Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / How Long Does It Take to Launch a Podcast? Why You Need a Two-Month Window

Transcript

How Long Does It Take to Launch a Podcast? Why You Need a Two-Month Window · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:00
  Would you rather wake up on January 1st going,
• 0:02
  okay, time to start that podcast that I have
• 0:04
  on my New Year's resolution list? Or would you
• 0:06
  rather wake up on January 1st and say, oh, hey,
• 0:09
  look, my first episode went live while I was
• 0:11
  sleeping. I know which one I'd rather have. Hello,
• 0:19
  and welcome to another episode of Abby the Podcast
• 0:21
  Lady. I am so excited that you're joining me
• 0:24
  today on this beautiful fall day. It is a top
• 0:28
  10 weather day in Minnesota, and I just want
• 0:30
  that on the record that it is late October and
• 0:33
  it is sunny and 71. There's not a cloud in the
• 0:36
  sky. There's not a stitch of breeze. It is just
• 0:39
  absolutely gorgeous. But because it is so gorgeous,
• 0:42
  it's making me a little nervous because we are
• 0:45
  very close to Halloween. Where I bring up the
• 0:48
  Halloween blizzard of 1991. Catastrophic for
• 0:52
  a lot of Minnesotans. I know it's a touchy subject.
• 0:54
  I was not around for that one. But I know it
• 0:57
  brings up some qualms because we got like a crap
• 1:00
  ton of snow on that day. And Halloween has notoriously
• 1:03
  been kind of a gross weather day in the state.
• 1:06
  It's not beautiful around here for that holiday.
• 1:09
  We have the trauma of having to wear a winter
• 1:12
  coat over our Halloween costumes most years because
• 1:15
  it was just too cold to go out trick -or -treating
• 1:17
  without one. So with that in mind, the holidays
• 1:20
  are sneaking up. on us. And what I really want
• 1:22
  to talk to you about today is setting up your
• 1:24
  podcast for success if you are planning to launch
• 1:27
  as a New Year's resolution in 2027. Now, maybe
• 1:31
  you even had start a podcast on your New Year's
• 1:34
  resolution list for 2026, for 2025, for 2024.
• 1:39
  I'm not here to judge. I'm here to help you make
• 1:42
  sure this actually becomes a reality in the new
• 1:46
  year. And I know you might be thinking, I don't
• 1:48
  want to think about New Year's resolutions, Abby.
• 1:50
  I haven't even had my Reese's pumpkins for the
• 1:52
  year yet. Like we're still working through those.
• 1:54
  We're not switching to the Christmas trees just
• 1:56
  yet. But here's the thing. If you want to start
• 1:59
  a podcast in 2027, the best time to start is
• 2:02
  right now. It sounds insane, but trust me on
• 2:05
  this. I have helped launch dozens of podcasts
• 2:08
  and you kind of need a two month window if you're
• 2:10
  going to do it right and set it up for success.
• 2:13
  So that's what we're going to get into today.
• 2:14
  I want to make sure your podcast is ready to
• 2:16
  go. the clock strikes midnight on New Year's
• 2:18
  Eve. So first things first, I mentioned that
• 2:21
  it takes about two months to start a podcast
• 2:23
  the right way. Why is that? Now, I can start
• 2:27
  a podcast and launch it overnight. And I mean,
• 2:30
  by all accounts, it could be successful and I
• 2:33
  could sustain it long term, but chances are good.
• 2:36
  It's not going to work out how you think it will.
• 2:38
  I've done the emergency podcast launches, and
• 2:41
  those are the ones where the podcasts are no
• 2:43
  longer being made. Let's just leave it at that.
• 2:45
  The ones that start with a game plan in place
• 2:48
  end up sustaining long -term because habits are
• 2:51
  built. I'm sure you've heard it before. It takes
• 2:53
  21 days to make and break a habit. So what are
• 2:57
  you going to do with those 21 days that you have
• 2:59
  between here and... New Year's. And honestly,
• 3:01
  you probably have more than 21 days. I know you
• 3:03
  have more than 21 days. So what we're going to
• 3:05
  do in that two months leading up to launching
• 3:08
  your podcast is we're going to establish some
• 3:10
  really good habits. Plus, we're going to get
• 3:12
  a bunch of the pre -work done. There's more work
• 3:14
  that goes into launching a podcast than you think.
• 3:16
  You need cover art. You need a name. You got
• 3:18
  to set up the RSS feed. You got to establish
• 3:20
  show notes. You got to establish a show description.
• 3:22
  You got to set up your distribution. And I always
• 3:25
  like to tell people that they should have six
• 3:27
  episodes ready to go. Then you hit publish on
• 3:30
  the first one. That doesn't mean you need to
• 3:32
  publish all six at once. That means you have
• 3:35
  six weeks of content ideally set up and ready
• 3:38
  to go that it's going to be released on a weekly
• 3:41
  schedule or a biweekly schedule. Whatever you
• 3:43
  determine is best for you. It is going to be
• 3:46
  in the hopper ready to go. So you are not immediately
• 3:49
  panicking when you hit post or publish on your
• 3:52
  very first episode and going, oh, crap. Now I
• 3:55
  got to record another episode and I got to do
• 3:56
  it all over again. That's where podcasting becomes.
• 3:59
  a problem, when you're not prepared for it, when
• 4:01
  you're not working ahead, when you're not setting
• 4:03
  yourself up for long -term success. So I like
• 4:06
  to tell people to have six episodes ready to
• 4:08
  go in the podcast that I just launched last week
• 4:11
  for one of my clients. We actually have been
• 4:13
  working on this since July, and we had 10 episodes
• 4:16
  ready to go. And now we are set up to release
• 4:19
  episodes through mid -December. And that was
• 4:22
  when we hit publish on episodes. One and two.
• 4:25
  We launched two right away plus a trailer. So
• 4:27
  that worked out really well. And we are set up
• 4:29
  for success long term. She's not scrambling to
• 4:32
  get me content that needs to be edited overnight.
• 4:35
  It's all ready to go because we had this strategy
• 4:39
  in place. So think about that. Think about setting
• 4:42
  those good habits. And in that two months, you
• 4:44
  can also kind of figure out like. You're not
• 4:46
  going to always have an average week, right?
• 4:48
  I mean, everyone has different work schedules,
• 4:50
  life responsibilities. It's a real thing. So
• 4:53
  you can kind of see the patterns form of when
• 4:56
  you do have gap time in your schedule, because
• 4:58
  that gap time is now going to become your dedicated
• 5:01
  podcast time. Whether that's recording, whether
• 5:04
  that's editing, whether that's making social
• 5:06
  media, whatever needs to be done for your podcast
• 5:09
  is going to be filling that gap time. As you're
• 5:12
  going through these two months, as you're creating
• 5:14
  the cover art, as you're establishing who your
• 5:16
  ideal listener is, find that gap time in your
• 5:19
  schedule because that is going to be... where
• 5:21
  you fill it with podcast tasks. In this two months,
• 5:24
  when you're getting your podcast ready to go,
• 5:25
  I also want you to think about what you want
• 5:27
  this podcast to do for yourself, for your brand,
• 5:30
  and for your business. Is this something that
• 5:33
  you're just doing because it's a passion project
• 5:34
  and it's a quirky topic that you're interested
• 5:37
  in? Great, that's awesome. Is this something
• 5:39
  that you're using as a funnel, as a top of funnel
• 5:42
  for your business? Maybe you have some sort of
• 5:45
  consulting or coaching or speaking that you wanna
• 5:47
  do, and this is how you're gonna introduce people
• 5:49
  to who, you are, what the brand is, what your
• 5:52
  mission is. Think about how you want to go about
• 5:54
  using your podcast as a tool because it is so
• 5:58
  much more than just a audio medium, so much more
• 6:01
  than just a trendy thing to do. Your podcast.
• 6:04
  can be the core of your marketing strategy if
• 6:07
  you set it up to be. So that is something that
• 6:09
  we're also going to do in this two month start
• 6:11
  time to figure out what the game plan is long
• 6:14
  term for the show. If you just want the show
• 6:16
  to be a show because it's been on your mind and
• 6:18
  it's been on your heart to do, that's awesome.
• 6:21
  I say go for it. I did that with my first podcast.
• 6:23
  It was called the small town tourist. I was just
• 6:25
  interested in telling stories from small towns.
• 6:27
  I had a lot of fun with it. I didn't monetize
• 6:29
  it or do anything like that. So it kind of went
• 6:31
  to the wayside and I have a roster full of clients
• 6:34
  that I'm working for. And I always like to say
• 6:35
  the cobbler's child is the last to have shoes.
• 6:38
  So that podcast went to the wayside, but it was
• 6:40
  just a fun passion project that I sustained for
• 6:43
  over two years doing it just for the love of
• 6:46
  it. So that is not out of the question at all.
• 6:48
  Do not think that your podcast. has to serve
• 6:51
  some greater purpose of being a funnel, being
• 6:54
  a marketing tool. It can just be a podcast. That
• 6:57
  is totally fine. There are no rules to this medium.
• 7:00
  It is built for self -exploration and having
• 7:03
  fun. So think about what you want your podcast
• 7:05
  to serve, how you want it to serve your audience,
• 7:08
  what kind of the bigger picture is for the show.
• 7:11
  Also in this two -month buildup to publishing
• 7:13
  your very first episode, you need to think about
• 7:15
  where you're going to be sharing your podcast.
• 7:17
  Chances are good your audience is going to find
• 7:20
  you through things where they already know you.
• 7:22
  Social media channels, TikTok, Instagram. facebook
• 7:25
  there's an entire episode on the facebook crisis
• 7:28
  in podcasting that was last week's episode go
• 7:30
  and listen to that but think about where you're
• 7:33
  going to put this podcast to share it out to
• 7:35
  your audience because people are not finding
• 7:37
  podcasts in podcasting apps like they used to
• 7:41
  They still are, don't get me wrong. That's not
• 7:42
  totally dead in the water, but it is different
• 7:45
  now. So you're gonna need to either, one, establish
• 7:48
  dedicated social media channels for the podcast,
• 7:51
  set up the YouTube channel, make the new TikTok
• 7:53
  account, make the Instagram account, or you're
• 7:55
  gonna need to retrofit the current ones you have
• 7:57
  to include things in your bio, like, hey, by
• 8:01
  the way, I have a podcast, or hey, link to the
• 8:03
  podcast is here, add it to your link trees, or
• 8:05
  start an email list, start a blog. There's a
• 8:08
  lot of little things that, go into promoting
• 8:11
  the podcast that you don't necessarily think
• 8:13
  about. And I don't want you thinking about it
• 8:15
  after the show is already out. I want you thinking
• 8:18
  about it before you even hit publish on episode
• 8:20
  one. If all this is sounding really overwhelming
• 8:23
  to you, I want you to take a deep breath, do
• 8:26
  it with me, and realize it's not that bad. Coming
• 8:31
  from me, it's probably not that reassuring because
• 8:33
  like I said, I've helped launch dozens of podcasts
• 8:35
  and I can basically create podcasts in my sleep
• 8:38
  at this point. I am Abby the podcast lady. But
• 8:41
  really, it isn't that bad. It's a lot of little
• 8:44
  teeny tiny tasks that add up to one big overall
• 8:48
  show. And it's not impossible for you to do it
• 8:51
  on your own. That being said, if you want someone
• 8:53
  else to handle it, I'd be happy to take it off
• 8:55
  of your hands and we can have a conversation
• 8:57
  about that. Link in the show notes below. But
• 9:00
  I actually put together a quick start guide for
• 9:02
  you for getting a podcast going. It has the checklist
• 9:05
  of all the things that... Ideally, I think you
• 9:08
  should have done before you hit publish on episode
• 9:11
  one or launch your trailer out into the world.
• 9:13
  So be sure you grab that quick start guide. I
• 9:16
  have the link down in the show notes below. It's
• 9:18
  part of my free school community. If you're looking
• 9:20
  for a community of podcasters, be sure to check
• 9:23
  that out. There is a free option where you can
• 9:25
  gather and chit chat and share ideas and problems
• 9:28
  and solutions with fellow podcasters. And then
• 9:30
  there is a paid tier that includes some more
• 9:33
  resources, online courses. deep dives into certain
• 9:36
  things. So be sure you check out the free school
• 9:38
  community. Again, link is in the show notes below.
• 9:41
  There are over 1 billion people listening to
• 9:44
  podcasts on this planet, and they are not all
• 9:47
  listening to the same one. So if you're sitting
• 9:49
  here going, I have it on my new year's resolution
• 9:51
  list. I want to start a podcast in 27, but you
• 9:53
  have that little voice in the back of your head
• 9:55
  going, but who am I to start a podcast? Why would
• 9:58
  anyone listen to me? Those 1 billion people are
• 10:01
  not all listening to the same show. Maybe we
• 10:04
  are all listening collectively to Good Hang with
• 10:06
  Amy Poehler, but it is not the only show that
• 10:10
  we're all listening to. People listen to multiple
• 10:12
  shows a week. I know I listen to usually two
• 10:14
  or three a day, and they're all a wide range
• 10:17
  of topics. I listen to everything from self -help
• 10:21
  to business advice to celebrity interviews to
• 10:24
  free movie reviews. I listen to absolutely everything,
• 10:28
  and there is a dedicated audience that is hungry
• 10:31
  for what you have to share with them. them. So
• 10:33
  don't let the to -do list of starting a podcast
• 10:37
  scare you from actually accomplishing this new
• 10:39
  year's resolution in 2027 or heck knocking it
• 10:43
  out in 2026 yet. That's even better. Again, if
• 10:45
  you need help with any of this, please join the
• 10:47
  free school community that I have links in the
• 10:49
  show notes below. If you want to work with me
• 10:51
  deeper than that, you can check out links for
• 10:53
  that as well. But I believe in you. I can't wait
• 10:56
  to hear your show. I know it's going to be amazing
• 10:58
  because you're going to be set up for success
• 11:00
  and doing this for the long haul. So have a great
• 11:03
  rest of your day. Crush those New Year's resolutions
• 11:05
  and we'll catch you on the next episode.