How to spring-clean your show to eliminate podfade

With winter officially behind us, it’s time to shift our attention to the next big topic dujour: spring cleaning. And, in this case, that’s keeping your podcast fresh to make sure that podfade doesn’t strike.

According to our friends at Podcasting Tech, approximately 47% of new podcasts don’t get past three episodes. And per the Podbean Blog, most don’t get beyond 10 episodes.

Chop up the numbers any way you like and it looks like whatever you’ve just discovered under your sofa. It’s not pretty… and it’s especially sad when you think about the excitement, passion, and creativity new podcasters have as they’re developing their new idea, only to see it put on a shelf once the work begins.

As podcasting continues to grow, evolve, and incorporate new technology, it’s time to do better. You have a unique opportunity to connect with an audience clamoring for your thoughts, ideas, and commentary. But if you desert your efforts before you’ve established yourself, developed your skill set, or experienced any significant breakthroughs, no one will ever know.

If finally starting a podcast, building momentum on an existing show, or breathing new life into one that’s gone dormant is one of your resolutions this year, here are five ways to eliminate podfade this spring (and beyond):

1. Let Strategy Be Your Guide

Nobody’s crazy enough to go out in the snow without making preparations - whether it’s a big warm coat, or those snow-chains that might, hopefully, keep you on the road. Your podcast needs a similar beacon to help you on your path.

That beacon can be found in the strategy you apply to your efforts and the careful thought you put into planning all aspects of your podcast.

On the naughty list for me this past year was the number of “fly by night,” “launch your podcast in 24 hours” courses and programs that graced my news feed. They were abundant, shortsighted, and not at all focused on what it takes to grow and sustain a podcast over time.

It’s no wonder so many podcasts fade away after their opening salvo.

Taking time to build an impactful strategy will help you:

• Define your purpose: WHY you want to build a podcast
• Construct a detailed, targeted listener profile
• Evaluate other podcasts in your space for ideas you can emulate or improve upon
• Build out your podcast branding
• Create a catalog of content to carry you through the first several MONTHS of your show (how do you conquer the “10 episode or less stat? Produce 11-15 episodes before you ever take your podcast public)
• Outline several topics (new, adjacent to your past episodes, based on current events, etc) to give yourself a road map that keeps your show humming
• Build an extensive guest list, determine themes, build assets, promote the podcast before it’s live

These are just a few of the critical items that should be built into a sound podcast strategy. Do it right and it will serve as the foundation that not only helps you grow, but keeps you engaged in the activities that lead to said growth.

2. Don’t Let Metrics Diminish Your Mindset

Several years ago, one of my former clients made the decision to shut down his show. I understood he was overwhelmed with other priorities, but that wasn’t the reason behind his choice. On a call one day, he said:

“If I had 5,000 downloads an episode, I’d keep going.”

Now, there are many ways to unpack that statement. For one, his downloads weren’t anywhere close to that number, so I’m not sure why he built up 5,000/per in his head as the necessary benchmark for staying in the game.

Additionally, his primary objective (at least from our initial planning discussions) was not built around metrics at all. Yet, over time, despite putting LESS effort into his show, he felt the numbers didn’t justify the time he was dedicating.

I learned a valuable lesson from this: Mindset Over Metrics.

It’s going to take time, energy, and effort to truly develop a show into an entity with staying power. You need to prove yourself to your audience and give them a product worth consuming, sharing, and devoting their attention to.

If you go into this with visions of instant fame and a bank account flooded with cash just because you pressed record, you’re not going to like how things shake out.

But if your mindset is focused on the message you’re delivering, over time, you’re going to get better at delivering it. And as that happens, metrics begin to fall into place naturally.

3. Play At Your Level

As this article goes live on the interwebs, there’s a lot of chatter about Netflix’s foray into podcasting, plus Hulu, and then Disney, YouTube, and then what Apple Podcasts are doing.

There’s always going to be room for debate and speculation on these major platforms. But don’t let it derail what YOU want to accomplish.

The beauty of today’s digital world is the ease of accessibility to multimedia channels. To do what we can do with podcasting today was practically impossible without access to a million-dollar studio as little as 15 years ago.

The big players getting big paydays? They’ve earned it.

Now, it’s your turn to build something that could earn that kind of notoriety one day. Pour your time and effort into building something impactful for YOUR target audience. In time, you could become one of the big players, too.

4. Lean Into Video, Not a Hollywood Production

Another hot-button issue in podcasting is video overall. Personally, I’m all for it…mainly because I’m an advocate for letting my audience consume content where they’re present.

• On the go: consume the audio
• Scrolling the socials: breeze through some short-form clips
• More time to invest: watch the full video of the show
• In a reading mood: absorb the info via a blog post

My take on the video phenomenon is that folks want to use it…but they want a top-tier professional production without the budget to pay for it or the skill set to do it themselves.

While this type of product might stand out, it’s a) not the norm and b) not necessary to build a podcast that keeps you engaged in the process.

One day, you may acquire the skills or financial means to inject some Spielberg into your show. But for now, capitalize on subject matter you can riff about in your sleep. That will keep you hungry to develop more of it on a consistent basis.

5. Don’t Get Caught Up In the AI Slopyard

This section could be an article in and of itself, but I’ll keep this brief.

If you’re like me, you’re inundated with so much fake, AI-generated garbage, you’re ready to throw your smartphone overboard.

And I can say with all the confidence in the world that I want REAL conversations with REAL people when I press play on a podcast.

AI platforms can be useful for post-production and creating assets for promoting your show. But using it to generate the content your audience consumes or, worse, act as the host and/or guest of your show…it simply defeats the purpose.

Letting a robot do the heavy lifting just so you can have a podcast is not sustainable and, in my opinion, is pretty cringy. Authentic storytelling and in-depth conversations are at the heart of podcasting. It’s what your audience craves AND it’s what will keep you energized to keep creativity alive.

No matter what stage of the podcast game you’re currently in, you’re on the cusp of something special. The only way you don’t experience that is by throwing in the towel and giving up on yourself.

The podcast community has your back. Use the rest of this year to create the best of things.