![\"you've](\"https:\/\/libsyn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2years_1280.png\")
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nWhen you podcast for two years, you\u2019ve earned that right.<\/em><\/p>\n When you\u2019ve podcast for two years and you\u2019re still learning, iterating and evolving, then you need to share that, like, now.<\/em><\/p>\n Meet Prescott from The Busy Creator Podcast. He\u2019s been podcasting for 2 years (surprise, surprise) and man, he\u2019s got some sweet podcasting wisdom for both newbies and those of us that been doing the deed for\u2026longer.<\/em><\/p>\n As the industry changes, so must our ability to stay open to listen to experiences and do you thing like only you can.<\/em><\/p>\n Prescott has some goodies for you to chew on!<\/em><\/p>\n The Busy Creator Podcast<\/a> turns 2 this week and in reflecting on the past two years I want to share the lessons I\u2019ve learned with you, the fresh-faced rookie podcasters and even those thinking about starting your own show. Most of these lessons apply for other projects too, such as blogs, video seres, and indeed to most types of business endeavors. Since each lesson carries a certain amount of emotional bruising, please learn from me to ease your own journey. Take each as a call to action rather than a cautionary tale.<\/p>\n As with most forms of productive work \u2014 that is, work where a \u201cthing\u201d is produced \u2014\u00a0the first ones are crap. But spending any amount of time with your show will allow you to improve dramatically, and fast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even by the third or fourth episode I was learning new editing shortcuts, new interviewing techniques, and feeling much more comfortable on the mic.<\/p>\n The performance aspect is perhaps where the greatest gains can be seen. There\u2019s not a podcaster out there who doesn\u2019t cringe at hearing his\/her own voice in those early days. Most of us can hear the shyness in our tone, the questioning between the lines in our own conversations. We aren\u2019t sure this is right, because it\u2019s inherently new and strange, but after a few episodes, we find the groove. Quite literally, we find our voices.<\/p>\n The early repetition also allows new podcasters and producers to be systematic about workflow and to stumble across steps which can be automated or batched. You\u2019ll get better at all aspects of podcasting. Give it a few episodes. Commit to doing 11 episodes<\/strong> and examine how far you\u2019ve come. You\u2019ll be amazed.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard from veterans this effect is amplified by the time we reach 500 or 1000 shows, but I\u2019ll have to verify this when the time comes.<\/p>\n Chances are you started hosting or producing a show because you were inspired by the work of someone else \u2014 someone pro. You\u2019ll examine their podcast and pick apart tactics to copy. This could be elements like a cold open, an intense highly produced introduction with third-party voiceover, musical interludes, calls to action at the top of the show vs. the end, etc. etc. Some of these will seem much more natural for you than others.<\/p>\n The only way to find your flow and format is to experiment. Move the intro around, try different music, re-write your calls to action, do whatever you think feels natural\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s your show, after all. The key is to remember your core principles \u2014 the reason your show exists and the message you\u2019re seeking to share with the world.<\/p>\n Your audience sticks with you is because they appreaciate your point of view and your experience. They\u2019ll be extrememly forgiving if you adjust the opening line script or if you suddenly introduce a backing musical track. In fact, most people won\u2019t notice! They\u2019re not downloading for each specific theatrical choice but for overall access to you.<\/p>\n The danger in too much experimentation, though, is that you forget who you are and what kind of show you\u2019re producing. Don\u2019t try to be a morning-zoo DJ and then a BBC journalist in two consecutive episodes. Don\u2019t immediate switch from a 60-minute roundtable to a 7-minute highly scripted zap of a show. Instead, play with small stuff and make slow evolutions.<\/p>\n Sorry to break the bad news, but I\u2019m not a multi-millionaire. My show doesn\u2019t earn 20,000 downloads per day, and I don\u2019t have sponsors knocking down my door to run ads. In fact, my show is still very niche and small. To put things into perspective, I just crossed 40,000 lifetime<\/em> downloads. When Marc Maron interviewed President Obama<\/a>, they saw 750,000 downloads in 24 hours<\/em><\/a>. So yea, there\u2019s still a mountain to climb.<\/p>\n It took me a long time to be OK with this fact. I expected my show to take off like a rocket, especially in the months after I left my last full-time job and had more time and mental bandwidth to dedicate. But in the absense of \u201covernight\u201d success, I had to take a good hard look at why I created this project, and who it serves. Some hard thinking went into it, and I emerged with some new questions to ask myself.<\/p>\n Instead of asking \u201cHow can I get 20,000 downloads?\u201d I started asking questions like \u201cWill someone find value in this episode if they discover it 3 years from now?\u201d or \u201cWill my guest be proud to share this conversation with her parents?\u201d This mindset shift doesn\u2019t happen instantly, but I\u2019m glad it did. My focus can now stay on each individual episode, and doing the best work I can in the moment<\/em>, rather than worrying about how I can swindle the entire world into listening. The former is much more actionable.<\/p>\n Audience growth is a tough nut to crack\u00a0\u2014 markets are fickle, listeners are busy (and cynical), and they don\u2019t like new things. I also came to discover that in podcasting just about everything is niche, with a few notable exceptions: social media, entrepreneurship, weight loss, and personal finance.<\/em> Perhaps we can throw successful pop-culture stuff in there, like the odd Star Wars fan-cast, or a few top-tier Comedy shows. But really, everything is designed for small audiences. If you\u2019re producing a show about model trains, don\u2019t expect to pull down numbers the way Tim Ferriss<\/a> does when he interviews the coolest Silicon Valley baron.<\/p>\n The Internet is big. Chances are good someone has created a similar show in your same sector. Instinct might lead you to believe they\u2019re competitors, but that\u2019s not how we should think. The real competition facing podcasters aren\u2019t other podcasters, but the entire world of media distraction.<\/strong><\/p>\n Even in 2016, most people aren\u2019t regular podcast listeners and indeed may never had listened to a single podcast ever. According to research<\/a> from the Pew Research Center<\/a>, only 33% of the over\u201312 population had ever listened to a podcast. Even fewer, 17%, listened in the past month or could be considered regular podcast listeners. Instead, folks still spend their time watching tv, listening to commercial radio, seeing movies, streaming music, or reading. (yes, reading!)<\/p>\n So if you\u2019re hosting a show about punk rock music, don\u2019t think of the other<\/em> punk rock podcasts as competitors, but instead as collaborators! Cross-link to their episodes and articles, invite them on your show as guests, post comments on their blogs, retweet their links, and otherwise show your support! Chances are good that the audience of those shows will also enjoy yours, and will make the time to listen. The hard work has been done \u2014 these folks already know how to listen to podcasts in general, and have developed the specific habits of subscribing to a show in your same niche.<\/p>\n I recently did an entire show<\/a> about \u201cthe competition\u201d introducing my listeners to other podcasts, magazines, schools, courses, consultants, and marketplaces surrounding my own topic of business and productivity skills for creative professionals. I\u2019m not afraid of the competition; it\u2019s unlikely that my listeners will jump ship, and more likely that they\u2019ll appreciate me as a source for recommendations and resources.<\/p>\n As I mentioned, I was hoping for huge listenership and appropriate cashflow as a result. But that didn\u2019t happen. What did happen, however, was valuable in its own right. Specifically, there have been two \u201cside effects\u201d of my podcast over the last two years.<\/p>\n First, I have been able to build a body of work<\/strong>. Every conversation I record, edit, and publish builds toward something bigger \u2014 it creates a collective truth, a compliation of experiences and insight from the industry pros I speak with. I am in the habit of remarking, by way of my show notes, the Tools, Techniques, and Habits discussed in the show. These get transferred into a Google Sheet<\/a>, and every now and then I comb through for patterns and trends. Only by looking backwards can I see the value created; I can see time compressing, revealing something greater than the sum of so many hours of podcasts. This knowledge becomes expertise. Applied in new challenges, this makes us all better practitioners and leads to even more great experiences. That\u2019s what\u2019s meant by the body of work in podcast terms. Much like a weakling child, I feed it little by little, and it grows into something formidable.<\/p>\n Second, I am now completely happy to share in the achievements of my guests<\/strong>. As a teenager I thought myself very callous, so I was pleasantly surprised to find genuine pride and selflessness in sharing and celebrating the small victories of my guests and collaborators. If this sounds very touchy-feely, it\u2019s because it is. I now feel that even the small gestures of retweeting my past guests (and new friends) helps us connect and feel closer. These aren\u2019t just people who talked on my show for 45 minutes, they\u2019re now traveling companions and comrades in arms.<\/p>\n In preparation for each show, I research my guests and try to learn as much as I can about their work. This usually means following them on social media and taking a good look at their websites, but could also mean watching videos and listening to other past podcast appearances, which are much more intimiate. Following our email correspondences and the conversation itself, I feel that we\u2019ve created a new relationship \u2014 and in a much more meaningful way than I could do in an online forum or via social networks.<\/p>\n This second aspect \u2014\u00a0building relationships \u2014\u00a0was part of my podcast by design, from the start. My entire show is a thinly-veiled effort to talk to the creative, interesting people I don\u2019t get to see on an everyday basis. Those transactions were predicted, but how I felt<\/em> caught me by surprise, and I\u2019m happy it did.<\/p>\n Most of us podcasters are avid readers of blogs and may participate in Facebook groups, online forums, subreddits, and a variety of other communication circles. But the hard lesson I had to learn these past two years is that most of this seemingly-endless communication amounts to advice, not help.<\/p>\n Advice often means well; it may come from experts who\u2019ve experienced what you\u2019re currently struggling with, or from service providers who regularly solve this exact problem. An entire industry now exists around this sort of advice, especially manifested as expertise-based media. TED Talks<\/a> are a great example of this, and frankly, so are many podcasts. But where the advice frenzy becomes problematic is when you start to hear echos of it. Where there\u2019s nothing but inspiration and motivation, rather than step-by-step aide.<\/p>\n You hear this largely as platitudes and isms. Folks who\u2019ve read every article by a specific author\/speaker\/entrepreneur now spew quotations like some kind of Jeopardy-playing robot<\/a>. Here are a few well-meaning expressions off the top of my head which might be profound in and of themselves, but really offer no help in a moment of crisis:<\/p>\n Stop.<\/p>\n These quips are not helpful because they lack the emotional support<\/em> essential to complete a complex challenge or to see the correct path amid the chaos. Even worse is the related generalities you often hear proposed as solutions. Tactics without an underlaying strategy:<\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t I think of that!? I did. Years ago. That\u2019s not helpful.<\/p>\n After a while it becomes easy to ignore these morsels of \u201cadvice.\u201d A good trick to build that particular muscle is to follow the advice of Cliff Ravenscraft<\/a> with his challenge \u201cdon\u2019t let anyone should<\/em> on you.\u201d, as in \u201cYou should<\/em> run some Facebook ads.\u201d Other people love hearing themselves dish advice, but so often it\u2019s not appropriate for you and your particular challenge.<\/p>\n The way to find genuine help is much harder. To help means to have patience, to understand the problem in detail, to have empathy for the emotional side of someone else\u2019s struggle, and to spend your own precious time monitoring another\u2019s progress.<\/strong> Common wisdom says build an accountability group or mastermind, or seek out a partner or mentor who has an actual investment in your success. But these are easier mentioned than found; in fact, after two years of producing my own show I still haven\u2019t found a sure-fire source of help when I need it.<\/p>\n Through some online groups I belong to, I have been matched with a few accountability partners, and we do chat online, but not as much as I\u2019d like. I had three previous partnerships and an accountability group fizzle out as various members had major changes to their schedules (full-time jobs, babies, etc.). It\u2019s tough to keep an online group going without equal involvement from all parties. If possible, find someone in real life to share your journey and to push you to be your best. Along these lines, I\u2019ve recently created the New York City Podcast Meetup<\/a> group to meet in person and discuss some of these same issues. If you\u2019re local, and facing some challenges, come join us<\/a>.<\/p>\n My friend \u2014\u00a0and 2015 Best of iTunes<\/a> Podcaster \u2014 Debbie Millman has an adage. \u201cExpect anything worthwhile to take a really long time.\u201d Clearly, this applies to podcasting, as it does to everything in life. But the unspoken sequel to this is simple: \u201cAnd don\u2019t bloody quit!\u201d<\/p>\n There have been moments over the past two years where I wanted to quit. When I questioned why I spend so much energy and time toiling in obscurity. When I pondered my own self-worth for failure to achieve instant [Internet] fame. When I wanted to do anything at all but edit a clunky conversation with someone who says \u201cy\u2019know\u201d in place of commas. When I wanted to skip writing monthly newsletters or update my show\u2019s Facebook page. Somehow, I managed to push through, knowing that consistency and\u00a0perseverance\u00a0are super-important.<\/strong>\u00a0Even if no one sees that specific Tweet or reads that individual blog post, knowing the production machinery still works, and that I\u2019m able<\/em> to produce a show is itself a reward. Consistency is also how that body of work gets built, how relationships grow, and how reputations spread. I\u2019d rather be known as someone sufficiently dedicated to slog away at a podcast for 2, 6, or even ten years, than be known as someone who tried a thing once and it was fun for a minute, but didn\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a hidden side to not-quitting. It allows us time to prepare for when the spotlight finally shines on us. Putting in the hard work as a small-timer or amateur builds the spiritual foundation for future success. You may find not getting what you wanted ended up being the best thing for you. But only if you don\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say what comes next. I\u2019d like to say I have some secret weapon to unveil or that I\u2019ve hired an assistant or received some grant to buy shiny new microphones, but none of that is true. In many ways I feel like I\u2019m just getting started. Two years, perhaps, is just the warm up, and all the work I\u2019ve done so far is to merely pave the way for the next chapter in this project. Stay tuned and find out \u2014\u00a0we\u2019ll see what the next two years bring.<\/p>\n Prescott Perez-Fox is the host and producer of The Busy Creator Podcast<\/a>, a bi-weekly discussion show where creative pros share their tools, techniques, and habits for creative productivity. He is also the founder of Starship Design<\/a>, an independent graphic design and branding agency, and the brains behind the newly formed New York City Podcast Meetup.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are times that you earn the right to wax poetic about podcasting. When you podcast for two years, you\u2019ve earned that right. When you\u2019ve podcast for two years and you\u2019re still learning, iterating and evolving, then you need to share that, like, now. Meet Prescott from The Busy Creator Podcast. He\u2019s been podcasting for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1104,1102,1103],"class_list":["post-3432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcasting-tips","tag-avoiding-burnout-in-podcasting","tag-how-to-have-a-successful-podcast","tag-how-to-keep-podcasting"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nYou\u2019ll Get Better<\/h3>\n
Experiment, but Stay True to Principles<\/h3>\n
Be OK with Small Numbers<\/h3>\n
The \u201cCompetition\u201d Isn\u2019t Your Real Competition<\/h3>\n
Unexpected Results Can be a Good Thing<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s Easy to Find Advice, but Hard to find Help<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
Just Keep Going<\/h3>\n
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