Monthly Archives: January 2022

A while ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Aimee J. of Podcaster HQ for a lively interview. In this chat, I highlighted the importance of staying committed and authentic in podcasting. 

Aimee and I talk about the commitment required to host a podcast, and we encourage others not to view podcasting as a fad. With our many years of podcast experience, we explained that podcasting is not about quick results. It requires you to put in a lot of work as you perfect your craft. 

It is this commitment to podcasting that has allowed me to grow and evolve over the years. From blogging, to launching the Carry On Friends The Caribbean American Podcast in 2015, and now being an Executive Producer and teacher in the podcasting space.

What sparked my drive to start my podcast was the realization that there were others like her out there who also wanted to hear from immigrants of Caribbean heritage. So, I decided to “scratch her own itch” and talk about topics related to Caribbean Americans that weren’t found anywhere else on the internet. Since then, the podcast has seen steady growth.

Based on this experience, podcasting should be done from a place of fulfillment and joy, not from a place of lack. Aimee and I also explain that success in podcasting doesn’t come from focusing on profitability or comparison of yourself with others. Instead, it comes when you do it with passion.

Podcasters should not “run away from what makes you different. Embrace it. Own it.” It is the vulnerability and authenticity of podcasters that the audience respects and admires. This is also what makes them more relatable to their audience. 

In all, podcasters are encouraged to, “know who you are and who you are talking to and focus on that. Don’t be distracted.” Podcasters should believe in their show and what their show is supposed to do, and stay committed to the journey.

Success Takes Time

When it comes to success in podcasting it is a long game – success won’t come overnight. It’s worth noting that success is relative and everyone defines it differently. But generally there’s a podcast success single story that everyone knows which is – thousands of downloads per episode; thousands of highly engaged followers on social media and monetization success via sponsorship/ads, membership/donations or subscriptions etc. 

The hard reality is that audience and revenue growth takes a long time. Overnight success is rarely true and celebrities do not count. 

The truth is podcasting requires patience, persistence, quality content and consistency.  I’m not gonna lie, as an independent podcaster, me writing and you reading that prior sentence is much easier than the day-to-day reality.

Note I said “podcasting requires…” and not “podcasting success requires..”, because having patience, persistence, quality content and consistency still doesn’t guarantee success. 

However, thanks to headlines, some podcasts seem to be really successful. This creates a sense of hope and you start to think… “hmmm that could be me”. 

Yes it is true that some podcasters are able to make a living out of podcasting or even start their own business, but it is also true some podcasters may not see success for years, if at all. That is the fundamental point with podcast success – things aren’t instantaneous – which is why it’s more of a long game than anything else.

Playing the long game

Since it’s a long game, what’s my game plan? 

1. Go back to the goal, the reason the podcast was created. This reason shouldn’t be anchored in just wishes and riches.  I regularly review this goal to remind me of why I do what I am doing, and who I am doing it for – hint: it’s the audience.  
2. Build and nurture the right relationships. Being in community with your listener is important, as well as in community with other podcasters, other creators or entrepreneurs. For many independent podcasters, podcasting is a lonely place. Finding and nurturing the right relationships helps sustain playing the long game.  
3. Be open. I know that success looks different not only to everyone, but even to me and how I initially envisioned success. So while I may have a vision of how I want success to look, I must be open to the different paths or opportunities that I couldn’t have anticipated that can lead to or build on success. 
4. Time, patience and consistency.  Admittedly, sometimes I get frustrated at how slowly things are going because I just want to fast track the results. When I am experiencing these moments, the best thing for me to do is to chat with some in my support system about how I’m feeling and/or step away and do something fun or relaxing – not related to podcasting. 

I started podcasting over 8 years ago because my blogging audience wanted something from me that I knew was better delivered in a podcast format. I had no idea where it would take me, as long as the audience got the content they wanted. Since then, podcasting has given me opportunities in and outside of podcasting that I couldn’t have envisioned for myself. It has also taught me some very hard but important lessons, including the value of playing a long game.

How have you sustained playing the long game?

New Year, Big Goals

It’s a new year and with it comes hopes for a fresh start, achieving big goals! You’re probably thinking that this is THE year that all your podcasting dreams come true.

In years past, I’ve set very detailed goals for my podcast, Carry On Friends. Those goals were in the 3 main categories of social media, content and monetization. For example, in the social media category alone, I had goals and metrics to be met for all the platforms I was on. By the time I was done writing all my goals at the top of the year, I was pleased with myself at how detailed I was. But most of the time, those detailed goals were not met and so 2019 was the last year I did goals that way. What I now realized was writing down the goals was easy, executing on them was hard, especially when there were so many. 

Less is More

As an independent podcaster, it is important to not just set goals for yourself and your podcast, but to also have realistic expectations. 

Less is more when it comes to setting realistic podcasting goals. With so many variables involved, podcasting outcomes are very different and difficult because the results are not always predictable. This unpredictability leads to longer runtimes in achieving specific goals and as a result, setting too many goals could mean spreading yourself thin. In other words, you could end up with multiple goals that may lead nowhere fast.

This is exactly what happened to me, I set more goals than I could realistically achieve in a year. By the 2nd quarter, trying to work from my goals list had fizzled. Heeding to my lessons of the past, I started 2020 with fewer goals – I had 5 goals spread across my different brands. However, with a global pandemic I was forced to strip the goals down even further to only 2 – 1 for my podcast and 1 for my business. So really, technically 1 per brand. 

This lean approach taught me that setting less goals didn’t mean I would accomplish less. Instead, it meant that I would give myself the capacity to do other tasks that I couldn’t anticipate, as a result of working towards this main goal. The most important thing I learned was that achieving the goal didn’t always mean I could quickly move on to the next goal. I learned that I needed to put systems in place to create an iterative process that involves: 

1. Maintenance – first maintaining the initial achievement 
2. Learning – create opportunities that allow you to learn more. 
3. Improving – apply what you’ve learned to improve on the initial achievement. 

Focus on the top 2

Whether your goal is: 

1. Metrics/numbers driven. Example: x amount of downloads, followers, guests, membership etc. Or
2. Not numbers driven for example: better content, interviewing skills, better editing, more interaction/connection with audience or community etc. 

I recommend focusing your energy on your top 2 goals that you really want to commit to achieving. Before moving on to the next goal, be sure to document your process, put systems in place so you can create an iterate system that lays the foundation upon which you can  build and achieve more goals.