← The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E583 - Building Podcast Consistency - The Podcaster’s Path, 24 Steps from Beginner to Pro
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, it's Dave. Welcome back to the how to Podcast series. We are plugging away here on our pathway from beginner to pro. It's the podcaster's path and I'm glad you're here with me on it. Let's stick together so nobody gets lost. We won't have the rope. You know, like when you're a little kid and everybody had to hold the rope to stay in, like, yeah, we won't do that. We trust you. But let's stick together because we want to get through this path together. We're on our way through these 24 different steps towards taking you from a beginner to a pro. As a podcaster, I'm glad you're here recording this over a 24 hour period in February. 2026, 24 episodes in a row in 24 hours. I'm getting some interesting comments from people as I go live on TikTok on YouTube and Insta and LinkedIn. They're like, why do you. What are you doing? So emails are coming in, some comments, and it's fun. The whole purpose of this is I just want to build this end to end content arc for new podcasters or wannabe podcasters or people who want to improve or start a new show and take you from concept to reality as a podcaster over 24 episodes. So this lives in a playlist. You'll find a link in the show notes on YouTube. So it's housed there as a playlist. And I know you might not be a YouTuber as far as a listening app, but all the episodes are contained there. Also, all the episodes are in numerical order on your app so you can listen anytime. But I wanted them grouped together outside of the podcast feed so that people could find it and then come to the podcast after they listen to all 24 episodes. So there you go. It's on YouTube. It's there for you. Trying to help. And I'm trying to give you something shareable to share with somebody that's interested in starting a podcast but doesn't know where to start. They show up at the how to podcast series and go, oh my gosh, there are too many episodes here. This is supposed to fix that. So I'm glad you're here. We're gonna be talking about building podcast consistency, something. You're gonna hear a lot about this in podcasts, about podcasting and podcasting groups and books and courses and conferences. Consistency. And it seems funny to talk about this when I'm doing 24 episodes in 24 hours, because that's not normal. And this show is doing an episode every day in the year 2026, which is also not normal. Yet here we are. So let's talk about consistency on the how to Podcast series. Here we go. When we talk about building consistency as a podcaster, especially if you're just starting out, this is like the turning point for a lot of new podcasters. This. It's what separates one of the people who come to podcast as an experiment. Two shows that stick around and build quiet momentum over time. It's not all flashy. It's being consistent. It's showing up. It's creating the expectation that you're going to be there when people look for your show. Picture that moment when your irregular uploads shift to clockwork releases. Early on, I had a Show hovering around 30 downloads per episode, scattered across months. And then I locked into having weekly drops. And the numbers didn't explode overnight. But the listener emails, they started to trickle in. People started to donate through my Buy me a coffee. I was getting speak pipe messages. I could see the audience was growing and the responses were growing. My community's growing on meetup. I'm seeing indicators that we're on the right path. And it all comes back to having consistency with small numbers that compound into something unshakable. Your audience starts to anticipate you, your. Your audience talks about you, your audience adds you to their schedule. That's the sign of a healthy, growing podcast, and that's my wish for you might not be overnight, but as you build this out, it's going to bring huge returns for you in the future. So have a long view of the growth for your show and don't be discouraged by small numbers. When you first start, we all start there. I want to talk about a realistic version versus an aspirational cadence for your podcast. So I want you to skip the fantasy of daily episodes. Even though I'm doing them this year, it's a challenge to myself. Not that I might continue it into the future, but for now it's a challenge I gave myself in January. Again, just to pause here for a second. I'm not advocating that everyone does a daily episode of your podcast. That's not even possible. Okay, so please don't feel any pressure to copy what I'm doing at all. I am just at a point with my podcast where things are running smoothly, like really well, to the point where I am already pre recorded and posting episodes that are going to go live months from now. And because this machine is working the way I want to, which is a great indicator. I'm finding myself wanting to challenge myself, and that's why I'm doing the daily episodes, and that's why I'm doing this challenge. 24 episodes in 24 hours. I just want to push myself into a little bit of uncomfortable space where I'm going to be forced to grow. So I'm learning things. I'm going live. I've done a couple. A few live streams already during this process as well. I've never done a live tech talk. I've never done a live YouTube. I've never been live on Instagram. I've never done these things. And I'm putting myself into a place where I need to show up, and I need to learn these tools and learn how to connect in these ways. That's my little caveat to all this. But for everyone else who's not doing this or at this point in your podcasting journey, I just want to encourage you to skip this idea that a daily episode of your show is mandatory. It's not. Please. It's not realistic. Cadence means maybe weekly, maybe every second week, fortnightly for our friends across the pond, maybe once a month, maybe once every two months. I don't know. But something that becomes a regular, expected cadence for your show, it can be whatever you want it to be. And don't feel pressure from anybody to do anything that doesn't make sense for your schedule that could potentially burn you out. That. That is not healthy podcasting, and that's not what we're all about here. So you need to find time in your calendar and figure out what you're going to say no to. I'm not watching TV in the next 24 hours. I'm doing this. So I've said no to television, and I'm doing this. You need to say no to something to create space in your calendar to do your podcast. So what are you saying no to? For me, again, it's television. We need to come up with a cadence that works with for us. I found by working with podcasters that an aspirational cadence is what burns people out. When they promise too much at the beginning and then they don't deliver, they say at the. On their trailer for episode or episode one, I'm gonna do three episodes a week. Yeah. And then a week or two in, they're like, this sucks. This is way too hard. I'm not doing this. I'm done. And they leave because they feel like they didn't Meet some arbitrary number or cadence or release schedule that they just fabricated because somebody told them, this is what you do. I can't live up to it, so I'm done. So they quit or they scale back or they pod fade. They just fade away into the. Into the abyss. So these are aspirational cadence goals for people's podcasts. You need something realistic. Let's go back to what you can do. Do what you can again with what you have, where you are. That's the starting point when you think about your. Your cadence for your podcast and your releases. Start with with what fits. Maybe one polished 20 minute episode every Thursday. Great. Maybe one episode every second Monday. Awesome. Listeners value relatability over volume and a steady drip beats a flood even in a drought cycle. So keep that in mind. People are more interested in having quality content that brings value than being on time. So keep that in mind. Batching templates and calendar blocks are the key secret ingredients that I use to create this show and my eight other podcasts all at the same time. Yes, for those in the back who just perked up there for a second, I have eight other podcasts that I host in addition to what I'm doing for this show. I have weekly cadence for my other podcasts. One of my other shows has three times a week. I'm building all of the other shows as well as doing this at the same time. And I work full time. Keep that in mind. So how am I doing this? People are like, how the heck? I'm batching, I'm using templates and I'm using calendar blocks. The key to everything that I do is based on this. Work smarter by batching. Record more episodes than one at a time whenever you can and have it as a focused thing that you set up. You record and you do multiples whenever you have a chance. Again, your schedule may not allow. When you have Multiple children under 5 and your house is a mess and kids are screaming and you haven't slept in days, this might not work for you, but for me, as an empty nest dad with adult children and myself, my wife and my pets are the only ones here, really, for most of the time, I have some freedom. So don't judge my schedule or compare your schedule to mine. That's not fair. If you have the opportunity to batch though, you can record more than one episode, then do it. You're already set up, you're already in the flow, you're already in the process of recording. Then instead of doing one, do two. It's going to Give you some freedom. Patch recording is awesome for people who have the time to do it. Create reusable templates. One of your for your intro script. One free outro script or pre record it and have it canned so it's always there and it's just. You just plug and play. You just drop it into your file and it's ready to go. If you're like, I don't know what you're talking about. HowToPodcast CA calendar link. I'll show you on zoom exactly what I do and I'll mock up an episode right in front of you so you can see my steps in audacity to It's a free program and I'll show you exactly what I do. I won't hide anything from you. You can see exactly what I'm doing right now by joining me through a calendar link. Happy to show you. Use these pre recorded bits. Have these things already set up. Use templates and then block out. Sacred calendar time two 90 minute windows weekly. Maybe you record on Tuesdays and Fridays you edit. Treat these as non negotiables. Just like a doctor's appointment, dentist appointment, Meet the teacher night. These are things you just don't walk away from. So definitely, definitely keep this in mind. Okay? We need to build out blocked time. If you leave this to chance, there's a great chance it's not going to happen. So batch record use templates. Don't reinvent the wheel every episode and leverage calendar blocks where you set aside time. You make it a priority because if you don't, it's not going to happen. What's our action step here? I want you today to pick your release time and day for the next eight weeks. It's going to be Thursdays at 6am it's going to be Wednesday at 2pm this whole topic about what's the best day to record and release an episode is a little exhausting because I hear people saying, well you know, you know, Mondays at 3am is the best. Okay, well your Monday at 3am in your time zone is somebody else's middle of the night or middle of the afternoon. It doesn't translate to a global audience. And I get a little bit annoyed that people are coming up with these dates and times when you should release. When there are people who that does not. That's not their time zone. And they have no idea why you picked that time. Makes no sense to them. So I edit for a podcaster in in England his podcast. He wants to go in my time zone. He wants it at 2am My time because that shows up on his end as a better time than if I posted it at 6am my time. So you need to pick the time that works for you. And remember your audience. If you're only focused on podcast listeners in Ohio, then pick Ohio time zone and be happy. But if you have listeners in Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Africa and China, your time zone in Ohio might not translate. So be careful with this and don't get too hyper fixated on this. If we all agreed on the best day in time and everybody switched to that new agreed upon day in time, it would then become the worst time to release an episode because everyone's releasing at the same time. You'd want to be on a day in a time when nobody else was releasing because then you have less competition. So this whole idea of a perfect day and time, take that out of your mind. Pick what works for you and your schedule and then show up. Just keep showing up. Make a commitment to yourself and to your audience and block out two recording recurring production slots in your calendar right now that you have set aside just for your podcast. And then share your commitment in a podcast community for accountability like our meetup. And then this becomes a way to lock in and create this recurring building upon feel for your show that will take your podcast from a hobby to a habit. If you need any help, reach out to me at howtopodcast ca. I love helping podcasters. It's probably the best thing that I've ever come across helping people like you with your show. Love to help you howtopodcast ca. Come back Next episode coming right up. Glad to be here with you. Thanks for listening. If you're looking for more information about podcasting and you're looking for a community around podcasting, come check out howtopodcast ca. It's my website where everything we do around podcasting, this show our community or meetup resources. There's a lot of great stuff there for you. A whole list of free tools that you can use as a podcaster to save yourself some money. That's based on my website, podcastforfree.com which just leads you back to my regular website. And if you want any more information as well, there's a calendar link on my website where you and I can meet anytime. It's always there, it's always available. Whatever you see available on your end. I'm ready to talk podcasting with anybody. I'd love to help you no matter what your questions are. We can grab a virtual coffee and we can talk through what your big idea is. Maybe some of your struggles in podcasting, maybe some motivational things, maybe some growth things. Happy to help you over at howtopodcast ca Come check out the website. Let's connect. Stick around because we have a bunch more episodes here on The Podcaster's Path. 24 episodes here in a row. That's meant to be kind of your starting point for your journey as a podcaster. Or if you're going to start a new show or you want to refresh your journey and catch up on maybe some of the things you might have missed. That's what this show is about. I'm glad you're here. My name is Dave. Love to help you reach out anytime. HowToPodcast CA take care. Talk soon.