthereis anaudienceforthatidea,whether peopleneedthis idea.Andthatdoesn'tmeanthattheyneedtolearnsomethingfromit.It couldjustbethatthey'reentertainedby it.Theyjustneedto getsome kindofvalueoutof it.AndI seea lotofpeoplestartingashowbasedonkindof whattheiregowantsthem todo,ratherthanwhatanaudienceis actuallycrying outfor.Soagoodideahastohavea fewthings.
Ithastohave anaudience,andthatrequiressomethought.That'snotjustsomethingthatyoudon'tgiveanyconsiderationto. Andthen allofasudden,you'relike,oh, my gosh,peoplelikethis show.Youhaveto actuallythink,will peoplewanttolisten?Isthere amarketoutthereforthis?Andifthere is,howcan Imakesure thatI'mserving those peopleexactly whattheywant? Itneedstobeeasilydefinable. SoIhavealot ofpeoplepitchideastome thatIcould not tell backtothemin
asentence.Andifyoucannotexplain whatyour ideaisinasentencetosomebodyandtheyarefindingyouforthefirsttimeandtheydon'tknowyoufromabarof soap,andthey'relike, isthisa showIwant tocheckout?Iftheydon'tget itimmediately, they'llmoveright along.Youneedtomakesurethatitisanideathattheygo, oh,that isright upmyalley.I've reallybeen looking for somethinglikethat.Sothatisreally you next week. There'scontentthere,soIwouldlovetoaddyourstothemix.AndIwillseeyounextweek.