3 secrets from podcast professionals to help you succeed

There’s no doubt that the podcast universe is huge.

It’s claimed that there are around 5 million podcasts globally, with a combined total of 70 million episodes. Wow. When I started podcasting 2005, there were maybe a few thousand other podcasts in the market. And with my Scottish accent, I quickly attracted a large, global audience due to how unique my podcast sounded.

But we’re not in 2005 anymore, Dorothy.

So, how are you going to get your podcast to stand out in this very crowded market?

One key thing to remember is that there are more podcast listeners than podcasts to listen to. It’s estimated that globally there are around 500 million regular listeners to podcasts. Your challenge is to find your listener base, or even attract new listeners to the genre.

Here are 3 tips from podcast professionals.

• 1 Find your niche. Don’t just start a podcast for the sake of starting a podcast. Let’s be very frank, aside from your mum and her pal Shiela from the bingo, if your podcast is just you and your pal from dance class chatting about what you were up to last week, it might be a challenge to draw in a huge audience. However, if you and your pal from dance class focus on a particular niche, you may stand a better chance.

  • That might be mental health, dating tips, diet, fitness, etc. The trick is to choose a topic, or a variety of topics, that you’re passionate about, know a lot about, or can at least bring in guests to provide some expert voices. The topics you cover should be things you’re genuinely enthusiastic about, which will help keep your overall enthusiasm at high levels, helping you to remain consistent

• 2. Be consistent. If you start off claiming your podcast is going to be a weekly release, but after 3 weeks you only ever record an episode every 3 months, you’ll fall off the radar of your listeners. Remember, everyone has lots of competition for the eyes and ears. Settle on a release schedule and frequency that you can commit to, rain or shine. Yes, there will be days or weeks where you’ll struggle to find the time to record, or maybe just struggle with your enthusiasm for it, but if you’re genuinely committed to consistency, you won’t let your audience down

• 3. Don’t be obsessed with the numbers. Well, there’s one number you should be obsessed with, and that’s getting beyond episode 8. Most podcasts quit around that time. So while there are a lot of podcasts out there, reaching episode 9 puts you in the top percentile of podcasters! The key is to just grind it out for the first few months. Maybe even the first year. Most of the successful - ie. the ones that make money - podcasts were around for a long time before they ever hit “the big time”. Potential sponsors or podcast networks are going to be looking for that longevity before they commit to spending money with you. Yes, it would be cool to “quit the day job” and podcast full-time. That was my goal in 2005. But you need to put the work in

  • Focusing on audience numbers at the start is a sure-fire way to become disheartened. Instead, focus on the grind. If you’re consistent, if the production quality is good, if the content is niche and compelling, the audience will come. If you’re hitting around 100 plays per episode, across all channels, then you’re doing well at the start.

speak to the professionals

We’ve been producing podcasts since 2005. There’s very little we don’t know about the process, so arrange to come in and speak to us. We’ll help you settle on a presenting topic and style and we’ll make sure from the get-go that your podcast looks and sounds amazing.