Since we opened the doors of PodLab, this is the question we have been asked the most (closely followed by “How can I make money from my podcast).
We want to start by saying, go easy on yourself. And try not to compare your podcast to anyone else.
For what it’s worth, you may be doing a lot better than what you think: According to Podcast hosting giant Buzzsprout, any podcast that gets 109 downloads in the first month of release puts you in the top 25% of podcasts! Congrats if that is you. If not, it’s definitely a very achievable goal.
In this article we have just one tip. It’s a big one though- this is the golden rule.
In future articles we will share some more practical tips for getting more listeners to your podcast, the stuff we know you want. Unfortunately, the golden rule for getting more listeners is not something you’ll really want to hear.
Drum roll……
BE PATIENT!!
This is in caps for a reason. And its number 1 for a reason. It sucks at the start of your podcast journey- putting out content that you genuinely believe in, and you know is great.
But this is a valuable time to learn, improve, stuff up, fail, embarrass yourself, grow, develop, etc, WITHOUT a big audience. This is your apprenticeship.
A great example of podcast patience is Joe Rogan, the host of the worlds #1 podcast. He launched in 2009 and published 1000 episodes before he truly “blew up.” That was in 2018- nine years after he started.
Here in New Zealand, one of our most popular and long running podcasts is “Between Two Beers.” Steve and Seamus launched their podcast in November 2019. Three years and 53 episodes later, their average amount of downloads per episode was around 400. Thankfully, they remained patient and kept at it. Each episode now gets downloaded in the tens of thousands.
Of course, there are counter arguments to this rule, but these are unicorns.
Alex Cooper started her incredible Call Her Daddy podcast in 2018. The podcast blew up overnight with downloads rising to 2 million in two months.
We would all like that sort of exponential success. But, if that doesn’t happen, patience is going to be crucial.
Patience is tough. But if you are passionate about your podcast and think of it as something you love doing, you will be much more likely to stick with it.
It’s a lot of work. And you’ll probably have to pay for everything out of your own pocket, because without a good audience it will be unlikely you are earning money from your podcast (yet).
But BE PATIENT and both those things will happen.
At PodLab we have the people and equipment to help accelerate the podcast journey and make sure your podcast is as great as it can be.
