Building a Consistent Podcasting Routine
There are so many reasons that we create podcasts. We care about a certain topic, are an expert in a topic, want to monetize, or just love sharing our thoughts and opinions on all things. There are so many more reasons. Regardless of the reasons, the most important part of podcasting is our audience. Whether that is growing our audience base or keeping our current audience there is a focus that we must have on keeping our listeners happy.
We’ve discussed, in the past, the need to find a niche and focus on what we discuss and how we discuss it in a way that our niche audience will enjoy. That being said, no matter how much listeners enjoy the show, a consistent podcasting routine is crucial. Have you ever watched a show through its current season(s) and not knowing when the next season was set to air, you forgot about the show altogether only to find it months later?
Podcasting is the same! Consistency helps maintain listeners as they know when to anticipate a new episode and they can expect the same quality episode over episode. Without this consistency, listeners may easily forget about the show.
A consistent podcasting routine is not only important for our audience but also for ourselves. Consistency saves us time (As discussed in our latest blog post, “How to Save Time Podcasting”), creates good habits, and allows us to work smarter, not harder. So how do we create a consistent podcasting routine?
Setting Realistic Expectations
Setting realistic expectations is crucial to planning your podcast episode release dates, as well as what you will be releasing, and the quality you will be able to produce. To set these expectations to create a consistent podcasting routine we need to recognize that podcasting takes TIME! So setting ourselves up for success is important here.
Set realistic expectations when it comes to the time it takes to prepare for recording, recording, editing, and posting the episode. Inconsistency takes over when we are not allowing enough time for each aspect of production as it may affect, not only the air date but also the quality of the show.
Additionally, establishing achievable milestones from the start can largely affect a consistent podcasting routine. Based on our time commitments we can set a reasonable number of shows per week/month. Allowing ourselves ample time to achieve each due date, quality of the show, and/or marketing for each episode gives consistency to our audience as well as ourselves. Which also helps avoid podcasting burnout!
Creating a Calendar
We’ve set up realistic expectations and achievable milestones, now what? Now we need to stay on top of our time and make sure we are achieving each milestone in a timely manner. We can do this with good time management. That is, planning ahead for episodes. This means, knowing what you want to discuss in each episode, researching and prepping ahead of time, and having guests or any key features planned.
Create a calendar where you allocate time to do each of these things: research, recording, editing, and promoting. Doing this will build a consistent podcasting routine that you can stick to and use to avoid burnout and encourage your audience to continue to return week over week to listen to your show.
Batch Content
When creating your calendar to build a consistent podcasting routine one thing we highly suggest is scheduling in a way that you batch your content. That is working on one aspect of multiple shows at once.
For example batch recording episodes! After you’ve done your research and prep, set a standard time to record 2+ shows in one sitting. You will already have your equipment and better be able to create consistency in your show quality/experience.
Additionally, you can batch-edit and schedule your episodes. Just as you batch record, you can edit a few shows in one sitting (depending on your available time) and schedule your episodes to air. Doing this can keep you a few shows ahead of schedule so that you can maintain that consistent podcasting routine and schedule for your audience.
When batch recording and scheduling it is important to pay attention to your own needs to avoid burnout or decreased quality by…
Select time slots that align with your energy levels
staying consistent in recording frequency
Developing a Podcast Production Workflow
You keep pointing out how long editing takes, how can I edit more than one episode in a sitting?
Batch editing definitely depends on the length and complexity of your show! That being said, creating a strong editing process that you can follow each time and get the hang of doing without thinking about it allows you to move through editing at a quicker pace while maintaining quality.
Of course, this will take time and practice but some ways that you can help yourself is to keep a list of steps, add to, and change as you learn how to edit efficiently.
Practicing and getting better over time is awesome and helps you move proficiently. But another way to help yourself move at a pace that encourages a consistent podcasting routine as well as consistent quality is to make and use templates and presets. Just as photographers and videographers do, when you find what works well for you and your audience keeping your episodes consistent to that will encourage a dependable group of listeners.
You can also use templates/presets for planning and researching. Riverside has a great blog post on this, “10 Best Podcast Templates for Your Podcasting Workflow”.
Automate / Outsource What You Can
You can help save time by automating routine tasks. We discussed this in our past blog on saving time while podcasting. But automating tasks such as scheduling guests, scheduling/publishing episodes, social media posts, etc. not only saves time but encourages that consistent podcasting routine.
In addition to your podcast episodes, you may also send out emails, write blogs, etc. You can automate publishing these to save yourself time and avoid the potential of missing the date that your audience is expecting to see them.
Additionally, as we read over these tasks that are crucial to creating a consistent podcasting routine, you may notice that a lot of these tasks are repetitive and after researching and recording could potentially be done by an outside source. So why not outsource those monotonous tasks? Podcast managers and support can go a long way in supporting your show by allowing you to take on the tasks that you enjoy and may soak up your time. We here at GGC love to support and you can schedule a call with us to see if we align well with your needs. Schedule here.
Have flexibility
Building a consistent podcasting routine is vital to a successful show! That being said, it is rare that things go perfectly no matter how much planning goes into it. So being flexible and having some sort of plan in place for unexpected challenges can help you get ahead of those speed bumps. Now a plan for this may be as simple as allocating ample time to adjust your routine as needed.
Building a consistent audience can be difficult and staying consistent supports this. However, no one is perfect, things happen and sometimes episodes will come out late. But you can stay ahead of this by communicating with your audience. I was just listening to a show where in the latest episode the host knew that she was behind on her next episode, was going on vacation, and would not be able to produce a quality episode in time. So she added a snippet to the end of the episode letting us listeners know that she would be skipping a week. It was great because her next episode was one of the best she created and we knew when to expect her return. Consistency is great but burnout is very real and we want to avoid it when possible!
Conclusion
Creating a consistent podcasting routine helps you maintain show production without burning out, and creates a healthy expectation for listeners on when episodes will be released and the quality! Creating an achievable plan, using your calendar to manage time, and batch-creating allow you to stay ahead of your tasks and encourage consistency.
At the end of the day finding what works for YOU is crucial. Batch editing can be amazing but it may not work for you. Try out a plethora of different ways of creating and publishing and stick with what allows you to work to the best of your ability. Don’t hesitate to ask for help and outsource - finding a group of like-minded creators is also a great way to learn new tips and tricks!
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