Who Are You Podcasting To? Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My ongoing podcast series for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. Episode #18Figuring out your target audience is one thing, but need to go further to what your one true listener needs, wants, and is asking you to create. Personas A persona is one way to discover who your target audience is. However, personas only go so far. To really understand your audience, you need to find your target listener. What do they need, want, and are asking you to create that will help them with their specific problems. When you podcast, you need to be talking to that one listener -- your target listener -- and advocating for them. However, before you can do that, you have to do get very detailed. Meet Teri I share my target listener Teri. Teri is more than just a mix of data and demographics. Teri is a struggling professional that wants to podcast but needs someone to fill in the tiny details that connects everything together. Who is YOUR Teri? And now you know! About the Show Podfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Presented by Gagglepod.com

Podfader

Who Are You Podcasting To?

Every Podcast Needs a Good Name Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E17 -- Every Podcast Needs a Good Name TL:DR - Naming a podcast is incredibly difficult without a strategy for naming your podcast that can actually help you stand out from the competition. Dog Names Would you name your dog "Dogfader"? Actually, that sounds like a great name for a dog! Maybe it could be an Old English Bulldog. Dogfader does sound like a Bulldog's name, especially after the first mile of any walk. Nothing fades faster than a Bulldog going uphill. But when it comes to names, I like names that work on multiple levels. The Secret Name of your Podcast I share a story about the A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and how it matters to your naming quest. Podcast Naming Strategy At-a-Glance Understand how podcasts are searched Learn how names are categorized and why Describe your podcast idea as if you were a listener Know your space and what niche you will fit into Define your keywords and keyword associations Define literal, abstract, and antonym keywords Blend portmanteau, puns, and weird sounding words Test your names with friends and family Pick the One Name that works Discover if the TLD is available (or an alternative version) Discover if the Social Media version is available Podcast Naming Tools Evernote - Keep track of your naming ideas Thesaurus.com - Find Like Names Dictionary.com - Find Definitions Igor Naming Guide - Naming Categories Amazon.com - Book Descriptions and Reviews Macmillan - Open Dictionaries of Invented Words BrainyQuote - Quotes with Weird Word Combos Pinterest - Art Named with Weird Word Combos Kickass Headline Generator - Keyword Combo Service Domainr.com - Domain Name Search Namechk.com - Find open social media names Namecheap.com - Lost Cost Domain Registration US Patent and Trademark Office - Name Search for Business And now you know! Are you going Podfest Multimedia Expo 2019? Podfest Expo is a community of people who are interested in and passionate about sharing their voice and message with the world through the powerful mediums of audio and video. This is my favorite conference and if you can only go to one this year, make it Podfest! Learn more about the next PODFEST conference being held on March 7th-9th, 2019, in Orlando, Florida. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Presented by Gagglepod.com

Every Podcast Needs a Good Name

MAPCON Talk on Podcast Design Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E16 -- MAPCON Talk on Podcast Design TL:DR - Podcast Design Talk titled Put down the microphone and plan your podcast given at Mid-Atlantic Podcast Conference (MAPCON) September 7, 2018. Podcast Design Stack #1 – Start Your Idea DREAM “I want to do THIS!” “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” #2 – Feed Your Curiosity “I know…” “I wonder…” FOCUS #3 – Know Your Space “Who else…” “They talk about…” SPACE #4 – Target Your Topic “I love…” “I hate…” “I wish…” NARROW #5 – Include Your Audience “Lurk with purpose…” “In my opinion…” LURK #6 – Select Your Concept “Filter out the noise…” “Set your rules…” FILTER #7 – Expand Your Point of View “My hot topics…” “Schedule it out…” STUB #8 – Brand Your Design “I will call it…” “I am…” NAME THIS is the start See the Presentation Slides on SlideShare! And now you know. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

MAPCON Talk on Podcast Design

It Is Your Job To Pay It Forward Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E15 -- It Is Your Job To Pay It Forward TL:DR - It's time to actively give back what you have learned to the podcasting community and become the mentor that keeps other podcasters from podfading. Pay it back by paying it forward Step Nine of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Mentorship. You made it! You made it through the Steps to the last and final Step -- Step Nine: Mentorship. At first glance, you might think that mentorship means finding a mentor. However, it's the exact opposite. Mentorship in the Podfader context means for you to go find a podcast to mentor. It is your job to pay it forward. Your podcasting knowledge, your understanding of the production process, and what you know about what gear works and does not work for each level of a podcaster's journey. You can find someone to mentor in 1 of 3 ways: Mentor new podcasters online Speak at Conferences Form a local meetup for podcasters And now you know. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

It Is Your Job To Pay It Forward

Surround Yourself With Like Minds Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E14 -- Surround Yourself With Like Minds TL:DR - Fellowship is Step Eight of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting and asks you to go find other podcasters, learn about their journey, and discover that you are not alone. Find Your Podcasting Tribe Step Eight of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Fellowship. 1. Find your podcasting tribe online: Underdog Podcast Community Cut the BS Podcasting Group Podcasters' Support Group Podcasters' Hangout DC Podcaster Community Podcast Builders League Podcast Movement Community - For Podcasters 2. Find your podcasting tribe in real life: Podcast Movement - Philadelphia, PA - July 23-26, 2018 Mid-Atlantic Podcasting Conference (MAPCON) - Philadelphia, PA - September 7-8, 2018 Podfest Multimedia Expo - Orlando, FL - March 7-9, 2019 DC Podfest - Arlington, VA - November 9-10, 2108 3. Go back to your center of the world and find other local podcasters: Virginia Podcasters Association Maryland Podcasters Association Florida Podcasters Association Podcast Atlanta And now you know. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Surround Yourself With Like Minds

Celebrate Your Podcasting Wins Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E13 -- Celebrate Your Podcasting Wins TL:DR - Focus is Step Seven of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting and requires you to earn your right to be podcasting by first doing the work, celebrating your wins and then getting to stay podcasting by never forgetting what you have endured to get here. The Story of Badwater-135 finisher David Goggins Three ways to Reward your accomplishments Understanding that goals matter than comparisons to others In 2007, Chief Petty Officer Special Operator (SEAL) David Goggins competed in the Badwater Ultramarathon. This is a running race that requires you to run 135 miles across Death Valley and up the side of Mount Whitney in California. In the end, David took 25 hours and 49 minutes to complete what is considered the most grueling event of its type in the world. It was good enough for third place, nearly four hours faster than his previous attempt the year before. Asked what his secret to finishing the Badwater? He replied, "Give it everything you have. Don't leave anything behind." But that was just a small segment of the wisdom David can provide the average podcaster. His main philosophy is simple. As he puts it, "I'm not the best at anything. I'm not gifted. I'm just driven. You have to do the work. There is a journey -- a journey you don't see and nobody gets to have what they want without going on this journey." How can you, as a podcaster learn from David's accomplishments? Try following some of David's best advice: 1. You have to be uncommon among common people. 2. You have to suffer so that it tattoos that message on your brain. 3. I believe in patience because I know that's how you get something to grow. 4. It's all on you. It's the SELF-part -- total accountability -- that is big. 5. If you haven't endured then you're just blowing smoke. When it comes to reflecting on your accomplishments and celebrating your achievements, David is very clear, "You have to do the work. It is the only way you CAN reflect back and understand what you've been through. Reflect back on what you've accomplished at each step of the journey is how you move forward. You cannot let yourself forget what you have been through. You cannot let yourself stop or slow down just because it's uncomfortable now. If you can get through these barriers and just gain 2%, 3% or 5% now? That will eventually become 40%, and 40% becomes 60%, that 60% become 70%, then 80%, then 90%. Then hopefully one day you will be near 100." During this episode, I go into where David started his Badwater-135 journey, and it not where you think. This is why I think his story is something every podcaster can relate to. If you learn anything from David Goggins' journey, then it should be this: "Earn your right to be here by doing the work. And you get to stay here by never forgetting what you have endured to get here." What does David’s story have to do with today’s podcaster? Reflection. It has everything to do with what you think of yourself, your podcast, and your relationship with your podcast. To do this, you first need a willingness to take a personal inventory of your progress and celebrate what you have accomplished. How do you do this? Reward yourself when you win. Rewarding yourself can be a useful tool in developing a new behavior and achieving your goals. Rewards should be: Draw Motivation from Small Achievements Achieve Big Reward Goals by Celebrating Milestone Rewards Build it into Your Trail and Error Process And now you know. Inspirational Links on Reflection: Badwater 135 SEAL Recruiter Finishes Strong in Badwater Ultramarathon The Craziest Talk EVER | David Goggins - MOST Motivational Speech 2007 Badwater: David Goggins finishes: AdventureCORPS Badwater Ultramarathon How to Make Yourself Immune to Pain | David Goggins on Impact Theory About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Celebrate Your Podcasting Wins

Rebuild Your Motivation to Podcast Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E12 -- Rebuild your motivation and get back to building better podcasts TL:DR - Focus is Step Six of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting and requires you to rebuild your motivation and find your hunger for podcasting before you can truly get back to podcasting. What are your Motivations? What is your Why? Strategies for Rebuilding Your Motivation The only easy day was yesterday Step Six of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Focus. You need something to change when it comes to your motivation to podcast. Why? Ask yourself this question: Does the feeling of having to produce yet another podcast tapping your motivation? You know you love podcasting, but maybe it’s become exhausting, frustrating and even painful to continue. You see your competitors still maintaining the same podcast production tempo they did in past years, yet you at a loss to how they can keep going at that pace. Now, you start finding yourself saying: “I don’t want to record a podcast this month.” “I just want to go ride my bike this weekend.” “Why am I still building this podcasts?” What happened to your motivation? How do you recover from a slump like this and still manage to produce another season of podcasts? How do you not quit? Hopefully, this will give you the answer. What are your Motivations? You might not truly dislike podcast production — at least not yet. But if you’re having doubts about building new podcasts, and you’re not doing anything about it, it can only get worse. So before it gets worse, you need to ask yourself some tough questions. You need a motivation intervention. You need a motive-vention! However, this is the good kind of intervention; the kind with healing in it. It requires you to dig down deep and find out what’s going on in your head, starting with your need to understand your own intrinsic motivations. What is your Why? Why do you build podcasts? This should be a simple question to answer. Your first answer might be “for the love of the medium.” Or maybe you got into podcast promotion “to make money.” You need money to make a living, but the time it takes to make your first real money in podcasting is long. Knowing there is the potential for good money after doing podcast promotion for five years or more, doesn’t help you in year two. No. If love or money is not enough to keep you truly motivated, that what else drives you to build podcasts? Chances are it has something to do with an intrinsic motivation. This is the driver that pushes you into doing things worth doing. The three important intrinsic drivers for podcasters: Creativity: Creativity is the freedom you feel from being able to build podcasts without anyone telling you how you should do it. Mastery: Mastery is your capability to learn new disciplines and improve your skills. Purpose: your Purpose should not just be focused on the mechanics of building podcasts, but why you believe in building podcasts in the first place. Strategies for Rebuilding Your Motivation If you’re ready to focus on rebuilding your motivation, here are few steps you can take to get you back into the podcasting game: #1 – Stop Being Hard on Yourself: Successful people know that making small continuous improvements every day will be compounded over time and give them desirable results. #2 – Build a Better Why: You need to create a vision of how you see your future self. #3 – Focus on One Goal: Learning a new skill is an excellent goal, and a great way to keep from getting bored. #4 – Learn from Others: Spend some time appreciating the drive and determination others have for podcasting and explore how they overcame the challenges they faced on their journeys. #5 – Get Your Hunger Back: When you decide you’re hungry enough to do it, keeping motivated won’t be hard anymore. The only easy day was yesterday There is no easy way to stay motivated. Motivation is a continual process that requires discipline. You will always need to force yourself to go through your motivation process to find your hunger again. Hence the need for the discipline to know when your motivation is lacking, and the hunger to actively do something about it. And now you know. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on tackling the challenges all podcasters face when the drive to keep podcasting becomes a struggle. If you’re a podcaster or trying to become one, Podfader is your sanctuary for getting you through the messy middle of any podcasting journey. Stop podfading and start podcasting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Rebuild Your Motivation to Podcast

Discipline Guards Against Distraction Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast for helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. S1:E11 -- What does it mean to commit? TL:DR - Committing to your podcast requires you get disciplined about your goals if you have any chance of guarding against distractions. What it means to commit to your podcast Introduction to SMART Goals Big Podcasting Goals to consider Bubble Prioritization And now you know About the show Step Five of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Commit. When it comes to your podcast, what is your commitment to that podcast? Is it a hobby that can ebb and flow on a whim? Or is it a tool within your marketing strategy that needs to run like a German Train Schedule? The difference depends entirely on your drive to see your podcast success. If you want this to work -- really work -- then you need to develop the discipline to see it through. So what does that mean when it comes to keeping your podcast going? You need to make a commitment to yourself and to your listeners that YOU will give your podcast a specific amount of time: Every day, every week, and every month -- for a specific length of time -- measured in the number of episodes or number of years. Whichever comes first. The idea is to become dedicated to your podcasts production, and disciplined enough to execute that production. And you do this until you reach your milestone: the time you gave yourself before you would take the next hard look at what you had built, and what would come next. If you think about the first four steps of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting, you’ve already decided your podcast is worth working on. You have also become honest with yourself about what you need to fix based on real feedback. Finally, you’ve started to prioritize your Need to Fix issues. Now it is time to declare timeframe for when you will have fixes completed. Introduction to SMART GoalsThen it’s time to take those rough goals and turn them into SMART goals. Here is a quick guide to making sure you write down goals that actually mean something: S – Specific: Make each goal crispy, not mushy. Example: Produce one episode of my podcast every week. M – Measurable: Make each goal quantifiable so you know if you accomplished it or not. Example: I will release my podcast episodes every week on Monday at 9 AM. A – Actionable: Make each goal start with an action verb. Example: Run, finish, produce, direct, plan, promote, earn, etc. R – Realistic: Make each goal use common sense, but if you’re not out of your comfort zone, it’s not big enough. Example: I will produce 26 episodes this year. T – Time-bound: Make each goal have a deadline. Example: I will launch my new podcast on September 1st, 2018. Big Podcasting Goals to ConsiderIf you don’t know what you should fix, or your Need to have and Nice to have listed is still a bit fuzzy, consider the following goals: #1 – Growth Planning: This is where you see your podcast promotion going in the next year, and possibly in the next three years. Example: The number of episodes you want to promote above the following year. #2 – Podcast Offerings: Decide if you current podcast is the kind of podcast you plan on offering your listeners. Example: This would include what message or niche your podcast you will focus on. #3 – Financial Targets: These are the financial numbers you need to hit to make a profit with your podcast. Example: This would include monetization goals that reflect your break-even point, profit margins, and sales goals. Bubble PrioritizationBy forcing the MOST IMPORTANT goals to the surface is like forcing your divers to come up for air. The diver that needs it the most go to the surface first. The process is simple. First, compare the first two goals on your list. Of those two goals, decide which is more important to be accomplished now rather than later. The one that you pick is now #1. Compare that #1 goal with the NEXT GOAL on your list. Repeat your decision. Out of these two goals, which is more important? Either you continue to support your decision that #1 is still #1, or the new goal replaces it and become the new #1. Continue to do this until you have firmly established which goal is #1. Leave #1 alone and focus on the remain list by moving to goal #2. Repeat the same process with all the goals below #2 the same way you did with deciding goal #1. You can end this loop when: You've prioritized the entire list Only decided the Top 2 or Top 3 Now your goals are prioritized. The Five Principles By leveraging our five (5) Goal Setting Principles as follows: #1 – Thinking SMART — Visualizing and creating goals that will provide value when completed. #2 – Writing Them Down — Writing your goals down will improve your chances of accomplishing them. #3 – Keeping Them Simple — Don’t complicate your life by setting more goals than you can manage. #4 – Dedicating to Them Daily — Placing them somewhere you can read them every day will also improve your chances of accomplishing them. #5 – Sharing Them Strategically — Only share your goals with those people you feel are committed to helping you accomplish each one. Setting goals are extremely important in keeping yourself focused throughout the year. It will also provide you with meaning and a sense of accomplishment as you move closer to completing each one. Stop wandering through the forest without a map and compass. Your annual goals ARE your map and compass. Make this year the first of many goal-oriented years to come! And now you know. About the ShowPodfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on helping you survive the day-to-day struggle that comes with keeping a podcast going. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Learn more at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Discipline Guards Against Distraction

Principles of Podcast Production Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E10 -- What is insight? Step Four of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Insight. Insight is defined as deep understanding. The capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing. I’ll tell what is NOT accurate or deep understanding -- winging it. Principles of Podcast Production First and foremost, you need to understand what a principle is. It is a fancy term for rules. Only these rules are the kind of rules you don’t break no matter what. They are the foundation you base your entire podcast on and the antithesis of winging it. For me, they start with three easy-to-remember rules: Stay simple Start small Show value Step 1. Two Column Drill The first of three principles is Stay Simple. To embrace that principle, you are going to put every part of your episode into one of two columns. Column one is your nice-to-have list, while column two is your need-to-have list. Think of every little part of your podcast and put it into the column you think it belongs. This drill requires three separate lists: Gear List: Gear required to record your podcast Format List: How your show is logically organized Content List: How your looks using units of time Step 2. First Draft Evaluation Now take a look at your list. What did you discover about your podcast? What is in your need-to-have columns versus what is in your nice-to-have columns? Were you honest? Take some more time and see what you might have in one column, that should really be in the other and make some edits. Step 3. Reality Check Honesty time. It’s time to have a “get real with yourself” moment and edit your list a third time. This is the third principle in play -- Show Value. If you took the advice from Episode #009 about getting real feedback, then you already have a list of changes that you could be making to improve your podcast. So take a deep breath, think about your budget, and take some time to edit your list one more time. Step 4. Set Priorities Now we will combine the three principles by working on a new list: A Priority List. This is a list of what we will fix, change, or improve in order of their importance. When you know what you must do to make the foundation of your podcast work — the parts you cannot live without — you begin to build a valuable framework for what will always be needed in every podcast you produce. Step 5. Dream Sheet The final step in this exercise is to figure out what nice-to-have elements can be worked back in. Now with all the MUST DO and NEEDS identified, we can finally revisit the nice-to-have list, and find out what you would pick first if you could pick anything off it. Apply Your Principles If you consistently apply these principles when building each of your podcast episodes, you should always have control over what is needed for each one, and what is just nice to have. And now you know. About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Principles of Podcast Production

How Clear is Your Clarity? Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E9 -- How Clear is Your Clarity? Step Three of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Clarity. What does it mean to you? Clarity is defined as: The quality of being clear. The quality of coherence and intelligibility. The quality of being easy to see or hear; sharpness of image or sound. These are the elements of your podcast that Clarity tries to highlight. And why this step centers on deciding WHAT you need to improve if you are to learn a better way to produce your podcast. You cannot fix a podcast you never start, but you also cannot fix a podcast that YOU do not know is broken. Why is it broken? Podcasting is an audio medium of transforming information to other people. Because this requires our ears and our brains to be understood, there are three (3) distinct Clarity characteristics you need to have: Clarity of Speech Clarity of Delivery Clarity of Message Three Kinds of Feedback How do you know when you podcast is broken when it comes to either Clarity of Speech or Clarity of Delivery? You have to ask. Or to use another term -- You have to get feedback. But not just any kind of feedback, you have to get honest feedback using one or all of these methods: Online Surveys The Circle of Trust Professional Feedback 1. Online Surveys Ask other podcasters. Sometimes, it’s good to hear it from other people who create podcasts too. 2. The Circle of Trust The “circle of trust” process involves live airings of your podcast in front of real people. At a podcaster meeting or meetup, instead of a speaker, have each person in attendance introduce their podcast, then play 5-minutes of their most recent episode for all to hear. It is a feedback method only for the podcasters that are GETTING REAL with themselves and their skills. Because after that 5-minutes, your podcast goes off and the room starts to give you feedback based on what they just heard. What you get next is some of the most immediate and honest feedback you will ever get from complete strangers. 3. Professional Feedback The final feedback method involves hiring professionals. Instead of a meetup or event, you can spend a little money and have professionals in the industry review your podcast. Dave Jackson of the SchoolofPodcasting.com does for his podcast called Podcast Rodeo. For Five-bucks, Dave will listen to your the first few minutes of your show and see if he can “hang on” to it (which means he likes it), or get thrown off (which means it has problems). You can find more about Podcast Rodeo and how to have your podcast reviewed here: https://podcastrodeoshow.wordpress.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-rodeo/id1214744628?mt=2 That is enough first impression feedback to know if you are on the right track. If that is not enough feedback, you can also have your entire show reviewed by Davenutkson and Erik K. John over at the Podcast Review Show. This is a full nuts-to-bolts review of your show for $99. They review can even become part of the show where both Dave and Erik share their findings with you as part of their show. You can find more about the Podcast Review Show here: http://podcastreviewshow.com/ With these kinds of feedback, the price you pay for honesty might be pennies compared to the value of their revelations. About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

How Clear is Your Clarity?

You Might Suck at Podcasting Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E8 -- You Might Suck at Podcasting Step Two of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Humility. This step centers on believing that you don’t know everything about podcasting or realizing that your way may not be the best way to podcast. That’s a tough mindset to crack because it requires you to admit that your podcast could be better. If you’ve already come around to agreeing that your podcast and your podcasting skills are worth working on. Now you need to have a real conversation with yourself on what “worth working on” really means to you. Which is why I go back to the name of this episode: You might suck at podcasting! Well, do you? How would you know?   Getting to the Root Causes with Five Whys The Five Whys works something likes this: #1 -- I stopped podcasting. WHY? #2 -- I didn’t want to do it anymore. WHY? #3 -- I take a long time to create an episode. WHY? #4 -- I don’t have any ideas on what to talk about. WHY? #5 -- I wait until the last minute to plan episodes. The root cause in this example takes a general problem statement: “I stopped podcasting”, and drills down through the potential causes to find a possible root cause. You may have already discovered that I can answer the WHY’s any way I want to. Which means I can deflect and hide the real reasons for why I stopped podcasting. But if you are serious about coming back to podcasting, then you have to have a very honest conversation with yourself. By using a root cause approach to investigate your own technical, emotional, and motivational skills within your podcast, you can discover a lot about the reasons something happened.   Podfaders don’t happen overnight They podfade after a dozen tiny things go wrong in their production, their expectations, and even their lives. Using the Five Whys is just one way to be honest with yourself. You know the real reasons behind your problems. That is the core lesson of Step Two of Nine Steps Back to Podcasting. Having the humility to admit you’re not perfect, and the courage to do something about it. If you can do that, then you’re ready to move forward with a much clearer understanding of what you need to work on to improve.  About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

You Might Suck at Podcasting

Do you want to be a podcaster? Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E7 -- Is Your Podcast Worth It? Step One of the Nine Steps Back to Podcasting is Acceptance. This step centers on you either admitting that your podcast is worth working on, or admitting that your done with that podcast and letting it podfade. That’s a tough pill to swallow. To podcast or not to podcast, that is the question! Well, which is it? Are you ready to stop pretending you’re a podcaster and letting go of your podcast for good? Or do you really want to do the hard, sometimes thankless work of building a podcast worthy of an audience? These are both equally easy and difficult questions at the same time. Easy as in it is easy to SAY you want to give up or carry on. But difficult in what the repercussions will be when you choose. Sure, podfading seems easy... at first. But it comes with a whole assortment of sadness and regret. Sometimes that sadness and regret can gnaw at you until the next thing you do. Deciding to buckle down and get back to podcasting is the opposite. All the difficulty is in the beginning when you are trying to create something from nothing. Once it exists and is in the world, then it can easier to keep going. It is the stopping, the long pause that makes an existing podcast hard to start again. The easy of stopping, of just putting it all down for a while is very seductive. But at what cost? This leads to the first of many tough challenges and introspections you will need to face. They are like the Trials of Hercules. Nobody else can face them but you. And they start with a simple question: Do you want to be a podcaster? Well, do you?   About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Is Your Podcast Worth It?

Coming Back From a Podfade Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E6 -- Fellowship of the Podfader I had everything ready to record my podcast. I took a deep breath, clicked record, and moved up to the mic. Then a hot wave of embarrassment hit me. I had nothing to say, and I was in trouble. The Two Realities I like being a podcaster but didn’t like doing the podcasting work. I was avoiding my podcast. Why? Because it takes work to produce and I had gotten lazy. I didn’t want to plan my next episode, do the research, and write the script. I just wanted to “wing it” — or what my friend Tim calls “improv”! Only what they never tell you about improv is that IT takes a lot of work too! What kind of work? Planning, research, and scripting — just like my podcast. The epiphany was the realization of how truly prideful I had been and it took a frozen moment in front of a microphone to point it out. I had skipped all the necessary steps that take place BEFORE the microphone gets turned on. I had let my podcasting muscles go weak. Return of the Podcaster When you come to this realization — owning the fact that YOU let this happen — that YOU let your podcasting muscle go weak, you need to take your podcasting skills back to the gym! The Nine Steps Back to Podcasting: Step 1 — Acceptance: You have to admit that your podcast is worth working on. Step 2 — Humility: You need to believe that you don’t know everything about podcasting. Step 3 — Clarity: You decide that you need to improve your skills and learn a better way to produce your podcast. Step 4 — Insight: You take an honest look at your podcast and expose what you need to fix or improve. Step 5 — Commit: You take full ownership of your shortcomings and create a plan for how you can improve. Step 6 — Focus: You take action by prioritized your most important improvements and taking real action to work on each one. Step 7 – Reflection: You take a personal inventory of your progress, celebrate what you have accomplished and admitted to yourself when you feel like podfading. Step 8 – Fellowship: You activity seek honest feedback from your podcasting community. Step 9 – Mentorship: You actively give back what you have learned to the podcasting community and help other podcasters from podfading by becoming mentors. And now you know. About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Fellowship of the Podfader

Podfader #5 Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E5 -- Ratings and Review Swap Meet Focus on delivering great content to build an audience not on getting ratings and review from someone that is not your target listener. How are they going to know if you are any good if they don't even like the content you're delivering? About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Ratings and Review Swap Meet

Podfader #4 Howdy -- I’m Kyle Bondo, and this is Podfader! My weekly podcast about helping you keep your podcast from podfading, especially when the drive for new and interesting content becomes a struggle. S1:E4 -- Release the Podcast Throttle No one has ever made a rule that prevents your daily, weekly, or monthly podcast from changing its release schedule, taking time off, or modifying its length from time to time. What does it mean to throttle your podcast? Throttling your podcast is defined as reducing or decreasing the number of episodes you release. This could be any kind of decision that results in a slow down, pause, or even complete stop of your podcast. If you think of your podcast as an engine, each episode is the fuel for that engine. No fuel, no engine. The throttle to that engine is your release schedule. You either throttle your podcasting engine on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Somewhere you decided -- hopefully before you launched your first episode -- on what timeframe you were going to release your episodes. The throttle is set to that specific schedule.  Release your podcast every Thursday? Then your throttle is set to a weekly release schedule starting the moment your release your episode on Thursday and running until you release your next episode on the following Thursday. Then it repeats. This is your throttle tempo -- or the rhythm of your own podcast release cycle.   Podcasting Disruptions #1 - Late -- is when you produce your podcast but you don't get it published at the same time each time.#2 - Pause -- is when you stop producing your podcast for a short period of time. #3 - Hiatus -- is when there is an interruption in the intensity to which you produce your podcast.#4 - Podfade -- is when the pause or interruption that stopped you from producing a podcast become permanent. Reasons to Throttle #1 -- Need to Pull Back #2 -- You need to finish something else #3 -- Something Didn't Work #4 -- It's not fun anymore #5 -- Just need a break Alternatives to Podcast Throttling #1 - Try changing your podcast from Episodic to Serial or Seasonal.#2 - Try to make better use of your time by doing one a month batch recording.#3 - Try going back to your episode archives and recycle your best episodes with a "Best Of" group of shows.#4 - Reduce the size of your episodes to produce Short Episodes.#5 - Take advantage of quick episodes where you check in with your audience for an update on what's coming next About the Show Podfader, hosted by veteran podcaster Kyle Bondo, focuses on the challenges of keeping your podcast going and the drive we all have has creators to keep our podcasts going with new and interesting content. If you’re a struggling podcaster, Podfader will be your sanctuary to get you through the messy middle of any podcasting strategy. Stop fading and start casting! Find the complete shownotes at Podfader.com Presented by Gagglepod.com

Release the Podcast Throttle

Podfader, hosted by Kyle Bondo, focuses on the design challenges that podcasters face when creating a new show or deciding to let an existing show go in favor of podcasting about something new. If you’re struggling to create a new podcast, Podfader will help you to focus on the important parts of podcast design thinking.

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Podfader

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