3 Mistakes I Made With My Podcast and the Changes I Made for Growth
We all make mistakes, and never is that more true than in the world of online business! This past year in particular, I made several mistakes with regard to my podcast. That’s why I’m taking some time to reflect on what those mistakes were and how they can be prevented so that YOU don’t make them as well!
Today, I’m sharing 3 mistakes (plus a bonus mistake) that I made with my podcast this year, how I’ve bounced back, and the lessons that I learned throughout the process. If you’ve ever experienced some setbacks on your entrepreneurial journey, then I know this episode is going to resonate and help to give you the validation and insight you need to continue showing up, more empowered than ever.
Mistake #1: Not listening to my data soon enough
In the world of podcasting, where creativity and passion often take the lead, there's a crucial aspect that I, like many others, overlooked for a while – data. I've always been one of those people who, when faced with challenges or declining numbers, tended to brush it off. But as I soon realized, ignoring the data can be detrimental to the success of your podcast.
Last spring, I noticed a troubling trend – my podcast downloads were dwindling. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it. I just assumed it was a phase. That was my first mistake. I should have heeded the warning signs and taken a closer look at the data.
When your download numbers start to dip, it's a clear signal that something needs to change. I should have asked myself questions like, "Is my content engaging? Am I being repetitive? Is this what my audience wants?" It's easy to fall into the trap of familiarity, especially when you've recorded numerous episodes. But if listeners hear the same content repeatedly, they're likely to tune out.
I wish I had paid more attention to the data and reacted sooner. I let the numbers drop to alarmingly low levels before taking action. Looking back, I realize that we knew we needed to make some changes.
Thankfully, I eventually decided to reevaluate my content and make some significant adjustments. We restructured our podcast episodes, added new content, and I started scripting my episodes more meticulously to prevent repetition. And you know what? It worked. The end of the story is a happy one – these changes led to a positive shift in our download numbers.
The key lesson here is that while your content might resonate with you, it's crucial to remember that your podcast isn't just for you; it's for your audience. If it's not hitting the mark, take the time to figure out why and make the necessary adjustments. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, don't make the same mistake I did. Pay attention to the data, adapt, and keep your podcast thriving.
Mistake #2: Getting complacent with my audience building
A second critical lesson that I learned is the importance of never getting too complacent with audience building. It's easy to assume that once you have a solid listener base, they'll stick around indefinitely. But I made the mistake of neglecting this aspect of my podcasting strategy, and it had consequences.
I failed to pay attention to my listeners and email list, assuming they would always be there. However, when I decided to shift my business in a different direction, I realized I didn't have the audience to support this change. I should have been more proactive in constantly growing my audience, even if I'd hit certain goals in terms of downloads per episode.
I now understand that visibility is key. I wasn't being visible in the podcasting community, on other platforms, or in collaborations with fellow business owners. While I had valid reasons, like recovering from major hip surgery, there were still opportunities I missed.
Now, I'm making a conscious effort to be more visible, not disingenuously or inauthentically, but genuinely seeking connections and collaborations. This has not only boosted my podcast but also my business. I've engaged in podcast swaps, bundles, and networking to help kick up the momentum.
All that’s to say, never take your audience for granted. They might not always be there, and it's your responsibility to keep growing and engaging with your audience to ensure the long-term success of your podcast.
Mistake #3: Not paying attention to SEO and discoverability
A third pivotal moment came when I rebranded my show. The Wild Home Podcast didn't quite encapsulate the essence of what I wanted to convey, so I decided to change its name to something more fitting. However, something that came to light when we’d changed the name previously was that it had really bad SEO.
"Podcast Your Business" just didn't fare well in terms of search engine optimization. It lacked the necessary keywords to make it discoverable in podcast apps and searches. I didn't consider how my podcast was showing up in app searches or as a suggested podcast for listeners.
It wasn't until I realized my download numbers were declining and staying down that I took action. I finally changed the name, and the impact was immediate. Not only did it improve the podcast's SEO, but it also injected new energy into the show.
The lesson here is clear: don't overlook podcast SEO. Your podcast title, description, and keywords should be carefully chosen to make your content easily discoverable. Look at what people are searching for and what keywords similar podcasts are using. Consider the right category for your podcast, and make the necessary changes to ensure you show up prominently in app searches. In my case, addressing this mistake made a world of difference, and I wish I had done it sooner. So, if you're rebranding or launching a podcast, remember the power of SEO to boost your show's discoverability and reach.
Bonus Mistake: Not refreshing my lead magnet and too much repetition
In my podcasting journey, I've come to understand that change can be a catalyst for growth. So, when I was scripting this episode, a bonus mistake came to mind – using the same lead magnet for an extended period. It's a mistake I've made, and it's worth sharing.
For a long time, I relied on the same lead magnet. My audience had heard about it repeatedly, which was a problem. It not only felt repetitive but also, I realized, it was more of a "how" product, meaning it provided enough information for people to do what they needed without hiring me. It was time for a change.
Updating my lead magnet brought new life to my content and aligned better with my podcast episodes. While it's essential not to create new lead magnets constantly, I've been thinking about having a couple of main ones that I can rotate. Repetition can cause listeners to tune out, just like we do with commercials on TV. It's crucial to keep things fresh and relevant to maintain engagement.
This experience reinforced the idea that every aspect of your podcast, from content to lead magnets, should evolve together. When you're working on your podcast strategy, remember to consider all the pieces as a whole.
Sometimes making mistakes is just a part of the journey. The key takeaway from the mistakes I shared is that it's okay to make changes, reevaluate, and take risks.
Podcasting is a dynamic, ever-evolving endeavor that requires constant attention. When faced with challenges and quiet moments, taking action and setting specific goals can reignite your passion and drive consistent growth.
It's never too late to reinvigorate your podcast, refocus your strategy, and continue making the impact you set out to achieve. With persistence and adaptability, your podcast can thrive and help you reach your goals.
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Minisode: Don’t Be Afraid to Make a Change (Or, Why We Changed Our Podcast Name)
The Transcript for Podcast Your Business:
146: 3 Mistakes I Made With My Podcast and the Changes I Made for Growth
[00:00:01] Caroline Hull: You know that I am all about transparency. And while I've been in this business a long time, I made some pretty big mistakes with my podcast this past year and I wanted to share them today because I think it's really important that not only I learn and grow from them, but that way you can learn and grow from them as well. So today I'm getting real and sharing them with you so you can avoid them. And also keep your podcast growing too. [00:00:25][24.2]
[00:00:29] Caroline Hull: Hi there and welcome to Share, Strategize and Shine. I'm your host, Caroline Hall, a podcast strategist and CEO of Wild Home Podcasting. I've built my entire career through podcasts by sharing my experience using strategic systems and shining a light on the power of podcasting. If you are looking to cultivate leads for your membership group, program or consulting services, I'm here to help you create a holistic and integrative podcast strategy that will let your business thrive. Let's dive in. Oh, my goodness. So as I am recording this, I am literally on Take three of this episode. I am not one of those people who will go back and fix things. I intend to just stop and delete the whole thing and start over. So that's exactly what is happening right now. I'm on take three anyways. It is that time of year where we are getting ready for Halloween. We're about to have our first snow in Colorado, and my business has just been picking up all this momentum. I've got all these new offers coming up. We've refined a lot of offers that we already have, including the membership. My content is just on point these days. I'm finally, I feel like, resonating with the right people again. And there's still a lot of momentum going. And so that brings me to the problem that we solved this week as we were getting into the holiday season. You may be thinking to yourself, I'm going to need a break, and deservedly so. We all need a break, especially from this constant wheel of content creation. Right. And I know for me and a lot of other people, you're looking at taking a break and you're going, but is this going to kill my momentum? Is this going to hurt me in the long run? How is this going to affect my listeners and all of those things? And we actually had a client who came to us, a monthly client, with this same problem. She was looking forward on her holiday schedule and she said, I want to take December off, but that doesn't feel right either. And so what are my options? And so I wanted to share those with you because I think this is a really important thing to note and to know that you can take a break. So one of my favorite things to do during a break to just keep that connection with your listeners going is to replay some of your favorite or most listened to episodes. And now we want to make sure that we're looking at the data when we're deciding which episodes we're going to replay. So take a look at your downloads. If you're posting them on YouTube, take a look at that. Even take a look at the content you shared on Instagram for your episodes and see which ones really seem to hit the mark. And I like to do stuff that's not fairly recent. Maybe some episodes, you know, further back in the year that I felt like were super impactful. So pick some of those episodes and then you can schedule them as a replay. Now the great thing about this is you've already done the Shownotes, you've already done all the graphics, you have all that stuff. Hopefully if you want, sometimes we'll have clients record a little intro for these episodes that we'll tack on the front that says, Hey, I'm on a break, this is a replay. I hope you enjoy this episode, and then it'll go into that main episode. But here's the thing that I want you to do. So when you do these replay episodes, we do not want you to create a new blog post on your website for it. We do not want you to be creating new things. We want you to link back to the original episode. So that blog post you have on your blog from the first time you aired that episode, you're going to link everything in the replay to that so we don't have to rewrite the show notes. We don't have to create a new blog post. It's already there and we're just going to be bringing people back to that. And of course, there's so much value and also bringing people back into our website. Right? The other thing that's really great about this is you can schedule everything ahead of time and I'm talking like way ahead of time, like you're on break. You don't have to worry about anything because you have already created it. And so that's the beauty of this plan for your break, is using something that you have everything for being able to repurpose it and still keep that engagement, that connection with your listeners. And so if you're thinking about a break but you're a little nervous about actually taking the time off, this to me is kind of a good compromise, a happy medium. So give it a try. Let me know what you think. That's the plan we put in place for our client. And that's the problem we solved this week. [00:05:02][272.7]
[00:05:02] Caroline Hull: Okay, Time to get real this year in general, and I know I've said it on a couple of podcast episodes. This year has been a tough year for me personally and with my business and my podcast. All of it has been hard. I had major surgery at the beginning of the year on my hip. My recovery did not go at all the way that I thought it would. In theory, still is not going the way that I thought it would. And we made some big shifts in my business and some good things happened, some not so good things happened. It just was like this huge snowball of like a lot of things went on this year. But one thing that I really struggled with this year was my podcast. And in retrospect, like, I can look back now and I can see what I did wrong. And this isn't like this is it me putting myself down. I just want to point that out. But there were definitely some mistakes that I made, things that I wasn't paying attention to that stunted the growth of my podcast. And so today I wanted to share those three mistakes with you. I think there may actually be a bonus mistake because as we work in strategy with our clients, this is stuff that we talk about. I don't know if you've ever heard that phrase. The cobbler's children never have any shoes, and that probably aged me quite a bit. But there is this phrase. That phrase means that, you know, as a podcaster, I take care of everybody else's podcast and then I forgot to take care of mine. Just like the cobbler makes shoes for everyone else, but didn't make any for his own children. Right. So it's kind of the same thing. And I know I hear a lot of business owners talk about this as well. Like I've even heard social media managers who manage their clients social media way better than their own. And I think that's just kind of part of being a service provider is we tend to put ourselves last. But I think I also fell prey to I don't need to do anything because it's working. Like everything's working. I don't need to touch it. I don't need to do anything. And so I want to dig into these three mistakes that I feel like I made that led to an absolute stunt in my podcast growth. I even lost listeners. To be honest, I mean, I'm going to be completely honest about that. And so I'll share the mistakes and I'll also try and talk about things that we've done to shift in the other direction and where that's landed me now. [00:07:38][155.5]
[00:07:38] Caroline Hull: So the first thing that I did not do enough of was paying attention to the data. I'm sure somebody out there is going to hear this and they're going to resonate. But I am one of those people where if something feels hard or feels like it's not working, I tend to ignore it and that's not healthy. And I do that with a lot of things. But data is one of those things, numbers, you know. So one thing about my podcast was that my downloads started to fall. I think it was last spring, and I didn't really think anything of it, honestly. I looked at the data, I saw the downloads going down and I didn't say to myself, okay, is this is there something else that's going on or is this something that's happening with my podcasts, my actual podcast? And I kind of let it keep going. And I didn't do anything to stop that momentum down. I didn't change anything. I didn't reevaluate anything. What I should have done when I started to see those downloads decrease was really take a look at my content and reevaluate my content and say, Is it engaging? Am I repeating myself too much? Is this what my audience actually wants to hear from me? And I think we can all fall into this trap, especially when you're like 200 episodes. And it gets hard sometimes when I'm sitting down for these solo episodes, figuring out how I'm going to come at this from a fresh perspective when I'm talking about it all the time here on the podcast and on Instagram. But the thing is, is if people are hearing the same thing over and over and over and over, they're going to stop listening because why should I listen to an episode if I'm just going to hear what I've already heard in the last three? Right? I should have been paying more attention to the data and I should have dug into why it was happening. I pretty much let it happen to the point where it was like, too late. Like there was there was no going back. And I let the numbers get really low. I'm talking into the teens before I said we need to change something. And I think that we had known that we needed to change something. But, you know, we had a million other things going on and there's also seasons of life, right? But if I could go back and talk to Caroline, like last May or last April, I would say it's really time to reevaluate your content. And so that's the first mistake that I kind of want to point out. Like, your content could be great to you, but the fact of the matter is we're not creating the podcast for us. We're creating it for people that we want to work with. And so if you feel like it's not hitting the mark, take the time to figure out why and and figure out what you can do instead. Obviously, we've restructured my podcast episodes, we've added episodes, we've added content. I now script out my episodes and on a full script, but more so than I did before, because it keeps me from being repetitive and it keeps me from focusing on the same key points. And so that's those are some things that we've put in place. And I'm going to tell you, like right now, the end of this ends very happily. So everything that I'm saying that we've done to make a shift has indeed caused a shift. [00:10:52][194.1]
[00:10:52] Caroline Hull: So the second mistake that I made is that I got too complacent with my audience building. I think that it's really important to be constantly building your audience. I think the same thing applies for like an email newsletter list. And I actually really did not pay attention to either of those two things. I didn't pay attention to my listeners and I didn't pay attention to my email list. And unfortunately, how that has affected things is that now that I've tried to shift my business in a different direction, I don't have the audience to do that, right? I mean, eventually I will. But it wasn't like the results that I wanted because I didn't have enough people that I was talking to, right? I assumed that everybody who was listening to my podcast was always going to be listening to my podcast. And I assumed that everybody that was listening to my podcast was going to come back each week. What I should have been doing, because at this point I was not visible in any way, shape or form. I think I posted on Instagram a little bit, but that's not really visibility, but I wasn't being on other podcasts, I wasn't networking with other business owners, I wasn't collaborating. And granted I had major hip surgery guys. So like, we can we can pause because I need to give myself some grace for that. But there were other things that I could have been doing and could have been participating in bundles. I could have been teaching masterclasses in other groups like there is a lot of other things I could have been doing. But I didn't because I wasn't really seeking opportunities to make sure that I was getting in front of people who could potentially be my ideal audience, right? And so I think this is something that needs to be a piece of your strategy constantly for growing your podcast. Even if you have a goal and you hit that goal for like downloads per episode or whatever that is, you still need to be working on how am I going to get more people? And the other thing too is if you are seeing audience churn, then go back to the first mistake I made, which is not looking at your content in the data, right? So now, since all of that has happened and I've realized how important visibility is, it's something that I have been trying really hard to do and I'm still not perfect at it. It still feels like a lot. My schedule is very tight and trying to schedule podcast interviews and coffee chats and things like that is difficult and not always easy. And there are weeks where I will look at my calendar and I'll see how many interviews I have or how many calls or whatever, And I'm like, I don't want to do that, to be honest. But the thing is, is I know that by doing that, I'm helping and working towards building not only my audience, but my business as well. And that's what motivates me. And none of this is done disingenuously or inauthentically, right? Like, I am out there trying to meet people. I've met so many amazing business owners who offer so much, not just for me, but for my audience. And really like that's the perspective you have to take. Like, I want to bring my audience more and I'm able to do that by meeting people and and I've done some podcast swaps. I'm doing some bundles and it just feels like that has really helped kick up the momentum in my business and with my podcast as well. So, you know, don't get too complacent with your audience because there's nothing that guarantees that they will always be there. [00:14:26][213.6]
[00:14:26] Caroline Hull: Are your podcast episodes set up to help you sell your membership, group programs, and consulting services. And I'm not talking about selling it in a sleazy way. I'm talking about creating episodes that are engaging. Create connection between you and your listeners and highlight your expertise to start creating episodes for sales. Get my free guide by heading to WildHomePodcasting.com/sales. [00:14:47][21.1]
[00:14:47] Caroline Hull: Now, the third mistake I made is around SEO. So I had rebranded my podcast. I can't even remember when it was the first rebrand, but it used to be the Wild Home Podcast, which is the name of my company is Wild Home Podcasting. And the podcast, it just didn't feel like it was describing what the podcast was. And so we changed it to a podcast name that I felt like was more aligned. And I believe we did a whole episode on this. So we'll link it in the show notes because I think this is a pretty important point to make. But one thing that occurred when we changed the name that first time is it had really bad SEO. I think it's because it had the word podcast in the title and not much else because it was called Podcast Your Business. And I didn't really look at that like I didn't take the time to see how I was showing up in the searches and how I was showing up as a suggested podcast for their podcast. And one thing I realized, you know, when we started actually looking at why are my downloads going down or why are they staying down, was that my podcast was very hard to find on the app. I even think somebody had told me that and I was like, Yeah, I know. I dragged my feet changing my name forever, which is okay. Like, I knew it needed to happen, but when I finally did it, it was like an immediate result. It was an immediate, I think, not only for SEO, but I think it also put a lot of new energy into my podcast. We kind of did a lot of things at once, like not just the name and the content. It all kind of happened at once, so it was like this energy surge to the podcast. But I think that SEO piece has been really helpful for discoverability. And so the mistake here that I'm trying to point out is not paying attention to your podcast SEO. So specifically in titles, the actual name of your podcast, your description, all of those places should have keywords that would make you findable on the app for what you want to be known for. And so, you know, take a look at that. What are people searching for to find your podcast and similar podcasts? When you go look at similar podcasts, what are some keywords are using in their titles? You know, are you showing up in the right category? All of those things are important as well. And I just forgot to look at all that, which is so funny because I do it for my clients all the time, like all the time. And so, like I said. I knew that my podcast needed to be changed for SEO purposes, for other things, and it took me a while to get there because I needed to find the right name and that's okay. But when we did change it, we've we've seen a lot of momentum. And it's also suggested with other podcasts that are really great. And so it just feels so much better. And I feel like I'm showing up so much better in the apps than I was before. [00:17:45][177.9]
[00:17:45] Caroline Hull: So I mentioned I had a bonus mistake. So as I was scripting out this episode and I knew what I wanted to talk about before I started working on my script, as I was writing out my script, this mistake actually popped up and reminded me that I had done this too. And this one is that I have been using the same lead magnet for a long time, like a really long time. So my audience had heard about it over and over and over again when I said, We want to try not to be too repetitive. So it's interesting because not only was my content needing a re energize ation, but I really feel like my lead magnet did as well and needed something new, something different, something that was going to work better with the episodes. And also just everything, like thinking about that whole customer journey, that path that they take through my business. And this is actually something that I didn't really realize was an issue until recently. And one of the reasons being is, I mean, not often had done really well for me. That lead magnet had done really well for me. But the problem was, like I said, I had mentioned it a billion times, but it also was more of a how and less of a why product. And so people were able to do the thing that I was saying that they needed to hire me to do with my lead magnet, Right? So it was really important that I change it. But it also really helped with the podcast as well. And I think, you know, I know that we shouldn't necessarily be creating new lead magnets all the time, but I have been thinking about this a lot, how, you know, having one or two kind of main ones that you rotate in your episodes might be a good way to go. I'm still thinking a lot about the strategy on this one. But if you have had one and you're like on your 150th episode and it's been the same one the whole time, it might be time to shake it up. I do think that when people are listening to podcasts, when they hear something being repeated, they tune it out. I don't know if anybody else does this, but I mean, like it's the same when I'm watching TV and a commercial comes on that I've seen before. I won't watch it. Like, I tune it out and do something else. I feel like the same as with podcasts. And I was listening to a podcast the other day. And he was talking about something that I've already heard him talk about a lot. I knew exactly what it was, so I just kind of zoned out. I didn't listen to it. I mean, have even skipped ahead. I'm so sorry. But that's the point I'm trying to make is like because it had been heard so much, it was it was time to shake it up and do something a little different. So that was a really, I think, a really great move for me to update my lead magnet and special shout out to my mastermind for encouraging me to do that. But I think that goes along with the podcast because we had updated and changed the content and we needed the lead magnet to match. And so when you are working on all of these things, you have to look at all the pieces together. [00:20:52][186.6]
[00:20:52] Caroline Hull: And so the moral of the story here is that you have to be paying attention and you have to understand what your goals are. And this isn't a set it and forget it for two years kind of thing. You need to be constantly reevaluating what's working and what's not. You know, even if you do it quarterly or every six months, like podcasting is a long game, but we want to make sure that we're not waiting too long to make decisions about it. And so it's totally okay to look at, you know, what's working, what's not, and take some risks. You know, switch some things up, make some changes, you know, because you have a goal. I have a goal. There are things we want to accomplish. And if our podcast is going to help us get there, we have to treat it like a piece of our business. And you wouldn't let anything else in your business sit and not reevaluate it, Right? And so it's the same thing with the podcast. And so I just want everyone to take from this like, it's totally, totally okay to take some risk and reevaluate. And you can change things like you absolutely can. [00:22:06][73.7]
[00:22:06] Caroline Hull: And one more thing I want to point out. You know, I think when you're in a situation where it feels like the downloads are just not there, it can be really hard to show up and to sit at the microphone and record an episode like who is going to hear it? And when you set a goal for your podcast and you start taking action, that's going to help move you forward. It makes these quiet times in your business, in your podcast, so much easier and so much more motivating. I am now more motivated than I have ever been to get my message out there to create new things, to create content that I hope you're going to love, because I have very specific goals. I have a very specific endgame for what I want all of this to, to lead to. Right. And, you know, just remember, when you're in those quiet moments, like and it feels like you're shouting into the void. As long as you were taking action to move forward, it's going to move forward. And sitting back and being complacent and feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to make things move in the direction you want. And so I definitely had a moment where I had to pick myself up by my bootstraps. There's another phrase to age myself and say, you know, I'm not going to. I'm not going to take this lying down. I'm going to make some shifts and make some changes because I have really important work to do. I have people I want to help and I really want to make that happen. And so at the end of the day, I've been able to bring my downloads back up and they are not to the number where I want them yet. But we are seeing consistent growth every week with every episode. And I'm getting very close to my first goal that I had set for myself. And I know that that is going to make getting to that second and third goal so much easier. And so I'm really excited. It feels like the momentum is back. Things are moving forward. I'm excited about my business. I'm excited about the podcast again. And so I just have to remind myself, you know, this is not the time to get complacent or play small. We are making things happen, people. And so I hope that this helps you too, as you're working on your podcast and you're saying to yourself, you know, Oh, this isn't working, or I don't know if it's working. You know, just remember, like always be looking at your content. Always be working on getting yourself in front of new audiences and, you know, pay attention to all those little pieces. The SEO, the lead magnets, the Shownotes. All of those things working together can really, really help you move towards the goals that you've set for yourself, for your podcast and for your business. And I cannot wait to be back on the next episode because this content is just I'm loving it and I hope you are, too. Thanks so much for being here. Thank you for listening to Share, Strategize and Shine to give your own podcast some shine. Download my Free Podcast Guide to creating episodes for sales by heading to the link in the show notes. Be sure to leave a review and connect with me on Instagram for more podcast strategy Insights. Until next time.
