10 Lessons Learned After Six Years of Podcasting

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview 
02:14 It's Just A Microphone 
03:37 The Importance of Consistency 
05:29 Becoming an Expert through Podcasting 
07:24 The Value of Interviewing Guests 
08:50 The Supportive Podcasting Community 
10:17 No Competition in Podcasting 
12:14 Meeting Interesting People Through Podcasting 
13:43 Dealing with Burnout 
15:33 Sharing Knowledge Freely 
19:27 Focusing on Your One True Fan 
21:19 Conclusion

Takeaways

• Just start with a microphone and upgrade later
• Consistency in publishing is key
• Podcasting can make you an expert on your topic
• Interviewing guests is a valuable learning experience
• The podcasting community is supportive
• There is no competition in podcasting
• Podcasting allows you to meet interesting people
• Burnout is a real issue in podcasting
• It's okay to share your knowledge freely
• Charging for your services is acceptable
• Focus on your one true fan

Podcasting can be fun and rewarding but it can also be challenging, especially for the indie podcaster. In this episode, I talk about the top lessons I learned during 6 years of podcasting.

It's a phenomenal array of talking points that put the spotlight on podcasting as an important medium to share our message with the world.  

So if any of these lessons resonate with you leave a comment below or drop me an email @ jenn@toolsofthepodcasttrade.com. I'd love to hear from you.  

Transcript

Jennifer Francis (00:00)
If you find this podcast helpful, please subscribe to our YouTube channel at Tools of the Podcast Trade. Follow us and also leave a five-star review. I really appreciate your support. Thank you.

Hello, aspiring podcasters. It's been a while since we've published on Tools of the Podcast Trade, but I've been doing some traveling and getting around a little bit and contemplating our next move. And while I was thinking, I thought about the lessons I've learned in podcasting. This is my second podcast and I've thought about what have I learned over the past six years.

So I wanted to share what lessons I've learned, at least 10 of the lessons I've learned over six years of podcasting. Look at number two, it's a very important one and one I struggled with. And also you will like the bonus one as well. So without further ado, let's get into it. So podcasting is fast becoming

a media of choice for people to learn and to entertain themselves with. And according to Infinite Dial, podcast listenership has gone up 450 % since 2014. So people are listening to our podcast. And, but still, podcasters, independent podcasters struggle to keep their show going. So let's get into the lessons I've learned.

while podcasting over the past six years. The first thing I learned are one of the most important things to me is that it's just a microphone, meaning that we spend, I spent a lot of times during the time leading up to publishing my first podcast, Solomons Talk, contemplating, agonizing, studying, researching podcasts.

microphones and not just the microphones, but that was the big one because it's very, it's a very important part of podcasting. Right. And so I spent all this time spinning my wheels, checking out the podcast mic. And I see that online as well, other aspiring podcasts, you know, are focused on the mic, the cost, the type and et cetera. But I learned that a microphone is just that.

It's just a microphone. It's not your show. It could make or break your show, maybe. But one of the help I got was from Pat Flynn, who says, just start, just start the podcast, pick up your phone, get the ATR 2100 or something like that, and just start podcasting. And then you will, you will upgrade after that. So I've learned that it is just a microphone.

The number two lesson that I learned is that I miss out when I disappoint my audience. And how do I do that? By not publishing consistently. It's all over the internet. Consistency is key. And so it's something to be honest, I struggle with publishing.

because sometimes it can get overwhelming when you're doing stuff yourself, you know, if you have a full-time job or you're doing other things like have been doing visiting family lately, it's that podcasting took a back burner. And so just imagine you are watching a show, a series, and you really love the series. And so you want to catch up this week on

following up on what happened last week. And so you grab your drink of choice and you grab some popcorn maybe and you sit down on a comfy couch and you hit the remote because you wanna see what's going on next, right? And then nothing, there's nothing. Maybe what you see is a repeat of the one you saw last week or last month or whatever. So how would you feel about that?

And imagine how your audience feels when you stop publishing without even notifying them. And so that's one lesson I've learned the hard way and something I'm learning to do better about. All right. Consistency is the key, is a hard lesson learned.

by me over the past six years of podcasting. And number three lesson that I've learned over six years of podcasting is that you quickly become an expert and you consistently become an expert. You may already be an expert on the topic you are podcasting on and you don't have to be an expert to start, but while you're doing your show, while you're...

interviewing guests or while you're researching and hosting your show, you quickly become an expert on whatever topic you're speaking on and whatever topics you're interviewing your guests about. And I give you an example. I'm always listening and I edit my own shows. I do the blog posts, and the social posting. So I, that message that the guest brings.

is reiterated in my mind over and over again. And so I'm learning about different things. And I'll give you an example. I had a guest, Rich Bennett, who talked about how you can get local sponsors even with a podcast that's not been published yet. And I had a young man who I was mentoring and he was lamenting about the fact that he needed to find a way to monetize this podcast. And I remembered this idea from Rich Bennett.

that, and I said to him, why don't you walk around your neighborhood? He has a tech podcast, walk around your neighborhood and see if you could visit the tech stores in your neighborhood and ask them, you know, would you like to sponsor my podcast? And within a week he got back to me and said, he got a sponsor for his podcast. And so in that respect, you can mentor people, you can, you know, help them to get to the next level because

It's sometimes all you need is to fill that two-millimeter gap there on page one or chapter one. You're already halfway through the book, so to speak, or maybe you've already read the book so you can quickly become an expert in podcasting. And that's what one of the lessons I'm learning following up on that on the fourth lesson that I've learned after six years of podcasting is that.

interviewing guests is a masterclass because you learn so much. You learn from people you've never met before or experts in their field. These may be software designers, they may be product producers, there are the podcasters and these people come with a wide array of knowledge 
 
and this depth of knowledge is only matched by their generosity in sharing this knowledge. And so having these guests on your podcast, on my podcast, I learned that it's a masterclass. And if you miss that, you miss a lot. So I try not to miss what my guests are saying or teaching about. And you too will learn that this masterclass that you have on your podcast,

benefits not only your listeners, but it's also benefiting you. All right. So that's number four. The fifth lesson that I learned after six years of podcasting is that the podcast community is a very, it's an extremely supportive community. As I said before, you meet a lot of people who are guests and it's not one-and-done in MySpace.

I usually speak with these people before we interview, after we interview, and sometimes there's an ongoing relationship. And these individuals, they're very supportive. They will encourage you. They will give a free coaching session sometimes at the end. And they are so supportive. If you go on LinkedIn and connect with podcasters on LinkedIn, you will get so much support from them. I used to be on PodMatch and

You know, I just took a break. I'll be back soon. And Podmatch and its CEO, Alex Sanfilippo has a community where he fosters this mindset of sharing and giving and dancing with each other. And so I am so grateful for this podcasting community that is so supportive and regardless of what level they're at, you know, what

regardless of whatever you're at, they treat you with respect and they really, I really find that this is one of the best communities I've belonged to and I've belonged to a few. So that's, that's another lesson that I've learned and still learning. The next lesson that I've learned after six years of podcasting is there is no competition in podcasting. Now you might say,

Hmm, I'm not really sure about that, but hear me out. The people who listen to you listen to you because it's you. They don't listen because you know more about one topic than the other person. You may be talking about a topic that 10, 15 podcasts talk about, and some of those people may know more than you do. That's beside the point. The point is that your listeners are there for your unique voice.

That's what they're interested in, your perspective. And that's something I've learned because of times I've, I've wondered, you know because imposter syndrome kicking at times. Are you thinking to yourself, well, why should anybody listen to me? I mean, I don't know much about podcasting. I don't know as much as that person or that person, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that what I say and how I say it and how I present it resonate with someone.

And so that's why I said that there's no competition in podcasting. I had a guest on once Isabella Sanchez Castaneda and she was, she encouraged his solopreneur to start a podcast to expand their business through podcasting. Her example was like a divorce lawyer. So you may have two divorce lawyers. They're both experienced, both good at their job, both, you know, support clients, but this divorce lawyer.

may not resonate with me or with the other person. And that one might do because of their personality or something. So there is no competition in podcasting. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. So the next lesson that I learned after six years of podcasting is that you meet a lot of interesting people. Interesting, I mean, people who

I wouldn't meet under normal circumstances. And for that, I'm very grateful. I had one guest asked me, what are you grateful for? Cause that's, that's a common question I ask when I interview guests, what are you grateful for? And one turned it back on me and asked me, what are you grateful for? And I had to be honest. That's what was foremost on my mind. The opportunity I get to meet people from all over the world, Singapore, South Africa,

Australia, just all over and within the United States, many, many, many different types of people in the United States and Canada, you know, people who are professionals, you know, head of CEOs of software companies, just stuff like that. And so I'm grateful for that opportunity. And it's a, it's a lesson that I've learned that without this platform, I would never have met those people. And yes.

you do meet some very interesting people in podcasting and not just the people you interview, because you can host a solo show and still meet interesting people by networking online or offline. That's a good lesson to learn so you can appreciate and be grateful for your community. All right, so let's get down to the real problem with podcasting.

That is the next lesson I learned after six years of podcasting. Burnout is real. I did an article several months ago about how podcasters can avoid burnout. But it's a lesson that is easy to understand and comprehend, but very hard to live by because

If you have a full-time job or you have other full-time responsibilities and you're not just a host of your podcast, you're the producer, you're the editor, you're the social media strategist, you're the business owner of your podcast and you're doing everything. It can quickly lead to burnout. Take it from me. I know. And it becomes so bad that.

you have to find a way to protect your mental health. And sometimes protecting your mental health causes your podcast to suffer. Like in my point number two, where your consistency suffers because you're not able to carry on, right? Because you need to be whole and healed and be able to deliver to

your listeners to the people who are depending on you for quality content. And in that respect, if burnout is a thing and you can't find an immediate solution, I think stopping for a bit is a good thing. And so I've learned that burnout in podcasting is real and it can cause a host of problems. My next lesson learned after six years of podcasting is

that I learned that it's okay to share your knowledge freely. Now, this is something that is not even a new lesson for me, but something I do naturally is that I want to be able to share what I know with people. You don't have to hide anything because people can Google what they need. YouTube has a ton of videos that people can learn things.

And Google has 10 times as many articles, it's not more, that people can read up and learn about what they want to learn. But they come to you to hear what you have to say on your podcast because your perspective matters. So don't be shy. Tell them what they want to know. And when they need something more substantial, they come to you and that brings me to my next point. My number 10 lesson that I've learned after six years of podcasting is that it is okay to charge for your service. It's okay to charge for what you know. If they need it, they will pay for it. And you can't be too shy about charging them for it. Don't be like me. This is a lesson I've learned that you

will not be able to keep going, and continue the way you are, no matter how much you love podcasting. If you don't get some income coming in to support this business, this podcasting that you're doing. So I've learned sometimes the hard way, as I've learned all these lessons, the hard way, that it is okay to charge

for your services, whether you're mentoring or coaching or selling courses, whatever it is you're doing as a result of your podcast, or while you're podcasting, it's okay to charge for ads for anything. So don't let people diminish what you have charged for it. Okay, I'm going to tell you a lesson I learned when I first started Solo Mums Talk. A very popular podcast host referred

me to a coach and I was talking to this coach and one of his questions to me was, so how much money do you want to make from this podcast? And I scoffed at him. I'm like, money, what are you talking about? This is my passion. And he said, well, I can work with you then. And I was like, later Gator, you know, but he was right. Whether your podcast is your passion or you started it for a business, it

is a business because you're paying for hosting, you're paying for advertising, you're paying for all kinds of stuff. And so at a minimum, you want to make enough money to cover your costs, your expenses for getting that podcast to your audience. And it is doable as possible. Podmatch pays hosts to interview guests. For example, those were my 10 lessons learned.

after six years of podcasting. At least they were my top 10. All right? But I have a bonus and the bonus lesson learned is that I need to, and I've learned to focus on my one true fan. One, yeah, I only have one fan. That fan is my avatar. John Lee Dumas talks about this all the time.

his avatar, who is he speaking to? So I've learned to speak to that one person in this podcast, Tools of the Podcast Trade. My one person is that lady or gentleman who wants to start a podcast and who struggles over the nuances and intricacies of starting a podcast, who has that mindset that

they can't do it or it's too big or it's too much or they have to be perfect. And they have to be big like Joe Rogan. So I have that person in mind. I can picture that person when I'm creating my episodes. And even if I pre-record something while I'm going through and editing, I keep the person, that one person in mind, my one true fan.

And if you focus on your one true fan, your avatar, they have a name. My avatar is Mary. She's an accountant and she wants to start a podcast talking to her clients, you know, helping clients with their business, you know, doing the accounts or whatever. And so when I speak, I speak to Mary who wants to start a podcast and you will find that

There are millions of Marys out there, or John or Peter, whatever you want to name them. But that's my bonus lesson for you after podcasting for six years. Focus on your one true fan. I'm Jennifer and I'm the host of Tools of the Podcast Trade. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. Thank you for leaving me a five-star review. I trust that you will subscribe and you will follow.

and that you will learn lessons while you podcast, while you start your podcast. And just to let you know, I'm available for one-on-one mentoring, and is nothing I love more than helping someone take that next step, and bridge that two-millimeter gap. It brings me joy to do that. So I have a link below. 

You can book a one-on-one with me and we could talk about your dreams for your show. Or if you're struggling with any of these lessons that I've pointed out or other things because there are so many things in podcasting, right? Reach out. The link is below. Thank you for watching, for listening, and for being a fan of Tools of the Podcast Trade.