3 Lessons For Podcasters From 3 Years As A Podcaster (Part 3 of 3)

TRANSCRIPT AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED [00:00:00] Hey, Hey, this week I'm doing something a little bit different because it's coffee and Columbus is birthday week. Coffee and combis turns three on Friday, the 1st of September. And that's a little startling to me because I can still remember what it felt like to push, publish on that very first episode. Like it was yesterday. But because three years is pretty significant in an industry where most podcasts fade after 10 episodes. I wanted to share some lessons that I've learned over these three years. And because coffee and calm versus turning three. I'm releasing three episodes. We're three different tips for three different listeners. Oh, you might want to listen to all of them. So I've got three lessons for potential podcast guests. Three lessons for business owners and three lessons for podcast is. This episode is for my fellow podcast. And here's three things I want you to know. From three years of podcasting. The first most important lesson. Is that you can change your mind about your podcast. When you start your podcast. It. Feels really permanent in a way that other things don't I think because you have to publish it. On apple. And you're told like apple values consistency in apple judges, whether your podcast is good enough. And apple, apple, apple becomes this like big overlord of your podcasts kind of thing. Spotify actually has more pod calls, but they are somehow less scary to submit to. Maybe because apple has been around longer. So they set the rules. So what happens is where, like this is our show and it has to be this way and it can never change. And at the beginning, you're super excited about what you're doing and then suddenly it starts to feel. Not quite right. You know, maybe you thought you would lamb interviewing guests and it turns out you actually hate it. You May have started off asking the same five questions to every guest. And now you want a more free flowing style. Or vice versa. Now, I'm not saying that you want to change your podcast. Every single [00:02:00] week. But I just want you to have in the back of your mind that if something's not working, it doesn't mean you have to stop. It doesn't mean you have to fade into obscurity. It may just be a signal that you need to tweak something. So for me, the podcasts birthday always feels like a time of reflection for me. In the first year of the podcast, I did many episodes on a Tuesday guest episodes on a Thursday. And I loved it, but it's a lot of work. So in the second year I stepped back from the Tuesday episodes and I went only on Thursdays, but I kept the mix of solo. And podcast guests and that worked really well for me. As I'm now reaching the third birthday. I'm thinking about how the show has evolved. And how I might want to think about rebranding it. To match the flow that it's now in the type of guests that we're talking about, the topics that I'm covering. So for me, it's about building in a reflection point on a regular basis to be like, am I still enjoying this what's working? What's not working just like you would with anything else in your business. And it's about understanding that it's okay. For things to change and for things to evolve, you do not have to keep producing the same show in year one. That you're producing in year 10. And that's true for most podcast some have tweets. They show some have gone from guests to so low. People are moving towards more video podcasts. You're allowed to change. Now, just like anything else you want to make sure that people understand the changes that you're making, that you're making them for a valid reason. You've thought through the data. But I think it's really important as a podcaster that you remember that it is your show. It is your platform. and it still has to work for you as well as your audience. Remember, I'm not suggesting you change every other week, if you want to experiment, you can throw a bonus episode in. If you're feeling run down, you can take a pause. You can turn your show into a seasonal show. There are so many options to choose from. But you can change your mind. Second.[00:04:00] I want to suggest that you plan your brakes. And take this from someone who has not had a break. I think they're all, maybe. Two week intervals, where I had some replays in the three years. That I've been doing the show. Because I am so addicted to the streak that I, can't not put out an episode. When you're thinking about your podcast, I want you to think about it. Like you would think about your business. When is my vacation, what is that going to look like? Am I going to push, pause on the podcast and is the podcast going to have a hiatus? Am I going to batch ahead of time so that the podcast can carry on while I'm not there. Do I want to do something more seasonal so that I'm doing. A fresh set of episodes. When I have something new to talk about. And want you to think about when are you going to give yourself a break? From the podcast. So for me, what this looked like last year is I knew I needed a break. In the second year of coffee and commerce, I had a Really hard coal batching shingle. I recorded once a month for between four and five hours of guests episodes. I would be losing my voice by the end of it. So I knew I needed to take a break from it. So I upped my batching schedule. I know counter-intuitive. But I apt to my batching schedule so that I was batching every other week. And what this allowed me to do was to batch all of my episodes for the year. By the end of August. So I got to have four months off. Of the interviewing side of podcasting. And then coming into this year, I knew I couldn't go back to that batching methodology. I knew that I needed that long break because I had burnt out. So I needed to change my schedule. I opened up my calendar for fewer interviews each week. So there are up to two interview slots a week that guests can choose from. So by spreading it out means I don't have a podcast interview every week they come up. They're super fun and exciting. It's maximum a couple of hours on one day a week. And then maybe I get 13 days til the next one. So my brakes are built in. But it allows me to keep my streak because I know I don't want to lose that. [00:06:00] So whatever works for you, whether that's seasonal and intentional break over the holiday season, whether you pause the podcast, whether you stop the podcast and come back to it in a year. Whenever that looks like. I want you to think about how can you, as the podcast host, take a break from the podcast. My third tip for podcast is, is to figure out what you stand for because saying no is going to get harder. The longer you go. So when you start your podcast, you're normally reaching out to like friends and people, you know, people in your network and asking them to come on the show. When you hit like 50 episodes, people are going, okay, we're less risk of pod fade. So it's worth it for me to invest time in being a guest. And this increases when you hit a hundred. 200, uh, keeps growing. Right? So the more episodes you have. the safer of a time investment. You look to a guest. And this means that people with bigger businesses and bigger platforms start to pitch you. And it can be very exciting to get pitched by somebody who you've heard of in business. Who's maybe been a hero to you. Who you've maybe seen speak from stage and suddenly they want to speak to you. And it can be very thrilling. But if you don't know what it is, That you stand for with your show. You can find yourself saying yes to things you don't want to say yes to. And this can mean guests. It can mean. collaborations. It can mean podcost swaps. It can mean sponsorships. It can mean advertisers. It applies across the board. You need to be really clear. On what your podcast stands for. For me, I've been clear on two things that I want for my podcast. I wanted it to be about building a business around your life rather than. Hustle grind. Push scale at all costs. So anti hustle. And second, I wanted it to be a platform for female voices. I came from a really male dominated industry. I've been in a lot of rooms with a lot of [00:08:00] really loud male opinions, and I want to use my platform to amplify female voices. When I get one of those exciting pitches. From someone who's got a really big platform and you think. Oh, my gosh, this would be amazing for the show. I can come back to, does this person preach hustle? And is this a female voice? But knowing that you stand for that makes it really easy for me to go back on a pitch from a guy and say, I'm so sorry. You're not a fit for the show because I only feature female voices. and being NT hustle. Gives me a criteria to evaluate that person's messaging. So not what they're telling me in the pitch, but what are they talking about on social media? What are they talking about on other podcasts? Because if they read my description, they know not to pitch me something to do with hustle. Though to be fair, quite a few people still pitch me stuff about hustle. But if somebody pitches me that they're not hustle and I go look at their social media. And it's super hustle and grind. I know they're not a fit for my show. I know. No matter how big their platform, their people aren't my people. And so it's an easy, no. While those nos are easy. They're only easy because of what I know. I want my show to stand for. Otherwise, it would be very easy to get excited by somebody sharing my show. On there. However many thousands of social media followers platform. So, what is your show stand for? What can people expect from you when they show up? Week after week or every other week to listen to you, to listen to your guests. Setting of what you stand for as a podcast. Even if you don't share it, you don't have to share it publicly. I'm only sharing it here because I want to use it as an example. You don't have to share it publicly. But it's going to make it that much easier for you to hold your boundaries with your podcast. Some people can get really pushy, really aggressive, really not want to take no for an answer. And. When they are a big name. That can feel intimidating no matter how comfortable you are with yourself. So knowing that this is what I stand for and that's just a boundary I'm [00:10:00] not prepared. So it's across. Makes it really easy to say no and mean it. Okay. Bonus tip for my newer podcast is. Please stop apologizing for your podcast. What I find, especially when I'm in networking events, newer podcasts is we'll often say like, oh, Um, I just looked at your podcast and you've got 200 episodes, or they'll say, how long have you had your podcasts? And I'll say going on three years and they'll turn around and go, Oh, I only act. 25 episodes. I'm only at 50 episodes. I want you to understand that that the current stat is that half the podcasts on apple are not active. To people who have started podcasts and they've given up. The average episode for pod fade is between seven and 10. You have already. Jumped a significant hurdle. I don't care if you're at 20 episodes, 23 episodes, 40 episodes, 500 episodes. I want to celebrate the fact that you have an active podcast that lights you up. When I hear you apologize for it. It's kind of reminds me of like, you know, have you ever been to dinner with someone who like, they cooked this amazing meal? And you're like, oh my God, this is amazing. And that, oh, well, you know, I just. It's not great. Didn't season the chicken as well as I could have been like, oh, the dessert could have been better. I just threw it. it kind of takes away from the moment. I want you to own that you have a podcast that didn't fade. I want you to own that your podcast is active, where half of them aren't. I want you to own, the people are choosing to listen to you. If you get 10 downloads, that's a decent dinner party. If you get 50 downloads, that's a room of people, right? Once you start hitting a hundred, that's like a wedding full of people. I want you to own your podcast. I want you to be proud that you've done something that others haven't managed to do. I want you to be proud that you've stuck it out. Through all the hurdles through all the hoops. You're still here and you're still podcasting. And if that's you, I want you to slide into my DMS, come and tell me what your [00:12:00] podcast name is. I want to celebrate with you that you're still podcasting, whether that's 11 episodes or 500 episodes. So I hope my hard learned lessons over three years have added some value to you and coffee and converse this birthday week. You have to have, I would love to hear from you in my DMS on Instagram, I'm at Diane under school mayor. I'll put the link in the show notes, please slide into my DMS. Tell me which one land, if you I'd love to carry on the conversation.