Staying Consistent: Recording, Pitching Guests + Sponsors
Have you ever been a fan of a podcast that you struggled to keep up with due to its irregular schedule? I know I have! It was frustrating, right? That is important in staying consistent. It helps build and retain your audience!The thing is people like routine and consistency. So much so, that according to Leaders.com, "Harvard Business Review found that 92% of highly productive people follow planned morning routines".And I get it, I myself am a person of habit. That's why maintaining consistency is important. However, there can be a lot of challenges that come with trying to stay consistent with podcasting such as time constraints, scheduling conflicts with guests, outreach efforts, and more.
So, today I am diving into tips on how to stay on top of your podcast whether that be recording, pitching guests, or even getting sponsors.
Set a Schedule and Stick To It
The first thing that you want to do is go back to making a consistent schedule that works for you. What I mean by that is you don’t have to overwork yourself. You can still be consistent on a schedule that works around your daily and business life.
Start by looking at your and your team’s calendar to figure out what the best times for recording will be and how often you will want to do it (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.). This will help give you an idea of how many episodes you’ll want to put out every month and how long you’d like your season to be (if you have those).
Remember, your show doesn’t have to be released weekly but it should be consistent!
Then consider your content calendar to plan out all your episodes in advance.
Once you know how often you are going to be recording it is important to know how often you will be promoting and what kind of content. As you may need add an additional block on your calendar to record or create that content.
Finally, once you’ve picked out days on the calendar you will need to stick to it.
Block off those times in your calendar.
If you have team members or guests that you need to include, this is a great time to share the calendar invite with them so everyone can prepare in advance.
Or if you haven’t invited your guests yet, this is a great time to get a head start on scheduling them in case you run into any conflicts.
Stay Organized
You’ve set your schedule and you’re planning on sticking with it. Now you need to stay organized which sometimes can be the hardest part of actually keeping up.
The first thing you want to do is start by developing a system to manage your podcast-related tasks.
Sit down and figure out everything that you do. For example, for every episode you may record, edit, create social posts, publish it, and market it. Make note of everything you do and then find a tool that you can use to keep track of those things. As well as to be able to notify you.
Our tool choice for this is Trello! We love it because we can make “a card” for each episode. Then we can add
A checklist of all the things we just listed (see what has been completed/needs to be completed)
Episode cover art
Details for the episode description/show notes
Due date (episode going live date)
and anything else we need right into the one-card
Plus, we can be notified by email (or app) reminders, assigning team members, and more.
Other programs we love and utilize as well for this are Asana, Notion, and Airtable.
Once you’ve mapped out your schedule and picked your tool. Then go ahead and place all of those episodes inside of the task manager.
For example, in Trello, we put all of the episodes in then we add the checklist of tasks, the due dates (this could be the recording date or going live date), and tag ourselves to notify us of upcoming releases and changes. This is a great way to see what you have coming up for the season (and what you may need to do still).
Also, note that this is also a great place to plan future episodes and content if you have ideas. That way you can gather ideas as well as begin filling in your future calendar.
Obviously using Trello is a great way to streamline your production process but consider using other tools and apps within your entire process to help make it a little easier. For instance, Calendly to streamline guest scheduling, or consider using a CRM like Hubspot (or even Trello again) to keep track of your guest and sponsorship outreach. Consider creating email and social media templates to save you time and help keep you consistent.
Prioritize Guest Outreach
We’ve learned how to stay consistent with our recording and some of our podcast production process but what about for pitching guests? One of the challenges with podcasting is prioritizing guest outreach. Of course, you can do it but being able to find the time to do it is the hard part.
To get started with being consistent with your guest outreach, you need to start by determining the type of guests that fit your podcast theme and audience.
Having a target guest will help make outreach a lot easier.
I would start by developing a list of potential guests that you think would be a good fit as well as places that you want to regularly look for guests. Whether that’s on social media, locally, or if it’s on another online platform – make a plan of places where you can when you do decide to do outreach, you can sit down and have a starting point for research.
Next, once you have an idea of who your potential guests are (as well as a list running of potential guests). You will now want to make a plan to reach out to them regularly.
One great way to do this is since you’ve already created your recording schedule, do the same thing with guest outreach. Look at your calendar and look at times that you would like to do this and when you can consistently do this.
This can be once a week, twice a week, or maybe you don’t need that many guests so you only need to do it once a month. Whatever it may be, make a plan for a day that you will regularly have time to sit down for at least 30 minutes and do some reachouts. That way you’ll be a lot more committed to actually doing this.
As you get going, start by going through the list that you created of great guest options. Then as you continue, to save yourself some time start with the places that we discussed above.
That way can regularly research for guests that you know will already make potential good fits. Plus, this will help give you a head start so you aren’t searching aimlessly to help save time while still making an impactful reaching out.
Then make sure to keep track of the responses and follow up as needed.
So, if someone says no and gives you a reason why – keep track of that. Maybe that’s someone that you reach out to in 6 months or maybe that is someone that you just know you need to move on from.
Another great thing is to use a platform that can help keep track. For example, you could use Trello again and create a board just for guest outreach with cards for each potential guest. Then you can add on their card to follow up in a few months. Then it will email you when it’s time to do that again!
Make Sponsor Outreach a Priority
You’ve got your schedule down for both recording and guests but now you need to think about your sponsorship outreach, if this is something that you are planning on doing.
This is going to be really similar to the guest outreach where you’re going to want to make a plan within your calendar that fits best with you.
Something to consider is doing this on the same day as your guest outreach where you do half the time towards guest outreach and the other half towards sponsorship. So that you know that you are getting both done at the same time. You may cut back a little bit on outreach time for each but you will be staying a lot more consistent with both of them.
Once you’ve figured out the day and time that you want to do this, just like guest outreach you’re going to want to research potential sponsors that align with your podcast values as well as your audience.
Of course, making money is nice but you don’t want to just make money. It won’t be as authentic. Instead, you want products that you use and that your audience uses as well. You may already have an idea of products that you want to reach out to or you may need to do some research so this is the perfect time to do that.
Again, like looking for guests begin creating a running list that you can refer back to as you get going.
The next thing that you want to make sure to do is that you’ve created your sponsorship package as well as your media kit.
This helps outline what your rates are, what your podcast is about, and why they should sponsor you. If you need more details on this we have a blog post that you can check out here for creating your media kit.
And just like guest outreach, you want to make sure to regularly keep track of the responses for follow-ups and more.
Hold Yourself Accountable
You’ve now got your schedule for recording your podcast production, guest outreach, and sponsorships.
That is the first piece of the pie, however, to finish it off you are going to want to make sure to hold yourself accountable.
Unfortunately preparing all these steps can only go so far. Without holding yourself accountable you will fall short and not be able to stick with a consistent schedule even if you set it all up.
So make sure that you…
Set goals for your podcast as well as your guests and sponsorship outreach to help you hold yourself accountable.
Put it on your calendar, set those due dates and when they come up, instead of pushing it off actually sit down and do it.
Of course, we understand that things come up in your schedule, and feelings of imposter syndrome or fear can get in the way. But nevertheless, try and hold yourself accountable to help push through those fears and take action.
Additionally, don’t forget to use analytics to track the effectiveness of your outreach campaigns and track the performance of your podcast. These insights help for assessing both your show’s progress and the impact of your efforts, allowing you to make necessary adjustments. Plus, they can be a great source of motivation to keep you on the right path!
To Stay Consistent or To Not Stay Consistent
We hope these tips help you maintain consistency with your recording, guest outreach, and sponsorship endeavors.
Again, remember – it doesn’t have to be daily, but establishing a regular schedule is key to staying on course. Prioritizing consistency is essential for the growth of your podcast. We understand that it can be challenging, but we have full confidence in your ability to achieve it!
Take a moment to sit down, map out your schedule, set clear deadlines, and put your plan into motion. 😌
Aleea
