Ever felt like you're running a race against the clock, especially when dreaming of starting your own podcast? Let's bust that myth together. We continue our myth-busting series with a candid conversation on the infamous time myth—the belief that there just aren't enough hours in the day to create a podcast. Join us as we challenge the status quo and explore the true flexibility of podcasting that many overlook. You'll be surprised to learn that the 'ideal' episode length is a myth itself, as we delve into why podcast duration should be a personal decision that resonates with both you and your audience's schedule.
This episode isn't just about realization; it's about taking actionable steps. Through personal anecdotes and industry examples, we'll help you measure your content against the realities of your listener's day-to-day life. No guests, just raw insights and strategies aimed to craft your podcasting journey to fit into the life you lead—not the other way around. By the end of our session, we're confident you'll have a newfound perspective on how podcasting can seamlessly integrate with your lifestyle, unshackled by the constraints of time.
Bust through the myths, and get podcasting!
Podcast Jumpstart Bootcamp Get the tools you need to be podcast ready! Thursday May 8th 10am - 1pm Here's what the bootcamp will cover:
Show Strategy (format, what it's about, target audience)
Basic Launch Roadmap (launch date, timeline)
Content For Your First 5 Episodes( templated for you to customize)
Time Optimization Strategies (strategy for recording, editing, promo
Plus the templates, tools and tech you need to get your show started!
BONUS #1 A copy of the e-book, 10 simple steps to launching your podcast BONUS #2 15 minute Podcast strategy call with me, Carl Richards Podcast Jumpstart Bootcamp
Got a question about something you heard today? Have a great suggestion for a topic or know someone who should be a guest? Reach out to us: askcarl@carlspeaks.ca
If you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have joined the podcast space, we'd love to hear your idea and help you get started! Book your Podcast Strategy Session today: https://podcastsolutionsmadesimple.com/get-started/
Welcome to Communication Connection Community the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride.
Speaker 1:
Let's dive into today's episode. It's been an amazing journey talking about the previous four myths and we're jumping into the fifth myth today, the final myth, and again these are in no particular order. Myth today the final myth, and again these are in no particular order. So if you listened to these episodes out of order, other than me saying the next myth or previous myths that we've talked about, these are in no particular order and maybe they're in a specific order for you personally. Okay, but the final myth we're going to talk about today is the time myth.
Speaker 1:
There are a couple of components to the time myth, the main one being the concept of I don't have time to do a podcast. And I understand full well where this comes from, because it's sort of the same reason why people will say in January they'll sign up for a gym membership and then come somewhere around. If they last the middle of February, they're running out of the time that they thought they had to go to the gym. They're actually not running out of time at all, but they have found other things to put in that time space and the going to the gym piece becomes just not a priority, and the going to the gym piece becomes just not a priority. Well, the podcast is essentially the same, but there's another piece of this component that makes it even that much more complicated, and let me share with you what that is. It's a preconceived notion of how long a podcast episode should be, so let me ask that question. I just want to put that out there because I want you to reflect on this how long do you think a podcast episode should be? Should it be 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, three hours, five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, as short as two minutes. Okay, you know that all of those answers I just gave you are 100% correct. There are podcasts out there that are as short as two to two and a half minutes. Episodes are two to two and a half minutes, and there are podcasts that feature episodes that are upwards of three hours long.
Speaker 1:
Now some would say that, well, who's going to listen to a podcaster who speaks for three minutes or for three hours? But imagine if that podcaster was somebody like Oprah Winfrey. Or, for example, the most famous podcaster on planet Earth right now is a guy by the name of Joe Rogan, and people will listen to Joe Rogan for two hours and three hours. Personally, I would not, but some people do, and there's nothing wrong with that. But let's look at it from another perspective. How long should your podcast be? How long should your podcast episodes be? Should they be 10 minutes? Should they be 15 minutes in length? Should they be five minutes? Should they be two and a half to three minutes? The only person who can answer that question is you half to three minutes. The only person who can answer that question is you.
Speaker 1:
Now we can help you navigate through that on your podcast launch strategy call that we have, but the only person that can really reflect on that is you. And to help you reflect on that, I want you to think about how long your prospective client, your prospect or even your existing clients now, how long do you think they can listen to you? How much time do they have in their day to focus on the information or the content that you are sharing with them, and this will help you think about your other ways that you're promoting your content now, by the way your blogs, your emails, your social media campaigns. It'll help you really get behind this. I would venture to say, if I look at my ideal client, they probably have 15, 20 minutes, 30 minutes tops to listen to content from me. So if I can deliver content to them, that's 10 minutes, 15 minutes, certainly under 30 minutes. I think I've done my due diligence. All the podcasts in the world. Put them all together into a blender, okay, and hit frappe and then see what comes out.
Speaker 1:
The other side. The average podcast length would be somewhere around 30 minutes, but if you are shorter than that, let's say your podcast episodes are five minutes long. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, there's a huge trend towards shorter content. It's called microcasting, and those microcasts are those short bursts of information, usually with an actionable item built in, that you take with you as the listener and that entices you to then listen to the next episode.
Speaker 1:
So now, when we look at the time component, from how much time do I need to create a podcast to record my episodes? Which, do you think takes longer to record? This sounds very facetious, I know, but which takes longer to record A two-minute episode or a 30-minute episode or a 40-minute episode? Obviously, the longer the episode, the more time you need to record it. What if you could take your content that you've already simplified? Again, we talked about content in a previous episode and mapping out your content, and we're going to give you some strategies in future episodes on how to do this. But what if you're taking that content that's positioned and you record for 15 minutes and then you pass it on to your podcast production agency, aka Podcast Solutions Made Simple, and we create a full episode, a fully mixed episode for you? Well, now all you've spent is maybe 30 minutes an hour tops creating or curating your content and then recording your episode.
Speaker 1:
The longer the episode, as we've already identified, the longer it will take you to create the content for that episode, but then the longer it will take you to record that episode. By the way, I just wanted to share with you that the past five episodes and this episode so six episodes that you've heard I recorded in an afternoon over the span of about two hours Now. That also meant creating the content, or I should say curating the content, and knowing the direction I was going to go in. There were some stops and starts, of course. I had to clear my throat, I had to refill my water glass, I had to let the dog out a couple of times, but I stopped for, I think, to grab a snack. So those are all the things that you're going to do in your regular workday anyways.
Speaker 1:
But when you can create your content and structure it in such a way that you sit down, record and 15 to 30 minutes later you're hitting stop and then sending that file to your producer to create the episode, to then have it ready to go out into the podcast universe, and then you can promote it and market it and focus in on that, or your virtual assistant or your marketing person can focus on that. You've spent, like I said, maybe, maybe one hour, so it's not how much time do you need to record your podcast episode? Or, in the sense of you don't have time, it's, does your business have time? And, by the way, if you are not finding the time to record your podcast episode and you are a coach or a consultant or a subject matter expert? Maybe and again, I'm not a business coach, I'm just sharing with you what a business coach has shared with me over the years. Maybe you need to take something off your plate, because if you don't have time to record a podcast every week, if you don't have time to speak on a virtual platform, like a podcast, 52 times a year to get in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of prospects, is it possible? You are doing your business a disservice by not doing that?
Speaker 1:
And I know that sounds very bold for me to say that, but I attended an event, a podcasting event, back in the spring of 2022. And it wasn't a question that was posed. It was a very bold statement that was made by one of the speakers, and that speaker basically said it in no uncertain terms. This speaker said if you are a coach or a consultant or a subject matter expert and I'm paraphrasing, by the way but if you are a coach, a consultant or a subject matter expert, or you speak for a living and you don't have a podcast, you are doing your business a disservice. If you are a coach, a consultant or subject matter expert, or you speak on a regular basis and you don't have a podcast. You are doing your business a disservice, and I would tend to agree with that statement.
Speaker 1:
I know it's very bold for me to say that. It was very bold when I heard it, but I wrote that down and I was like wow, that resonates with me and I'm hoping, as you're navigating through the myths if you're coming to the time myth and saying I don't know where I'm going to find the time to record my podcast episode that you listen back to this episode and you say well, wait a minute. Are there things I'm doing now that I shouldn't be doing? That maybe my virtual assistant should be doing, or that one of my teammates should be doing, or one of my subcontractors could be doing? When I launched my first podcast, I did all of the editing myself, and then, when I launched the Podcast Solutions Made Simple company, when I first launched it, I was still doing all of my own editing for my podcast. It took me three or four months to realize I shouldn't be editing my own content. I should be sending it to my producer. So now my producer actually we have more than one now but my producer then started editing my podcast.
Speaker 1:
Think of it that way. Think of the time that you need to create the content or curate the content and then record. And, by the way, we're here to help you do that. So if you're ready to book your podcast strategy session, don't hesitate to do that. Even if you just want to have a conversation to see if podcasting is right for you, we're here to help you do that.
Speaker 1:
At the end of the day, it's not about whether or not you do business with me. It's about whether or not you have a podcast and it's allowing you to be seen as the go-to expert that you claim to be. If you're claiming that you are the subject matter expert in a particular area and, as I said, you don't have a podcast, a podcast is the same way. So look at your calendar, look at your schedule, how many hours in a day you're working, maybe focusing on tasks that you shouldn't be and again, I know that's a harsh reality. We all have to do it as business owners at some point. If we want to leverage up or level up, we need to look at it and say whoa, what should I be delegating to somebody else? So that you do have the time to focus on the things you need to focus on as that professional, and thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, dom Coriglio, our music guru, nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, stephanie Gaffour.
Speaker 1:
If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space, because, after all, we're podcast solutions made simple. We'll catch you next time.