If you are feeling frustrated or burned out by your podcast and ready to chuck it all, I want you to hit the pause button, hit the pause button. Not the delete button, the pause button. And I want to talk through some things to consider when looking at getting support for your podcast. Whether that’s a podcast manager or producer and editor, whatever, I want to dig into that today. We’re going to talk about signs you’re ready for, but also how to evaluate and decide on what support you want or need right now. So let’s get into it.
I’m stoked to have this conversation because I have been having incredible pre-production strategy calls with some folks that were on my email list and we have had such, such good conversations. But one of the questions I’ve actually gotten a lot were, how do you know if your frustration and, I mean I’m just going to say it a kind of burnout, overwhelmed, being at capacity with your show. How do you know whether that is a because-it doesn’t-work thing or because-I-need-help thing?
So, that’s what I want to talk about today. Because when you consider these two things before hiring help, or quite frankly, ditching your show, you’re going to feel much more secure in your answer. And I also want to add a bit of nuance to this around, all of this, every sentence I say should be followed with right now.
These are the signs, you’re ready or not ready right now. It doesn’t mean you’re never will be ready, or that you’ll always be at the same level of readiness you are right now. There have absolutely been things I was ready for and then I worked to a place where I actually needed to change something. I was no longer ready for that. I needed to, I was then ready for something else. Okay, these things change and evolve your show. It’s like your business much like you’re very lovely being are evolving, all of the time.
So, let you and your show have that space to do that. None of these are lifetime commitments. None of these are are things that are permanent. There’s no permanent record for your podcasting life being held somewhere in the podcast heavens. Alright? So again, all of it take with right now.
If as we’re moving through the show, you’re like, “yes, yes, yes, yes. I need some support.” I do want to let you know, we do have some capacity to bring on a couple of more production clients this year. However, we are rapidly rolling into the end of the year. We will not be taking on any new clients starting December 1st because it’s impossible for us to onboard clients in the two weeks before we take the second half of December off. And our agency completely closes for the second half of December of last two weeks of the Year.
By the way, highly recommended. It’s great. The team loves it. I love it. It’s a wins all-around, clients love it. It’s wins all around, you should do it too.
So, as we’re rapidly moving to the end of October and into November, if you want to have these conversations, now is the time. If you want to start 2022 with the support or have the support as we kick off 2022, now is the time for us to be having these conversations. If you need to book that conversation, to look into what that looks like, these are the details of our podcast production services.
If you’re feeling burned out by your podcast, you’re not alone.
With that said, let’s get into this. Because if you are currently or have recently felt frustrated, disconnected, burned out with your podcast you’re not alone, you’re 100% not alone. I have conversations with podcasters every single day, and frequently, we either reminisce of when this has happened in the past, talk about how we’re preventing it in the future, or commiserating on the fact that we’re in it to win it right now.
I’ll be completely honest, getting through this one episode, it has been a little that because as we get ready for October, which is when these episodes come out, I’m getting ready for all sorts of things. And so, October has taken a little bit, a little bit more to get together. Also, summer ended, and everybody got interested in talking to each other again, so it’s been a little nuts.
But because I have the supports that I have, I have my incredible team because I have this strategy, and the dashboard, and the understanding of the purpose of my show. I’ve been able to get through, and you can, too. We have been doing our quarterly production calls with our clients, our strategy calls, with our production clients, and more than once, we’ve had this conversation around. I don’t know what to say. I have nothing to say. And guess what, by the time we end the conversation and we reconnect with the purpose of the show and the goals of the show, we get excited again, we get lit up again. And so, if you’re feeling that way, you’re not alone, and be there is another side. And one of those sides might be getting some support.
And so, that’s what I want to talk about today.
What are the things you need to consider before you hire a Podcast manager, a production team, you know, a podcast VA, etc?
There are some things I wanted to consider. The first one of them is, are you ready?
Are you ready? Is your show ready for support? Because if it’s not, then quite frankly, support and any kind of help strategy, task-driven, more admin-driven. All of that is not going to make it better because now you’re just going to feel, like, you’re also letting the people you have brought in to help you down. And that’s not where you want to be.
And so let’s talk about some signs. You’re ready versus some signs you’re not ready. First and foremost, have you been doing it a while? Do you know that you enjoy the medium? Now, there’s a Nuance here. Notice I didn’t ask if you enjoyed your show, because that’s not actually a requirement. You don’t have to like your show all the time. I have been doing this, it’ll be nine years next month, nine years next month, this podcast that I’ve been around. And I’ll be honest, I don’t always love it. I don’t, sometimes it’s the very last damn thing I want to do, deal with, or think about. But I do love this medium and I do love what’s possible. But I actually don’t love from time to time is the fact that I’m gonna sit down and do a thing. Because it’s sunny and gorgeous outside and 75°, and I’d rather do something out there than sit here and talk to myself in a row.
You can kind of tell how I’m feeling right now. It’s a little senioritis see around here today, but but but but, what’s important is that I reconnect with that purpose. And so, do you love the medium? Do you love the connection that comes from this? Some people like blog posts, some people like videos, some people love podcasts. For Me, podcast girl through and through. I love this medium. This is the easiest way for me to create content. So I’m gonna keep doing this. This is the thing I’m going to be doing. And I figured that out because I have done it for a while. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to wait eight or nine years. I wouldn’t even suggest waiting the, what? Six or seven years I waited before the team help me.
I’ll be honest, the team didn’t actually produce this show, even once I had a team help me produce the other shows because I had done it on my own for so long. I didn’t know how to let it go. But I did and it was the most wonderful thing, most wonderful thing. And so, if you’ve been doing this, three months? six months? a year? You know, if you enjoy this process, you know if this is an easy enough way for you to create content. I won’t say easy, we’ll say easy enough. Oh, not too easy because I don’t think any kind of content creation is easy and I don’t think it should be. It’s work. You’re doing something. That’s okay. It doesn’t have to be easy, but it does need to feel like it moves with a little more ease.
A great example of this is part of the reason this podcast exists is that I hate writing blog posts, hate it with a fiery burning, inferno of hatred. I really do. It’s awful. It’s awful, awful awful. It’s like pulling teeth. It’s so hard for me to do. So it takes me, monumentally longer to achieve a blog post than it does a podcast. So this is a medium I’m gonna stay in.
Are you getting feedback from the show?
Are you hearing things? Are you getting sales? A great example of this is, you know, every week I’ve got people in my DM saying something about an episode, or I’ve got somebody responding to an email and giving me feedback on an episode, or I’ve got somebody in a sales conversation quoting or asking questions based on episode content. I’ve got people who are, you know, actual clients already asking me questions about something that they had on the show or referencing something they heard on the show. I’m getting feedback in a lot of ways. There are reviews and ratings on occasion. I’d love some of those so leave me a review.
But there’s something, there’s some kind of return on the energetic output of sitting down and recording your show and releasing it. You should be getting some kind of feedback. If you’re not currently getting some kind of feedback. That’s a conversation we need to look at. Because you might not be listening for it. You might not be set up to receive it, and it may speak more to your calls to action and how you engage in your show, then your production or even your marketing, quite frankly.
The third thing I want you to look at is, where are you feeling stuck right now?
Is it in the strategy? Is it in the recording process? Is it in the production process? If it’s in the production process solve the problem with higher support. It really is that simple. It really is. Doesn’t have to be me, doesn’t have to be us. But stop screwing around. If the only thing show that feels sticky about your show is post-production after you record it and getting it released, outsource it. Get it off your plate. Because you will fall in love with your show again.
We welcome clients all the time. And this is the most common feedback we get. In fact, we’ve been doing our, as I mentioned, we’ve been doing strategy calls for our production clients. And this has been something that has come up on very nearly every call. They look ahead to the next quarter and they’re not sure. And we have our conversation and we get all clear, and we wrap up the call and I go, okay. Is there anything in the process you need support on? Is there anything you need help with? Is there anything we do to evolve change blah, blah, blah. No, thank you for making this fun again. I’m in love with my show again.
One of my favorites is we brought on the client, and in days, we had 12 weeks of episodes and they were just, they were so fired up and ready. They were like, this is fun again. Creating feels fun again. Because it was the production that felt heavy. It was the edit, and the show notes, and the getting it all together and packaging it up. That was the part that feels heavy. If that’s where you are, get support. You are ready.
Now if it’s I don’t know what to talk about. If it’s format stuff, if it is recording process stuff, let’s sit down and have a strategy hour session. Book one of those. We can talk through that stuff, but that can be solved too, you’re just going to have to be more present in the solution, then the production part of it. And a lot of this, a lot of what we work with clients on a strategy part. Because it’s hard to judge for yourself. I talk to other people about strategy for my podcast. You want to know why? Because it’s really hard to make a decision alone because I have a bias. I think I for sure already said all the things, and I probably have, but I’m gonna say them again. It’s really, really easy to put blinders on to some of the data, even when it’s just me and the conversation. It’s really easy for me to talk myself into being wrong in a conversation with just me. So, I love having support on that. So, find ways to get yourself support there too.
Now, if you don’t know the purpose of your show, that’s something you’re gonna have to figure out.
Is it sit down with your coach? Is it down your biz bestie? Whoever you need to. And figure out what the purpose of your show on your business is. Is it to sell something? Great. Then get strategic about selling things with your show. Is it’s so that you have a way to share your thoughts and journey. Cool. Then you probably just need to make it super simple. Don’t overcomplicate it. Make it super, super basic. Hook up to anchor. Record in. Push it out. Don’t overcomplicate it. But if you’re not connected with that purpose, it will be impossible for you to make a team or support investment that feels good. Because there’s no purpose in the investment. You’re never going to get a return if you don’t know what return you’re looking for. Because there’s no way to measure feeling better, liking it more. Right? So I want you to look at that. Let’s shift gears too.
Let’s say you’re totally ready for podcast support. What kind of support do you need?
I can tell you the kind of support I offer as anybody who does what I do for a living can. A podcast producer, a podcast booker, a virtual assistant, a graphic designer, all of them can tell you what support they offer. But only you know, what support you need. So start thinking about where you having those pain points.
Again, we sort of shift back to this purpose, process, or production. Right? Again, if it’s production, hire an agency. Hires us or someone like us, who is going to sit down and put together your show notes, and do, you know, pro-quality editing, who’s going to SEO optimized, who’s going to schedule everything, who is going to create some marketing graphics for you and hand it back over to you so you can promote. Find somebody who can help you manage all of it.
If it’s just the editing part. If it’s just, I don’t know how to edit audio and I want my show to sound a little better. Great. Hire a freelance editor. On the flip side, maybe the part of your show that’s most frustrating is the guest management or the scheduling part. It’s just, it’s just getting it up to lips setting, and getting it up on your WordPress site or your website. Whatever may be Squarespace Wix, whatever. If that’s it, great. Hire somebody who’s more in that admin-marketing assistant role. These podcast virtual assistants are great for this.
If you’re ready to really uplevel your podcast experience, not just for you, but for the listener, then yeah, you need to be looking at production companies. You need to be looking at a podcast production agency company, team, podcast, producer.
This is exactly what our team steps in.
Now, we’re supporting you with the whole thing. Now, we are partnering with you on your podcast. Now, we are taking care of your podcast, the way we take care of our podcast. And that means everything after you hit the end of the recording to when you’re ready to share with your audience, our team handles.
That means building a dashboard and a system for you to sit right in two. An organizational flow for you to move right into. If having a partner in updating cover art, or podcast graphic templates, or audiogram templates, or discussing the format of your show and changes you want to make implementing new strategies into your podcast. And the kind of content you’re creating, and understanding the timing, and the nuance of when you need to be repurposing or be leaning more or less into certain parts of your message to speak to certain parts of your audience.
Then, yes, look at a production team. Look at somebody who can help you a more holistic way. Look for uncommonly more. But seriously that it really is, that’s, that’s how we partner with our clients and, and that is a great opportunity to really uplevel your experience as a host, which is a factor in the enjoyment of your show.
Now, if as you’ve listened to this episode, you’re saying yes, please. Great, let’s have a conversation. But also, if as you listen to this episode, you felt less and less and less excited about your show. I really want to encourage you to go back to the purpose.
I really wanted to encourage you to look at why your show exists. Because if you’re constantly miserable, if you’re not enjoying any part of your podcast, podcasts are not the only way. Podcasts are not the end-all be-all. There are lots of ways that you can build this relationship and you can nurture this audience, and that’s not, not bad. There’s nothing wrong if this isn’t for you. Reconnect with that purpose though because I don’t want to see you investing in something that is just going to put you deeper into a system or process you don’t enjoy.
This is one of the reasons most of our clients don’t launch with us. In fact, we accept very few of the launch clients that submit to work with us because I really encourage clients to figure it out and make sure that this is something they want to do long term before they dig into a relationship with an agency like ours. And so most of our clients have been doing their show right around a year, fifty to a hundred episodes, before they talk to us. And so if this isn’t for you, that’s cool. Set it down. Go try something new. But if this is for you, then let’s uplevel your experience, and let’s talk more about working with our team on producing your show.
All right. With that, I’m going to let you go and I will talk to you again next week. If you made it to this point of the show and you still happen to be listening, which statistically is unlikely. I want to say thank you for listening. Thanks for hanging out with me today, and I want to hear from you. So, reach on our social or via email. And let me know what actions you’re going to take from today’s episode. Because honestly, that’s why we produce the show.
That’s why I record the show, why my team does all the work to release this show, is so that we can help you. We can help make a difference in your show, and consequently in your business. If you have a left to review for the show, head over to ratethispod.com/more. It’s an easy way to show some love to the show, and also help us reach more podcasters who are looking for the same kind of support we were looking for. If you have any suggestions or ideas, or thoughts you would like me to address on the show be sure to reach out. Again, like I say a lot, this is the start of the conversation, and I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.
