Love is in the air and I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day.

I’m talking about PODCASTING! That’s right, today on the podcast I am giving you 10 ways to put the fun back into podcasting, kick podfade to the curb and LOVE YOUR PODCAST again.

As podcasters, we’ve all been there. Life gets busy, kids get sick, the school district declares another snow day, you have to cancel an interview, or don’t have time to record an episode. Numbers aren’t where you want, and sitting in front of a mic feels like lonely and isolating work.

Suddenly, or perhaps not so suddenly, the fun and love you felt when you first started podcasting now feels heavy, frustrating, and tiring. You don’t want to quit but you don’t know how to get ahead.

You’re not the only one.

According to Podcast Insights there are currently 850,000 podcasts on Apple Itunes. And of those listed over 500,000 are active (this is updated January 2020 from the recent March 2019 stats).

That’s a lot of podcasts! But what does it mean that a little less than half of the podcasts listed are inactive? It means there is a lot of Podfade.

According to Urban Dictionary, Podfade is when a podcast begins putting out episodes more and more sporadically and at greater intervals. Typically podfade begins with only one episode missed, but if a podcast isn’t careful, it can compound, sometimes as severe as one podcast every other month. Podfade often leads to podcast death.

And many podcasters don’t recognize podfade until it’s too late.

I’ve got good news, podfade doesn’t have to happen to you! In today’s episode I am going to give you 10 ways to put the fun back into podcast, avoid podfade once and for all, and fall in love with podcasting again. By implementing just a few of these suggestions you’ll; kick podfade to the curb and get your podcast back on track. Or even better set yourself up for success before you even experience any signs of podfade.

1. Remember Your why. It’s so easy to forget all the reasons you started podcasting. The message you wanted to share, the listeners you wanted to serve. Producing a podcast is hard work. Your WHY is what will keep you going when things get hard.
2. Build in breaks for times of rest and creative work. There is so much that goes into podcasting. From creating content, to reaching out to guests, to recording, and editing, uploading, shownotes, social media….the list goes one. It can literally be a full-time job if you let it. So it is so important that you build in breaks for times of rest and creativity.
3. Work ahead. Batch Record (establish seasons or series) and Batch Edit. Batching or batch work. For more on batch work listen to this episode by Amy Porterfield.
4. Streamline your systems. Just as batching helps me to lump like items together and work on them all at once. Steamlining your systems will help you save time and tedious work like email correspondence.
5. Monetize your podcast. This is probably the biggest reason why I see podcasters podfade. They are doing all the work, on their own, without any help, while spending their own money. By monetizing your podcast you’ll gain freedom both financially but also with how much you have to do. If you’d like to monetize and don’t know where to start I have opened a new group coaching program that begins this coming Thursday, February 13th. I will walk you through monetization strategies and which one is right for you, as well as, pitching, pricing, media kits and more! You can find out more information by heading to my website alanadawson.com/workwithme or shoot me an email at alana@alanadawson.com
6. Connect with IRL friends/family. I know that you have big dreams and goals. I get that. But sometimes we are working so hard that we forget we also have a life to live and people to live it with! So make sure that every week, every day if you can to build in time to connect with your family and real life friends.
7. Set realistic expectations. I’m going to level with you: the average download per episode is 150. So that means if you have more than that you are in the top 50% of downloads. If you are below that you are in the lower half of downloads. One is not better than the other. Yes, more downloads potentially means more opportunities for advertising and sponsorship. But being in the top half or the bottom half doesn’t mean your show isn’t successful or that it doesn’t matter. If you were in a room with 20 five people up on a stage speaking to them you’d be pretty thrilled right. 20 people all focus on what you had to say! That’s amazing! So why isn’t that amazing for your podcast. Your show matters, and sometimes we have to recalibrate our expectations.
8. Stop comparing yourself to other podcasts and podcasters. You’ve heard the old says, comparison is the thief of joy? Well there is no better way to kill your love of podcasting than to compare your show to others. Or your voice, reach, website etc. Just don’t go there.
9. Do what works for you. Change up format, release days/times, length of show. Don’t be afraid to do what works for you. Yes there are some best practices to follow in podcasting but that doesn’t mean you have to do it like everyone else. Learn and know the rules and them break the ones that don’t work for you.
10. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself and taking it so seriously. Podcasting takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time, a lot of discipline but if you’re not having fun, I might ask you to reconsider why you’re doing it then? There are too many things in this life which drain our energy, and that we have no control over, but podcasting shouldn’t be one of them. Have fun with it, take the pressure off yourself to reach a certain number. (

My desire for this episode is that it inspired you to look at your podcast from a different perspective and take one or two of this things from the list and implement them. As we close, I want to encourage you there in everything there are seasons. Some seasons are naturally just lighter and easier than others.