An essential part of creating a successful podcast is to identify and serve your audience well. But what if you have no idea who your audience is?

In marketing, they say you attract customers by creating a customer profile. Can we similarly attract listeners by analyzing their demographics, challenges, and psychographics? Probably. But are you podcasting to sell a product or to create a great show?

Podcast for yourself and you’ll free yourself from worrying about what the listener thinks. Remember the insecure kid in school who tried too hard to impress people? We’ve all been that kid. Experience teaches us that being yourself is not only better, it’s more sustainable.

Always be yourself. You are your show’s superpower, the one thing that cannot be copied by someone else. You’ll attract listeners who like you and repel those who don’t. Don’t strive to please everyone. You can’t have raving fans without one star reviews. (Lacking any one star reviews right now makes me question if I’m pushing hard enough with my podcast.)

If we strip away everything, you should create the show that you want to hear. This is art for art’s sake. Art needs no justification.

Create greatness and people will want to listen.