10 Ways to save time as a busy podcaster

Today’s episode is all about saving time as a podcaster, especially a solo podcaster.

Running a podcast resembles running a small business more than you might have guessed...or hoped.

As small business owners, you’re responsible for wearing many hats. If you’ve ever launched a business, you quickly found out that not only are you the owner but you’re also the:

• Head sales person
• Customer support lead
• Accountant
• Janitor
• Food runner
• And the president!

If you’re a solo podcaster, you’re responsible for:

• Producing the content
• Creating the content
• Wrangling logistics like guests and recording time
• Audio engineer
• Marketer and promoter
• Coffee addict (sorry, that’s just me)

Lots there right? Here’s the good news...many of us who are solo podcasters are also small business owners...yay. Wait, I said good news didn’t I?

That means with everything else we have going on how the heck are we going to produce a successful podcast with the limited time that we have? I’ll reveal some of the helpful tools, apps, and theories I’ve leveraged over my career as a podcaster.

By the end of this episode, hopefully you can take a few nuggets of this wisdom away with you.

Hey, by the way, if you’re looking for a great place to start your podcast or maybe you’re bored with your old podcast host -- look no further than Castos.com! That’s us, that’s who makes this podcast. We’re building a platform for the podcaster like you, who desire something clean, fast, and powerful for all of your podcast needs. Want to start a podcast network? Check! How about connecting up to your WordPress marketing website? Done! Sell private podcasts or members-only content? You bet!

Learn more about Castos at castos.com or drop us an email hello@castos.com, tell them you heard it here, on the Audience podcast.

Start with the mindset

Please don’t skip past this section, I know you might have rolled your eyes a bit, but I think this is important -- especially if you’re a new podcaster. Getting in the right mindset sets the foundation to managing your time as a busy podcaster.

Tip #1: What’s your goal?

We need something to measure, something that gives you feedback that reassures you’re headed down the right path.

I don’t care what it is. It could be downloads, retweets, email subscribers, ad revenue -- give yourself something to aim for, which will help you build processes in the future to save time and become more efficient.

P.s. if you’re brand brand brand new, with no goals, I always love to point to growing an email list first. Jump on something like Mailchimp.com to make that process easy.

Tip #2: Develop the plan

I’m a terrible planner. Maybe like you, my super power is just diving into a creative project and...creating.

Starting something new is exhilarating and a chance to show the world something new you’re capable of. Until 3 months from the starting line you’re just clicking the dozens of open tabs in your browser thinking of something new to do.

Have some structure heading into the show like:

• Define a solid show premise to keep you on track
• Outline guests or topics ahead of time
• What’s your go-to market strategy
• When will you measure and reflect on the goals you set

Plans can be complete plans like outlining seasons OR having plans for each episode. I built a career on podcasting not having plans for shows and guests, and while I could fly by the seat of my pants for a while, it catches up to you, I promise.

Even having 3 - 4 bullet points readily available for your show recording will save you from the pitfalls of creating lackluster content.

Tip #3: It’s your sh...