Worried No One Will Listen if You Start a Podcast?

Hey Friend!

Do you want to start a podcast but are scared that no one will listen? Are you worried it will flop and be a complete waste of time? If this is you, first of all, this is completely normal! Starting anything new is always hard and uncomfortable. If you are planning to start a podcast or want to boost your podcast, today I’m sharing with you four things that will help ensure that your new show will be successful.

4 things to ensure you will be successful when you start a podcast. 

So you’re thinking about starting a show, but you have that lingering fear that no one will listen, keeping you stuck. I want to give you some freedom to know that everything great comes from a place of a little bit of insecurity (usually), a lot of overthinking (definitely), and a sprinkle of fear. What you’re feeling right now is 100% normal! 

Starting something new is intimidating, especially starting a podcast where you have to open up to a new level of vulnerability and feel exposed. It’s like when you start a new social media account and posting stuff is awkward and weird, but suddenly, you’re 15 stories deep a day, wondering who on earth you’ve become. It’s the same with podcasting, except in a good way! My podcast has become my outlet, happy place, and safe space to share. 

The true purpose when you start a podcast

There is so much beauty in knowing it’s just you, the microphone, and Holy Spirit. You’re covering yourself in prayer, showing up serving while knowing that at any moment, you can press stop, delete what you said and keep rolling forward. It’s completely safe for you to let loose, have fun, pour out, and encourage, allowing this podcast to be this vessel of love from you to your listener. Allow your podcast to be something that can truly bless people!

Transform your mind around why you’re starting your show, from wanting to grow your show so you can make money online, which is amazing. (And it will do that for you IF you view your podcast as a way to love and encourage people.) You want to view your podcast as a place where you can pour out and bless, encourage, serve, teach, motivate, and pray with people if you’re faith-led. Your podcast is the way you can help others by being like Jesus. Once you realize that your show isn’t for you but for your listener, the impact, income, growth, and downloads will follow. You will be successful when you let the Holy Spirit lead you.

4 Tips to help ensure your new podcast will be successful

1. Vulnerable and valuable content

Firstly, I want you to focus on creating vulnerable and valuable content. When I went to start a podcast, I thought it had to be a certain way. I thought it had to be very practical and instructional, like, “Hi friend, today we are going to be planning in your planner…” It was so dry and tactical, and while I think that’s great, it has to have a sprinkle of vulnerability and storytelling to make it relatable. 

It’s so valuable that inside Podcast to Profit, my group coaching mastermind for podcasters, we spend a whole week learning how to make the content inside of our podcast really super valuable and vulnerable because it is a partnership. 

You don’t want 100% value or 100% vulnerability. You want a beautiful blend of the two so your people feel seen and heard, and you want them to know that you’ve been where they are and empathize with them, but you’re also offering something of value and not just talking about yourself the whole time. There’s this great formula that we go through in Podcast to Profit to create an episode that will be listened to the whole way through, but if you’d like to learn more about it now, check out Planning your podcasts and Creating a Content Strategy in 4 Easy Steps.

Next time you map out a show, whether it’s your first episode or your next one, I want you to think of a story you can share in that episode to make it relatable. When was a time in my life when this wasn’t working or was hard for me?

2. Help your listener implement

The second tip to ensure your show will be successful is to help your listener implement at either the end of each step or the end of the show. Give them that final action step. See what I did at the end of the last step? I asked you to come up with a story you can share in your next episode to make it relatable. Essentially, you’re giving your listener homework. 

If your episode has steps, you can do this at the end of each step, but if your episode is one clean short episode, an interview, or more of a storytelling episode, feel free to add the implementation step at the end.

3. Be yourself

My third tip is to be yourself. I know that this might sound a bit cliche, “just be you, and they’ll love it!”. But it’s true! If you show up and start podcasting mimicking someone else’s style or trying to be like someone else, it’s going to come across as inauthentic. It’s going to feel forced.   

Like when you put on the news or a sports game, and the presenter is talking in that fake, put-on newscaster voice, and it’s like, why can’t you just talk normally?! It’s so annoying to me! I can tell when I listen to podcasts, who is reading from a script, or who is talking with this unnatural smile plastered on their face. So just be you. Just be natural. 

Be who you truly are, and don’t worry about, “oh, I’m introverted; I’m quiet.” Okay, fine, you’re going to attract the listener who is relating to that piece of who you are and need that in their life right now. Or maybe you’re feeling, “oh no, I’m too extra, I’ve got too much energy” (I’ve been called that!). Okay, you’re going to attract the people who enjoy that about you. 

Show up and have fun behind the microphone

Do not change who you are and how you show up just because there is a microphone in front of you. The fastest way to not have people loving and listening to your show is not to be you. So here is the freedom, and I hope permission for you to have fun and be real behind the microphone. You will be successful when you show up as yourself.
I don’t apologize for my life just because I am a podcaster. I also don’t change anything about who I am when I’m recording because you’re just like me. We’re friends. I know if I got to meet you, we’d get along great. I want to show up as I truly am in real life right here on this show, and I’m telling you, that is one of the biggest catalysts to my success. People tell me constantly, “Wow! You are the exact same person as you are on your podcast.”, “This is crazy! It’s like I already know you.” That’s what you want your listener to say about you.

4. Be consistent

The fourth and final thing to remember when you start a podcast is consistency. One of the surefire ways to lose downloads and momentum is to be sporadic with your podcasting. If there’s anything I’ve learned along the way is that consistency is key. So lean in, zone in, and lock in on showing up week over week, all the time, with your person in mind.

If you have to take a week or two off, see if you can batch those podcast episodes so you don’t miss a beat. In four years, there’s only been one week where I didn’t podcast because we were doing a complete rebrand. It was the new year, and we had a lot of stuff going on in the backend of the business I needed to focus on. So I gave myself some permission which is also fine, but for four years and over 550 episodes, there has been at least one episode every single week.

Ready to start a podcast?

So there are four tips to ensure people will listen to your show and to make sure it will be successful. And do you know the number one way I know people won’t listen to your show? It’s if you never start. If you are ready to start a podcast, and it’s on your heart right now, I encourage you just to lean in and do it. 

If you’re ready to start a podcast, there are two things you can do right now to take big action on this dream that you have.

1. Go check out my free workshop, Podcast for Growth Workshop, which will show you exactly how and why podcasting works to grow your business in less than two hours per week. 

2. Or go jump into my course, Podcast Pro University, which will teach you the 12 steps and take you through the framework to plan, start, record, edit and launch your very own podcast in as soon as 30 days.

Produce quality content

Imagine looking up 30-60 days from now and knowing, “oh my gosh! I did it! It actually wasn’t that hard. I’m having fun. I’m able to produce quality content because Stef showed me how. The tech wasn’t overwhelming because she showed me exactly what to do, where to click, and how to do all the little things. And now I have a podcast in the world, and people are actually listening to me.” 

And people listening to you will have their lives changed, touched, or transformed in some way because of you. Then they will start knocking on your inbox saying, “how can I work with you?”. 

And that, my friend, is the secret to setting up your simple sales funnel and having the exact business model I have. 

It can be a bit uncomfortable when you start a podcast because it is new. But it is possible to implement proven strategies to ensure your show will be successful. It is as simple as providing valuable and vulnerable content, helping your listeners implement, being yourself, and being consistent. That’s it. If you can commit to doing these things, you can ensure the correct listeners will be there to stay and, eventually, make you money. 

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

P.S. Also, listen to podcast episode 556 for the full training on Worried No One Will Listen if You Start a Podcast? 3 Ways to Make Sure Your Show Will Be Successful.

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Before you go, be sure to watch the free workshop!

This free workshop is for you if you want to grow an online business in less time.

It will teach you how to explode your audience without the social media hustle, make consistent sales using a podcast, and plan, record, and launch a podcast with ease!

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