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The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E591 - Embracing Podcast Plateaus - The Podcaster’s Path, 24 Steps from Beginner to Pro
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. It's Dave with you. What happens when you hit a plateau as a new podcaster and everything's been running really well? You've seen some growth, everything's happy. Sun, sunflowers and rainbows and unicorns, everything's great. And all of a sudden you get to this flat spot in your podcast growth where everything just levels off and you're like, what's happening here? Why are we not growing? Why are we. We're not shrinking, we're not growing. We're just kind of this limbo state. What happened? What happened to our show? Or did we make a mistake? Are we done? And I find when people hit this plateau space, they get nervous. And I just want to introduce you to the podcasting's quiet growth phase that make some podcasters quite nervous, but it's actually not that bad. So hang on. You're not guaranteed a constant rise in listenership over time. Sometimes we level off. Sometimes the same number of people leave our show that join our show kind of all evens out. Podcasting isn't always a straight line skyrocketing to the stars by any means. Downloads have ups and downs and they have plateaus. Sometimes when you hit a plateau, there's a stretch where the numbers just kind of stall out and feedback gets quiet. You don't get any buy me a coffees. You don't get any speak pipe messages, no emails or DMs. You're like, it's weird. Something's not right. And that's where people jump into change mode. Well, I gotta. I gotta kick start this podcast and get it back to where it was. Let's go. Let's change something. Hang on before you overreact. Before you change the name of your podcast or spend $2,000 hiring a guru, just hang on for a second. The truth is, every podcaster needs to hear this. Plateaus are not failure, and they're not a sign that your podcast is broken. They're just quietly. You're just in this phase where your podcast is compounding listeners and it's still working, but there's just stuff going on behind the scenes that you can't see in the moment. There's stuff just below the surface. So what is the story of hidden momentum here? Well, here we go. Imagine grinding through your first 15 to 25 episodes, which would represent if you're doing weekly, almost like half a year, right? Six months in your editing patterns. They're sharpening. Your hooks are better in your intros and all of that, your outros. But Apple stats barely budge. Listeners trickle in at the same pace. And you wonder, is anyone even noticing what's happening here in the show? Am I not improving as the host? Like, is it me? Is it my audience? What is it? Is my content? You get all paranoid and nervous and then one day a long time fan emails you and says, your last five episodes have changed how I talk to my kids. Keep going. And you're like, wow. And you get shocked back into it. You, Your podcast again. Like, wait a minute. It's working. That plateau is. It's. Your podcast is still working. You're not. Your podcast isn't done. What felt like failure or stalling out was actually just people rewiring their connection with you as a listener. And tightening up your structure might help for your podcast, but deepening your stories and your connection with your audience is where it needs to go. Growth is not always visible. It compounds in the background, turning good episodes into unforgettable ones. There are times when you're going to see an uptick on older episodes that you thought were long forgotten, but due to something happening in the news or something that's happening seasonally or something, your. Your episodes get new life again. So be okay with that and keep your eye on these things because you might see some trends and you can, maybe you can capitalize on these trends. Plateaus are an opportunity for us to master what we do. When I talk to seasoned podcasters, they know that plateaus are inevitable. Beginners chase these viral hooks and epic download numbers and pros embrace the. The realignment that happens when we hit a plateau. When metrics start to freeze out your skills. Don't they evolve? That boring middle season is actually where you can master your pacing. You can help you to develop better podcast editing skills, trim out the dead air and the bad content, and can help you to evolve. That boring middle season is. Is really a strength building time for you. Plateaus actually separate the hobbyists who have a passing connection with podcasting. Like it's. If there's lots of room for hobbyists, but their goals aren't your goals for your show. They help turn hobbyists into creators who. Who own their craft. They're. They're not just stops. That's. This is where the people forge deeply into what they create. It's time to turn slow seasons into experiments. It's time to play. We're not talking about reinventing your show. Don't. Don't go that far. Your show's not broken. You're just in a plateau. This is where you can play, though. Maybe you do a different type of episode than you normally do. You're all interview. Maybe a solo. You're all solo. Maybe an interview, maybe you tell the story. Maybe you just change up a little bit of how your show operates. That could be all it takes just to catch some new ears. Maybe you're not promoting. Maybe there's opportunities for you to get in front of other audiences. There's a lot of different things that could be part of this process. We need to track what shifts listener attention and what sparks people to respond. So one little thing could open the door for buy me a coffee sponsorships coming through. One little switch to your content could change how many speak type speak pipe messages you get. There's a lot of little tweaks that we can do that could have a big significant impact to our podcast. But we have to be able to play and not be so tied to the results. Let what happens happen. But at least try. I think one thing we can do is pick. Pick one experiment that you want to do in your next episode. A new segment, a tighter edit, a different action item to give to your audience at the end. Record release and note how does it feel and how listeners respond. Check your analytics, check your listen time to see how long people listen to the episode. Watch your emails, watch your comments. And this test can compound into your breakthrough season plateaus prepare you for something big. It's a foundational time. It's a flat time. And it's not doesn't mean your show is broken. It just means that you're in a different season. And as you power through, you'll come out of that and start building again. There's always room on the plateau for growth. Use this opportunity to make your show better. If you have questions, you want a review of your show, maybe we can work on this together at a podcast ca. We're going to continue on the path. A few more episodes to go. I'm glad you're here. Let's keep going. 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 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 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's about. I'm glad you're here. My name is Dave. Love to help you reach out anytime. HowToPodcast CA take care. Talk soon.