The 5 Questions You Must Answer Before Launching a Podcast [Ep. 21]

One of the biggest reasons that podcasts do not succeed is that they fail to have a clear strategy before they launch. Instead, they get really excited about the idea of having a podcast and they jump in without much of a plan!

And then when they aren’t seeing the numbers they expected, they get discouraged and quit. Many podcasts don’t make it past episode 7… it’s called podfading, and it’s quite common.

I want to help you avoid that by establishing a clear strategy from the start. And that begins by answering 5 key questions. These questions will help you launch a successful (and sustainable) podcast.

And even if you already have a podcast, this episode might be a good chance to re-assess and make sure you are heading in the right direction.

Several of these questions are connected, so you’ll want to answer all of them to make sure you get a bird’s eye view of your podcast.

1: Who is your podcast for?

Many of us want to answer this question with: “everyone” or “all Christians” or “all Christian women”. The problem with this is that there are thousands of podcasts out there… and it’s vital that you get specific about your ideal audience!

Who are you trying to reach? Who is your target audience? Who would benefit the most from listening to your podcast?

I know this is hard. We do not want to exclude anyone. But this is an important principle if you want to be successful in the online space. If you talk to everyone, you’ll reach no one.

But if you talk to a specific person, you will reach them, plus other people similar to them! If you can decide exactly who you want your podcast listener to be, it is going to make everything else about your podcast easier. You’re going to be much more successful in building your audience when you speak to a specific person.

2. What is your podcast about?

Just like you might want to be able to talk to everyone, you might be tempted to keep your topic range broad. But I want to encourage you to get specific! Getting specific is going to help your audience find you! You will attract more people by being specific than being general.

Famous people have a loyal following and therefore they can talk about a broader range of subjects and people are still interested. If you are not already famous, you need to create a way to stand out, and one of those ways is by choosing a specific topic.

One exception here. Perhaps you are someone who wants to speak to single moms. So your audience is a single mom who is working full time, has 2 kids, and is struggling to keep up with the demands of work and home. In this case, you have the freedom to talk about a bit of a broader topic base AS LONG AS it appeals to that specific audience.

So you can get more specific with your audience and a bit broader with your topic, or you could get more specific with your topic and a bit broader with your audience.

These are not hard and fast rules… you can absolutely do whatever you want with your podcast, because it’s yours!

But what I’m telling you is based on the past several years of working with clients, students, launching 2 of my own podcasts, plus constantly learning all I can about the world of podcasting.

When choosing your topic, you need to consider a few things:

What can you talk about for hours without getting bored
What are you an expert in?
Or what do you want to learn about? (If you want to bring in guests to interview about a specific subject)
What do you have life experience with?
Most important: what does your audience want/need to hear about?

3. When?

Next, you need to consider when your podcast will release. Will it be:

Weekly? Every other week? Monthly? Seasonal?

There is no right or wrong. The important thing is to be consistent. You need to figure out what will work for you!

The second part of this question is: when will you work on your podcast?

Do you have time that you can set aside to focus on this project? A podcast does not just happen; it does take time. There are different time commitments based on your goals and your style of podcast, which we will talk about next week. But for now, just know that you do need to have some time blocked off for your podcast.

Again, consistency is the key here.

I would rather you do a monthly podcast and put out 12 episodes a year than say you are going to do weekly and then do 3 episodes, stop for 2 months, do another 2 episodes, then stop again, etc.

Note: frequency does impact audience growth. You will likely grow faster if you have a weekly show than monthly. But I’d rather you have something you can be consistent with than something that makes you want to throw in the towel!

Hint: go back to episodes 8 and 9 about creating your ideal life and business. Make sure that this endeavor fits with that!

4. Why are you doing this podcast?

The biggest question you need to answer for yourself before starting a podcast is WHY. Why do you want to launch this podcast? What is your motivation for doing so, and is that reason strong enough to keep you going?

Some of the reasons to start a podcast might be business related. You may want to grow your audience and email list or increase the number of clients you work with.

Your reason could also be non-business related. You might want to podcast just for fun, and that is okay!

Perhaps there’s a hobby you love and you want to talk about it. Or maybe there’s a passion project you have been putting off, and a podcast is the way you want to pursue that.

Knowing why you are doing the podcast will help you to manage your expectations. When I started the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast, I knew it was a passion project. I knew that I wanted to grow my audience but I didn’t have income expectations.

5. How?

This question has a few angles to consider. First, how is your podcast going to be different?

There are over a million podcasts out there. One of the concerns I’ve heard from some of you is that you’re not sure how you can start a podcast when there’s already so many out there. You don’t know how you’ll get listeners.

One of the keys is to establish some kind of unique angle. Part of that is by answering the questions above — the who and the what. But now let’s think about how YOU will make this podcast different.

Think outside the box and get creative. Don’t feel like you have to follow the mold of similar shows. It may be hard if your show is just like someone else’s.

The second angle of this question is: How will your podcast fit into your life and your business?

This kind of overlaps with the why question, but it’s really important to answer this. Is this podcast your main marketing tool for your business, or is it just for fun? Or is it because you believe God has put a message on your heart to share?

Lastly, how will you pay for it?

I hate to bring this up, but the reality is that podcasting requires two things: time and money. You can do a podcast with a minimal budget, but you need to think through the costs and your financial expectations before diving in. In next week’s episode, I’m going to dive into exactly how you can prepare for the financial and time issues.

I hope that this conversation about the 5 questions you must answer before launching a podcast has been helpful! I truly believe if you answer these questions before you start, you will be miles ahead of many other podcasters. You will be more prepared to create a successful show! You’ll have accurate expectations and be less likely to podfade.

In case you want to review, we asked:

Who?
What?
When?
Why?
How?

Start Your Own Podcast

Are you thinking about starting a podcast? I am working on resource for you that will help you get your podcast launched easily even if you have minimal time!

If you’ve got a dream for a message you want to share via podcasting, then make sure to head to christianwomanbusiness.com/launch and get on the wait list. You’ll be the first to know when this resource is ready for you.