Conventional wisdom says there are too many podcasts––don’t bother making another one. But at least half the value of hosting a podcast is building the muscle to consistently create.
A thread of podcast lessons learned 20K+ listeners, 15 guests and 365 days after launching one:
Having a podcast is primarily an excuse to schedule conversations with people you’d most want to chat with one-on-one anyway.
The audience is secondary to the conversation. The more you focus on having a great conversation the more likely an audience is to be interested in it.
Similar to picking a market for a startup, the most important thing to do is pick a differentiated theme for your podcast.
This is the “wedge” that will forge your initial audience. For example, the hook for #ParadoxPodcast is Silicon Valley folks exploring topics beyond tech.
The second most important thing is recruiting guests. Few people in the world are interesting to listen to solo. @joerogan’s podcast wouldn't work without guests.
You want "guest NPS" to be high so they feel good about the episode and share it with their audience. A few tips.
Make a short list of initial guests you can reach and schedule through your network to build momentum.
Then, don’t be afraid to leverage cold emails or DMs to book guests outside your immediate grasp. You might be surprised who will say yes. Great guests beget great guests.