In today's episode I'm answering this question from Amy: "I really want to start my podcast this year, but I've heard you talk a lot about the fact that a lot of podcasts don't make it. How do I make sure mine does?"

This question is all about the concept of podfade, where a podcast fades into oblivion after around about seven to ten episodes (sometimes less).

This happens for a bunch of reasons including people being disappointed their audience isn't bigger, not having enough ideas to keep the show running long term or (the most common) realising it's actually a LOT OF WORK to keep a podcast going.

So, in this episode I share my top tips for making sure your podcast survives.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Wangal people, of the Eora Nation.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Host: Rachel Corbett

Editing Assistance: Josh Newth

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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.

Today I'm going to answer a question from Amy, who said, I really want to start my podcast this year, but I have heard you talk a lot about the fact that a lot of podcasts don't make it. How do I make sure mine does? Great question, because this is all about a concept called Pod Fade, which happens a lot.

It is basically the idea that a podcast fades into oblivion after usually about seven to ten episodes.

The stats say, that's because people jump in and they realise, I'm not making money as fast as I thought I would be. It's like, yeah, it doesn't happen in the first week. Also, people go, oh, I actually don't have as many ideas as I thought I would.

And I'm not sure I can maintain it.

But the biggest reason is that people realise how much work goes on behind the scenes and how much time it takes to get an episode out. So some of this I talked about in the last episode. If you haven't listened to it, head back.

I looked at some of the things that you really need think about before you get started.

But if you are going to get started and you've thought about those things and you're like, okay, I've got my idea nailed, then you really have to think about, well, how do I make sure this show survives? Because if it doesn't, what's the point in starting it, you know, you'd rather just not start it, then start it.

And then three episodes in, go, oh, bummer, I'm not going to be able to do this. So today I'm going to talk about some of the things that you can do to set yourself up for success and to make sure that your show actually survives.

In terms of some of the statistics, at least at time of writing, There are over 4 million podcasts out there, there, and about 10% of them have released a show in the last 90 days.

Now, some of those shows were only designed to release shows over one season, or they might be taking a break, but the majority of them have just disappeared. So when people say that the market is flooded, yes, it is. There are a lot of podcasts out there, but it's not as flooded as you think it is.

Because while there are millions of podcasts, there aren't millions of live podcasts. There are hundreds of thousands of live podcasts. Now, that is still a big number, but the vast majority do not stick around.

So if you can really give some thought to your show before you get started and give it the best chance of success, then you will have a much better chance of that show, building an audience, sticking around, and really providing a lot of value for you as well as the people that listen to it. So what are some of the ways that you can avoid your show fading out? The first is that you need to make sure that you know what you're getting into.

You need to have a really clear understanding of how long is this going to take me. You can do that by practicing.

You can do that by getting behind the tools, actually making an episode, seeing how long it takes you from end to end recording things again. You can practice before you go live. You know, you don't have to press, publish on the first thing that you record.

You can record mountains of audio before you actually go, okay, I'm ready to go.

And if you are able to do that and the content that you are creating is not time sensitive, then you can batch record, record heaps of episodes ahead of time and then start to release, but have them all there ready to go.

So you are not working week to week, ideally, unless this is your full time job, you do not want to be working week to week because all of the things that need to be done to get a show out and promoted correctly, it takes a lot of time and it's just not enough time to be able to do that every week unless you are just solely focused on that. So you really want to understand what you're getting into and to commit to it.

at a time when you can actually add that level of commitment into your calendar.

You want to practice as much as you can before you go live because then you're not going to be doing the inevitable sort of six months of kind of working it out live in front of an audience, because then they'd be like, okay, we're out of here. Now. That isn't saying that you need to be perfect from day dot. Please do not think that.

But if you feel like I'm not confident behind the mic practice, record the stuff that you've got and do it enough until you can go live and feel like, I'm not Michael Parkinson, but I am the best that I am right now, I feel much more confident. You can, of course, improve, grow, get better as your show develops and you will do that, and every podcaster does that. So that is totally fine.

But you just don't want to go, oh, you know what? I haven't thought about this at all. I'm just going to turn the mic on and give it a go. Because you just won't have people stick around.

You know, people aren't going to go on the journey with you unless you are really providing them value from the very first minute that you turn on the microphone. So do all of the practicing behind the scenes so that you're ready to go when you press publish.

Because from the very first day you start, you want to be shipping out something that will build audience over time. You want the people that listen to go, oh, this was good, I'm going to tell somebody else about it.

And if they listen and go, what is this person doing? They're not going to do that and they're probably not going to come back. So you really want to be putting your best foot forward.

Even though it doesn't need to be perfect, please do not be paralyzed by perfection. It really just needs to have some thought go into it.

The other thing you need to do is work out if you've got the content to make it go the distance again. I talked about this last episode.

I often will sit down when I'm thinking about a new concept and I will have a piece of paper there and my goal is to write 52 episode ideas. Now, that is a lot. And you'll often not get to 52, but if you can't get to 3, then you probably need a new idea.

But if you've got 15, 20 pretty easily 10 even, you're like, okay, well, I could actually develop more ideas here. Now, it's a lot of content you need to be releasing every year to be able to deliver an episode weekly.

So you need to have a big bank of content there to go and to not be pulling your hair out every week going, what am I going to talk about?

So think about yourself in two years time, not right now, when you're fresh with ideas and you're like, oh, gosh, I could do so much and I've got so many ideas. Those ideas run out really quickly and the time goes really fast.

So you want to make sure that you can constantly evolve and generate ideas for your show because that is the only way that it will really last. If you can keep on coming up with episodes, batch record episodes ahead of time.

As I mentioned, that is a real key to actually keeping your show going. The people who are able to batch record episodes are the ones that are much more likely to have that show continue.

Now, if you are doing topical content, which means you have to do it in that week because it is relevant that week, then this isn't going to be as possible for you. And that can be a bit of a bummer. I get it. And that means that you need to work your calendar around that.

But if you can batch record, it just means that if you're three months ahead of yourself now, it's a lot of content, maybe you might not be able to get that far ahead.

But if you're a month ahead of yourself, if the kids get sick, if you get sick, if something happens, it doesn't mean that your show has to go on a break. It just means that your buffer is reduced and then you need to get it back again. So that can be really helpful to make sure that you keep on going.

You also need to choose a topic that you're passionate about that is so important because it can take a long time to build audience. You might never make money off this project. Project. It might not hit the milestones that you have thought are the milestones that you need to hit.

And that's why it's important to really develop reasonable success metrics. But it could be a long time before people turn up.

I've had some people say, I started a show years ago and it's still not getting more than 10 downloads.

Now, that doesn't mean your show's been a failure if you are promoting it correctly, if you're delivering episodes every week, like turn up for those 10 people you know. But you have to be passionate about your show.

And if you are passionate about it and 10 people are listening, or 50 people are listening, or 100 people are listening, then you will happily turn up and give them what they've come to hear. And ultimately, if you had 10 people in a room, that's it. You can have an entertaining, evening with 10 people in a room.

It doesn't need to be people that are filling stadiums for your show to be successful.

And you need to start to think about how many people are in a room and can I really deliver the best that I've got for those people, as opposed to thinking like, I haven't got a million downloads yet, or I haven't got 10,000 downloads. Don't worry about it. You don't want 10,000 or 50,000 people who are checking in time to time.

You want a hundred people or fifty people who are loving your show and turning up every single week. So don't worry about those smaller numbers.

But if you're not going to worry about the smaller numbers, you really have to be passionate about what you're doing. Otherwise you'd be like, well, what's the point? So that's really important. Also, don't expect to make money.

I see a lot of people come to me with questions around podcast monetisation and the preface to the question is, I want to quit my job. And I'm like, you need to start thinking about something else because this is not the way to do it.

Yes, it can happen for some people, but you really have to get the idea right. You have to have a really strong audience.

In most cases, you have to have developed an audience somewhere else or work really hard to develop an audience from zero. So it is not an option for most podcasters to make money off their show. And you really need to go into this not expecting that to be the path.

If it is fantastic, that is icing on the cake. But if it isn't, you still need to have a love for what you're doing to keep turning up for people and to give them value.

So it's really important that you think about that. You also want to be really strategic when planning your show.

So not every idea is suited to consistently releasing episodes every week for the rest of time. And that's fine. If that is not what your idea is or what your idea suits, then you can release just a short 10 run series of something.

Or you could release 20 episodes and then take a break and then release another 20 episodes. Ultimately, it's what works best for your content, what is sustainable for you, what works for your audience.

The releasing every single week is just the best sort of cadence if you want to grow audience, if that's your main goal. But if you just got an idea and you're like, actually this is just a 10 part series, then fantastic. Make it.

You've made a 10 part series of a podcast, it exists, it will never disappear. You can always point to it, you can always share it, it can be something that you have on your resume.

It's like something really creative and brilliant that you've created. So think about what kind of show you need to create, not based on what you think you need to do.

If your idea will not last for five years, ongoing, but it is a really good idea, well, don't drop the idea because you can't make it last forever. You might do that five part series and then you might work out a way for it to find another life. Down the track.

But you really need to think about what's best for your content and your audience. And then the final thing to say would just be to be clear with your audience.

So one of the things I think a lot of people make the mistake of is if they can't keep up with the schedule that they have promised, then they just go dark and then they disappear and people check in and they're like, oh, maybe this show's coming on, maybe it's not coming on. And then by that point you've lost people, you know, people are onto something else.

Whereas if you're clear with your audience, hey, this is gonna be a 10 part season and then we'll take a little break and I'll be coming back. They're like, great. I know I've got 10 episod, I know when to expect the next bunch of episodes.

But if you go into this thinking, I'm just going to drop this sort of when I feel like it, you cannot build audience that way. You cannot expect people to keep turning up and checking in with your show if you are not constantly turning up for them.

So it's really important that you are clear with your audience about what they can expect. If this is an ongoing show, let them know that. If it's not, let them know that as well.

And if you hit a bit of a roadblock in between and you're like, you know what, I've really hit a snag and I can't actually keep releasing episodes. Don't just, just quietly disappear.

Let your audience know that, you know, if they are turning up and they like your content, they have a connection to you, they will appreciate that honesty and that authenticity. So you want to let them know where they stand so that they can go, okay, great, that's totally fine. I can understand that life got in the way.

I can understand that you got sick. I can understand that this happened. And yes, great, you're taking a three week break and you'll be back again.

Just let them know what they can expect and they will be much more likely to stick around. And those are some of my key tips to keep your show alive. Because let me tell you, it ain't easy.

And if you are in the mix of it right now and you are finding it difficult, do not feel like you are the only one. It is a lot of work, a lot of time and it is reasonable for you to be feeling like, is this worth it?

Because a lot of people feel that way and a lot of people drop off so if you don't want your show to be that way, you really just have to set up some structures and to make sure that you give yourself a bit of a buffer and to get as much in the can as you possibly can so that you can try and keep up with the relentlessness of a weekly release schedule if that is what you have chosen. Because it is tough. I know. Anyway, hopefully that helps you I do not want your podcast to fade out.

It is a bummer of a situation, but if it does, it does. But you just don't want it to fade out because you haven't taken the proper steps to understand what you need to get into.

And often it's not because your show or you have failed, it's just because you didn't go into it understanding what the expectations were. If you would like a little bit of extra help with your show, please check out my online podcasting course, PodSchool.

It is open 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 out when the course is opening up next and I will see you for the next episode.

Oh, and if you've got a question, make sure you head to the description of the episode, click on the link and just submit your question there as I would love to answer it. See ya.