How to Go From ZERO Subscribers to MILLIONS: 10 Rules of Podcasting

Hey Friend!

If you’ve ever wondered how to go from zero subscribers to millions with your podcast, this post is for you. Whether you’re just starting with no subscribers or you’ve already launched but are struggling to grow, I’ll break down all the things that will help you get your podcast to flourish and be that vessel of growth that you have been praying for.

You can use your voice to build an audience, increase your impact, generate leads, and have a podcast with subscribers that can’t stop listening to you.

I know what works because I’ve been in this industry for almost seven years. I have a top twenty show, and I’ve had years where my show was stagnant. I’ve made every mistake in the book, so you don’t have to.

FROM ZERO TO MILLIONS OF SUBSCRIBERS

Have you ever considered how to go from zero to millions of subscribers? That might sound like a big, lofty goal, but it is possible. I was able to do that with podcasting. I went from zero to over two million downloads. Podcasting has exploded my online business.

For me, podcasting is the lowest overhead, the easiest, and the best long-game play you can make.

There’s no algorithm. No content fizzles out and dies within twenty-four hours. It is content that works for you for years and years to come. It doesn’t necessarily come with all the feel-good things like a reel going viral or your content getting thousands or millions of views, but it does come with a lot more profitability. Why? Because podcasting converts.

So today, I‘ll share my ten rules of podcasting to help you think about podcasting to grow your business. If you want a sustainable, simple, profitable, and peaceful business, then you need to think about the methods by which you’re growing your subscribers.

Podcasting Rule #1 to Get More Subscribers: Don’t Start with Money in Mind

Ninety percent of podcasts never make it past episode three. Only one percent of podcasts make it past episode twenty. Seventy-five percent of podcasts fail. If your goal is just to make money, you will burn out. You will not have success or gain subscribers.

Why? Because you have to focus on serving and solving people’s problems for them to trust you. If you aren’t helping people, they will not want to buy from you. The online market is saturated with people throwing broken promises at us left and right. And I know that money follows value.

“Whoever can be trusted with little can also be trusted with much.” ~Luke 16:10

Journal Prompts

Question One: Why did you start your podcast, or why do you want to start one? What are the deeper reasons you want a podcast? It’s more than making money. You will make money because you’re helping people in a deeper capacity. My podcast has been the number one income driver and conversion tool in my company. It’s generated multi-seven figures throughout my podcasting journey. But the deeper question is, why do I want to help people with my podcast?

I wanted to show people there was a better way to generate leads by attracting subscribers to long-form content. They can show up in a way that takes less time, is simpler, and more strategic than social media. And they all can glorify God in their work.

Question Two: How will your podcast serve others? I would answer this journal prompt by saying, “I will give free value to encourage, motivate, and teach online business and podcasting, specifically with a biblical approach.”

Question Three: What transformation do I want my listener to have? I want to free them from the shackles and beliefs that they must be married to social media or hustle 24/7.

Podcasting Rule #2 to Get More Subscribers: Be Consistent for 12 to 18 Months

The second rule of podcasting is to be consistent for over twelve to eighteen months. It takes eighteen months of consistent podcasting before most shows see traction and monetization. Treat your podcast like a marathon, not a sprint. If you stay consistent for a year, your audience and authority will grow.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” ~Galatians 6:9

Within one year of podcasting, my show had passed one hundred thousand downloads. It had passed one hundred thousand in revenue. Why? Because I was able to promote my offer on my podcast.

I’m not saying that will be your story. I hustled on social media for over a decade. One year of podcasting blew what a decade of social media hustle had done. That’s the power of podcasting.

Journal Prompts

Question One: What will my podcast focus on? If you don’t have a podcast, decide what you will podcast about. If you have a podcast, write down your niche and focus point. What will you teach in one sentence or less? I teach my students to create a tagline or a TSO (tactical specific outcome) statement. This clear sentence helps you and your subscribers know what you do.

Here’s my TSO statement: I teach Christian women how to profit from a podcast.

Question Two: What systems will you use to stay consistent? I have an Excel sheet to map out my podcast episodes. Every week, I schedule a batch day on Wednesday to record two episodes. I have systems set up so I can be consistent.

Question Three: Where will you track your progress over the next twelve to eighteen months? I use a KPI (key performance indicator) dashboard to track my downloads, listens, and reviews, all of the metrics that matter. These metrics help me see that what I am doing is working.

Podcasting is not a race, and it will not have overnight success. We use these analytics to help us stay in the game, stay motivated, and see what’s working for our audience.

Podcasting Rule #3 to Get More Subscribers: Be Clear, Not Clever

Listeners decide within thirty seconds whether they will keep listening to you. What does this mean? It means that you have to be clear over clever. The hook is critical for your podcast. Focus on the most triggering thing your listener might be going through and pull it to the front of your podcast episode.

Bonus tip: Title your episode using the same type of methodology. Instead of titling your episode with something like, How to Communicate with Your Spouse, try something like, The Truth About Why You Can’t Communicate with Your Husband: 3 Things to Do Now. See the difference? Think about how you can grab attention. Don’t be cutesy. Be clear.

“Let your conversations be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” ~Colossians 4:6

Journal Prompts

Question One: Can someone understand what my podcast is about in ten seconds? You have to immediately grab their attention, or a potential subscriber will be gone.

Question Two: How can I write my podcast tagline in ten words or fewer? This is the TSO statement I mentioned earlier. Here are some examples: How to Declutter Using Systems, Repair Your Marriage After Infidelity, or How to Get More Clients as a Family Lawyer. It’s simple, blatant, and boring.

Question Three: What three words best describe the transformation your show provides?

These questions are designed to help you do the work it takes to get clear on your podcast so it will provide income for you.

Podcasting Rule #4 to Get More Subscribers: Niche In Further

Niche podcasts rank higher and grow three times faster than broad general topics. If your podcast is too broad, your audience will not find you, but they’re also not going to think it’s for them.

Say you have a podcast about meal prep, and you talk about fitness, and motherhood. The person there for motherhood will leave your show when you start talking about meal prep if that’s not something she’s interested in.

Narrow into one specific pocket of the Internet, one particular person, and get laser-focused on who your specific avatar is. That’s one person and one pain point you can solve for them.

Journal Prompts

Question One: Who is your podcast for? Journal about one particular person you have in mind. Make it detailed. My person’s name is Lola. She’s a mom with three children. She’s been trying to grow and start online businesses for the past five years. But nothing is working and profitable.

• She’s doing it the wrong way.
• She’s focused on social media, hustle, and the grind.
• She’s not outsourcing or delegating.
• She’s drowning in tasks that don’t matter.
• She is confused and overwhelmed.
• She’s not niched in and has no idea what to do next.
• She has invested in stuff with no return.

She cares about partnering her business with her faith, but she’s unclear on how to do that and surrender it to God, because it’s not making money, and not working for her.

Question Two: What unique problem does my podcast solve? Consult your market research for the struggles your avatar has.

Question Three: How can I niche down even further? I teach my students to niche down three layers: the segment of the market you want to talk to, the specific area within that segment, and who that person is. This might look like health, and then prenatal gut health for working moms.

Podcasting Rule #5 to Get More Subscribers: Use SEO Strategy

Use an SEO strategy in every episode. Google and Apple Podcasts feature SEO-friendly episodes first. So if someone types in fat loss, the episodes that use the phrase “fat loss” will be shown first. Strategically position your podcast and titles so that they are found for key search terms. Think like a search engine.

Journal Prompt

Question: What are your people Googling? Use those phrases inside your podcast episodes, descriptions, and how you set up your podcast.

“The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.” ~Proverbs 24:5

Stop throwing spaghetti at the wall. Pause and do the research. I teach my students in my group coaching program how to do detailed and in-depth market research for their ideal person.

Why? Because you can guess all day what you think people are looking up or you can know for sure. Be the person who knows for sure.

If you need more help optimizing your podcast or even getting started with one, then I would invite you to check out my bootcamp. It’s five days of training on how to build a podcast and make it profitable. I teach you the methods I use to profit from a podcast. There are replays, workbooks, and everything you need to learn about how podcasting can work for you.

Podcasting Rule #6 to Get More Subscribers: Focus on One Major Takeaway

If an episode is scattered, eighty percent of listeners drop off early. So don’t overwhelm people. Give them one clear takeaway. I give you permission for your episodes to be shorter, not thirty minutes, but maybe ten. Instead of talking about meal prep, how to create the meal, put together the grocery list, and get your kids involved in the cooking process, break that into five or six different episodes.

Remember that you are here to podcast for the long term.

I have over eight hundred and fifty podcast episodes. I can break things down at a micro-digestible level and give people one core takeaway per episode. It will help them be more successful and help you articulate and do a better job of teaching on your podcast.

Journal Prompts

Question One: What is the one key takeaway from this episode I’m trying to create? I know it’s tempting, but pick only one.

Question Two: How will I reinforce this one core thing multiple times throughout my episode? Repetition helps your audience remember the one takeaway from the episode. It also makes your job easier to create content.

Question Three: Does my episode title reflect this one big idea? This will help you narrow your content to one major thing. Your audience will desire your content and implement the idea.

Podcasting Rule #7 to Get More Subscribers: Monetize with One Core Offer

Top podcasters start with one monetization method before diversifying. I focused on one-on-one coaching until I surpassed six figures in my online business journey. I was able to do this within twelve months. My coaching went from eighty dollars an hour to eight hundred dollars an hour in just eighteen months.

The reason that worked is that I stopped confusing my audience. I used to have too many options, which left them confused. They had no idea what course or thing to take to get the result they needed. When I removed the extras and said, I offer one-on-one coaching, my business blew up.

After the one-on-one coaching, I phased into an online course that helped people get clarity on their business. That grew and evolved into a six-figure business. I then transitioned into a group coaching program called Podcast to Profit.

This is the one core thing I do today that helps people start and optimize their podcast, make real income by creating a product, and learn how to sell and scale it. This six-month group coaching program created a seven-figure annual gross revenue business.

Start by monetizing one core offer, focus on hitting six figures, and then create an ascension model. But first, you must validate your one core offer.

Journal Prompts

Question One: What is your one core offer? Start with only one.

Question Two: What is the thing that will get them the biggest result? I teach my students to start with one-on-one coaching when they’re small and new in their online business. They move to a passive course model and then to a group coaching model.

If you need help with how to create a profitable online business, please come check out my group coaching program, Podcast to Profit.

Podcasting Rule #8 to Get More Subscribers: Treat Your Podcast Like a Business

Podcasters who treat their show like a business earn five times more than hobbyists.

“In all hard work, there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” ~Proverbs 14:23

‘Mere talk’ – ouch! This is not about podcasting, but there is a principle to consider. We don’t show up and podcast just to podcast, or to hear ourselves talk. We are podcasting because it is hard work serving the people we’re called to help. Podcasting is about:

• Teaching
• Pouring out
• Giving people tools they can implement

It’s hard work. But when you treat it like a business and show up with consistency, heart, and effort, there will be a return. The number of subscribers will grow. There is profit in hard work.

Journal Prompts

Question One: What revenue goals do you have for your podcast this year? Remember the KPI dashboard I mentioned in Rule #2? That tool will help you set realistic goals for your business.

Question Two: What download goals and metrics have you set for yourself this year? The KPI dashboard will help you track these metrics.

Question Three: What is the next business investment for your podcast growth? The KPI dashboard I keep mentioning is one of the bonuses in my six-month group coaching program, Podcast to Profit. I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Podcasting Rule #9 to Get More Subscribers: Leverage Podcast Guesting

What does podcast guesting mean? It means you show up on someone else’s podcast as a guest. These podcast guest appearances, on average, increase downloads by thirty-seven percent.

When I was a new podcaster, I went on a podcast tour. I did fifty-two interviews in a year, one interview every week. In Podcast to Profit, I teach my students how to do this.

Why? People who listen to podcasts typically have a higher aptitude for personal development. They have good habits already in place, and make good use of their time and listen while working out or driving somewhere.

Typically, podcast listeners are people who have discretionary income. These are the people you want to get in front of, as opposed to those who have a phone in their face 24/7, looking for the next dopamine hit. From my experience, those people don’t buy.

Journal Prompts

Question One: Which five podcasts can you pitch yourself as a potential guest? Start there. Maybe you get one yes from those five pitches.

Question Two: Am I actively networking in my podcast niche? The podcasting space is a small world. So get out there and start meeting people.

Podcasting Rule #10 to Get More Subscribers: Play the Long Game

The most important podcasting rule is to play the long game and then keep playing. The top one percent of podcasts stayed consistent for years before seeing massive success.

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” ~Hebrews 10:36

Nothing that is highly favored and fruitful is overnight. It seems like it is, but it’s not. It takes forty years in the wilderness. I had been an online entrepreneur for a decade before I started my podcast, which seemed like an overnight success. My success came from:

• Losing everything in a network marketing company
• Trying to start my own business
• Selling out to the hustle and grind
• Being a slave to social media
• Feeling conviction from the Lord
• Surrendering everything to Him

All of that led me to podcasting. It felt like a decade of failure before I made it. I’m here to say that’s part of the journey. We are on this side of heaven to do hard things. I challenge you to get in the game.

Going for viral likes feels good, but does it grow your subscribers and clients? The three things that matter in making a business successful are subscribers, conversions, and your time. I want you to have the least amount of time working on your business for the highest return. This means choosing long-form content. Play the long game to win.

Journal Prompts

Question One: What is the five-year vision for your business? If it doesn’t include hustle and constantly creating content, I highly recommend considering long-form and podcasting. That is my favorite method.

Question Two: What will keep you motivated when your growth feels slow? Come up with a motivation plan to help inspire you and keep you focused on what matters.

Question Three: How can I make my podcast process more enjoyable so I keep going? I only want to podcast for two hours or less every week.

On Wednesdays, I batch two episodes and I make it fun. I get some kind of fancy coffee and reward myself by not doing other work that day. I focus on my long-form content and come up with fun topics to keep me inspired and excited to show up for my audience.

It’s a treat to read my reviews. My subscribers are so encouraging and loving. It’s nice to know I’m making a difference.

Final Thoughts

Those are my ten rules of podcasting. I hope this has encouraged you and given you some truth about what it takes to make a podcast profitable. Your subscribers will grow, and so will your revenue.

If you’re interested in learning how I was able to generate a seven-figure annual company from a podcast, join my five-day bootcamp, and I will walk you through everything I know.

I’ll see you again next time.

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