Many aspiring podcasters fail to launch their shows even after weeks or months of planning. Overcoming barriers in starting a podcast is certainly challenging, but it is never an impossible task. Tom Hazzard and Tracy Hazzard share three effective strategies for getting past the development stage and finally releasing your episodes. They discuss how to present yourself professionally, try working backwards, and get the right support system. Tom and Tracy also explain why refusing to set up calendars is a sure way to get stuck and the advantage of inviting a friend when creating your introduction episode.

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Effective Strategies For Overcoming Barriers And Starting Your Own Podcast Show

We are talking a little bit of a 101 concept here. We’re going to talk about effective strategies for overcoming barriers and starting your own podcast show. I want you to insert this. There are always some quick start ways or some things to get your confidence up and get yourself moving. That’s what we’re going to talk about. It doesn’t matter whether you’re starting a book, a podcast, a video cast, or a new webinar series. Whatever it is you’re starting in your business, these kinds of principles are something that we use again and again and apply.

These are the three things. We set it up. One is about being professional or acting professionally. I don’t mean this as faking it until you make it. That’s not something we like here. This is doing something that makes you feel professional. When you feel professional about this, you’re going to have more confidence to approach whatever it is. Things where you can find a quickstart or a way to get into it faster is something that we always look for, and then a workaround to get support. Those are the three areas we’re going to explore. We’re going to specifically explore this in overcoming barriers to starting a podcast show.

I’m all for overcoming barriers. I meet more people coming to us saying, “I’ve been researching this. I’m trying to get my podcast going.” Sometimes it’s nine months. Sometimes, it’s a year. I’ve had one person come to me, and it’s been over two years. I’m like, “Let’s figure it out. What’s holding you back?” It’s to get that monkey off their back or that obstacle out of their way.

If that’s where you want to start, then let’s start with the number three that I was referring to.

I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hijack the order here.

This is ideal. You’re saying there are lots of people who are what I’m going to call on the fence. They think they want to start a podcast. They’re what we always call permanent potential.

The permanent potential is right. That’s where many people are when they come to us. They might not even realize they’re in permanent potential. Usually, they have the best of intentions. Maybe they’re researching it at first because they want to know how to do it or want to know a little more about it. That’s fine. Curiosity is a great thing.

 

 

They never pulled the trigger. They never get started.

It’s either a budget of time or a budget of money that then holds them back. They’re like, “I don’t have time to figure that out.” You can get some support. Let’s get that out of the way.

That’s the section. It is getting into the right support. This is the problem that I find a lot of you go after. You’re going after the wrong kind of support. A coach is not always the right kind of support. It may be that you need a consultant. You need somebody who’s going to do some things for you. A coach calls the plays. A coach that doesn’t also provide accountability for you can be a failure for you.

This is the conceptual strategy style coach. There are lots of them out there. When they don’t have an accountability component, and I find in this particular, if you’re sitting there in permanent potential on a lot of things or a lot of projects and you’ve been working with someone, that’s the wrong type for you. Bring in an accountability component. Shift your coach. Change it to a different one if that’s what it takes.

Lots of people switch coaches up all the time. That’s what I would be looking for in this next set of support. You want somebody that’s going to provide you with how to do some things or get those things done who has the vehicle, the resources to do them, and accountability. If you can combine those things, you’re more likely to be successful.

 

 

I agree with that. I want to put a little point of emphasis or add to one thing you’ve said there, which is a coach calls the plays. If we put it another way, a coach tells you how to do something. You’ve still got to do it at the end of the day. They’re not going to do it for you. There’s a big distinction. A lot of times, people think, “I got to learn how to do this. Do I learn how to do it, or do I need to learn what I need to know as a host of a show to record good content?”

What you said there is important. A lot of times, we think we’re in a program that is teaching us how to do something, and it’s only teaching us why we should do something. That’s because they’re selling you something on the other side of it. If you’ve gotten into a course or a program that doesn’t have the tutorials, the tools, or the resources, it is a sales funnel in disguise. You’ve got to scale up.

This is why we find people who go in for this low $97 course on podcasting. The next thing they know, they’re $9,000 into it and they still don’t have a podcast. We’ve seen that happen because now they’re masterminding. They still didn’t get the how-tos or the missing pieces. This is where I say for the missing pieces, there are resources on how to do it.

We get a lot of people who get stuck because they never set their calendars up. They’re like, “It’s not one of our services. We will support you. We have videos. We have tutorials on how to do it, but because we don’t physically go to set your Calendly up for you, you get stuck.” We found a resource that we utilize. We love them, and they’re fantastic. You can pay for ten hours of those kinds of things and they’ll get you moving and get you to do it. It’s important to do that because you have to get those things accomplished or you’re not moving. You’re not doing what’s necessary to get this started. Resources and actual how-tos are extremely important parts of it.

There is also the accountability of, “Did you do this? Did you move forward? Did you accomplish that this month so you can be recording?” Those things are the critical factors in getting the right support to get you moving. There is another area that I want to highlight. We get a lot of people who get stuck. They do get their shows set up. They get their calendar set up. They get all of this going, but they get stuck at that recording. They never make their first recording.

 

 

We have a tactic that we use here, which is our reverse order tactic. The reverse-order tactic is to record your interview first. Even if you don’t plan to do a long-term interview show, maybe you can interview a partner or somebody in your business. That’s because if you do something where you’re being accountable to somebody else to record, you’re more likely to show up than you are if you were to make an appointment with yourself and sit down at the microphone.

We always have them record an interview first, then record the biggest question they get or the thing that they repeat the most. The topic is a second thing. Even if they aren’t going to have a topic-based show, we want them to do it because it’s a way to introduce themselves to the audience. The third thing is to do your introductory episode. That is short. It may be ten minutes or under. Maybe a trailer’s going to come from that, or maybe you only want it to be a three-minute. That’s okay too. It’s recording that introduction of you, why you’re doing this, and what the show is about. If you go in that order, it’s like writing your introduction chapter last.

I’m smiling and laughing on the inside a little bit as you’re saying this because everything you’re saying is 100% true. Readers, I want you to understand that Tracy buried the lead there a bit. The recommendation is don’t record the first episode first. Many people that I meet that have been stuck in permanent potential are stuck and agonizing over trying to make that first episode perfect or have it be representative of what their show is going to be about.

The problem with doing that is if you don’t have a lot of experience podcasting and you haven’t done it before, you don’t even know what to expect. How are you going to communicate to your audience in that first episode about what to expect if you’re not even sure what to expect? Your plan of recording those early three episodes is a good one, but I would even record 4, 5, or 6 episodes of content first, and then get a better feel for what this show is going to be about. What kind of value are you providing? What can the listeners expect to get from you by subscribing and coming to every episode? Go back and record that first episode because you now have that experience to lean on. Fifty episodes in, if your show has pivoted, go back and re-record that first episode. You can replace it.

Another way to do that is also if you are uncomfortable with the idea of doing an introduction episode or an episode about you. Sometimes, we’re going to do a whole interview show, but we sometimes need to tell our story about why we’re doing this. That is so that it sets the context and tone and so the audience can get to know you.

 

People are sometimes uncomfortable sitting there doing that all alone to the microphone. It feels very uncomfortable. In that case, invite a friend. If you’re a member of our team or if you work with us, we’re happy to do it for you. Invite a member of our team to interview you and do an interview model about you. Other podcast hosts are great at doing that. That’s also something you could do and swap with someone else. You’re working with someone who’s also starting their show and you two swap and interview each other for the start of your show.

You could always edit out the questions and edit them together if you don’t want that as a part of your show. Doing it could sometimes help you in the flow of getting started. That other person is acting like what the audience wants to hear, so they’re prompting and pulling it out of you, which can be a more effective strategy than you sitting down.

What I don’t want you to do is sit down and read a script. We don’t want that to happen. Don’t read your bio. Don’t read a script. Don’t do any of that. If we can get you to do it the other way, have somebody support you and help you. Putting support and this tactic together could be the success factor for you in getting started. You’re overcoming that barrier that’s holding you back from getting your podcast show started.

Let’s talk about the last thing, which is feeling like a pro. This is where I want you to have a piece of equipment. I want you to have a microphone. That’s it. I don’t need you to have anything else, nothing fancy. I don’t like those coaches who recommend you take your phone and start recording. It feels too casual. It’s unprofessional in the scope of things. You don’t feel like a podcaster doing it. It’s one of the reasons we started with the mic blocks. It is your mic flags, mic blocks, or whatever you want to call them with your show name on it.

You get a sense of this professionalism that you feel as a host of a show simply by having a pretty decent mic that is $100 or $80 most often and a mic flag or a branding thing that says, “This is my show.” It makes that stake in the ground and makes you feel so professional. When you’re doing your interviews and recording, it sets the tone of, “I’m a podcast host.” That can make all the confidence difference you need right there. It’s a simple hack to get you through that stage of, “I haven’t recorded 100 episodes, but I got a mic and a mic flag. I’m good to go.”

A coach is not always the right kind of support. Sometimes, you may need a consultant who will do some things for you. Click To Tweet

Maybe you’re not surprised, but the audience might be surprised to learn how much people want that mic flag who start working with us. They pay for a done-for-you podcast setup, and it’s not the cheapest program out there. This mic flag, we don’t even charge them for it. It’s a gift we give them. I don’t want to charge tax beyond that. They’re buying a service, and we give them a gift of the microphone and the mic flag when they do it.

A lot of times, we send in their microphone without the mic flag because we want to get them recording and their show name hasn’t been decided yet, so we don’t want to hold that up. The mic flag comes later. To us, it’s like, “It’s nice to have, but it’s not urgent. It doesn’t have to be here or there this week. It could be there next week.”

We get busy as a company and maybe don’t always send them out immediately, which I would wish we did. The reality is people will call us up and are like, “Where’s my mic flag? Where is it? I need that mic flag.” It’s like, “Wow.” That’s to your point that it is important to set your mindset and your level of professionalism, how you present yourself, and your demeanor. If you feel good about yourself, your message is going to come across better.

This sets the tone for that. We will love it if people record. It makes our job easy. If you are set and ready in you’re mindset and you’re ready to record and go, then it is so critically important that you’re recording. Anything we can do to support you in that is part of that process. Figure this out for yourself. Think this through. What area is it? Is it mindset and confidence? Is it a process? Is it resources? Is it accountability? What area is the biggest barrier for you?

Try some of these tactics and see if they can unstick you. If none of those work, we have all kinds of resources on our website at Podetize.com. Go there. Find other tools. Find other tactics. Type into our help team. Type into our resources page. Find something that is going to get you that answer. We’re here for you to make that happen.

 

There’s bound to be someone who has a different method. We’d love to hear that too. Please share your methods and your ideas with us. Many of you are accountability coaches out there. Share some of your accountability tactics. Help other podcasters get going. It is so critically important. That’s our big message. We’re not going to be late for this. We want you to get unstuck, so go do. Get off of reading and researching. Go do.

I love that. Recap those three things. What was that middle thing?

Be a professional and set a professional tone, give yourself some confidence, and work backward. This is a constant tactic. Work as if you’re in the middle of something. Those are the middle chapters. Work from the middle and backward to the beginning of the introduction. You’re going to know what that introduction needs to be if you do that. Get yourself some support that has resources and accountability in it. You need both things. You don’t need to talk strategy. You don’t need to talk about masterminding. You don’t need to talk about why you need to do something. You need to get the how and the when so that you do it now.

Thank you for recapping that. That is very important. I enjoyed that. I have another tip. When any of you go to Podetize.com, go to the Feed Your Brand podcast and start there. Click on any one of the episode blogs. Once you get in there, there’s a great search bar that’s a good boolean tech search going through all of our content. That’s one of the best resources on our website.

Our resource library is being redone. We call it Knowledge Base. It’s going to be redone completely. It’s going to integrate better with the show in the next couple of months. Come check that out as well. Go to Podetize.com and go to the blog post for this episode and any episode that we record. If you’re out there catching us in the livestream, know that that’s a resource. Every livestream that we’ve ever done is also captured there.

Thanks so much for reading, everybody. We’ll be back next time.