In our Podcast to Profit Facebook group, we get tons of questions about podcasting. When one comes up over and over, it’s a good time to take note.
Recently, someone asked, “Hey, friends! What is the industry standard for having seasons – good or bad idea? Does it help with reach or growth to go one way or another?”
For those unfamiliar, a podcast season works very similarly to a season of episodic television. Rather than producing a continuous output of content, you set a limited number of episodes to release over a pre-determined time – generally with a gap between those seasons.
So, the obvious question is, are ‘seasons’ a good idea for you?
We’re confident in saying that they probably aren’t for one simple reason…
Seasons Hurt Consistency
We’ve said it once, we’ll continue to say it one million times.
“Consistent, quality content is the key to success.”
One of the simplest reasons that seasons can be a detriment to your podcast’s success is that it disrupts your consistent output.
Research tells us that, on average, podcast fans listen to 8 podcasts during the course of a week. With nearly one million active shows out there, that’s not a lot of available real estate for you to insert yourself into.
If you’re going AWOL for weeks or months at a time for season breaks, the less you’re on your subscriber’s radar, and the more chance that they forget to tune in or – even worse – press the dreaded unsubscribe button and replace you in their queue.
However, this raises another question:
How Can You Stay Consistent Without Burning Out?
The biggest reason that many – I’d argue, most – podcasters feel the urge to take the route of releasing in seasons is simply because they want a break.
As a podcaster myself, I get it.
It can be exhausting releasing multiple episodes on a weekly basis.
The need to take a break and reset or refresh once in a while is a very real one.
To avoid the feeling of burnout and get caught with big gaps in your release schedule, here’s what you can do.
- Batch content. Pre-record multiple episodes at once, and try to schedule them for release ahead of time. We encourage to get as far out as two months ahead of your release schedule, so you can take a break from recording if needed without hurting your consistency.
- Create compilation episodes. Whether you have twenty episodes or two hundred episodes, you could start doing this. A compilation episode is an episode that edits the best highlights from past content into a “mashup” style episode. We’ve done this for Build Your Network and people love the highlight reel-esque presentation.
- Bring on a co-host. If hosting your show is too much on a regular basis, consider bringing on an additional co-host to help bear the weight of content creation. Just make sure it’s someone you trust who is familiar with your niche. This is obviously a huge decision – so take your time and consider the different complications that could arise, and be sure to lay out clearly defined roles and responsibilities for both of you.
Do you still think seasons are a good fit for you? Let us know your argument in the comments.
