Podcasts are booming. Growing by leaps and bounds, in fact… and what better way to connect with your audience, establish yourself as an expert, become approachable and known to those you want to reach the most than to slide into their ears on a regular basis. Podcasting is a great way to do that and the barrier to entry is low, my friend.
As a successful podcaster, the host and creator of Fulfilled as a Mom, I’m going to unpack 5 things you should know before you embark on the awesome journey that is sharing your voice, your wisdom and your teachings with the world in podcast form.
1 – Know Your Audience
Before you start drafting your first episodes, choosing a name or writing the podcast description for your show, take two giant steps back. Who are you trying to reach with this show?
Knowing your audience or your “ideal listener” is the key to having clear messaging. For example – my show Fulfilled as a Mom is for busy working moms with young children. Yep, it’s that specific. Is it designed to exclude stay at home moms or working moms who don’t feel that busy or moms with older children? Nope – but knowing who you are speaking to is vital.
This way, when you sit down to record everything from the intro, outro and first episode, you can speak to that ONE person that your show is designed to reach. You can pretend that you are sitting down for coffee and imparting your wisdom over an adorable latte with one of those foam leaves in the foam. You can speak directly to the pain points, conflicts and issues that your ideal listener is struggling with!
2 – Consistency is Key
This one was the hardest for me at the beginning. I didn’t have a massive social media following when I launched my show – I had a handful of devoted followers and a couple thousand people tagging along for my teachings online – but the listenership for my show has continued to grow over time – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but it has grown.
The reason that it has grown is that I have kept showing up. Every week, I publish a show. There were seasons where we did 2 shows a week and seasons where we did one per week, but regardless of what was going on, every week a new episode landed in the podcast listener queue of our subscribed listeners.
My listeners knew what to expect from me and that I would be consistently there, teaching them, week-in and week-out.
Decide on a schedule that is sustainable with your current season of life – don’t over commit, and be flexible as you go.
Which brings me to thing number 3…
3 – Be Flexible
Be flexible with yourself. Don’t set an INSANE recording schedule in addition to all the things you already have going on. Start slow and increase as you go.
Be flexible with the name of your show – you show up and start teaching on something, then your business or platform pivots and you are serving different people in a different way? Don’t hesitate to re-brand or even re-name your show.
My show used to be called Fulfilled – The Podcast. It was doing great, but the deeper I got into my business the more I realized that working moms is really who I wanted to serve. Yes, I want all people to find fulfillment, but really this show is designed to point out and help solve the pitfalls of motherhood and how to cultivate that feeling of being fulfilled as a part of working mom life. So I decided to change the name of the show to Fulfilled as a Mom. I changed my messaging a bit, and off we went.
Don’t shackle yourself to the first name, idea, topic or podcast description. Your podcast is a growing, breathing thing that can grow and change as your passion, purpose and education content evolve.
Be flexible with yourself, listen to your listeners and their feedback. Give yourself grace and get moving!
4 – Outsource, Outsource, Outsource
When we first started our show my husband was doing all the editing. He was staying up late, in addition to working full time to edit the show. It wasn’t great for our marriage and, him not being a professional editor, it took him for.e.v.e.r. To edit the episodes. He was doing his very best, but he was a rookie!
When we started outsourcing our podcast editing (alongside adding VIDEO – you can now find Fulfilled as a Mom on YouTube, too!) I let out a BIG sigh of relief. No longer was podcast editing the third member of our marriage. No longer did I have to be responsible for that, too.
I was free to sit down and record, not worrying about the editing. Outsourcing the editing was one of the best investments we made along the way!
5 – Let Go of the idea of Perfection
Yes, you heard me. It will never be perfect. You will never feel ready. Do it anyway!
Do it before you feel 100% comfortable. Joke. Slip up. Relax and record in your normal conversational tone and cadence.
Guess what… you are a human and therefore you aren’t perfect. Your podcast doesn’t have to be perfect either.
Messy action trumps a plan that you don’t execute EVERY TIME. Do the darn thing! The world is waiting for your voice, your knowledge, encouragement and teachings!
Looking for more uplifting encouragement? Find Fulfilled as a Mom wherever you get your podcasts!
