Hi,
Oops. All I can say is I'm really sorry about that.
On Monday, I emailed you saying I'd follow up on Wednesday with some thoughts on 'deeper dive' episodes.
That email didn't come.
I'd love to have a really good excuse for it, but the truth is, work piled, and I completely forgot, even despite the calendar reminders and Alexa nagging me!
But all is not lost, as it gives me an opportunity to talk you through another really important point today. Also, it means I can park Wednesday's email and send that to you on Monday instead!
Nobody cares as much as you think
As podcasters, we keep hearing the 'gurus' bang on about 'consistency', like it's the secret sauce to overcoming podcasting challenges.
As someone who's been doing this for a while, and been showrunner on podcasts that have had a variety of cadences including daily, weekly, monthly and even quarterly, I can tell you that's only part of the puzzle.
For sure, a daily podcast is always going to have more listeners than a weekly podcast, which is always going to have more downloads than a monthly one.
That's just mathematics at the basic level.
50 people, downloading your show 5 times a week is 250 listeners.
50 downloading your show once per week is 50.
No brainer, then.
However, what if you publish an episode five days a week, consistently, for months, and then suddenly can't publish one day.
Is that your show ruined?
Well, the podcast gurus would have you believe it is.
But if we look at it from a purely mathematical point of view, no. You're just missing out on 50 of the specific listens for that episode, that day.
What's this got to do with the email?
It's really easy to drop into a shame spiral around your lack of consistency.
All of Wednesday evening I found myself thinking "should I jump on the studio computer and pop out an email?"
And ultimately I decided not to, for a few reasons.
- It would be an email for email's sake. It would suck.
- I knew nobody would care.
- I had the idea for this email in my brain to make the point.
And you know what? Nobody unsubscribed that day.
So...
Are you following "The Podmaster"?
Relax
If you miss the odd episode, don't beat yourself up about it.
Nobody will likely even notice.
I have a few favourite podcasts I religiously listen to, and every single time they show up in my library, it's a reminder they exist.
Some are fortnightly, and in the in-between weeks, I don't find myself thinking "Oh my god, this is a down week for them."
Listeners won't notice if you miss an episode. Even the hardcore fans.
Let go
A lot of people find they're inclined to apologise and make a big deal of it if they miss an episode.
Don't.
You're just drawing attention to the fact you didn't publish one when nobody even cares.
By all means acknowledge it if you must, but don't feel you have to.
And don't make it the first thing you talk about.