Tips To Avoid Podcast Burnout

Burnout is the ultimate enemy of any podcaster and, believe me, you want to avoid it at all costs. 

Burnout can creep up on you. If you’re like most people, when you committed to producing a podcast, you were probably way more excited about the ‘outcome’ as opposed to ‘the process’. But, for most people, failing to plan ‘the process’ is where they come unstuck. 

When you started out podcasting your plan was to deliver a constant stream of great episodes. 

But when your free time starts to disappear under the administration of your pod, often your motivation and your well-intentioned plans go out the window. 

Suddenly you find yourself time-poor, rushing the process and ending up with a half-arsed result, that you’re not overly proud of. 

That’s where I come in.  

My role is to help podcasters avoid the common mistakes that lead to overwhelm and de-motivation. 

And my strategy is to ‘Marie Kondo’ the backend of your podcast. We at Oh My Pod clear the clutter and start creating the systems and structure that will make producing a podcast as simple as possible. 

We Marie Kondo your podcast to help you avoid overwhelm

But, today, I want to let you in on my secret to doing this… I call it the 4 Ps of Podcasting and I recommend that you dedicate just 4 days per month to this process.

This will help you to focus your energies and create a sense of flow that would otherwise be hard to achieve.

Let’s unpack the 4 Ps of Podcasting; Planning, Preparing, Producing and Promoting.

Planning: Set yourself up for success with a solid plan of attack.

  • Plan ahead – Create a podcast calendar which details the activities you are planning for the next quarter.
  • Brainstorm potential guests – brainstorm a list of 30 potential guest who could help solve your listeners problem or challenges.

Preparing: Save yourself time by standardising the tasks you will do for each podcast.

  • Research – create a standard format for how you research your next guest.
  • Your invitation – have a standard script that tells potential guests about your podcast and why you think they would add value. Why not use our tried and tested template for doing this – download it here.
  • Use Automation – Make it as easy as possible for your guests to say yes, include a link to Calendly to avoid unnecessary back and forth overbooking recording times.
  • Guest preparation – create a ‘what to expect flyer’ for your guests to give them an idea of what questions or themes will be covered in the interview. (Pssst… we shared this in our newsletter a few weeks ago. If you missed it, download it here).

Producing: Streamline your podcast production by getting into the groove.

  • Batch your recording or editing so that once your head is in that space, you can get the full benefit of it.
  • Create yourself a templated form to complete with question prompts to help your editing, for example; Are there any parts that need editing out? What is a good quote from this episode?
  • Create your shownotes on the same day whilst the discussion is fresh in your mind.

Promoting: Seeing your numbers rise gives you the energy and motivation to prioritise the podcast.

Nothing creates more burnout than not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s how you can promote your podcast and boost your listeners: 

  • Get social – share your podcast on your social media, or set up new social accounts specifically for your podcast. 
  • Recycle and repurpose – get the most out of older episodes by reusing and re-sharing content. You will have new listeners all the time, so help guide them to previous episodes. 
  • Be interviewed - Switch it up and try being the guest for once. Research and approach other podcasts and see if you can be their special guest. 
  • PR yourself – Research any media outlets within your niche and approach them for promotion of your podcast. 

So there are my 4 Ps of Podcasting designed to help your podasting run smoothly and help avoid burnout.

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