The lessons I’ve learned from running a successful podcast

As I fast approach my 300th episode, I wanted to share my reflections, insights and top tips on podcasting. In this episode I share the do's and don'ts of podcasting and the things I would do differently, with the gift of hindsight. I'd love to know if you're thinking of launching a podcast, feel free to connect with me on socials and let me know!   KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST Whether to choose to do solo episodes or have podcast guests The pros and cons of having seasons of your podcast The rules you should consider to ensure quality   LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE Host your podcast with Captivate (affiliate link) Connect with Teresa on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter   Transcript Hello and a really warm welcome to Your Dream Business podcast with me, Teresa Heath Wareing. Now today we are actually on episode 296. Like that kind of blows my mind a little bit that I've done 296 episodes of the podcast. And while I was planning out what was gonna go on these next few episodes, I thought it would be really good to do an episode around, what I would do differently or what I've learned from nearly 300 episodes of a podcast. So just so you know what that looks like in time, I started my podcast on the 4th of February 2018. And I have never, ever missed a Monday. I've had a couple of Mondays where for whatever reason the tech didn't quite upload it as it should have done, but I've never not had an episode ready to go out on a Monday. And I think they've always gone out on the Monday, even when the tech has messed up a little bit. And I think that's probably happened like twice. And it was interesting because I was talking to someone today and I was talking about all the work I've gotta do. I've got a very busy couple of weeks and all the work I've gotta get done between now and now, so I can have a calmer couple of weeks. And I said the podcast, and this person actually said to me, could you not take a break? Like I looked at them like, are you having a laugh? No, I can't take a break. I said, I've never ever missed a Monday, including when my mom passed away. And I don't say that to be like, check me out on I'm amazing. Like I see this as an absolute commitment, and I made that commitment when I started the podcast and I will stick to that commitment. Now, normally we do recording ahead, so I am normally a couple of episodes ahead of myself. So in particular, when it came to my mom passing away, we did a couple of extra guest episodes, which were easier when you didn't have to hear me too much, and they'd been prerecorded ages ago. And then I did a very short episode about what had happened and how I'd managed during that time and having a business. And it was a very short episode for the, at that point when I did it. So I've always shown up every single Monday with a podcast episode and I thought, You might be sat there thinking, I want a podcast, or I've might think about doing a podcast, or someone I know might wanna do a podcast. And what would I have done differently if I'd started my podcast now? So as I was writing it, I, or making notes for it, I kind of got the. It was kind of almost like dos and don'ts of having a podcast, but there is a bit more to it than that. So the first thing I'm gonna cover is guests. Now, if you have been a listener to the podcast for a while, you will know that I used to have guests. I don't have guests currently anymore. I might in the future, but as we stand today, I don't have guests unless Brene Brown obviously wants to come up and say hi. I'd happily have her. And. I have had during my 300, almost 300 episodes. I have had some phenomenal guests, some huge people in my industry. I have had, I'm just scanning down the list of people who we've had Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, I had Brian Fanzo, Tyler Jay McCall. I have had James Wedmore. I had some YouTubers, Sean and Benji, I had Jasmine Star. Who else have I had? Lemme keep going. Mike and Kelly from the membership guys. Mary Hyatt. I've had Mary Hyatt twice in that. I've had Michael Hyatt, I've had her sister as well Megan Hyatt I promise. I didn't, just have the whole family. I've had Chris Mar, Mike Stelzner. I have had so many amazing people. And then fairly recently, I have had Dean Graziosi, Marcus Sheridan, that isn't actually fairly recent since that's back in 2000, 2020. but I had, the lovely, Denise Duffel-Thomas as well. I've also had interviews by small businesses because I did a small business superstar series. Where I did an extra podcast each week for this particular series. So what have I gotta say about guests? What have I learned? What would I say? If you were doing a podcast or thinking about doing podcast. Now, the first thing I did is I didn't have any guest until my first guest was actually episode 29, 28. So my first ever guess was Pat Flynn. It was episode 28. So I had done 27 episodes on my own, and that really helped me. It really helped me to get comfortable with how I recorded, what my sound was, how I liked doing it. So actually, I would say that even if you're going to have guests, I would have a bit of time on your own. Or maybe do every other like I used to. So that's one option. Although I have to say the thing about guests is it is really good to have a guest cuz it's nice to have a conversation. Some people might find it very difficult to sit here and just talk to themselves like I do. As in I don't find it difficult, as in that's what I'm currently doing now. I guess the thing that I could tell you that I wish I'd done differently was I wish I'd said no to some people. Now, there are some people I had on who I really bought into at the time, and I don't buy into anymore, and I've debated taking down their episodes, but it's all part of my journey, so I've left them up. There are some people, and obviously I'm not gonna name names, who I kind of wish they hadn't been on at all, and I thought that at the point that we recorded it, and I thought, this shouldn't go out there because that's not either my normal standard or actually, no, it was never, it was never a topic thing, cuz I was always quite strict on that. I always made sure that the content was going to fit in, but sometimes it was the standard of the guest. Like I had one episode where, and then weirdly it was with a podcaster, but they kept moving all the freaking time and they kept banging the desk and moving stuff and clicking things and it was like, And all I could hear was that, and it drove me insane. And I should have had the guts to say, this episode isn't going out, or I need to rerecord this episode, or, or say no in the first place on some people. So I think I've always been really precious about who comes on the podcast, but like I said, I think there has been a few people who I wish I'd said no to. It wasn't the end of the world. I wouldn't have let 'em on, but. There's a couple of ones who I thought, yeah, I should have said no. I should have sent them something like if I had a podcast now I would send guests something, whether it's a handwritten card, whether it is, I've had people actually send me physical things in the post, which is lovely, as in like an actual thing. But I think even just like a little card in the post is really nice and goes a long way to building that continued relationship because I, some of the people who I've had as a guest or I've been a guest on theirs, the relationship has continued and it's been wonderful. But I think I could have kept some of those relationships stronger if I'd done something. So that is definitely something I would do if I did it again. I'd also try and get testimonials from them. Now, some of the bigger people, that would've been amazing. I'm not sure how easy that would've been done, and I'm not sure that I have the advice to tell you how to do that. But getting testimonials from other guests to say what a great episode it was, or how good it was to talk or whatever, that you can then use in your marketing to potentially other amazing guests could be really helpful. In terms of interviewing, and I'll come back to some of the other things, in a bit, but like in terms of the guest thing, keeping down that theme. The interviews conversation style. It has always been my conversation style and I'm glad that I did that. I wouldn't want to have done it any other way. Do make sure they have rules. Like I said about that one example I just gave, oh, I had one guy be recorded outdoors, and the editor actually said to me, it sounds like there's a pterodactyl in the background. What the hell was going on? And like I should have, and I didn't do it at the beginning. I, I did do it like in the last year or two. I should have made rules of like,...