A Behind the Scenes Look at My Podcast So Far (and Tips for Starting Your Own!)

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When this episode originally airs, it will have been about 3 months since my podcast launched! So I’m taking you behind the scenes and sharing what the experience has been like so far. Let’s chat about what’s gone well, unexpected lessons learned, and my goals moving forward. I’ve got lots to share, and some tips to help you if you want to start a podcast, too!

What’s Gone Well

First, I want to share things that I did to prepare for the podcast that have been beneficial as far as being able to deliver content consistently over the past 3 months goes!

#1: Not being afraid to just try.

Things didn’t go perfectly from the start, but I would have never gotten to experience what I have so far if I let the fear of starting / not having it all figured out hold me back!

#2: Taking a leap of faith to invite guests on the show, knowing that the worst they can say is no.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there when it comes to pitching the show to guests. But I do recommend having your pitch together/preparing (more on this in the next point). I also recommend starting with guests who you already have a relationship with, or “are in a similar circle” to.

#3: Having a plan (even if it’s not perfect), and working ahead.

I binged Jenna Kutcher’s Podcast Lab course to help me fine-tune my podcast idea before launching. Before I started pitching to guests, I had a concept/show format, and email templates to streamline the process of pitching, booking, and delivering interview prep to them.

As far as working ahead goes, I invite guests to come on the show about a month, month and a half before I need the interview to be ready. I also brainstormed 20+ guest ideas before launch, and am always adding to the list!

As far as working ahead goes, I invite guests to come on the show about a month, month and a half before I need the interview to be ready. I also brainstormed 20+ guest ideas before launch, and am always adding to the list!

#4: Having a backup plan.

I highly recommend having a plan for what to do if a potential guest isn’t available, an interview gets cancelled/rescheduled, you have a busy week and don’t record a solo show, etc. I’ll talk about this more when I get to what hasn’t gone how I expected!

#5: Creating systems and workflows to help me stay organized and save time.

As you’ll hear me share in the episode, I have a whole list in ClickUp that dedicated to organizing tasks related to my podcast. It includes the podcast content calendar, my giant list of guest ideas, and workflows to help me keep track of things like where an episode is in production and whether or not I’ve heard back from someone I pitched to.

I also have templates in Canva and Wavve to make sharing about my podcast on social media easier!

Unexpected Lessons Learned

Now, let’s talk about some things that haven’t gone so well. I’ve had to adapt a lot!

#1: Scheduling Guests is Hard, but not because people say no.

About 90% of the guests I’ve pitched to have said yes! The hard part is coordinating a time when you’re both available (and being able to keep the date!). That’s why it’s so important to have a backup plan and work ahead. I do have a calendar in Honeybook to make the scheduling and rescheduling process easier!

#2: Be Prepared to be Vulnerable (or support your Guest’s vulnerability)

You never know how someone will respond to a question – that’s part of the fun podcasting! Sometimes I have asked a question and been surprised when a guest gave a deeply personal answer. I always send question ideas ahead of time, and ask guests to mark off anything they don’t want me to ask. My guest’s comfort is top priority during an interview!

#3: If you have a show with a lot of guest interviews, people might only listen to the episodes with guests who interest them.

Everyone’s different. Personally, I will listen to most of the episodes of a podcast if I like the host(s), even if I don’t know a guest. But some people won’t, or will only listen to a guest that they aren’t familiar with if they’re interested in the interview topic. So this is something to keep in mind if you want to start a podcast with a lot of guests (like mine). I’ve also noticed that if a certain guest’s episode attracts a lot of listeners, people will often go back and listen to other episodes, too – so that’s a plus!

My Goals for the Next 3 Months of This Podcast

Now that we’ve reflected on what’s happened so far, let’s talk about what I want to focus on moving forward.

#1: Getting more listeners.

My number of listeners has been pretty steady – which is awesome, thanks if you’re one of my loyal listeners! 🙂

But I do want to get more listeners, since this can help with having more opportunities for the show (attracting guests, possibly monetizing it, etc.)

Here are some things that I have heard can help grow your podcast that I’m considering:

• Me being guest on other podcasters shows
• Once the shownotes are blogged, creating pins for those blog posts and sharing them on Pinterest

#2: Becoming a better host.

A lot of this comes down to practice! But I know that as a listener, you want to listen to shows that are fun to listen to and deliver quality content consistently. So this is something that I’m working on.

#3: Hiring help with my podcast production and marketing.

At the time that this episode first airs, I edit most of my episodes myself. Honestly, it hasn’t been too hard because I have some editing experience and the episodes are short. I actually did hire an editor for one episode that had some audio issues I didn’t know how to fix, though.

But as my business grows, I know that this isn’t my zone of genius, and that someone else can do a better job.

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