Planning For Better Podcasting

Read The article

The future is going to come one way or another. You get to decide what role, if any, you get to play in shaping that future.

I'd like you to play an active role. You're a working podcaster. You have a vested interest in making podcasting better, don't you? Of course you do. So let's plan on making podcasting better.

There are four levels of podcast planning I want you to think about, and I particularly want you to think of them in sequence so you can see how they build on one another.

Planning For Better Podcast Episodes

The first layer of planning you should consider is the planning you do for each of your episodes. You have a plan for your episodes, don't you? A plan for each episode? Even if you’re the kind of podcaster who likes to just get behind the microphone and wing it (I have been that kind of podcaster), you need a plan for each episode.

How much planning you do is completely up to you. If you ask the successful podcasters out there, you'll get a wide range of answers. For a lot of experienced podcasters, planning becomes an innate thing. “Life is show prep”, it’s oftentimes said. And that's fine, so long as that’s the plan.

Let me use an episode of Podcast Pontifications as an example. A friend of mine and fellow podcaster (hi, Mike!) asked about my planning process. Specifically, he wondered if I scripted out each episode. I don’t, and I prefer to speak more contemporaneously on the episode. But that's not without planning. So I wrote out the steps I go through on every episode, from conceptualizing to the final touches of publishing to various distribution points.

I go through 14 distinctly different steps to make each episode of this show. So yeah, I have a plan.

Now, I didn't start out with that plan when I released the first episode of the show almost two years ago. In fact, I didn't have much of a plan at all. It was just me sharing some thoughts and ideas on podcasting.

But now I have a plan that I rarely deviate from. And you know what? According to my stats and the commentary I receive from listeners, the show is better.

But don't think that planning is just for your episodes. You can do more.

Planning For Better Podcasts (Shows)

You need a solid plan for your entire show. How do the episodes of your show link together? Can you create an arc that allows each episode to be unique, but deliver a payoff for listeners who stick with you episode after episode?

How far out are you planning your episodes, keeping the preceding paragraph in mind?

Are you using seasons for your show? And if not, have you considered it? Do you know when the season you are in will end? Have you worked out a plan for the weeks or months you’ll take a break from podcasting so you don’t overload on stress? And do you have a plan for letting your audience know when that’s happening?

What about your show’s website, social media accounts, or other digital assets? What about the promotional materials for your show, like flyers, stickers, t-shirts, and more?

But don't stop there. You can do more.

Planning For Your Involvement On Other Podcasts

Do you play an active role in podcasts other than your own? Not necessarily hosting a show on behalf of someone else. Maybe you’re a recurring guest. Or maybe you offer services you do well to other podcasters. Maybe you're great at editing audio. Maybe you're a great copywriter. Maybe you' can write fancy jingles or create other elements people can use on their own podcasts.

Can you play a role in other people's shows? If you can, you really should plan to do so. Spreading your influence beyond just the episodes of your show is a great way to increase your overall visibility and cause opportunities to happen. It'll also make you better at all aspects podcasting when you're doing more than one thing.

But don't stop there. You can do more.

Planning For A Bigger Role In The Podcasting Industry

Even if you're brand new at podcasting right now, you won’t always be. And that means you need a plan to have a bigger role in our industry.

Are you submitting to speak at podcast conferences? New ones are cropping all the time, and many of them are desperate for speakers?

Are you engaging in constructive conversations with other podcasting leaders, either at conferences or in online communities? Are you well known in podcasting as someone with valuable and worthy opinions? If not, what's your plan to establish yourself at that level?

Or if you are well known already... and people kind of think you're a dick? Assuming you didn’t do that on purpose, what's your plan to change your image and be more helpful? (He said, speaking from experience.)

Think about those four layers of planning for better podcasting. Plan to make better episodes, but don't stop there. Plan to make a better show, but don’t stop there. Plan to play roles on other shows, but don’t stop there. Plan your own ability to influence the direction podcasting is heading to make podcasting better for us all.

I think you can do it. I think we could all use some occasional reminding to not be so focused on our singular podcast that we lose sight of the bigger picture. And almost always, having a plan is better than having no plan at all.

Now, I didn't plan on asking this, but if you wanted to go to BuyMeACoffee.com/EvoTerra and buy me a coffee, you can set it up so that it buys me a single coffee every single month.

If money's a little tight and you just want to show your love and appreciation for what I have to say, go to RateThisPodcast.com/podpont and leave a rating. It’ll customize the choices to just those that work on the device you used to get to that URL.

And finally, if you know of someone or you are someone who needs some assistance with a podcast strategy that works with your overall business objectives; that's what my company, Simpler Media Productions, does for our clients. Go to SimplerMedia.pro or just drop me an email and we'll talk: evo@podcastlaunch.pro.

See you tomorrow for another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Published On:

January 28, 2020

Download The Audio FilE

Display/Hide Transcript

Great. Podcasting doesn't happen by accident. Even good podcasting can be made better with a more deliberate approach. It's okay if you don't agree. Plenty of others are planning podcasting's future without you.

Hello and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me. Evo Terra, the future is going to come one way or another. You get to decide what role, if any, you get to play in shaping that future. Now, I'd like you to play an active role. I plan on playing an active role, and I think you can too. You're a working podcaster.

You have a vested interest in making podcasting better in the future of podcasting, don't you? Surely you do. So let's plan on doing better podcasting. Now, there's four ways I want you to think about this are four layers, and I probably shouldn't have said that because I think I wanted to build tension, but that's fine.

We'll roll with it because that's the way things happen to podcasting. Four levels of planning. I want you to think about, now I know you're already thinking about some of them, so I want to try and layer them all together. Not necessarily together. I want to layer them in sequence so you can get the larger picture I'm talking about.

So the first layer of planning, I want you to think about the first level of planning. I want you to think about, okay, is planning for your episodes. Yeah. That boring thing about planning for episodes. You have a plan for your episodes, don't you? And I said with that amount of derision, because one of you out there listening doesn't like to plan.

There are episodes you like to just get behind the microphone and wing it, which I have done, which I would reckon most of us have done. And if you want to keep doing that, knock yourself out. But the topic of this conversation is planning for better podcasting. So to get better, you need to plan out your episodes.

Now, how much planning you do is completely up to you. You just need to do some. And if you ask the successful podcasters out there, you'll get a wide range of how much planning they do. For a lot of people, planning becomes an innate thing. It's just what you do. You don't even think about it. You're going to show is, or life prep, let's say their life is show prep is oftentimes said, well, that's fine, but still that plan has to happen at some point in time.

Let me use my show as an example. This thing right here called podcast pontifications and we're talking about an individual episode. I was asked by a friend of mine, hi, Mike, what my planning process looks like. He asked, do I sit down and write out a script and do the whole thing? What do I do? Well, I don't write out a script, as you can tell.

Uh, it's more extemporaneous, but that's not without planning. I wrote out my steps. There are 14. 14 different steps to making episodes of this particular show. I've got a plan. I didn't start that way when I started the show almost two years ago. I didn't have much of a plan. It was just me getting in rambling.

Now I've got a plan, and you know what? According to my stats and according to the commentary I get from people, the show is better. So that's good. So the episodes themselves are better than they were previously. But don't stop with planning. Just your episodes. Plan out your entire show. How will the episodes link together?

How many weeks in advance are you planning out episodes? More importantly, how does the show overall work? Are you using seasons? When is the end of the season you're in currently? When is the break you're planning on taking so you don't go completely and totally stir-crazy. How far advanced, how far in advance can you plan your show?

Not just your episodes, but I mean your show overall. What is the over writing arc your episodes have? What about your website? What about the way you present your show to people in, in other ways, pins, uh, you know, flyers, stickers, all these various things. What sort of planning are you making for your show?

But don't stop there. What about your role on other shows? Not necessarily shows that you are the host of, but shows you are involved with, maybe as a recurring guest, maybe as someone who is offering various services that you do well to other podcasts. Maybe you're great at editing, editing. Maybe you're a great copywriter.

Maybe you've got some fancy jingles that you write. How can you play a role on other people's shows? And if you're not playing a role on other people's shows right now, you need a plan to do that because spreading your influence beyond just your episodes or your show is a great way to increase your overall visibility.

In podcasting, and it'll also get you better at podcasting because you're doing more than one thing, but don't stop there. What's your role in the industry of podcasting? What's your plan to have a bigger role in podcasting? Even if you're brand new right now, what's your plan to have a bigger role in our industry?

Are you submitting to speak at the many podcast conferences, all of which are cropping up all the time? Are you engaging in conversations, constructive conversations with other industry leaders or other people just in the podcasting space? Are you well known in podcasting and if not, what's your role to get there?

Or if you are well known and people kind of think you're ready, Dick , what's your plan to change that? Yeah, he said, speaking from experience,

those are the four layers I want you to think about when you're planning for better podcasting, like the rest of us. Can plan to make better episodes, but don't stop there. You can plan to make a better show, which then lets you make a plan for how you can make more podcasts better by playing roles on other shows, and then ultimately you can start influencing the direction podcasting is heading when you have planned for better podcasting at the industry level at the way up top level.

I think you can do it. I think we could all do use with the occasional reminding that that thing that we do with our singular podcast, there's more to it and a plan almost always is better than having no plan at all. Now, I didn't plan on this. But if you wanted to go to buy me a coffee.com/evo Terra and buy me a coffee, you can set it up so that it buys me a single coffee every single month.

If you like to show some support for the show, that's awesome. Buy me a coffee.com/evo Terra if money's a little tight and you just want to show your love and appreciation and say, Hey, people should listen to this. One great way to do it is go to rate this podcast.com/pod Ponte. And that will let you leave a rating on whatever possible services work for.

Well, whatever you use to get to that URL, it's pretty cool service. And finally, if you know of someone or you are someone who needs some assistance with your podcasting, maybe this whole strategy is just hard and you just don't quite get how it works with your overall business mindset. That's what my company does at simpler media production.

Go to simpler media.pro or just drop me an email. We'll talk evo@podcastlaunch.pro. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow for another podcast on . Cheers.

‍

Watch The video

More Episodes about:

Perspective Shifts

Comments

Listen In Your Inbox