When it comes to producing a podcast there are two types of difficulty involved.
The first is doing the upfront work to learn everything you need to know to both about launching and grow a podcast.
This might include technical production skills like understanding audio equipment and software, how to record high-quality audio, and then how to edit and post your show online.
Or it could also apply to learning about how to effectively market your podcast and build a system to continually bring in new listeners and over time convert them into clients and customers.
These types of skills can be difficult to learn and harder to master. And, at least when it comes to the audio skills, require an initial upfront investment of time, education, and practice.
But for the most part, once you’ve put in the work to acquire the skills, producing your show becomes a fairly simple process.
But simple doesn’t mean easy.
Ongoing Time Investment
While skill acquisition may be a large and often intimidating hurdle to overcome initially, the real difficulty of producing and growing a podcast is finding the time and energy to keep up with the week-to-week episode production.
I’ve asked hundreds of podcasters how much time they spend producing and promoting their podcasts. While their responses range from as few as one or two hours per episode all the way up to dozens of hours, the average seems to fall in the 8-10 hour range.
If you’re producing your show on a weekly basis, that’s a significant amount of time to fit into your weekly schedule.
In the short term, you might be able to carve out that extra time in your schedule to produce the show. But what about in the long run?
Growing a podcast to the point where it’s driving real, meaningful results for your business is a long-term proposition.
It’s likely going to take a minimum of six months to a year before you start seeing some return on it, and two years before it really starts to feel worth more than all the effort you’ve put into that point.
I don’t say this to discourage you, podcasting is the very best way to build trust with your audience, and if done well it can completely change your life and your business. But trust is built on consistency, meaning it’s essential that you’re showing up regularly with new episodes on your chosen production schedule.
If you can’t commit to that 8-10 hours of production time per week, I’d recommend either looking at how you can outsource some of the elements of production, considering an alternative episode-release schedule, or rethinking whether podcasting is a good fit for you right now.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s possible to either cut down on that time by using systems and automation or condense it into larger, less frequent blocks of time through batch recording and production.
These strategies can certainly help make producing the show more efficient, but producing a show that drives results will always require a significant ongoing investment of time and effort.
Remember though, that by investing time into your show, you’re investing time into your relationship with your audience. This is a worthwhile investment to make, as building an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you is one of the most valuable assets you can develop for your business.
Every Sunday I send out an exclusive article on how to use podcasting to build an audience and grow your business.
No opt-in, no freebie no bribe. But hopefully a new perspective, encouragement, and maybe even some occasional wisdom. It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to share it with you.
Jeremy travels full-time, loves long-distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements. He believes that the way to grow sustainable businesses is by leading with heart, vulnerability, and helping your people be and become their best selves.
- Why Wouldn’t They Just Google It? - March 14, 2021
- Before You Can Market Your Podcast, You Need To Create A Marketable Podcast - March 11, 2021
- Podcast Promotion & Marketing Are Different (Here’s How to Use Each Effectively) - March 10, 2021
