Creating and launching a podcast is exciting.
It’s also hard work.
But there are several steps you can take – and a process you can follow over and over again – in order to make your podcast workflow more productive and efficient.
In this post I’m going to break down the 5 steps to productive podcasting.
If you’re able to make these 5 steps a part of your podcasting routine, then I can promise you this: you’ll be spending less time producing your podcast, which means you’ll have more time to focus on growing your podcast!
Real quick before we dive in: if you’re looking for a complete resource to help you create and launch your podcast, then come join us in our Free Podcast Course!
What is productive podcasting?
Productive podcasting is having a system or process in place that helps you efficiently produce your podcast on a consistent basis so you can be consistent and so that you have more free time to focus on ways to grow your podcast.
Here are 5 steps you can take towards productive podcasting right now.
1. Determine your podcasting schedule
The first and most important step is knowing what your podcasting schedule looks like.
This not only includes the format of your podcast episodes, but also the length and frequency of your episodes.
Your podcast format
Your podcast format refers to the type of podcast you’re creating. That might be an interview-based podcast, a topic-based podcast, a Q&A podcast, or a combination of several formats: a variety show.
Here’s a post that will help you determine the best format for you and your podcast.
Your podcast episode length & frequency
The length and frequency of your podcast episodes depends on a number of factors.
First and foremost, it’s important to take into consideration what your avatar would want since they’re who you’re creating your podcast for.
Other things to consider include:
- The format of your show – for example, if you’re doing an interview but only want your episodes to be 5 minutes each, can you really produce a great interview in less than 5 minutes?
- The time you have available to produce your podcast – for example, if the frequency of your show is 3 times per week, do you have enough time to produce that many episodes per week?
Here’s a post that will help you determine the best length for you and your podcast, and when it comes to frequency, be honest with yourself: how much time do you have to dedicate to producing your podcast?
No matter your frequency, be consistent. If you commit to publishing one podcast episode per week, then pick a day of the week you’re going to publish (Monday, for example), and stick to it!
2. Write out your podcast goals
Once you have your podcasting schedule down – so you know the format, length, and frequency of your podcast – it’s time to write out your podcast goals.
What gets measured can be improved, so if you’re looking to consistently improve your podcasting skills – and your chances of growing your podcast – then you want to make sure you are setting benchmarks.
An example of a podcasting goal might start out with a launch goal: I want to launch my podcast and have it be live in iTunes with 3 episodes by March 1st.
Another example of a podcasting goal might then be related to growing your podcast audience: I want to increase my monthly listenership by 10% month over month for the next 6 months.
Take at least 15-20 minutes to sit down and really think about what your podcasting goals are.
When you take even a small amount of time to write out your goals for your podcast, then you have something to refer to and look back on in order to constantly be improving.
3. Create your podcasting content plan
By this point you should have your podcasting schedule written out and at least one or two goals documented for your podcast.
Now it’s time to create your podcasting content plan, which includes a process you can follow in order to prepare for actually creating your podcast episodes.
It’s best to batch this step, meaning you’re going to start scheduling out your content at least one month in advance. In doing so, you’ll be able to not only get ahead of schedule, but you’ll also save time when it comes to finding guests, scheduling your interviews, and creating your actual podcast episodes.
Let’s say your podcast is all about running a successful Etsy Shop, and your avatar is a 30-year old woman who is creative and makes handmade products, but doesn’t know how to sell those products online.
You’ve determined that you’re going to produce a weekly interview podcast with episodes that run approximately 30 minutes in length, and the first part of your content plan is deciding that your first month on the podcast will be all about How to Start Your Own Etsy Shop.
Now it’s time to figure out what each of your episodes will be about.
Month one
- 1st Monday: Interview on How Etsy Can Help Your Business Grow
- 2nd Monday: Interview on Who Etsy is For
- 3rd Monday: Interview on First 3 Steps to Starting Your Etsy Shop
- 4th Monday: Interview on How to List Your First Product on Etsy
Next step is to determine who you can invite on as a guest to help you provide value on these specific topics.
In order to do so, you might do Google searches, research top shops on Etsy and reach out to their owners, or you might connect with your existing Etsy community and let them know the types of content you’re looking to create to see if anyone is interested in helping out.
Now, in order to bring your content plan to life, you have to put a schedule in place…
4. Schedule your podcast batching times
Unlike a topic-based podcast where you get to determine your content topics and schedule your recording times whenever it suits you best (both pros for this type of format in my opinion), an interview-based podcast is going to be dependent on you scheduling the interviews with guests.
First step to scheduling your podcast batching times is to determine when you’ll record your episodes.
And remember: we’re batching these times.
So your batch recording times might be on Tuesday’s from 9am – 11am. That gives you a 2-hr time block: enough time for 4, 30-minute recordings.
You also want to schedule in time to edit your podcast episodes, create episode show notes for your website, and create email templates that will help you communicate with your guests leading up to the episode (plus, when the episode goes live).
5. Start podcasting!
Once you’ve secured your 4 guests to help you record the 4 content episodes you outlined in your content plan, it’s time to start recording!
What I’ve outline above sounds pretty sweet and simple, right?
But I’ll be honest: your podcast production schedule might not always look so perfect.
It’s not easy coming up with your content plan, scheduling guests, and getting great content recorded.
But you’ll never have the opportunity to improve if you don’t just start.
Speaking of JUST STARTING…
We creating a Journal to help guide you every step of the way: from idea to launch with your podcast in just 50 days!
It’s called The Podcast Journal, and each day we lay out specific steps you can take that day to get 1 step closer to launch.
Also, be prepared to pivot and adjust as necessary on your podcasting journey.
It’s great to have a batching schedule in place, and I highly encourage you to do everything you can to keep that batching schedule intact. However, if you find a great guest who you really want to have on the show, and they can’t record an episode on Tuesday between 9am and 11am, then you’re going to have to figure out how to make it work.
The most important part when it comes to productive podcasting: follow your process as often as possible and ONLY adjust when absolutely necessary.
Creating and launching your podcast
If you’re still in the beginning stages of creating and launching your podcast, then no worries! This is actually the best time to put a plan in place that will help you be most productive when it comes to producing your podcast.
We also have a completely free video training that will help you every step of the way with creating and launching your podcast called Free Podcast Course!
Jump on into Free Podcast Course today, and when you’re ready to go beyond just your launch and talk about growth and monetization, check out our Podcast Masterclass :)
Remember: the more productive you can be with your podcast production schedule, the more time you’ll have to focus on growing your podcast. You’ve got this!
