en·dur·ance
noun
the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.
“You just can’t beat the person who won’t give up.”
Babe Ruth
I don’t have a video today, because a sick kid and business threw a wrench in my schedule. So guess what, I’m writing this while the sick one is napping.
As you know, the Pod 201 episodes are for experienced podcasters, looking to level up their show. So today I’ll be sharing a few resources that you can use to make sure you are enduring the hard times in your podcast.
Before you start go watch this video: The Flow State. If you’ve been podcasting for a while now, there’s a chance it’s starting to feel easy and you’re getting bored with your podcast. Don’t let that happen. Apathy and boredom are the quickest paths to failure for a podcast.
So here are some ideas to help you regain some excitement for your podcast and to start creating something of value for your audience.
- Notebook – Do you have a place to keep your podcast notes and ideas? It could be physical or digital, but you should have a place to keep all of your podcast inspirations that come to you and it should be readily available at all times. When you’re watching other podcasts, take a note of what you like about their show and think about if you can adapt it to fit your podcast? I watch a ton of shows, spanning a multitude of different topics and I take notes from them all of the time. I use Evernote, Google Sheets, and I have legal notepads laying all around my house so that I can write down an idea when inspiration strikes.
- Try new things – Ok, so you have your ideas written down. You’ve thought about them and decided which ones you want to try on your show. Well, now it’s time to act. Make a change. But give your listeners a heads up. If you’ve been doing a podcast for a while and you have dedicated listeners, you have to let them know about any changes you plan to make. If you have a podcast, then your listeners feel like they’re apart of it. They don’t like change. And they’ll either get angry or stop listening. Trust me I’ve seen it happen, it’s a lot easier to give ppl a heads up than it is to deal with the blowback. Could you imagine if Sarah Koenig decided that she was done with hosting Serial and brought on Leslie Jones to take her place? Instant death of a podcast. That’s how people will feel when you make even the smallest change to your show. UNLESS! It’s something that they asked you to change.
- Get audience input – Ask your audience how you can improve. Interact with them. They’ll tell you what they want. Create a survey in Google Drive and share it with your audience. Ask them about the audio quality, the topic choice, the guest selection…What’s their favorite episode? What’s their least favorite episode? Questions like this. Give them shout-outs on your show and on your social media. Your audience is your most valuable asset, take care of them. Also, their encouragement will keep you moving forward and let you know that you’re doing something important.
- Plan ahead – You ever notice how much energy you have about 2 weeks before a vacation? Or how in the months leading up to it, you can get through the day a little easier because you’re planning the vacay? It’s the same with planning a podcast. Not only will you be excited about the content, but you’ll be more prepared for the episode as well, giving your audience the best possible experience.
