Hey Friend!

Do you ever feel podcasting takes up too much time? Does your podcast time management feel overwhelming or confusing? Are you sure there must be a better way to organize your podcast? If you’ve ever struggled with any of these questions or are looking to start a podcast the right way, keep reading! In this post, I give you three successful strategies to optimize your podcast workflow and save time. 

Improve Your Podcast Time Management With These 3 Successful Strategies

1. Podcast time management begins with using a production calendar 

To create meaningful content for your avatar, you need to streamline your topics and your episodes based on what is happening in your avatar’s life when the episode airs.

For example, if your podcast talks to moms, what you talk about when the kids are heading to school will look very different from when they are on summer break. Or, if your podcast is about detoxing, you’d probably have different episode topics for the major holidays (such as Christmas or Thanksgiving) versus during summer when you might talk about detoxing to get into shape for the beach. 

Essentially, you want to have your target market and your niche in mind when creating content. If you’re struggling to complete market research (finding out information about your ideal listener), this episode breaks it down really simply: Market Research Questions to Ask to Learn Your Target Market.

So, how do I use my production calendar?

For my main business calendar, I use an online tool called Asana, which is my absolute favorite (it’s also free to start!). My team uses the calendar view, and I try to plan at least two weeks ahead so that everyone knows what is coming up. While my production calendar doesn’t include titles and descriptions (I keep them separately in an Excel file), it includes all the topic ideas for each podcast. 

Planning out my topics in advance allows the content to be relevant to the season my avatar is in and any launches I have planned. For example, Podcast to Profit is kicking off soon, so I’m doing a series on Profitable Podcasts in the lead-up to the launch. The rest of the series is also linked at the bottom of this blog if you’re interested in how to create a profitable podcast. 

2. Optimize your podcast workflow by batching your content

What is batching content?

Batching is creating multiple pieces of the same type of content in a set time. For example, you might batch descriptions, so you’d sit down and write out all of your podcast descriptions for the next two weeks. Or you could batch your podcast episodes and dedicate a couple of hours to recording the next few episodes. I also batch-record my intros all at once for the entire week’s shows.

How to create a content batching schedule for better podcast time management:

Ideally, you want to stay a few weeks ahead to be organized in case something happens. You never know if your internet will go down, technology might play up, or perhaps something cool might come up that you’d rather be doing, like traveling or having a fun weekend. 

When your podcast is your entire funnel for your business, it’s important to stay on top of it! That means ensuring each episode is being published on time with amazing, thoughtful content that will change your listeners’ lives. It’s almost impossible to create that content quality if you’re in a last-minute rush, which is why batching is such an important element to include in your workflow.

For me, batching podcast episodes looks like having a simple outline for each episode I’m going to record and then set aside an hour or two and bust out five episodes. I like having ten episodes planned and 5 more prerecorded in my queue. This gives me freedom when life gets busy to simply grab one out of the queue, add an intro, exit, and air the show.

3. Reducing your podcast editing time is one of the most successful strategies for an efficient show

This is one of my top podcast productivity tips; reduce editing or stop editing your podcast altogether. 

You’re probably wondering, how on earth do I do that, Stef? 

I recommend relaxing and having fun while podcasting. Picture a friend sitting next to you, and you’re just having a conversation. Here are a few tips: 

• Don’t overanalyze what you’re saying 
• Give yourself grace
• Use the basic outline you wrote earlier
• Partner with the Holy Spirit 

Then go for it, hit record. Have fun, and don’t worry about the ums, you knows, yeahs or weird pauses. We’re all human, and it’s normal for an episode not to sound perfect or be perfectly edited. I believe people are searching for authenticity and want to listen to someone they can trust, not the most edited or “perfect” show. 

If you want to give the episode a quick tidy-up, go for it, but don’t fall into the madness of expecting each episode to be flawless. A simple editing option is scrubbing it through Audacity noise reduction. Then, add your intro, exit, and publish. Super easy! 90% of the time, I don’t edit unless it’s a long interview, and I need to cut it down to 40 minutes to make it listenable. You can also turn those into two episodes with a part one and a part two.

Bonus success strategy: Create a podcast episode outline, rather than a script

If you’re struggling with cutting down your amount of editing, I would recommend using an outline over a script because scripts take forever to edit since you are aiming to make it sound exactly like the script. You also sound like you’re reading, not having a conversation, which isn’t engaging to listen to either. 

Finally, my rule of thumb is that an episode cannot be edited for longer than its length. For example, for a 15-minute episode, you spend 30 minutes max to edit – 15 minutes to listen and 15 minutes to edit. Podcasting is free content; focus instead on the quality of the content, not its perfection!

So there you have my top 3 productivity tips for optimizing your podcast workflow. Optimizing your workflow is great for creating order, saving time, and creating successful strategies. A production calendar helps you be organized, batching helps create quality content and helps consistency, and finally, not over-editing your podcast is important for your sanity and saving you time! I hope this helps you streamline your show so you can get back to your life!

What are your favorite productivity tips that have helped you optimize your workflow? Let us know in the comments below. We love to hear from you!

This blog is part two of the Profitable Podcast Series; if you’ve found this blog helpful, you might enjoy the rest of the Profitable Podcast Series below:

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

P.S. Listen to podcast episode 307 for the full training on 3 Successful Strategies for Efficient Podcast Time Management.

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST

RELATED EPISODES:

Profitable Podcast Series:

1: Create Podcast Titles that Convert 

2: 3 Successful Strategies for Efficient Podcast Time Management (you are here)

3: The #1 Way to Scale Your Show Past 100k Downloads 

4: 3 Ways to Monetize Your Podcast & Which is the Right Fit for You?!

5: How to Pitch Your Program or Offer on Your Podcast