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5 Signs You’re Making Podcasting Harder Than It Needs to Be · Abbey the Podcast Lady

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  you You're making podcasting harder than it needs
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  to be, and we're gonna fix that today. Hey, welcome
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  back to another episode of Abby the Podcast Lady.
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  I'm so glad that you took some time to join me
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  today as we talk about the five signs that you're
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  making podcasting harder than it needs to be,
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  and also parentheses, how we can fix that. I
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  have worked with a lot of podcasters over the
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  years. I've helped launch so many shows. I actually
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  just got to help launch, what was it, two, three
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  shows? Four shows just this month. It's been
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  a crazy month of March 2020. So yeah, I am very
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  familiar with the podcasting process. I produce
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  10 shows on a weekly basis. I'm elbows deep in
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  this and I know when people are making it harder
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  than it needs to be and I have ways that we can
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  fix that. So let's not waste any time. Let's
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  just get right into it. The number one sign that
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  you're making podcasting harder than it needs
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  to be is that you're trying to make every episode
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  perfect. Here's the thing about podcasting. You
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  can edit the show. What? You can edit the show?
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  Oh my goodness. I'm telling you right now what
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  you're watching is a edited polished version
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  of me. I don't talk like this in real life. I'm
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  not perfect. I stumble over words. I say things
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  twice. I use the word um and ah or I need to
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  stop and think and catch up with my thoughts.
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  You don't need to be perfect. Far from actually.
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  You can edit out all the imperfections and make
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  you look as perfect as you want. So if you're
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  sitting down to record and you're getting frustrated
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  because you can't do every in one take, don't
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  worry about it. Do a take two. What you're watching
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  right now, I'm pretty sure this is take three
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  of trying to start this podcast. So don't let
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  perfectionism be the thing that makes podcasting
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  hard for you. You can always edit mistakes out.
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  The second way you're making podcasting harder
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  than it needs to be is that you don't have a
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  simple, repeatable workflow. I would not be able
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  to run my business and produce 10 shows a week
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  if I did not have a system in place for each
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  and every one of them. Are the systems the same
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  for each and every one? No, they're different.
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  Everyone has different needs and wants and deliverables
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  associated with their shows. But if it wasn't
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  for the systems in place to make sure all of
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  those deliverables are met, no one would have
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  a show with me. That's just plain and simple
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  truth right there. So when you're starting your
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  podcast, if you're producing it yourself, make
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  sure you have a simple, repeatable workflow so
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  you can actually accomplish things. Because if
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  you're reinventing the wheel from scratch every
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  time you sit down to record, edit, and upload
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  a show, you're gonna burn yourself out. so fast
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  you need a repeatable workflow so think about
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  what actually needs to get done for your show
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  obviously the audio because you're making a podcast
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  the video you might be making a video podcast
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  you need to chop it up to make social media elements
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  whether that's short form videos whether that's
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  static graphic posts hopefully you're writing
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  a blog and putting it on Pinterest I could do
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  an entire episode on that but there's certain
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  things that you know need to get done for your
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  podcast so make sure that you have a system in
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  place to do them efficiently and that every you're
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  kind of doing it not exactly in the same order,
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  but same enough where it feels like a pattern.
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  Because the more you do it, the more you're gonna
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  get into that flow state and the easier it is
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  gonna get. Another sign you're making podcasting
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  harder than it needs to be is that you're overthinking
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  your content instead of trusting your gut and
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  your expertise. You are making this podcast because
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  you are the expert in your field. That's a fact.
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  You might have a little bit of imposter syndrome
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  and think, but there's people who are smarter
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  than me. Yeah, there probably are, but you know
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  what? You're the expert. You gotta believe it.
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  Push that imposter syndrome down. You are the
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  expert in your field. You're feeling a calling
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  on your heart to make this show and talk about
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  the topics that you wanna cover because you know
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  your stuff. So trust yourself to know your stuff
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  and share your topics. If you need bullet points
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  to help you get through that podcast episode,
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  make those bullet points. I'm looking at my bullet
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  points right now. But I know deep down that I
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  know what I'm talking about. I know about podcasting.
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  That's why I have a show called Abby the Podcast
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  Lady. That's why my license plate on my car says
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  pod lady. I am the pod lady. I know what I'm
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  talking about. So I just need to trust my expertise.
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  This is advice that I need to tell myself. It's
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  never going to fully go away if you have any
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  bit of imposter syndrome, but just know you're
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  the expert in your field and you know what you're
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  talking about. So trust yourself to share that
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  information with the world. The fourth way you're
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  making podcasting harder than it needs to be
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  is that you're comparing your beginning to someone
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  else's polished finished product. Now, if you're
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  sitting down for the first time, opening up your
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  web webcam or propping up your cell phone to
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  record and you're comparing that to Dax Shepard's
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  armchair expert where he has a three or four
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  camera set up in his garage and professional
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  gear and all the funding in the world from Wondery.
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  Yeah, you're going to feel bad about that and
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  you're going to make podcasting harder than it
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  needs to be. But in all reality, you don't need
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  to worry about that. You just need to worry about
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  getting your message out into the world in the
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  most efficient way that you can. Do not compare
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  your start to someone else's six, seven years
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  into making a show. That is not realistic. Okay.
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  Now you can find ways to level up this experience
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  You can hire someone like me who's a producer
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  who can bring in the lights and the equipment
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  and make sure everything is Looking perfect sounding
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  perfect. But honestly when we all start we all
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  kind of hate the first few episodes we make I
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  just heard someone speak last week and she said
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  don't listen to the first six episodes of my
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  show because they're bad like we all hate where
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  we start but we kind of want to hate where we
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  start because that shows that you're growing
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  as a podcaster and as a person and in this skill
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  set, which is a very special skill set. So make
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  sure that you're not comparing yourself from
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  where you're starting, just getting your feet
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  off the ground to someone else's finish line
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  with a golden globe in hand looking at you Amy
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  Poehler. So that's a way you're making podcasting
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  harder. Try not to play the comparison game.
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  And the last way you're making podcasting harder
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  than it needs to be is that you're making your
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  podcast bigger than the season that it's in.
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  This kind of goes along with the number four
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  reason of comparing yourself to someone else's
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  finish line. How much work are you putting into
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  your show on a weekly basis and are you actually
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  seeing any results from it? Are you doing too
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  much is the question. Are you trying to be on
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  every single platform? Are you trying to make
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  a full -blown video version of your podcast when
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  you don't know a thing about video editing? Are
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  you trying to create multiple shows a week when
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  you really don't have the capacity for more than
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  one? Are you trying to take clips and put them
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  on Instagram and you and Pinterest and LinkedIn
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  and every single place that you can find, you
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  might be doing too much and that's gonna make
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  podcasting feel really hard and impossible. But
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  if you take everything you're doing... Just say,
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  okay, for the next month and a half, I'm just
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  going to focus on making my show, putting out
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  one audio show a week. I'm going to make sure
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  that I post twice about it a week on just one
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  platform. Maybe you have the biggest following
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  on Instagram. So you're going to focus on Instagram
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  or maybe you have a great email list. You're
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  going to make sure it gets in the email list
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  for every email you send out for the next month
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  and a half. Focus on a couple of little things.
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  You might be making your podcast way more complicated
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  than it actually needs to be. So what I want
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  you to do is I want you to take a big deep breath
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  and think about just a couple of things that
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  you can do. Focus on getting that audio out.
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  Podcasting is an audio first. Platform no matter
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  where you're listening even if it's on YouTube
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  if the audio doesn't sound good. That's priority
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  number one So make your audio content and pick
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  one platform You're gonna focus on you're gonna
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  feel so much better than trying to be everywhere
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  all at once and it's gonna make podcasting feel
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  a lot less Impossible. So hopefully this episode
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  was helpful for you today podcasting it can be
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  hard But it's only as hard as we make it So just
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  think about what you're doing with your show
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  your goals for the show how you're using it to
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  promote your brand your business your platform
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  and just think about ways that you can simplify
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  it because at the end of the day, like I said,
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  it's only as hard as we make it. So thank you
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  so much for tuning in to another episode of Abby
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  the Podcast Lady and I will catch you guys next
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  week.