Here’s How 12 Audio Creators Fit Podcasting Into Their Busy Schedule AND Keep It Fun
For many audio creators, the reality is podcasting has to fit into an already busy schedule. Executing an entire production schedule between picking up the kids from ballet, heading to Crossfit after a full day of work, and eating dinner can lead to exhaustion and even resentment. In fact, time management rose to the top when we asked the podcast community over on Reddit what aspect of audio creation they find most challenging. One user even said she’s burnt out from spending 10–15 hours on production in addition to her full-time job.
We have so much admiration for your hustle here at Sounder, and want to see you succeed in good health! So we interviewed 12 new and seasoned podcasters on how they remain passionate about their show and avoid burning out. Some tips are simple, like shoot hoops between editing. Others may motivate you to rearrange your production strategy in order to make podcasting work for YOU. Either way, these creators remind us that it’s all about having fun and finding a groove that works for you.
1. Pick a topic you’re passionate about
“If you are podcasting about a subject you love, it’s much easier to keep thinking of new topics, keep reaching out to guests and keep generating knowledge. I keep podcasting because I really want to know more. And as long as I really want to know more, I’m happy to put the time into creating content for others who also want to know more about the subject.” — Dom O’Neill, Content Strategist at Vlogify.net
“Although I’ve loved podcasts for years, it took me a long time to decide what I wanted mine to be about. I really had to figure out one thing that I could talk about for hours and hours. Over several years of self-discovery, I realized that all things spiritual fascinate me and that I was really good at getting people to tell me their spiritual stories. That’s how I landed on my topic, which ranges from religion to ghost stories. I’m a fairly new podcaster (I’ve only been in the game since September 2019) but I absolutely love it!” — Sarah Brown, producer of Gnosis
“On my weekly podcast of almost three years, I take the top news of terrorism and analyze it from a psychiatrist’s perspective to help people understand and make it less scary — along with some gallows humor to defuse the fear. When 9/11 happened, I asked myself what, as a psychiatrist, I could do to help people the most. It was helping families, schools, first responders and so on, to cope with the ongoing fallout from 9/11 and our continuing to live under threat. Because I’m so passionate about my message, and because there are always new issues in the news about terrorism, I keep a fresh outlook. My message is to get people to stop being in denial and start making themselves and the people they care about more resilient.” — Carole Lieberman, M.D., The Terrorist Therapist
2. Get clear on your “why”
“It is difficult to use podcasting as it’s own revenue stream but it can be a great promotional, networking, and credibility-building tool. When I worked in TV, myself and other producers would listen to potential contributors on podcasts and digital videos to see if they were skilled speakers before inviting them on.
You can also use podcasts to network and connect. I did an interview series to get to know different digital media creators before launching a digital news site. Now I have their contact info and can reach out directly for exclusives and responses.
You can also use podcasting to gain the trust of clients and build a profile in your industry. It doesn’t matter if your podcast gets three views or 300,000, if they are the right three views and convert to customers, you’re doing it right.
Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran often talks about the power of becoming a thought leader in your space and a podcast is perfect for this. Write down why you’re doing the podcast, tape it on your wall, and check yourself anytime the low numbers demotivate you.” — Timothy Bach, Multi-Media Journalist, and Creative Lead at The Creator Factory
3. Create a realistic revenue plan
“When micro-podcasters niche down it becomes much easier for them to start to make money. For example, I specialize in content creation. I have a very niche audience with very specific needs, usually business, sales, and tech coaches/marketing people who will then re-sell my knowledge and skills. I use my podcast to help sell physical products and services to that audience. Services and products such as training sessions and content creation packages.
“Big-name” podcasters linked to broadcasters will typically sell advertising and product placement space in their content and charge their advertisers per thousand or 10,000 views/listens/actions. The issue with micro-podcasters is that many will not have thousands let alone tens of thousands of views/listens/actions on their content, which often means they will struggle to sell traditional advertising space to brands.
Seeling services and products is a great way for micro-podcasters to make money with a small, niche, highly engaged audience. Once the money starts to generate, it’s much easier to justify the time and effort it takes to Podcast.” — Dom O’Neill, Content Strategist at Vlogify.net Vlogify LTD
4. Batch boring parts
“A lot of podcasters find themselves in burnout when the to-do list is long and their time is short. Give yourself the gift of batch working tasks to put you back in control of your time and your to-do list. Document your process for every episode, from start to finish, so you have a solid idea of all the tasks involved. This will help you group similar tasks together, so you can move onto the next step. A project management tool, like Asana, can really help make this actionable.” — Candice Coppola, Host of The Power in Purpose Podcast
“For me, the editing process is TORTURE and isn’t a quick process. That’s probably the part of podcasting that leads to the most burnout. It’s almost become a blessing and a curse. As your show gets bigger, you book more and more guests (higher profile guests), and then there’s so much more to edit. I put editing on a schedule. I edit all of my shows two days a week. The WHOLE day. But that works for me since I dislike the process so much, I decided to get it over with as soon as I can.” — Tommy Marz founder of Sound Vapors.
“I’ve had a daily gardening tips podcast since early 2017 and the burnout potential is HIGH with something like that. My show is 5–10 minutes per day, so keeping the episodes short helps quite a bit. To help with the process, I heavily systemized the “boring” parts (editing, uploading, scheduling) so it’s not taking up a large chunk of my time.” — Kevin Espiritu, founder of Epic Gardening
5. Get the most out of your guests
“I used to do the episodes solo, now I bring on guests for a week’s worth of episodes at a time which allows me to further my knowledge of gardening while also recording seven episodes in a row.” — Kevin Espiritu, founder of Epic Gardening
“These days digitally savvy experts and leading thinkers are happy to appear on podcasts, even niche ones. To maximize the process I will often record a couple of shows worth of content with the same guest. My shows are 20 minutes long, so in an hour-long recording session, I can talk to my guests about two to three subjects, which I can then turn into two to three shows and spread them across my yearly calendar.” — Dom O’Neill, Content Strategist at Vlogify.net Vlogify LTD
“Feel free to adjust your show’s format to meet your needs. You might find that you can only produce 15 minutes a week. Maybe you chop one 45 minute interview that you really work hard on into three 15 minute episodes. Call it a ‘three-part interview series’ and tell a good story.” — Timothy Bach, Multi-Media Journalist, and Creative Lead at The Creator Factory
6. Crowdsource for content
“I answer followers’ questions, which energizes me and makes me feel like I’m really delivering value to my audience.” — Kevin Espiritu, founder of Epic Gardening
“It can help to crowdsource both content ideas and fan content itself. Listeners love to be engaged with their favorite shows, and they love to see that a show accepts and appreciates listener interaction. It builds community while relieving yourself of the full burden of ideation. That’s killing two birds with one spoon!” — Dan Goubert, Co-Host of The Empty Bowl and Creator of Cerealously.
“I am constantly afraid of running out of content. It’s not for a lack of ideas but for a lack of willing guests. In this case, I have reached out to close friends and fans of the podcast to keep their ear to the ground if they hear about anyone who could talk about a topic I’m interested in. Their support has been incredibly helpful and keeps me excited as they’re also spreading the word about the podcast.” — Sarah Brown, producer of Gnosis
7. Export or automate tasks
“Don’t overload yourself. If it can be automated, automate it. Especially time-consuming tasks like guest booking and guest induction. Use platforms that will simultaneously place your podcast on multiple podcast directories. Ultimately, consistency and quality is the key. If all you can realistically achieve is one 20 minute show a month, do that. Podcasting is a marathon and not a sprint.” — Dom O’Neill, Content Strategist at Vlogify.net Vlogify LTD
“I’ve been hosting my weekly show, On the Schmooze, for 3.5 years. It’s not directly generating revenue so it needs to fit within my limited time and not cost a lot of money. For the first year, I managed all aspects of my show — except for audio editing. Starting with episode 50, I hired someone to manage many of the admin and social media pieces. Six months later I found someone to do show notes. I still do all the outreach to line up guests and conduct the interviews. Finding a way to simplify communication with guests was critical to being able to reliably produce a weekly interview show. Here’s how I’ve automated this process: Once a guest prospect has been identified, I send them an email using a “canned response” email template. It takes only a minute or two to personalize this template and it includes a link to schedule their interview using a ScheduleOnce booking form. The form asks for bio, photo, plus website, social links, mailing address, and even their birthday (so I can send a card).” — Robbie Samuels, host of On the Schmooze podcast and author of “Croissants vs. Bagels: Strategic, Effective, and Inclusive Networking at Conferences.”
“Don’t be afraid to get help! It could be as simple as asking a local TV producer to help produce the podcast for you. Lower level producers are not that expensive and can bring a lot of value. If you’d rather outsource the entire production and not have to manage or worry about anything you can reach out to companies that run the whole show. Podcasts take a huge amount of time to do right so if you have the money GET HELP!” — Timothy Bach, Multi-Media Journalist, and Creative Lead at The Creator Factory
8. Change up the mode of expression
“The Empty Bowl podcast is a meditative show about cereal. As we cover a very specific topic, it can be easy to lose enthusiasm after a couple of dozen episodes spent granularly analyzing granulated breakfast foods. What I like to do to keep it interesting is to split my focus into different modes of expression. When I’m tired of speaking about a topic, I try blogging about it. If that doesn’t work, I take to social media to start a dialogue with fans. All of these alternating approaches allow me to see the subject matter through different lenses, and by integrating what I find through each, I can provide a more well-rounded perspective on the topic.” — Dan Goubert, Co-Host of The Empty Bowl and Creator of Cerealously.
9. Work seasonally and take breaks
“Just before the holidays, we released an episode of our podcast, Latter-Day Lesbian, preparing our listeners for a 5-week break we were about to take between Thanksgiving and New Years. We even brought on a licensed therapist to give us “permission” to take a break! She interviewed us about how many candles we had been burning at both ends, and how we’d grow to resent the podcast and the listeners if we didn’t take a break. Of course, being ex-religious types, we apologized profusely and asked our listeners for their understanding. The show turned out to be hysterical and one of our most downloaded. Now we plan to take a 5-week break at the end of every year to help avoid burnout.” — Mary Rutt & Shelly Johnson, hosts of Latter-Day Lesbian Podcast
“Here’s a random thing. As I am putting together shows, I always take 15 minutes and shoot hoops between editing or interviews. It’s become an important part of my daily routine.” — Tommy Marz founder of Sound Vapors
“When I first started my podcast, I had no idea how much time, energy, and pre-planning each episode would take. After producing over 20 episodes, I announced to my listeners that I was taking a break and would return in the new year. Since then, I’ve worked on a seasonal basis, producing 12 episodes per season and taking a break between them to rest and recharge. It also gives me an opportunity to interview guests and save their conversations in a “bank” so I’m not scrambling to find guests and edit interviews the night before an episode drops.” — Shelby Forsythia, host of Coming Back: Conversations on Life After Loss.
10. HAVE FUN
“If you want to stick out and stay motivated, make your show an expression of art and not just a systematized science. I love a system just as much as the next guy but good media isn’t formulaic; it’s not as effective and can cause you to lose interest in your work. Use creativity to craft original content each time. Ask funny questions that relate to the guest, or play a quick game— aim to make the podcast a party. Listeners will love it and it will make you excited to work on the project. I don’t care if you're a B to B business, entertainment, or consumer business podcast, people like to have fun and consume art.” — Timothy Bach, Multi-Media Journalist, and Creative Lead at The Creator Factory
“In my interview vetting process, I made sure I would actually enjoy talking to my guests for an hour and a half. I cover a very broad range of topics so each show is unique. I allowed my guests to have fun. I do shows with guests I actually want to do shows with. I turn down more guests than I‘ve had on because I want the show to be the best it can possibly be. This allowed me to look forward to every show and because it’s in person we could share a drink together if needed. My podcast guests have become my friends because of the intimacy of my show.” — Harrison Baron, host of The Brutally Honest Podcast
11. Love your listeners
“Anytime I feel burnout, I think about the show's listeners. As the numbers start to grow I think about myself as a fan. When I listen to a new album or new episode of a podcast that I follow, I think about how happy it makes me. This re-ignites the fire inside to keep grinding. I remind myself why I started the show in the first place. For me — I love music, talking about music and talking with the artists that make the music. Being a touring/recording artist, I remember some of the questions I used to get asked and I swore that if I ever got the chance, I wanted to ask more in-depth, behind the scenes type of questions. The questions I know I liked and would’ve liked to have been asked.” — Tommy Marz founder of Sound Vapors
“Nothing motivates me to keep building the podcast more than getting a text or email from a listener saying that they love the podcast. I had to get over my own insecurities in order to start promoting my podcast on all of my social channels but once I did I started reaping the rewards. It is so validating to have a community of people who are interested in the same things that you are.” — Sarah Brown, host and producer of Gnosis
Sounder is an end-to-end podcast management platform designed in collaboration with creators to unlock their voices and full potential. Learn more and join our community of creators at sounder.fm.