Tips for creating a successful show while breaking most podcast rules
You’ve probably been told or read the “rules” to being successful with a podcast - try to release on a consistent basis, try to be predictable with your runtime, try not to be too insular with your references, try to stick to your core subject matter.
These things are all great to think about and can certainly put you on a path to success. But in celebration of International Podcast Day, I’m here to tell you that you can be very successful without following any of those rules.
I’m here to tell you that because I’ve done it. And what I’ve learned from it are probably the two most fundamental truths of podcasting:
Know your niche and Content matters most
If you know where you can fit in the podcasting landscape and can deliver content that an audience wants to hear, you can break every other “rule” there is and still be successful, which can certainly give you a little breathing room if podcasting isn’t your day job.
Niche down
Let’s start with knowing your niche, because it’s likely the thing you want to define first before even starting.
What is it I’m trying to say, and to whom am I trying to say it? These seem like simple questions, but you would be surprised at how many people I consult who don’t have a firm answer to these things.
When I say niche, I mean exactly that - what narrow segment of the podcasting audience do you wish to attract? Because the beautiful thing about podcasts is that you can be as specific as you want and still find enough people interested and engaged in that content to be successful.
“ If you have a passion for antiques, you likely have a passion for a specific type of antique, or something from a specific period in time. ”
If someone were to suggest to you a podcast about antiques which rarely covered the things that you liked, you probably wouldn’t give it much of your time. However, if you were interested in collecting and restoring antebellum furniture and someone suggested a podcast about that hobby, it might just be your new favorite show.
Why content leads the way…
I’ll talk about myself here for a bit. One of the podcasts that I co-hosted covered what can be broadly defined as “weird” stuff; if you’re familiar with the radio program Coast to Coast AM or the television show Unsolved Mysteries, you have a pretty good idea of what we were talking about. When we looked around that space, we determined that we could make something that sounded completely different from what was out there, with higher production value, and also that we could weave together different subjects almost through free association in a way that would be similar to just having a chat with a buddy about some of these topics. Much in the same way our audience would at home or around the bar.
Our niche was a podcast that sounded unlike anything else for an audience that was comfortable following a philosophical thread of conversation. Which is why they loved it when we started delivering that content to them.
That is ultimately what will make or break your podcast: do people care about the content you’re giving them?
Nothing else mattered to our success. We rarely released on a set schedule; we might have gone two months between episodes and then put out two in a week. Some would be 45 minutes, some would be three hours. And since the two of us had been co-workers in radio, we would often slip into old industry stories or inside jokes that should have made zero sense to 99% of the people listening. Despite all of that, we found an audience that continued to grow.
What we had ultimately done was make a promise to that audience and kept it: we can’t tell you when the next episode is coming out and we can’t tell you what it will be about or how long it will be, but we can tell you that it will sound interesting and it will be an honest conversation. We had found our niche and delivered to them content they liked.
So on this International Podcast Day, I want you to think about what promise you have made to your audience and are you holding up your end of that deal? Have you even made one? Do you know your audience well enough to know what promise would matter to them? All those rules I mentioned earlier can be good things to strive for, but above all else, be consistent with your identity and with what you’re giving your followers. Know them and what they want, and everything else will fall into place.
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