126: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself If Your Podcast Feels Stuck
Is your podcast feeling stuck? Take a moment and really think about it. It’s okay if it is, it happens to most (if not all) podcasters after a while. Maybe you’ve hit a wall and you’re feeling burnt out and wondering if having a podcast is even worth it for your business. I get it because I’ve been there, but I moved past that feeling, and you can too, by doing a deep audit of your podcast.
I know the word “audit” can sound scary, but it really isn’t, I promise. With a few questions and adjustments, you and your podcast can get unstuck and get back to achieving your business goals. Because that’s why we’re all here in the first place, isn’t it?
So today, I’m sharing the questions you need to ask yourself in order to stop feeling stuck in your podcast. We’ll take a look at your business goals, your content, your podcasting process, and more. If you need a little guidance to get your podcast back to growing your business, keep reading! I’ve got ya covered.
Question #1 | Is my podcast supporting my business goals?
When a client comes to me feeling stuck in their podcast, this is the very first question I ask them. I know, it can be a hard question to answer, but be honest with yourself. As business owners, we set goals for our business and then we start a podcast, but we likely haven’t created them together with the same purpose in mind. But your podcast needs to have a purpose and it needs to support what you’re actually trying to achieve as a business owner.
Question #2 | Is my podcast content hitting the mark?
The main purpose of your podcast should be leading people to what you want them to do. So for example, if I want to promote my strategy intensives, I’m going to do a podcast episode about podcast strategy. It’s what my clients keep coming to me for with questions about so it makes sense to talk about it on the show.
If you’re doing an episode because you think it’s what your listeners want to hear, or you saw someone else doing an episode and think you should too, that’s when your podcast content will get out of alignment. You have built a podcast to shine a light on what you do, what you teach, your methodologies, all the things that you do that make you unique and how you serve people the way that you serve them. If that's not coming through in your content, then it's probably not something you should be doing. You want your podcast to be impactful and also lead people into the products and services you offer.
Question #3 | Am I seeing consistency and growth with my podcast?
First, let’s talk about consistency. This means that your download numbers stay the same from week to week, showing that you are retaining your listeners. People are hearing your podcast episodes, they've subscribed, they followed, they're excited about what you're putting out. Then next week when your new episode airs, they’ll want to go listen to that one as well. If you're seeing your downloads drop off week after week after week, it’s most likely because your podcast content is not working for you correctly.
Your listeners are in some phase of their customer journey, and it is your job to figure out what that is and to understand where they are and what they need from you. And if you're not providing that in your podcast episodes as a business owner, they're not going to need to listen to your episodes anymore. If you are seeing this with your download numbers, I really recommend taking a hard look at your content and asking yourself if it truly feels aligned with your business and what your clients need.
Don't forget that as you evolve and grow, so do your ideal clients, so do your listeners, and so make sure you're bringing them on that journey with you.
Question #4 | Is my podcasting process too difficult?
If something is too hard, nine times out of ten, we just won’t do it. That’s human nature. I could give you our podcasting procedures and the tools that we use, but you really have to figure out what works for you in the simplest way possible. That could be changing from using a Trello board with podcast ideas to using a spreadsheet instead. Or creating a really good content plan so that you can batch record and make the most out of your time. If you find yourself getting stuck with your podcast, take a look at your process, really analyze it and see if there's something you can change that will make it easier for you. This will help you with your consistency as well.
Question #5 | Do I have a clear call-to-action at the end of my episodes?
You have to make it clear what your listeners should do after the episode is over and be specific! You should clearly communicate exactly what you want them to do, and I don’t just mean telling them to rate, review, and follow your podcast. Instead, tell them to join your email list, or join your Facebook group, or download your freebie. This will help to funnel them to other parts of your business and turn them into paying customers. Give your listeners that connection point so that they’ll keep coming back.If this sounds like you, it might be time to outsource, and we can help! Check out our podcast management service and see if you’re ready to take the leap with a team that’ll help you create strategically aligned episodes week after week to help grow your business. Can’t wait to hear from you!
So, if you’re feeling stuck in your podcast, let this be your reminder to do a deep audit and see what you can tweak to make it a better experience for you and your listeners. Ask yourself the questions I’ve listed above from time to time. Make a note of your download numbers, your sales, etc. Monitor the progress you’ve made and see where you want to go next.
If you’re feeling stuck and wishing your podcast was working better for your business, I have the perfect training for you. It is called Simplify your Marketing and Grow Your Business with a Podcast, a short course where I’ll walk you through how to realign and repurpose your content to reach your ideal clients and stand out as a leader in your industry! Included is a workbook, a workshop Q&A, tools to do a podcast audit, and a bonus tool to help you plan out your content called the Podcast Marketing Hub template. It's only $27 and you can get access to it today.
Links:
Check out our services to Launch, Uplevel or Grow your Podcast
Download the FREE Podcast Self-Audit Checklist
Join the Strategic Podcast Academy!
Have you tried Notion yet?
Are you ready to start strategizing your podcast and simplifying your marketing? Download our free guide to do your Podcast Audit!
The Transcript for Podcast Your Business:
126: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself If Your Podcast Feels Stuck
[00:00:00] Caroline Hull If you are feeling stuck, it's time to do a deep audit of your podcast and say, What do I need to tweak? What can I change that can help it grow and support me and my business in a way that I need it to? I need my podcast to work for my business because I am spending hours on it each month. My team is spending time on it, and so I need to make sure that these things are happening in order for me to feel good about it. And that's totally okay.
[00:00:35] Are you ready to start a strategic podcast for your business and share your message in a way that feels wildly authentic? This is the place. Welcome to Podcast Your Business, where each week I share the strategy behind having a podcast that helps grow your business. I'm Caroline Hull, podcast manager, strategist and consultant, and I've seen the power of podcasts can have for your business. Let's get started.
[00:01:05] You may have noticed that we have been on a little bit of a break here at Podcast Your Business and Wild Home Podcasting, so I ran into the summer totally motivated after the launch of our membership, the Strategic Podcast Academy, and quickly got very tired from all the content creation that was happening. And so we took a little break starting at the beginning of July, and I'm so excited to be back with new episodes for the fall.
[00:01:38] You know, the fall is really one of those times where we see an uptick in everything, right? We see downloads go up, usually sales go up. It's a time where people are kind of getting back to their normal routines after summer and summer break and they're starting to think about the things that they want to accomplish the rest of the year. I don't know about you, but sometimes it feels like once we hit August, things just barrel towards Christmas and then boom, it's January again. And one of the things I really love to do before I dive into the fall and back to school is take a look at everything that I'm doing and say, Is it time to make some adjustments? What worked really well last year? What's working really well right now, And this is also a really good moment to do this if you're feeling like your podcast is a little stuck.
[00:02:35] I find a lot of the times when clients come to us, it's because they've hit a wall. There's this moment where they've been podcasting for a while and it went really well, at first. It was fun, it was exciting. But now they're feeling burnt out. They're wondering if they're doing the right things and they're just not sure which way to go. It is that feeling of of being stuck, right, not knowing if the content is working, should I change my episode structure or should I rename my podcast, should I rebrand? And I think these are perfectly normal questions to have when you've been doing something for such a long time.
[00:03:19] I know for me I have been podcasting now for about seven years, actually more than seven years. And you know, I'm still learning things every day all the time. New stuff is happening. The podcast industry is constantly and rapidly changing, and so it is totally okay to take a step back and say, What do I need to do to improve? What do I need to do to take this to the next level? And as we get into the fall, I really, really, really want to encourage you if you are feeling like your podcast is not working for you, if you're feeling stuck to take the opportunity to take some time and think about it.
[00:04:01] And so in today's episode, what I want to do is take you through some questions that you can ask yourself if you are feeling like your podcast is in fact stuck. Being stuck is not a bad thing. I really feel like any time I've felt stuck at any point in my business or my podcast, it's literally been a catalyst for growth to me. I don't see it as I've failed. I see it as I've hit a point and it's time to shift because I'm growing and I'm evolving. And that's one thing that I talk about a lot is that your podcast has to evolve with you and your business. It has to grow with you. It can change and evolve with you as your business changes and evolves as you as a person changes and evolves, right? And so it's totally okay to be stuck like I want you to right now to take away that negative mindset if you are feeling stuck and know that this is just a moment for you to transition into something greater and into something bigger.
[00:05:03] And so the first question that I like to ask, when a client comes to me and they say my podcast feels stuck, and the first thing I like to ask is, okay, is your podcast supporting your business goals? And sometimes this is a hard question to answer because we set these goals right for our business and we created a podcast, but we probably didn't create them together. We probably didn't say when we created our podcast, Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to have a podcast that's going to help me build this program that I'm creating for my business. Probably when we started the podcast, we said, I am so excited to start a podcast because I've always wanted to have a podcast and that's totally okay. But as your podcast grows and your business grows, we need to give your podcast more purpose. It needs to support what you're actually trying to achieve as a business owner.
[00:05:57] And you can usually tell if it's not helping you reach your business goals because you're not getting the right kind of traffic from your podcast. And so what do I mean by that? Well, it depends on your goals. So if your goals are to grow a Facebook group, you should see like a result from people listening to the podcast and then joining your Facebook group. For me, I really view my podcast as a lead generator. And so, you know, we send people to the email list, but also a really good indicator for me is am I booking clients from my podcast? Again, somewhat difficult to measure. But usually when I sit down with somebody in a discovery call, they'll tell me where they found me. And if they say podcast, I know that my podcast is doing its job right.
[00:06:44] The other thing is with having it being aligned to your business goals leads us to another question, and that is, is the content of your podcast feeling like it's hitting the mark, like it's reaching the right people? Are you excited about your podcast content? Okay, I know that was two questions, but they're related. Your podcast content should be leading people to what you want them to do, right? So for example, if I am wanting to promote my strategy intensives, I need to be talking about podcast strategy. I talk about this a lot when I am actually sitting down and doing strategy with our clients, because a lot of times we create content from the place of this is what I think my listeners want to hear, and this is the guest I want to have because there are really big guest and they're going to help me get downloads or somebody else did an episode like this. And so I think I should do an episode like this. It's really on the fly off the cuff for choosing topics, and that is usually the moment when our podcast content starts to get dis aligned. Your podcast content should be like this evergreen marketing force for your business, right? It's going to live forever as long as you pay your hosting fees. I always like to say that it's going to live forever, and so we want to make sure that it is impactful and it shares what we love to talk about, what we're good at. But then it also shares and leads people into our products and services.
[00:08:24] So if I'm running a promotion for something specific, I want to do content around that. Now, I am not doing content specifically where I'm talking about that thing, but I'm doing content about the pain points that lead people to that thing. For example, this episode is about, is your podcast stuck? Right? And that is because I've been hearing this from a lot of people. I feel stuck. I don't know what to do with my podcast, so that tells me that it is a need that my ideal listener has, and so I want to create that episode for them. That goes along with being super passionate about what you're talking about. If you're doing episodes just for the sake of doing episodes and you're not super excited to talk about them, that's going to come through in your podcast content. You have built a podcast to shine a light on what you do, what you teach, your methodologies, all the things that you do that make you so special and unique and serving people the way that you serve them. And if that's not coming through in your content, then it's probably not something you should be doing because you want to be passionate, you want to be energetic, you want people to hear your podcast and say, Oh my gosh, that's me. I feel seen. I need to see what else she has.
[00:09:40] And that leads us to another question that is related to content, and that is, am I seeing consistency in my listenership? Am I seeing growth? And if you're not seeing those things. So what do I mean by consistency? Consistency would be that your download numbers stay relatively the same every week. So that's retention, right? So people are hearing our podcast episodes, they've subscribed, they followed, they're excited about what you're putting out. And so then next week when that episode comes out, they want to go listen to that one as well. If you're seeing your downloads drop off week after week after week, it could be a couple things. But one of the things that most likely is, is that your content is not working for you correctly.
[00:10:26] Is your podcast growing your business. and if you don't know the answer to this question or you think the answer might be no, it's time to take an audit. Your podcast can be so much more than a hobby. It can be a way for you to attract your ideal client and establish yourself as an authority. But you need a strategy. And the best place to start is with an audit. And I have a free guide that helps you perform an audit of your podcast, gives you my top tips for having a strategically aligned podcast and a playlist of podcast episodes for more insight. You can head to wildhomepodcasting.com to download your free audit guide today.
[00:11:03] It's a pretty good indicator if you're losing downloads every week that your content is not aligned with your listeners. Your listeners are in some phase of their customer journey, and it is your job to figure out what that is and to understand where they are and what they need from you. And if you're not providing that in your podcast episodes as a business owner, they're not going to need to listen to your episodes anymore. And so if you are seeing that with your download numbers, I really recommend taking a really hard look at your content and saying, Okay, is this aligned? Does this feel right? This podcast used to be pretty much only launch focused. I only talked about launching and you can only talk about launching a podcast so many times, right? And I think I did that for a few years and then our downloads started to go down and I realized that nobody wanted to listen to me talk about launching anymore. So I needed to come at it from a different angle. I needed to think about my content and think about my listeners and where they were at. And by using that critical eye and that critical ear that I have and asking the questions and figuring out that, hey, I need to actually talk to people who are in a different phase of their podcasting journey, I was able to change my content and increase my downloads. It really is this like journey of, like I said, evolving and looking at what you're doing and making sure not leaving people behind. You know, people come to you because they need help in some way or they want to understand and feel, like I said, feel seen in your content. They need something from that. They're wanting something from that. Maybe they need help, maybe they want to improve something they were working on. And so, you know, don't forget that as you evolve and grow, so do your ideal clients, so do your listeners, and so make sure you're bringing them on that journey with you.
[00:13:04] Another question that I want you to ask if you're feeling stuck is, is the podcast process like is the actual recording and editing and creating all the things, is that where you're feeling stuck or does it feel really hard? If something is feeling really hard, nine times out of ten, I'm not going to do it over a long time and I am one of those people I don't know about you, but I am one of those people where I have to try different things. A lot of different things till I get to the right thing. Let me give you a really good example. So I recently last year switched to digital planning. Any digital planners out there? Got an iPad and was very excited to use it, downloaded all these planners so I can sit and write on my iPad. Well, unfortunately that has bored me very quickly and I am not about that. And so now I have switched to Notion which if anybody here hasn't used Notion, holy moly, it's pretty cool. But it also has a very steep learning curve. But so now I'm in I'm in Notion. I don't know if it's going to last very long. I don't know if this is the end all be all for me and digital planning if this is the thing that I'm going to use forever. But I'm really loving it and it's helping me create some consistency with my planning and sitting down every morning and figuring out what I need to do and all of those things. I feel like podcast processes are very similar. I can sit here and tell you what tools to use, what things we recommend, but it really is up to you and what works best for you. And the thing is though, if the process is where you're getting stuck, if you're feeling like you can't complete all the steps to get to where you need to be, which is an consistently released aligned episode, then we need to look at some of those things and maybe it is a new tool. Maybe instead of a Trello board you need a spreadsheet, but maybe it's the actual doing. And so, you know, are you batch recording? But again, you can't really do that if you don't have a really great content plan. And that goes back to my earlier questions. Are you trying to do too many graphics? Maybe you need to pull back on those? Are you trying to write these huge, enormous blog posts when really short show notes is just fine for right now? And so if that is something that is getting you stuck, take a look at your process, really analyze it, see if maybe there's something that you can change that can make it easier for you. And if you do create a podcast planning board in Notion or I don't know if it's called a board actually, but if you do create a podcast planning dashboard in Notion, I think that's what it's called. Let me know. I want to see it. Not that I'm going to use it because I think my team would be really upset if I move them to a new tool because moving to Asana from Trello was a huge thing for us. But I think it would be fun for me personally.
[00:16:03] Another question that I want to ask and kind of close out with is, is it really clear what I want people to do after my episodes? So when we're talking about business goals and aligned content and all of these things, what it all boils down to is communicating with your audience exactly what you want them to do. And a lot of times, if you are not seeing results from your podcast, again, we can go back to content. But one of the things that might be missing, real simply, is telling people what they're supposed to do after the episodes. And I don't mean go rate, review, and follow. I mean join the email list. Click on this link. Join the Facebook group to continue the conversation. People are craving connection and so are you giving them that connection point after they listen to your amazing aligned episode? If you're not giving them a connection point, then they're not going to take the next steps and go into your funnel and all of the things. So really take a look at that.
[00:17:08] It really is about, if I'm to summarize this entire episode, if you are feeling stuck, it's time to do a deep audit of your podcast and say, What do I need to tweak? What can I change that can help it grow and support me and my business in a way that I need it to. I need my podcast to work for my business because I am spending hours on it each month. My team is spending time on it, and so I need to make sure that these things are happening in order for me to feel good about it. And that's totally okay. But you have to understand that it is part of a big picture that is your business and there are so many pieces and things we can dive into more. But this is a really great place to start when you're thinking about how do I get out of this place where I'm not enjoying my podcast and I want to take it to the next level. And so start with these questions. See if you can answer them, see if you can start to move toward some of these questions being answered and maybe also working on solutions for them.
[00:18:18] And if you need more of a guide, we do have a free audit. It's at wildhomepodcasting.com/free-audit and we'll put the link to that in the show notes. But they're really a great place to start. It has a checklist that you can work through that literally is going to ask you some of these questions and the same questions that I ask when I do a strategy intensive and sometimes there are deeper issues with a podcast, but these are kind of the foundational pieces that we start with before we start really digging into like the technology and distribution and keywords and all of those things. And so focusing here is going to help you build a foundation for something that's going to work really well down the road. And like just a word of encouragement because podcasting is a long game and if you've been doing this for a long time and you're not feeling like you've hit the mark yet, that's okay. It can happen and don't give up. Like it just takes, like I said, some simple tweaks and changes to get you where you need to be, and then you'll have a podcast that you'll be able to roll with and feel confident about and feel excited about. Yeah, and that's what we want for you. You know, we want you to have this podcast that not only supports your business, but makes you really excited to sit down and record. And so we'd love to help you get there. And so be sure to keep listening to the podcast and following us on Instagram and joining our newsletter, just staying in our world and we're going to help you get there. So have a great day. Happy podcasting and I'll be back next week with a new episode.
[00:19:59] Thank you for listening to Podcast Your Business. For more podcasting tips, follow us on Instagram at wildhomepodcasting. If you're ready to launch, uplevel, or grow your podcast, head to wildhomepodcasting.com to get started today.
