031: Does the World Need One More Podcast? | Starting a Podcast, Part 1

If you’ve thought about starting a podcast and immediately followed it with, “yeah… but does the world really need another one?” - you’re not alone. That question shows up fast, and for a lot of people, it ends great ideas before they even get a chance.

Yes, there are millions of podcasts out there. But only a small percentage are actually active. Most people start… and then they stop. So the issue isn’t really “too many podcasts.” It’s that very few people stick with it.

And that changes how we should be thinking about this.

Listen in for:

• Why this question shows up so quickly (and what it’s really pointing to)
• The difference between adding more content vs. adding something people actually stay with
• What makes someone’s voice worth listening to (even in a crowded space)
• The common ways good ideas get talked out of - and how to move forward anyway

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• This Week's Free Action Guide: The “Should I Start This?” Guide
• The Smart Soulful Business Facebook Community: smartbusiness.thrivecart.com/soulful-strategy-community

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🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Smart Soulful Business Podcast! See you next week!

MORE FROM BECKY & LAURIE

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Transcript

Becky Brown  0:01 
If you're a Christian woman, building a business and want it to be purposeful and profitable, we've got you covered. I'm Becky.

Laurie Graham  0:08 
And I'm Laurie. We have both built successful businesses that we love without losing our faith, humor or our sanity. This is Smart Soulful Business.

Becky Brown  0:17 
Real conversations to help your business fit your life and not the other way around.

Laurie Graham  0:26 
Hey, hey, welcome back to Smart Soulful Business with Becky and Laurie.

Becky Brown  0:30 
We are really glad you're here today.

Laurie Graham  0:32 
Together, we help Christian women build businesses that are soulful, strategic, and actually work in real life, not just on paper. And I think that's one of the best things that we do today. We're starting a brand new series on podcasting. You know, we just started this podcast in the fall, so what we are starting with is how to start things. We are going to develop a lot of things over the upcoming years. 

Becky and I have different experiences in so many different places, but if you're brand new—if you're thinking about a podcast, if you're early on and starting a podcast—this is for you. If you just have an idea on a podcast, we want to start with a question for this series that stops most people, really most people before they even begin. There's a couple of them, but this is one of them. It's, does the world really need one more podcast? If we're honest, we think a lot. We see a lot out there. Things look really saturated, and it almost stops us before we try. So we're going to talk about why this is not really a saturated world podcasting. And another thing that really stops us before we start is thinking it's overwhelming, and it is easier to start a podcast than most people realize. It's even easier to keep it going. We're going to talk about a lot in the next series. I think we have seven. Do we have seven on this one? Becky, I think there's seven in this series on podcasting. 

So in part one, we're not talking about tech today. We're not talking about equipment. We're not talking about the nuts and bolts. We're really starting with this question of, does this world need another podcast? Because if you don't answer this one in a way that satisfies your own soul, you're going to stop before you start. By the end of this episode, we want you to feel less stuck in your head, in your brain and any spinning thoughts and a little more willing to get moving on your idea. This week's free Action Guide is called the 'Should I Start This Guide?'. I know it's a fun one too. 

So okay, let's talk about it. Does the world actually need one more podcast? We have an idea. We start thinking about it, and almost immediately—we say to ourselves or out loud to a friend—do we really need another podcast? Hasn't this been done? Who would even listen? And we don't even realize it, but just asking those questions shuts the whole thing down. Becky, have you seen this? Do you feel like this is where most people stop?

Becky Brown  3:00 
Oh, of course, of course. This is like the very introduction brainstorm of the idea. And if, in our initial brainstorms, of gosh, it would be really cool to write a podcast, but nobody needs this. Like, if we just put the period at the end of that sentence, nobody needs this. I'm not gonna do this. Like, you're never gonna brainstorm the next step. You're never going to try it out and see if people love it or not. Yes, we can absolutely talk ourselves out of starting before we even take the first step.

Laurie Graham  3:32 
Yeah, you know, Becky and I talk a lot in layers—about layers—and how often the question we're asking it goes to deeper things. And there's other questions and other things that we're really getting to do you think Becky, that like when we say, does the world need another podcast? Do you think this actually leads a little deeper to other things?

Becky Brown  3:50 
Absolutely, you know, I've shared before that one of my currents that runs under all of the things that I do or don't do is just some insecurity that I have, and that is—would say, very, very, very common one, that really, when we're saying—does the world need another podcast, we're really kind of thinking, Oh, they probably don't want to hear from me. What I have to say probably isn't that worthwhile. I don't have any mind blowing revelation revelations to share on this. So it's me. I'm the problem here. And again, you count yourself off before you even give yourself a shot. And so, yes, I absolutely believe that the surface level question of, does the world need another podcast really has a lot more to do with you and how you think about yourself and how you think about your own insights on this topic that you want to share?

Laurie Graham  4:42 
Yeah, and I don't think anybody should ask that question. I think it's a terrible question, yeah, because that question isn't even exploring your podcast idea. It's dismissing it instead of saying, 'What could this podcast look like?' Or what could we address that nobody's addressed, or what could we address in a different way? Or what could I  talk about, or who might benefit from this, or who might want to hear this. Like, those are better questions. But this question of, does the world need another podcast? Like, I'm gonna say, Yes, it does, and we're gonna, we're gonna talk more about that. 

But one thing that popped in my mind when you were talking Becky, like, when you said, like, you know, it's more about, does the world want to hear from me? I've ran across a really fun podcast this past year, and it was this couple. They have British accents, so they may be over in the UK or something, yeah, but it's an ADHD wife who's married to this guy who's not ADHD. And they're, they're like, it's not super professional, it's not like, it's not super polished. I love it. Literally, he's like, 'Yeah, well, when I want her to do something when and she's in on it', like, she's like, 'Yeah, you got to give me a choice. Do you want to set the table or do you want to take out the trash?' You know what? I mean, it's just, and it's so down to earth. It's just real people. And I love that about podcasts, like so does the world want to hear from you? Yeah, why not? Like, you know, like, let's stop asking that question really, because it happens really fast, and before anything gets started, we, I don't know, we kind of dismiss ourselves.

Becky Brown  6:13 
Yeah, and I think it can be a really tricky thing, because it sounds like we're doing some professional evaluation, right? It sounds logical when we say, ah, does let's just look at this area. Does it really? Do we really need another podcast here? It feels logical like we're being thoughtful or intentional, and really we're just stopping before we can even begin, before we can even test anything out. So let's talk about the saturation piece for a second, because that's a really big one. There are already so many podcasts out there, that part is true. You search on Apple podcasts, there's a whole lot of choices out there. Whatever niche you're looking for, it might be there, but I don't actually think that that is the problem here. So Laurie, what do you think people are really reacting to when they say that—when they say the phrase—there are just too many podcasts out there?

Laurie Graham  7:08 
That's so interesting. I want to talk about a stat first. And it's killing me that I don't have it because I looked it up before we started recording, and I don't see it now. Because there's millions, I believe there's millions of podcasts.

Becky Brown  7:20 
Wow.

Laurie Graham  7:21 
But the percentage of those that are still active, it's like, under 20%. I almost think it's 15% like, most of them don't have recent episodes. Like, have you ever looked up a podcast and you want a whole bunch? But then they're done, like, they're done.

Laurie Graham  7:36 
Like, there's only five of them, or there's only nine of them. You're like, wait, this was a great idea. Where do they go? And so it's not really an issue that there's too many podcasts. There's a lot of unfinished ones, for sure. You know, I think people get excited, and then life hits and they stop. You know, there's so much around this, but it's, it's not really that there's too many podcasts.

Becky Brown  8:05 
Yeah, well, that's an interesting that's such an interesting point that so we can validate. Yes, there are so many podcasts out there, but not so many podcasts that continuously run, that are still going. So that's, yeah, that's really interesting. So what do you think separates the ones that keep going from the ones that don't?

Laurie Graham  8:25 
Well, I don't think it's the topic at all. You can find podcasts like, I mean, on super, super niche things that have been around for years, right? I think it's the people. I think it's our own passion. I think it's the podcasters commitment. Maybe their commitment even to growth or sticking to it. And also, I think sometimes we start things and we don't want to finish them, sometimes there's an intentional choice there. But I think for most people—at least the ones I've talked about—who struggle with I started, or I didn't really do it, or I didn't finish, or I don't know if I want to, it's usually more internal, like, what do you think?

Becky Brown  8:48 
Well, I think that both the smart and the soulful piece of this play, and I know bring in our.

Laurie Graham  9:04 
Hey, those would be really great words for a business.

Becky Brown  9:13 
So intentionally chosen guys. We wrestled over those words for so long. We did okay. So the smart part of business is okay. That side of me is like, maybe they didn't have good systems in place, maybe they weren't batching, maybe they weren't planning ahead of time. Maybe they didn't fully flesh out the idea and come up with support things and plans and all of that stuff. And then the soulful part of me is like, okay, maybe it's insecurity. Maybe nobody was cheering them on and they talked themselves out of keeping going anymore. Maybe they didn't get the instant gratification that they hoped for in the comment section, or the testimonials, rating their podcast high right away and telling them this was the most amazing thing. You have to keep going, like maybe people weren't telling them, and so they just decided, Oh, I'm not making an impact and I'm going to quit. And I think there are so many pieces that could have been at play. And on both sides of the equation there.

Laurie Graham  10:01 
Yeah, so the phrase that there's too many podcasts—I just want to talk about this for a minute—because there are a lot of podcasts, right? But are there too many? I'm going to tell you right now. When my dad was going really struggling with dementia, I was looking for help with how to fit their apartment. Like, mirrors were scary. How do I cover this big mirror in an apartment that I couldn't take down? It was like, on a closet? Like, how do I do this? How do we do the labels in his clothes when he entered into a care home? Like, I wish there was a podcast on that because at that time in my life, I didn't have time to be researching, but I could have listened to a podcast. Like, if you think about all the things we need help with, like, I don't think there's too many podcasts unless we don't need help anymore. Like, once human beings don't need help with anything anymore—maybe there'll be too many podcasts—but I don't think we're gonna hit that. So there are a lot of podcasts. Are there too many though?

Becky Brown  11:02 
Well.

Laurie Graham  11:03 
Like, I don't think so.

Becky Brown  11:04 
And what I want to add to that is kind of the same thing that I always say about blogs, is somebody else talking about that topic? Probably there's a lot of topics out there, but maybe they haven't heard it from you, from your perspective, with your insights, and that's really unique. You are unique.

Laurie Graham  11:19 
Yeah. So as you're listening right now, why are you listening to this episode? Do you have an idea? Was there an idea that's gone through your head before? What's stopping you? Is it the fact that you think the market's, you know, oversaturated, that nobody would listen to you? Is it because you think it's complicated, because we're going to talk about that later, it's very easy to start a podcast. The trickier thing is to keep it going. Like, like, am I committed enough to this idea to really try it out, to keep it going? And again, Becky and I will tell you one of some of the best decisions we've made is quitting things. 

So we're not saying you are signing up for something for life, but that is the question that keeps podcast going. Like, are we willing to keep going like, does the world need this? Would somebody benefit from hearing from me, even if it's a smaller niche? Am I willing to keep this going—even if the audience is small, even if I feel awkward—because you will, at least when you're getting started, even when there's not a lot of traction? Will I? Will I do this? And again, the whole farmer sowing the seed thing. Like this is what it is, if you're looking for instant gratification, that's pretty rare for something to go viral right away. But is it? Is it worth it? Does the world need it? Those are some questions I ask. What other questions Becky might you ask? Or what feels different about asking these questions, like not focusing on, are there too many podcasts out there, but going, hmm, is this worth it?

Becky Brown  12:45 
Yeah.

Laurie Graham  12:46 
Does the world need this?

Becky Brown  12:47 
Well, one of the things that I often, you know, okay, let's throw out church for an example. How many times have you heard a sermon on Easter or Christmas? You know, it's the same story, but how many different angles have you heard about it? And how many different pastors have you had speak, and how many things like worship songs have hit you differently one year versus the next? 

So, you know, I just think that we need reminders. As humans, we need reminders. And when people are looking for your podcast topic, where they're looking for you talking about anything you're talking about, they're looking for something specific. And you talking about a certain area regularly, can be a huge comfort to people. Like you were talking about your dad with dementia. There are a million different examples of really specific problems that people want to hear somebody talking about. They want to feel seen in that area. 

So I think the question you should be asking yourself is, 'Okay, how long am I going to give this?' Like I'm going to start a trial period on this, so I'm going to do this, say I'm going to do this for a year. So no matter what—no matter what—you are going to record a weekly podcast for a year to like, that should be your trial test run. Not like, 'Ooh, I guess I'll try it out and see what happens.' But like, set your timeline and say, All right, and then, after a year, I'm going to look back at the data and evaluate this thing and see if it's still a good fit for me. That's what I think the better question should be here.

Laurie Graham  14:22 
So we're basically throwing out the question, does the world need another podcast? Because we actually think it does. Now here's, I think this is a really great question to ask in, I've heard this asked in different ways over different things. But is this something you want to, you're going to want to talk about in another month, or even in another two months or next year, because sometimes we have ideas, right? And I think this is a really great thing to frame a podcast around, is this something you could talk about for a long time, or is this just something that has a start and end, and you're going to be done with it because you're passionate about it right now, because somebody just left a puppy on the roadside, and you want to talk about this, but a year from now, you're not going to want to talk about rescuing pets, right? So just a thought, right? Are you going to want to talk about it next year? Are you going to want to talk about it if only five people listened? You know, is this something you're already talking about? Because, to me, that's a great podcast if you're already talking about it, right?

Becky Brown  15:16 
Absolutely, absolutely. Your natural passions and desires and hobbies and sharing it with other people. That's a beautiful, beautiful thing is just inviting people into what you're already thinking about and talking about and doing in your life.

Laurie Graham  15:28 
Yeah, yeah. And you know, before Becky and I started Smart Soulful Business podcast, Becky, did you think about the question of, does the world need another one of these? Because we talked a lot, we actually research, yeah, how many, how many business podcasts are there out there? Are there any by Christian women? Of course, there are. Are there any, you know, who are like, two people talking, you know? What are they like?

Becky Brown  15:56 
You know, one of the things that you and I talked about early on with this podcast is, and it was proven true when we researched it is, I don't think anybody's out there talking about this, the way that we talk about this, because Laurie and I talk every morning, and we talk about business all the time, and the way that we talk about business, I think, is very unique, at least in the podcast world.

Laurie Graham  16:18 
Because it's Smart and Soulful.

Becky Brown  16:19 
Exactly. It's this beautiful balance. But, like, that's, that's how I felt so sure that this was a good thing to do, because it felt very unique. Like the topic, okay, everybody, there's so many business podcasts out there, and so many Christian podcasts out there, but like, just the, the specific way that I knew we were going to be talking about this felt really unique and

Becky Brown  16:42 
our personalities bringing that to the table felt really unique. So I think that's where I got the confidence to jump in to starting a podcast. When you guys, I had no idea how to start a podcast, all the tech stuff, all the like, I didn't know either. So yeah—so that, that question that we're talking about here—am I willing to keep going? That question doesn't have to shut things down here. It actually helps you decide. It helps you decide what the next step looks like. So okay, let's, let's shift things a little bit. What would you do if you stopped overthinking this? 

So again, Laurie and I talk about how we can overthink anything, but this can be a place where we get stuck and kind of spiral, and we get in this loop of, 'I'd really like to start a podcast, but there's too many out there, so I won't start it.' But oh, wouldn't it be great to start a podcast and it's you're just on repeat thinking the same thought. So we want to break the loop, and so now we want to help you move forward toward an actual decision, because at some point it's just not a clarity problem anymore. It's just that we haven't made the decision to actually move forward. So Laurie, what do you think keeps people in that, that loop, knowing that they have thought and over thought and over thought this over and over again?

Laurie Graham  18:02 
I think one of the biggest things that keeps us in a loop of overthinking and not jumping in is thinking that that decision is permanent.

Becky Brown  18:09 
Ooh, that's good.

Laurie Graham  18:10 
It has to be the perfect decision. It has to be right and it's permanent. And I just want to tell you all it does not have to be permanent. There are several people that I followed on podcasts over the years that have changed the title of their podcasts. They've changed their branding. They've changed their focus. They started they watched, they loved it. They've shifted a little bit. I'm not saying it's—you know, completely like, you know, go from one thing to the next, although it would be fine if you did—like I think we've got to get out of the thought that this is permanent. 

We've got to embrace that. We're practicing something we're doing something different. We've never done it before. We're going to learn along the way. I know, even with my Small Church Ministry brand—not just the podcast—but in the podcast, we've had some shifts and values and priorities. And you know, when we used to talk about practical things all the time, which we still do, I'm talking a lot more about emotional health in churches now, and finding people are resonating with that a lot. And so I think when we get out of the thought that this is permanent and again, we allow our own growth in public, can I just say I am embracing the fact that people have seen me grow up in public at after the age of 50, like, you know that people—even my kids—can see my transformation. You know, like, I want to transform in front of people. I think that's a way that we can be a light in the world. Nobody's stuck. We're not stuck. Your decision for your podcast, even your title, it doesn't need to be perfect, and it also doesn't need to be permanent.

Becky Brown  19:45 
I love that. Well, okay, so let's, let's talk a little bit more about justifying our overthinking. So you know, you know that I am a planner, right? And so I want to research things. Well, we've already mentioned we researched before we started this. We looked into what was already out there. We really researched the name of the podcast, all of these things. We really thought through this. This was an intentional decision. So when does thinking and planning and researching, when does that stop being helpful? How can they tell that they're overthinking this.

Laurie Graham  20:20 
It stops being helpful when you're not moving forward, when you're stuck, when you haven't done anything.

Becky Brown  20:26 
Yeah,

Laurie Graham  20:26 
Like, I'll talk about this with Christian prayer. Sorry if this offends anyone—but I believe this to the core of my being—people say they're praying about it, and half the time it's an excuse, and it's fear and it's procrastination. We can pray while we move everybody. We can research while we move. We can take steps forward and let God direct us, you know, like we don't have to sit and stop and research and do nothing. So I think the overthinking when it's keeping us stuck. I also think it's important to put a time limit.

Becky Brown  20:56 
Yeah, that's that.

Laurie Graham  20:57 
You know, and sometimes starting a podcast won't fit in your in your current season of life, although I would push back on that.

Becky Brown  21:06 
Pushing back on yourself, that's funny.

Laurie Graham  21:08 
I am because I think podcasting, like well, so many things we do can actually expand our capacity if we do it in a way that's freeing and we're utilizing the gifts and the passion, like when we shove down a passion that we have. I actually think it limits our capacity, because when you're soaring, you're just making different decisions, like, does that make sense?

Becky Brown  21:31 
Oh, it's absolutely true. And I don't think I've ever put words to that before, or even heard I haven't either that before, but it's this was good.

Laurie Graham  21:39 
It wasn't in my notes. It was not in my notes at all. It was not but when I'm doing what I love, like people will say, burnout is not the number of hours you're putting into something. It's when you're working in areas where you're not passionate or called, or where it's not resonating, or we're doing things in a way that isn't fitting our uniqueness of who we are, but when we're doing the things that we love, like things open up, we have more energy, we have more capacity. And it might not be immediately, but it's, it's pretty beautiful.

Becky Brown  22:11 
I just love that so much. I just love that so much.

Laurie Graham  22:14 
Okay, yeah, it's a good shift, isn't it?

Becky Brown  22:16 
Yeah. So we're shifting from questioning, thinking, planning, planning to action here, right?

Laurie Graham  22:23 
Yeah, yeah. It's the perfect thing. You know, you don't need to solve it perfectly. You just decide that you're gonna start and so does the world need one more podcast? Yes, yes, it does.

Becky Brown  22:37 
It's yours. It needs yours.

Laurie Graham  22:38 
We're just answering that question for you. Okay, here's what we want to you to take away from this one. It's not that there's too many podcasts. One of the issues is that most people don't keep them going. Okay, there are a lot of podcasts. It's not too many. There's a lot of topics that have been started and stopped. There's a lot of topics that no one has addressed like you would, because there is no other you. Yeah, but when we stay stuck on does the world need this? We usually don't start at all. So again, the better question is, what do you want to talk about that you'd be talking about a year from now? What are you willing to build, even if it starts small? Where are you willing to start?

Becky Brown  23:14 
So we have your next step for you, and it's really simple, so we want you to take 10 minutes this week and walk through this week's free Action Guide. Every podcast we make has a free Action Guide PDF that you can download this week's is called the 'Should I Start This Guide?' And we just want you to go through it 10 minutes, and it'll help you think through the your idea in a way that's honest and practical, and it won't allow you to get stuck comparing yourself to everything out there. So take 10 minutes and go through that Action Guide.

Laurie Graham  23:47 
Awesome. And if this idea of having a podcast has been in the back your mind for a while or maybe it's just popping up, this is a great way to start. It's a great place to start. Doesn't have to be perfect, just authentic, just us trying practicing. 

If you want more support as you build something like this, this is exactly what we talk about and go deeper in the Soulful Strategy Community, it is a super affordable, paid group where Becky and I show up all the time, do tons of group coaching, tons of strategy videos as well in there every single week. 

And if this episode has helped you even a little okay, this is what's coming up next. This is the beginning of a series on podcasting. We're going to talk about what a podcast changes, and a lot of it is you and your business. We're going to talk about why most podcasts don't make it. We refer to it here, but we're going to talk about what actually stops that. We're going to talk about overthinking and how to get over that and past that. We're going to talk about why you don't need to be that kind of person. Like, sometimes we have this image in our head that we're not the kind of person that would have a podcast that's garbage. I'm just going to tell you. We're going to talk about, you know, what's reasonable? What if nobody listens. What does an audience actually look like? And we're going to make it easy and talk about why you're probably closer to starting a podcast than you ever thought about. 

So if you're loving our podcast, please leave a quick review for us. It really helps more people find the show, people like us who want to be with, people like us who are fun and happy and fitting businesses around our lives, not the other way around doing maybe hard things, but the easier way, and enjoying doing it together. All right, next week, we're going to come back with part two and talk about what podcasting actually does, not only for your business, but also for you. And we'll be connecting some really big dots. So all right, see you next time.