Why You Need a Podcast Audit

And I told him, I was like, the only thing I want to do is go get a massage, it is one of those things that I love so much. And because of the pandemic and everything going on, I hadn't had one in about two years. And I was like, Oh my gosh, it would be so fantastic. Just to get a massage. But when I was in there, and I've gotten massages for you know, on and off throughout my life. So it wasn't new to me that I knew the routine, I knew what was

expected. I know that you go to the spa, you get undressed, they give you a robe, you you know, like the whole thing. I'm comfortable with it. I know what happens. But it's a dip for whatever reason, this year, this particular time, I thought what a vulnerable thing to do. Right? Like you meet this person within five minutes of meeting them. And then you're in the most vulnerable state of your life.

Right? Well, the reason I'm bringing this up today is because that's kind of what it feels like, when you get a podcast audit. It feels very unnerving. It's like, like opening up your bank account and like showing everybody your books, right? I don't know if you've ever hired an accountant or someone to like look at what is actually going on in your finances. It's also a very

vulnerable place to be. And so I'm approaching having a podcast audit with the same gentleness, the same kind of slow approach because I know it's a little uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to talk about your

numbers. It's uncomfortable to talk about your audience size, or how many downloads you have or how big your email list is, or how many website visitors or if you don't have a website, because you can't afford one because you're like, I don't know if I'm actually going to take this podcasting thing seriously. Like, I've heard all of the different scenarios. And so today, I wanted to specifically shine the light on why you need a podcast audit, and how it could benefit you. So

let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast where we teach entrepreneurs how to start launch and market their podcast. I'm your host, Krystal, Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Because if you've been trying to figure out the world of podcasting, think of this show as the time saving shortcut you've been looking for. So let's get right to it, shall we?

getting feedback. And you know, if you ever see the surveys that people do, or even, you know, recently I shared about the Nilsen insights about podcasting. Like that stuff just gets me so fired up, because I love to understand the bigger general population, about how my information compares. And so today, what we're talking about, is kind of taking that same approach, but spinning it on

your own podcast. Because when it comes to having a podcast audit, what I'm typically talking about is someone else that listens to your show and goes above and beyond the good job. Yes, it's nice. You don't sound dumb or sure this is fantastic honey coming from your mom or your significant other, right? We've all been there. We don't know who else to ask. So we just ask someone that's close to us. It's a friend. It's a

family member. It's a co worker and you're just like, hey, will you listen to my podcast and tell me what you think? And they typically will say, Oh, yeah, It's fine, it's good. You know when maybe it's about something they have no interest in. Maybe you do a cooking podcast, right? It's all for chefs or people that want to get real fancy. It's the foodies that you're just like, oh my gosh, like this is the people that want to travel the world and eat all the

different types of cuisines. But if you ask someone that eats ramen noodles for dinner, and could care, like ramen noodles, and cereal is like their bread and butter right there. Like they don't really adventure out to food stuff. They're probably not going to care about what your podcast is about, or they may not be as passionate about it. Or they may say, Sure, sounds good. Sounds good. No, you need a much better

perspective than that. And honestly, you just need an outsider's perspective, when you're way too in the weeds. So if you are a solo podcaster, or if it's you and your co host, and you are just constantly in the weeds of planning the content, recording the content, marketing the content, you may be too much in your own head. And you need an outsider's perspective, you need the fresh eyes, and maybe new questions, right? This is something again, going back to my market research

class. It's all in the questions of what you're asked. So or what you're asking the people that you want to get feedback from, right? So if I just say, is this good? It's going to be a yes or no, instead of saying, What's the number one takeaway you had from that episode? Or what do you think that episode was really about? Or could you describe to me how you felt after that episode, or tell me a little bit more about what else

you would want to hear? These are much better questions that you can ask to your more general audience. But it's also something that if you're having someone look at your show, these are the type of questions you need to ask not is it good? Because you're going to get it yes or no. And then it's like, Oh, thanks. It's not really constructive feedback, that's going to help you get better. And there are always those loose ends, y'all. I'm so guilty of this, where we say, Oh, I was

gonna tie those things up. But I haven't gotten around to it. I'm not gonna lie. Okay, I'm gonna this is like true confessions of the podcast procrastinator, who I think I just came up with a new segment, I like it, I'm gonna write that one down. True Confessions of the podcast procrastinator. There is one specific task in my Asana project plan, that I have moved the deadline, the due date for this task, I've changed it like

five times. The first time was in September of 2021, y'all, it's down January 2022, when I'm recording this, and I have moved it yet again, I believe, to quarter two of this year, because it's something I need to do. But I haven't done it yet.

Well, there's some things like that, that you have in your podcasts that you're just like, oh, yeah, I was gonna update my category, but I just never did, I was gonna go back and change my podcast artwork, but I just keep forgetting to, or I was gonna go and put some more keywords in my podcast description, but it just hasn't happened yet. I get it, there's always those loose ends. But coming back around to why you need a podcast audit, you need someone to have those fresh eyes

on your show. And this is something that I did a lot. Pretty much in the first half of 2021, I conducted a lot of podcast audits for free for people in our community. And I learned so much, I learned so much about podcasters, not just in the sense of what they were struggling with and where I could help them. But more of the internal feeling emotional part behind their show and where they

were struggling. So I actually wanted to read some of the reasons why these podcasters were submitting to have their podcast audited. So if you aren't familiar with how we did these, I basically just put a call to action in our weekly live sessions. I said, Hey, you know, we're going to do these monthly audits, go to this link and fill out the Google Form, and tell us why you want to be

audited. And they were like, you know, hey, give us your name, your email, what your podcast is about, they submitted either an audio clip or their artwork, like whatever it is that they wanted feedback on. They submitted it all. But one of the things and this is where my market research nerdiness comes back in. I really wanted to know why. Like, why did they want me to look at their podcast, I knew that there was a reason. And so I pulled up this Google Form in

preparing for this. This Episode Today, y'all. I am laughing at myself because I'm also a digital hoarder not only my podcast procrastinator, I'm a digital hoarder. And it paid off, it paid off in the best way possible, because I still had everything from this podcast audit. And I am so grateful that I get to read these here to you today.

it. You know, if you got your podcasts audited last year, if any of these are you, thank you so much for being so honest, because I think that you're helping other people in realizing why they may need to get their podcast audited to Okay, so just, there's way more that are really, really honest. The next one is, I'm seeing a steady decline in my listeners, I'm seeing some very loyal listeners and have good engagement. But the number of

listeners is decreasing. I want to get better at my podcasting skill. I absolutely respect your podcasting model. And I want to learn more about good content and marketing. Again, a very good one they're talking about, I've seen a steady decline in listenership. They have some really loyal listeners and good engagement, but the number of listeners are D, creasing. So it's just I have so many follow up questions, right, we're not going to get into all of my

follow up questions. I'm just going to keep reading why these people wanted to have their podcast audited. So the next one is, it would be great to have an expert eye and ear look. And listen, that was another one. The next one is my organic growth is slow. I would love some honest feedback. Now, this is one, I want to bring this up, because this actually comes up more than once. But organic growth. I have lots of ideas

around organic growth. What that means is you are not paying to have people come to your podcast, right? That is what organic growth means to me. And it's where you heavily invest in titling your podcast episodes, titling your podcast having the right keywords doing show notes that have really good SEO like, this is how organic growth happens. And I'm going to tell you, it's not an overnight success thing, organic SEO and getting like ranking on Google and getting your podcast to show

up in search engines. It takes time. So I just want to give like, whoever was submitting do to have their podcasts audited and they're like, Man, my organic growth is slow. It's not supposed to be fast. And then this is where patients really comes in. And I'm gonna be really honest, it's where I get really frustrated. Not with podcasters I get frustrated with someone telling me I have to be patient. I so if you're like, oh my god, Krystal, that's me. I'm not patient. Me neither. Me

neither. I have to pray for patients all the time, in so many different areas of my life. And in my business, like it just it's one of those things, you have to be patient because organic growth isn't going to happen overnight. So I wanted to make that really, really clear. Whoever submitted this, my organic growth is slow. I'd love some honest feedback. It's not going to be fast, but it is going to be effective. I can tell you that right now. Okay,

here's another one. Somebody said they hit episode 40 today, and I have very few downloads and followers. I would love to see this number rise. So I see this a lot too. We're podcasters you know, we all love the idea of just get started, right? We all have to start somewhere just get going you can always improve and get better later. But then there's people that fall into this kind of lost podcasters category of I got started I got I was scrappy, did it. Did I do it right? Am I on the right

track? I haven't had anybody give me an outsider's perspective. I just keep putting, like I'm being consistent Krystal, you told me to be consistent. I'm putting it out there. But I don't know if I'm doing it right. So if this is you, if you've hit that episode 40 If you've hit that episode 20 If you've hit that episode seven, and you're just like, I don't really know that I'm doing this all correctly. Well then just keep listening. Okay, just keep keep listening.

I have I have something really cool to share with you here in a second but I want to share more about why you should have a podcast audit Somebody else says, hopefully to be able to improve the way I connect with my audience. Obviously, we all

want to grow. But I want to create quality content that is easy to digest, no matter who you are, whoever this person is like you are a creator, after my own heart, this is exactly the type of podcaster that I want to serve, because they're trying to make it about more than just the downloads. Right? Okay. It is it is way more than just the numbers that you see of your statistics and the downloads and the listeners in the countries that appeal it. Like all those things like, those are actually

people. Those are people listening to your podcast. And they're saying, I want to create quality content that is easy to digest, no matter who you are. So that was just a awesome what I really wanted to make sure and highlight that one. The next one is I have no idea what I'm doing. I was just winging it and made a podcast one day out of nowhere. Bless you. Whoever wrote this one in. I love the pure honesty in why they wanted to have their pot. They're like, I don't know what I'm doing. I

just got started. I'm winging it. I just started it one day out of nowhere, was just like, yes, yes, yes. Because this is what we have to do. Sometimes you're like, you know what, if I want to get this done, I just got to throw it up and get it out there. And okay, now I've been doing it, but I want to get better at it. Okay, if you're listening, you're like, oh, my gosh, that is me, keep listening, keep listening, because I have some more that I think you're really gonna enjoy.

The next one is just looking for areas of improvement. Simple thing, that's a great reason to have a podcast audit. The next one is to get additional tips for me for being a better podcaster, I also get a little validation that I'm headed in the right direction. So this one is kind of like a two header where it's really helpful to get that outside perspective. But it's also great to get your

audience perspective. So not just all the people that are listening to your podcast, I think you should do an audience survey, we actually have a podcast episode I'll link to that's all about, you know, understanding your listener getting listener feedback. But I think it's also important to get some validation that you're headed in the right direction.

Because if you've never had that, you could be going in a loop de loop in an area, that you just don't know that you want to head that down or down that path. And you may not know until you get so far gone that you're like, Man, how do I backtrack? Do I need to rebrand my whole thing? Do I need to just stop this podcast and start

a brand new one? And this is what you would get if you had a podcast audit and had someone really look at all the different opportunities and angles that you can approach your podcast. Okay, all right, I'm only gonna read a few more I know, you're like Krystal, oh, my gosh, how many of these, these were just so good, I had to share them. The next one is I just want to I just want to know if my target

audience is narrow enough. And if my content connects to them the way I hope it does, I also would love some direction with my branding. So this is another podcaster after my own heart. Because if you are talking to a very general, a very broad audience, it's really hard to understand if you're hitting the mark on the right people. Or if it's too specific or not too specific, too broad, then it's hard for someone to look at that and say, Oh, that's for me.

Here's a great example. If you say oh, why have a parenting podcast? Okay, is that parenting for single moms? Is it parenting for people that are, you know, divorced, and they're co parenting? Is it for parenting adoptive children? Is it for parenting? special needs children? Is it for parenting? You know, kids that are you like you're an expat? And you're raising kids internationally, and you're trying to raise them culturally with the best of both worlds, like, what type of

parenting are you doing? Then you do need to get a little bit more specific. You do need to narrow it down. And I love the question about branding. I always love giving feedback on branding, because it's really easy to look at your own stuff and think that it's perceived one way, but then you get an outsider's perspective and you're like, Oh, I never thought of it that way. Or I always because you have your own. I guess what's the right word?

Like you know the perspective that you're trying to put out to the world? Right You know, the internal matters message that you want your website to say, or you want your social media to say, but if you don't explicitly say it, or if someone can't see that, if you're like, Oh, well, I put all these creative pictures up, because I want people to think you're, I'm creative, but really, you kind of look at them, somebody else

does. And they're like, these pictures are kind of creepy, you're actually creeping me out with these little, these little weird pictures, you know, like, it's just branding is a whole thing. That's like a whole nother conversation that we'll have to have another day. But branding is very, very important when it comes to your podcast. Alright, I'll have a few more. I would like feedback as far as structure appeal, if there's a connection with my audience, and how likely people are to check

back in. So again, this is where the doubleheader comes in, where you could benefit from having feedback from an expert, but also feedback from your audience, the people that are currently listening to your show. So when it comes to structure and appeal, this may vary like I don't even know that I could tell you, you need to be like, XYZ, because I am not someone that believes there's a perfect template for a podcast.

I actually I was in the bus route group the other day, and somebody asked a question, like, what is the perfect length for a podcast episode? And then somebody else asked, you know, like, what, what do you typically listen to when it comes to a podcast? This was on a different Facebook post. And it was funny because I chimed in, I was like, well, as a podcast expert, there are no rules. There are multiple people that were like, thank you so

much for saying that. Because if somebody comes up to me and says, if your podcast is longer than 20 minutes and 17 seconds, it's going to fail. Or if it's shorter than two hours and 34 minutes and 23 seconds, it's going to fail, I'm going to laugh in their face. And I'm going to say actually, no, that's not true at all, because I can give you boom, boom, boom, XYZ examples of how you're

wrong. So when it comes to structure, appeal, all those things, it's all subjective, but it's going to be different for every single podcast, I don't think there's a perfect template, somebody tells you there there that there is please around in the other direction, okay, it's your show, you can do

whatever you want with it. But when it comes to connection, and how likely people are to check back in, that's when I would really focus on how you can connect with your podcast audience and the people that are currently listening to your show, and get that direct feedback from them. Okay, two more, two more guys. I know, I'm just I just can't, I can't help it. These were just so fascinating to me want people one of their podcasts audited.

So this one was short and simple, always trying to get better results in the search engines. So again, SEO, search engine results, all of those, it takes time, it takes time. And when I say that, I don't mean it takes a month. I'm saying it could take three to 12 months to really get results depending on how often you're publishing content. If you're publishing one podcast episode a month, and you're hoping to rank in Google, I mean, like that, that's a shot

in the dark. I'm not gonna say it's impossible, but that's gonna be really difficult to make that happen. So have some patience. I know it's the word we don't want to use. But we got to have some patience when it comes to search engine results and organic growth. Okay. And then the last one I wanted to share with you. I feel comfortable with my show. But I've never gotten an outsider's perspective, who is actively a

podcaster. So again, this is going back to the model of if you ask your friends and your family. How am I doing? Is this show good? They're gonna give you a Sure. Yeah. Because they don't know what to look for. They don't unless you specifically say hey, listen to this audio file. Tell me Is it too loud? Do you hear any weird background noises? Is it to echo we do like do I sound muffled? Am I too loud in certain places? Or do you hear the audio drop? Like you have to ask really,

really specific questions. I can speak from experience. When you talk to people that are not into podcasting, their eyes glaze over or their eyes roll to the back of their head and they're just like, I don't even know what you're talking about. I don't listen to podcasts. So yeah, I don't I don't I don't do anything audio. That's a problem. That's not who you need to ask for feedback on your podcast, but Those are and there

were 13 all together. So I just read you 13 reasons why people in our podcast community have asked to have their podcast audited. And there were so many more, I think I had at least 20 or 30 submissions for podcast audits last year. And it's something that I don't even offer for free anymore. But like I said, I learned so much in

doing these. And I know that it is a very valuable thing to have for podcasters that haven't seen much growth that aren't sure that they are headed in the right direction, or that needs some help with their branding, or their marketing or their strategies or collaborations or approaches to growing their audience.

level podcast audit. And it's actually above and beyond what I did in our free version of this because the free version was like I spent five minutes looking at your stuff I you know, I read your information that you submitted in the Google Form. And then I showed you like, Hey, this is where you can improve. Okay, next, like have

to move on to the next one. With these I am combing through the nooks and the crannies, like every single corner of your podcast, I'm going to look at your SEO, I'm going to take a look at keywords, I'm going to do some deep dive research on your topic on the information that you submit to me because I want to help you get better. I want you to not so feel like not to feel so frustrated, I got tongue tied there with your

podcast growth. If things have started to flatline or stagnate, I want you to think about what a podcast audit could look like for you. Do you need some of this branding feedback do you need? Okay, I'mon am I on the right track, I'm working on SEO Am I doing this correctly. And all of those things and more are just one of the things that you get, whenever you enroll in the the Poddy People Co-Op, you also get a one on one coaching session with me. And that is outside of our six week group

coaching sessions. So that is really the bulk of the program is we're going to have six weeks of group coaching, where you're going to be surrounded by other motivated podcasters that are looking to grow their show. So if you've been looking for an accountability buddy, I would love to see you in the Poddy People Co-Op and find that person that's going to help keep you motivated and inspired to keep going on your podcast

journey. So if you've never seen one of the live podcast audits that I did in 2021, I'm gonna link in the show notes to a recent YouTube video where I shared all about what a podcast audit is. And I included an example of a clip that I did all like you can see what happens in a really basic version of a

podcast audit. And I want you to see how every podcaster can benefit from having an expert look at their information, look at what you're doing, get a fresh perspective and fresh eyes and ears on the content that you're already creating. So I want you to go to ThePoddyPeople.com. If you are ready to register again, the enrollment is only open from January 18 through January 24, 2022. And if you're like oh my gosh, it sounds amazing. I would love to see you in the program.

But if you're still not sure if you're like I don't I don't know that I'm ready to enroll. Make sure you are signed up for our free training. It's all about for reasons your podcast isn't growing and what to do about it. So attend this free training. It's KrystalProffitt.com/training. And you're going to learn more about the reasons why your podcasts may not be growing. If you're just like, Man, I just really haven't seen anything change in the last six months. You need to save your seats. In

this training. We're going to have three different times that it's offered live, and it's going to be really helpful for you to get your specific podcast questions answered. And I would just love to see you there. I mean, I'm not I'm gonna brag I was gonna say I'm not going to brag but I am going to brag. I have the best q&a sessions. I love them if you've ever ever attended one of my weekly live streams? I love answering your questions, it helps me understand this community even

better. But it's also just so much fun to see. One person has a question and then five other people can benefit from that specific question. That's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about the group coaching that we're going to have in the Poddy People show up.

good? Right? It's such a open closed question. I want you to think even deeper about it. Like why would you want your podcast audited? Is there something specific that immediately comes to mind? When I ask, do you want your podcast audited and why? Hopefully, you're already thinking of something you're like, Yeah, I really want to ask you this question. If you do, make sure that you join us in our free training for reasons your podcast isn't growing and

what to do about it. That way we can get your questions answered. But again, the show notes for today's episode are KrystalProffitt.com/episode324. And that's all I have for you. So as always remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.