How To Avoid Podfading

Podfading, or where podcasts have stopped releasing new episodes, is more common than you realize. With the reasons wide-ranging, they usually fall into one of the following categories.

• Lack of any planning
• Topics that are focusing on the wrong areas
• Expectations that are unrealistic
• Over-complicating the process

How To Avoid Podfading

It's all about building on a solid plan and creating a sustainable content creation method

You need to know 

• why you want to podcast,
• who you want to reach with your podcast, and 
• why you want to reach them with a podcast.

In this episode, I want to cover some key points that I think are enough to save almost any podcaster from podfading.

Create a List of Potential Future Episodes

When you've identified your overall topic, and the people you want to reach, breaking this down into episodes is important for a number of reasons.

Seeing a list of potential episodes lets you focus on the direction of the show. 

Block Out Time & Stay Sustainable

Knowing how much time you can dedicate to working on your podcast is crucial. This includes from initial thought on the episode topic to publishing the episode.

Rather than worry what is the best publishing frequency to grow your podcast, choose a release frequency that's sustainable for you. That might be weekly, bi-weekly, or you might even want to consider podcasting in seasons.

Make a choice, and work out how much time you'll need each week to manage it. Block out that time. It’s a non-negotiable.

Make Your Setup Easy & Accessible

Working with Circle270Media gives my clients the luxury of a permanent setup or studio environment for recording. There's a decent chance you don't.

This is where simplicity can trump having lots of your own sophisticated and complex equipment.

When recording an episode means spending lots of time setting gear up, then taking it down afterward, you're at risk of losing your motivation.

The more gear in your recording chain, the more risk there is of not switching it on properly too. Doing a great interview and not actually recording it will most certainly put doubts in your mind.

 Don't Get Bogged Down By Editing

Editing will make your podcast flow better, and make it sound more polished and professional. Editing should be used sparingly, not as a crutch. This means being more mindful of the structure and focus of your episodes before and during the recording session. Treat your recording sessions as if you’re live. This will tighten up your presentation skills.

Recording longer episodes on the basis that you can clean them up in editing will add hours of unnecessary work to your schedule.  Or the additional cost to you if you pay an editor.

Experiment With Formats

You're the boss of your podcast. This gives you a lot of freedom.

Even though I just mentioned that planning is vital, there are certain things that should remain flexible. One of those is definitely your podcast format.

Many new podcasters will declare things like “I'm going to do a 20-minute interview show.” Why 20 minutes? What if your conversation lasts 15 minutes, or 40 minutes? And then, why just interviews? What if you've got something you'd like to discuss directly with the listener.

You can make a case for having your listener expect certain things from your show. But in the early stages, the small audience you have won't “expect” anything from your format.

Forget Apple Podcasts Even Exists

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