← 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
E585 - Taking A Victory Lap, Celebrating Podcast Milestones - The Podcaster’s Path, 24 Steps from Beginner to Pro
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Okay, we're rolling. And welcome back to the how to Podcast series. This is Dave. Happy to be here with you. We are on a path together. We are walking 24 steps. Beginner to pro the podcaster path. Today we're going to talk about taking a victory lap. I know it's early in your podcasting journey, but, hey, it's time to celebrate. Celebrate good times. Come on. We're going to be focusing on celebrating podcast milestones and taking that victory lap. Much deserved, by the way, but going out there and celebrating a win, I think we need to do more of this, encouraging you to put this into your calendar. It's time to celebrate. Like, put on a fancy hat. It's that time. Here we go. When we're first starting our podcast and getting our message out to the world, we spend a lot of time working through some pretty big things to get to the point where we can press publishing on that first episode, getting it out to the world. And then somebody starts to listen, and you're like, oh, wow, I'm a podcaster. Yeah, you are. And for you to bypass that moment and just jump into the next thing and not even acknowledge the fact that you did something that not a lot of people do, Probably a lot of people in your own circle would never even think of doing a podcast. And they don't even quite understand you and your excitement for this new thing that you created on the Internet, they're like, whatever a podcast is. And in that moment, you're like, it feels weird to celebrate something that a lot of people don't understand, but you did something. You did it. You created your very own podcast. And I think that we do ourselves, our audience podcasting in general, a disservice by not taking a moment to go, hang on, I just did something great. When a somebody wins a race in NASCAR, right, the race where everybody turns left for 500 miles, when they win, they cross the finish line. And does that mean everybody just packs up and goes home? No, no, no. What do they do? They have what's called a victory lap. They give the checkered flag, the winning flag, to the driver, and the driver does an extra lap as if they want to do one more time around the lap, right? But this is a victory lap. They get to go out there on their own, wave the flag, people clap. It's a thing. And I think in podcasting, we don't have enough victory laps. We don't have enough people waving that flag, going, I did the thing. Weeds are so quick to jump to the Next task on our list that we don't take time to celebrate. I think that we need to celebrate our first victories as a young new podcaster. With a couple episodes, it's time to celebrate our podcast milestones. I think we need to do this and I think we need to make it a priority. So that is what I'm voting for right here, right now. It's time to celebrate. Celebrate. Good times, come on. Every podcaster journey hits a moment where the grind pays off. It's not going to show up in fireworks or a gift at the door. Ding dong. No, none of that. It's not viral hits. It's not a huge audience waiting for you, but it's a quiet, personal win that shifts everything for you as a podcaster. The first victory proves you're not just a dreaming about being a podcaster. You, you're doing it for new podcasters especially. This milestone unlocks momentum for your show, momentum that you're going to need going forward. It reminds you why you hit record in the first place. I think your story needs to set the hook as a podcaster. Start with a real moment. Recall a small breakthrough like for your audience, like, like finally nailing a smooth intro after weeks of awkward takes and trying to figure out how to sound good on the mic. You got to a point where you feel pretty comfortable now and the podcast is going great. Or getting that first loved this episode message from a listener. Like, cool things. It unlocks for you as a podcaster. This feedback, this, this celebration. It unlocks for you the confidence to start getting in and recording more episodes, recording more often, getting in front of your audience more on social media or an email or something. Right? It opens this door for you to be like, I think I could do more. I think I, I'm really enjoying this now. It's gone beyond the intimidation to being drawn into this world of podcasting. This isn't about massive downloads. It's that spark that turns. I hope this works into, I can actually do this. So here's some way to track your wins by the numbers. My encouragement for brand new podcasters is to avoid your stats completely in the beginning, like 30, 60, 90 days. There is no such thing as stats. Focus on you, focus on content. Focus on building your episodes. Focus on practicing. Get better on the mic. Every episode a little bit better. Work, work, work, work, work, work. Spend your time on that before you start getting into the numbers. The numbers are deflection from your purpose and that's creating a foundation for your show. That's my Encouragement. Will everybody follow my advice? No. Because we love numbers. Numbers make us feel good. And numbers can also hurt our feelings. Just keep that in mind. So downloads grab headlines, but real progress lives elsewhere. Celebrate these things instead of downloads. Celebrate confidence wins. When you spoke without filler words, when you got better on the microphone, when you push through a tough solo episode and you've never done it before, Confidence wins. Also skill wins. Clean edits on your first try. Or a guest interview that flowed so natural. Your guest is like, that was the best interview I've ever had. And then also, what else wins? Relationship wins. A listener reply that sparked a conversation or feedback from a fellow creator. A relationship is formed. A win is not a measurable download that's great fun to have. Makes you feel good, makes you feel bad. A win is confidence building, a win is skill building, and a win is a relationship made. Those are the wins. These build your podcast muscle memory. These are things that you're going to need when things get rough, when things get boring, when things get hard, when motivation creeps out of your life and you're like why am I even doing this? This is where muscle memory comes in. They're proof that your fingerprints are on every single step of your podcast, from the initial idea to publishing. Create something unique and track those wins of confidence being built, skills acquired and relationships established. That's where you're going to find your wins that you can't track in your analytics. That's where it happens. And celebrate your podcast wins. Without ego inflation, podcasters can fall into a trap of becoming a little bit ego focused and wrapping up your sense of purpose in your results. Results matter, but results aren't who you are. There's there was happening behind the scenes in your podcast. When we focus on our ego, it comes across in the microphone. So please be careful with this. Rituals keep victories meaningful, not fleeting. After a win, pause for a non negotiable marker. Brew your favorite coffee. Reply to that episode segment that clicked. Journal 1 sentence on what this teaches me. Or text a trusted ear in your circle and say just hit my first smooth edit. Feels great. No big announcements needed. These are anchor growth moments without chasing validation. It's just acknowledging them in the moment. It's waving that checkered flag. Your action step here around celebrating your milestones as a new podcaster or established what are what's our action step here? I would love for you Again, I love these note things. Grabbing a note and listing the last three podcast wins for your show might take a little bit of thought and it might be something that I would encourage you actually to do quite often. Not just once, but start tracking your wins. I want three. Three from you. They could be even tiny ones like uploaded my podcast at the time I decided it should be uploaded right. I met my objective. I got comfortable with my mic. I didn't hit my mic once. I said 13% less like something. Pick one thing and share it publicly, on social, in a newsletter or your next episode's intro. Frame it as encouragement. This small win reminded me anyone can start a podcast. What's yours? Frame your wins and put them in front of your audience. Build in public. This isn't bragging. There's a difference between bragging and celebrating. It's lighting the path for others. Your first victory matters because it proves that persistent compounds over time. Claim it, share it, then chase the next one. Because victory laps are not talked about enough, they're not promoted enough. And that's what we do differently here on the how to Podcast series. It's time for you to jump behind the wheel. Do that extra victory lap. Wave the flag. Congratulations, you are a podcaster. Come back because we got more. Take care. If you're looking for more information about podcasting and you're looking for a community around podcasting, come check out how to Podcast ca. It's my website where everything we do around podcasting, the 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 how to Podcast. 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. How to podcast ca Take care. Talk soon.