Planning a Year of Podcast Growth – PCI 468
Podcast growth may remind you of a big scary thing staring at you from the corner of your bedroom, but it really doesn’t have to be. You can plan a year of growth easily and that will help you move from constantly reacting to intentionally building momentum. When you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, it becomes easier to focus your time and energy on what actually matters.
If you want your podcast to grow in a sustainable way, planning ahead is key.
Today’s Hosts: Dave Clements and MacKenzie Bennett
Planning a Year of Podcast Growth
- Define What “Growth” Means for Your Podcast
One of the biggest mistakes podcasters make is assuming growth only means more downloads.
Growth can mean:
- Publishing consistently without missing episodes
- Improving content quality or production
- Building a more engaged audience
- Preparing for monetization or sponsorships
- Creating a workflow that feels sustainable
Not every podcast has the same goals — and that’s okay. Defining what success looks like for your show gives your growth plan direction instead of guesswork.
- Break the Year Into Manageable Phases
Planning an entire year at once can feel overwhelming, which is why breaking it into smaller chunks works so well.
- Thinking in quarters allows you to focus without pressure:
- Some seasons may be about refining your foundation
- Others may focus on content consistency or visibility
- Later phases might center on monetization or optimization
This approach gives you flexibility while still keeping your podcast moving forward.
- Plan Content With Purpose
You don’t need every episode mapped out months in advance — but having a content plan helps maintain consistency.
A simple approach includes:
- Identifying a few core themes or topics
- Balancing evergreen content with timely episodes
- Leaving room for creativity and current events
When your content supports your long-term goals, growth feels more natural and less forced.
- Focus on a Few Growth Strategies
Trying to grow everywhere at once is a fast path to burnout. Instead, choose one or two growth strategies that fit your goals, time, and energy.
Common growth strategies include:
- Guest appearances
- SEO and show notes
- Email lists or newsletters
- Social or video clips
- Community building
Consistency with a few focused efforts will always outperform scattered attempts to do everything.
- Measure Progress Without Obsessing
Tracking progress is important — but it shouldn’t be stressful.
Looking at trends over time instead of individual episode performance gives you a clearer picture of what’s working. Regular check-ins help you adjust your plan and stay motivated without feeling discouraged.
🧠 Bottom Line:
Planning a year of podcast growth isn’t about chasing trends or instant results. It’s about building habits, systems, and content that support your goals over time.
With a clear plan, growth feels less overwhelming and a lot more achievable. Sustainable progress comes from intention, consistency, and choosing strategies that work for you.
For the best support, please use our Blubrry ticket system so our full team can help. Join the Blubrry Podcasting Facebook Group for general podcasting discussion.
Share your feedback at surveys.blubrry.com/podcastinsider.
Blubrry hosting customers can schedule a one-on-one tech checkup with Mike (mike@blubrry.com)
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Welcome to Podcast Insider. I'm Dave Clements, support
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and media specialist here at Blueberry Podcasting.
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And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, director of marketing at
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Blueberry.
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Today, we're talking about something that can make
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podcasting feel a lot more manageable, and that
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is planning a full year of podcast growth.
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Because growth can feel pretty out of reach
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when you're reacting episode by episode. But if
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you have a plan, that can make it
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a lot more intentional
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and obtainable.
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So we'll walk you through why planning ahead
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matters, how to how to define growth for
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your own show, and how to stay consistent
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without burning out.
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So if you're new to podcasting or trying
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to level up
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an existing show, this episode is gonna help
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you put a clear plan into place.
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You're listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike
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Dell, Dave Clements, and Mackenzie Bennett from the
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Blubrry team, bringing you weekly insights, advice, and
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insider tips and tricks to help you start,
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grow, and thrive through podcasting with all the
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support of your team here at Blueberry Podcasting.
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Welcome.
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Let's dive in.
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We have been doing quite a bit of
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planning at Blueberry ourselves
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recently, so I think this is, you know,
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pretty good timing
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to to have a separate
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yeah. Mhmm.
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We,
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we are
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a tad lax
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on the planning ahead for Podcast Insider for
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the rest of the year, but we at
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least have the first
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month and a half planned out already. Mhmm.
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So I think that's, you know, that's doing
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a pretty decent job. But
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but at the end of the year, we
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did discuss
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kind of
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at least a handful of topics that we
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wanted to hit throughout the year. So
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you think that's all that's also
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helpful to, you know, have in the back
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of your head.
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Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
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When I saw this on our our docket
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for episodes,
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I think for a a lot of podcasters,
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we all look at it and go,
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growth is like, it's a scary
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thing. I imagine it as
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a big scary thing that is staring at
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you from, like, the corner of your bedroom,
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like, when you were a kid. Mhmm. Because
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you're like, I don't know what that actually
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is. So you have to take the time
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and realize, oh, it's just a coat rack
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that I know is there, and,
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you know, I just gotta make sense of
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it. And so
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this concept for this episode of planning a
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year of growth, it doesn't have to be
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scary. I think that it's
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a lot easier than I myself would ever
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make it out to be. I mean, I've
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been doing this for
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a long time,
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and I'm still scared of whatever growth is.
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Yeah.
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I mean, that's definitely understandable. The first thing
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that we
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wanna talk about is essentially defining what growth
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means for you and your podcast, because it's
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not gonna be the same for everyone. That's
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for sure. And it's not
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just meaning more downloads, more listens, a bigger
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audience, something like that. It can be so
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much more than that. Yeah. You can really,
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like, fine tune it. Some of our examples
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are just publishing consistently without missing episodes. I
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know that's always been a big one for
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me where I'm like, I am a weekly
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release podcast.
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Mhmm. And then I will release every single
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week for about three months. And then I
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stop for whatever reason.
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And then I come back and, you know,
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just publishing consistently. That that can be growth.
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Improving
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the content that you already have. We've discussed
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this a couple of times on Podcast Insider.
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So go back and listen to those episodes.
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You can also build a more engaged audience.
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I think that's one of the the hardest
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things. So that might be something to really
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dig into in the future. Yeah. And then
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you can look into monetization
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and sponsorships,
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or you can just fix your own workflow.
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Like, make something that actually works and is
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sustainable for you.
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Those are just some of the ideas that
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we have.
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Yeah. Last year, I feel like we actually
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did a really
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good job of planning episodes out beforehand,
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where it was just more along the lines
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of, like, okay. We we know what we're
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gonna talk about. We have show notes,
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you know, planned out a little bit. Now
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we just need to find the time to
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record and get that done. And I think
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that saved us, like, a lot of headache
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compared to what it has in the past.
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So something just as simple as, you know,
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we improved
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the
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production side
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on our end, you know, the the preproduction
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side.
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And I really do think that helped. And
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I think the other one that you were
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talking about with
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building a more engaged audience, that is
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the hardest one to do. You're right. That
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one is can then that is dedication. That
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takes time. That is
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not one that you can necessarily rush.
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And I think if you try to rush
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it, you might actually be doing some damage.
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Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
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Because for as as much as you want
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to build an engaged audience, you could
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kind of how do I wanna say this
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the right way? You could abuse that position,
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and then it turns into spam
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instead of actually growing that support.
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Yeah. You could engage with your audience so
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much that you enraged them, and now you
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have an enraged engaged audience.
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So that's not exactly something you want either.
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You know, look around.
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Take a good idea of what you think
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your show is and what you want it
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to be and what all these things mean
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for you. What does growth actually mean
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to you?
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It's the new year.
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A lot of people take a fresh look
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at,
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you know, their hobbies,
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their habits,
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their what they wanna do with their year,
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and this is definitely something that I think
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falls in line with that. Yeah. And I
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would definitely, like, don't get overwhelmed and go,
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oh, I have to do, like, all five
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of these things that we've
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mentioned. Like, pick one Yeah. And let that
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be the focus for your year because you
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can't do
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everything
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all at once and enjoy podcasting.
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We're gonna talk about it a little bit
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later. But, you know, burnout, that's that's a
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huge thing. And you can burn yourself out
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right here at the start just defining what
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growth is for you for the year.
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Yeah. Exactly. That's that's perfect into our next
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one, which is
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break the year into manageable phases.
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I've really, in the past two or three
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years, started to think about the year, like,
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professionally and personally
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in the quarters. You know, the January 1,
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March 31
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into,
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into summer, and then the the end of
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summer into fall, and then the winter.
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And it has helped me immensely.
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It just allows you to focus on certain
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things for perhaps that quarter or that month
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or, you know, two months, ninety days, whatever
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it is that you
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wanna think about
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it without pressure for, like, the entire year.
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But also, it's, like, kind of motivating because
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you're like, okay. I said I was gonna
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do this in 2026,
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and I was gonna do it in quarter
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one.
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So, like Yeah. Let's get it done in
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quarter one.
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Yeah. To pull the curtain back a little
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bit, that's what we've been doing at Blueberry
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is going, okay.
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From a marketing perspective
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and even in, like, a development perspective, how
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how do we break things up into the
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these manageable
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chunks? And we we've kind of been focusing
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on, you know, topics.
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Like, what are the topics that we wanna
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communicate? What are the projects that need to
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be improved
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the most?
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And you can look at your podcast
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very much the same way.
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And,
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again, the the only way to eat an
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elephant is one bite at a time.
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Definitely.
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And, I mean, I know I kinda like,
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I just took
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two weeks off at the end of the
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year. I always know
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I need to get the most important stuff
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that I need to do done by Thanksgiving
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because I'm done for the rest of the
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year. Like, I am wrapping things up. I
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am not starting anything new.
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I am literally just going off of, like,
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a checklist of
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this has gotta be done
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and and go from there. There is nothing
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being added to it.
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So
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the seasons of your life,
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definitely take part.
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That's a really good point too because I've
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I've run into that in doing shows where
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you have these plans, and then you go,
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oh, shoot. Holidays exist. Yeah.
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And then it's like, well, how do you
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prepare for those? Do you batch record? Do
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you just go, hey. We're taking a break.
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Again, that's part of your phases in growth.
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You know? Because maybe you do take a
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break this year, and you figure out, oh,
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well, maybe that didn't work as well as
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I wanted it to. Mhmm. And then next
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year, part of your growth plan can be,
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well, I'm in a batch record,
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or maybe I just release a little bit
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less. Like, again,
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ebb and flow. You'll figure it out. You'll
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figure it out,
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and and you're not gonna figure it all
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out in the first year, the first six
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months. Nothing like that. Yeah. And even if
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you do three months later, you're gonna be
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like, that was useless. This is so much
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better.
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Yeah.
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Yeah. So things are constantly evolving.
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The next one that we wanted to talk
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about was planned content with purpose.
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This is kinda what I was saying earlier
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of we have the first month and a
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half planned out. Mhmm.
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I I generally try to work in about
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six to eight weeks, and then I come
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back so that I'm not doing everything for
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the entire year at once because things change.
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News breaks about stuff in podcasting.
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You know, people's
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habits, trends, that type of stuff you have
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to factor in. So you you identify
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a few core themes and topics that that
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you might wanna stick with, and then, that
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that kinda helps your brain settle, I think.
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Yeah. And then being able to
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find, like, the evergreen content. I mean, it
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really depends on what your show is.
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But, you know, if if it's January now,
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it's gonna be really hard to plan for
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July
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because,
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like Mackenzie said, you know, things things can
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change.
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But, also,
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because things change, is it going to be
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relevant
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in July
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when you're thinking about it now?
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Again, I think I think Mackenzie's
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got a point here. Don't plan too far
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out, but do those themes. And then drill
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down into those
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specific
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content ideas,
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you know, the per episode things. You can
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drill down into those as you get closer.
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So, like, six to eight weeks out,
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most things aren't gonna shift too much
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in that time depending on what your show
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is about. Unless you're doing a daily show,
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and then I don't know how you do
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that. Oh, I like, I can't
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scary. The daily show people are,
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like, a whole other type of podcaster. I
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could not imagine.
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But No. You like, yeah. You guys
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have immense dedication and have to have, like,
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some type of system set up.
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00:11:24,725 --> 00:11:26,884
You know? There's Yeah. There is a method
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to that madness, and I say madness,
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very seriously.
316
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Yeah. For sure.
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And then also, leave room for being creative.
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I think that that's always been one of
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my biggest struggles is that's why I can't
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plan too far out because sometimes I'm just
321
00:11:45,299 --> 00:11:47,539
like, I don't really feel like covering that
322
00:11:47,539 --> 00:11:49,799
topic. I've mentioned it a few times
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here on this show. You know, I've done
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a pod culture podcast for years.
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And I used to lay out the full
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year based on what movies were coming out.
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00:12:00,475 --> 00:12:02,315
And then it'd get closer, and then a
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00:12:02,315 --> 00:12:03,514
movie would come out. And I'm like, I
329
00:12:03,514 --> 00:12:05,935
am not interested in seeing that movie whatsoever.
330
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Yeah. I'm gonna do something else.
331
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So, yeah, give yourself room,
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but also think ahead.
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And I I think everything just kind of
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weaves together.
335
00:12:17,190 --> 00:12:18,090
There's usually
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some clearing in the chaos,
337
00:12:21,355 --> 00:12:24,634
and, that's that's generally true with podcasting as
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well.
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00:12:25,514 --> 00:12:27,595
The last one that we'll talk about today
340
00:12:27,595 --> 00:12:30,254
to kinda wrap all of this up is
341
00:12:30,634 --> 00:12:33,134
focus on a few growth strategies.
342
00:12:33,809 --> 00:12:36,210
So that means trying to grow everywhere at
343
00:12:36,210 --> 00:12:38,389
once is gonna lead you to that burnout
344
00:12:38,450 --> 00:12:40,710
that Dave was warning you about.
345
00:12:41,409 --> 00:12:43,669
Choose one or two and go from there.
346
00:12:44,690 --> 00:12:47,490
Yeah. So, again, this is just gonna depend
347
00:12:47,490 --> 00:12:49,029
on what your show
348
00:12:49,595 --> 00:12:50,335
is about.
349
00:12:50,715 --> 00:12:53,434
Maybe you wanna do some guest appearances. You
350
00:12:53,434 --> 00:12:56,014
wanna improve your SEO and your show notes.
351
00:12:56,154 --> 00:12:58,235
Maybe you wanna start a newsletter or get
352
00:12:58,235 --> 00:12:59,375
that newsletter growing.
353
00:13:00,075 --> 00:13:02,495
Like, just just pick some things
354
00:13:03,379 --> 00:13:04,920
that are manageable and
355
00:13:05,779 --> 00:13:08,040
hone in on those. And don't obsess
356
00:13:08,500 --> 00:13:10,740
too much over making sure that it's done
357
00:13:10,740 --> 00:13:11,240
perfectly.
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00:13:11,700 --> 00:13:14,100
I think that's another key thing that that
359
00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:16,095
we could talk about here is, I I
360
00:13:16,095 --> 00:13:17,774
think sometimes we put too much weight on
361
00:13:17,774 --> 00:13:20,334
ourselves to make sure that it's done perfect
362
00:13:20,334 --> 00:13:21,394
the first time,
363
00:13:22,014 --> 00:13:25,214
or is it growing fast enough? So keep
364
00:13:25,214 --> 00:13:27,794
those in mind. Like, give yourself some grace
365
00:13:27,855 --> 00:13:29,394
and be patient with yourself.
366
00:13:30,089 --> 00:13:32,409
Because while this may be a year long
367
00:13:32,409 --> 00:13:32,909
plan,
368
00:13:33,610 --> 00:13:35,389
if it doesn't happen in a year,
369
00:13:35,850 --> 00:13:37,949
that's fine. You're the person that's in charge.
370
00:13:38,009 --> 00:13:40,029
Now, obviously, if you are not the person
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00:13:40,169 --> 00:13:43,289
in charge, in this case, Mackenzie is our
372
00:13:43,289 --> 00:13:44,429
director of marketing,
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and the podcast falls under that. So, you
374
00:13:47,884 --> 00:13:49,884
know, if Mackenzie's like, this has to happen
375
00:13:49,884 --> 00:13:51,884
in a year, and we don't you know,
376
00:13:51,884 --> 00:13:54,125
if we miss that target, well, you know,
377
00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:55,965
then we've got an answer to Mackenzie. But
378
00:13:55,965 --> 00:13:58,065
Mackenzie's also part of the team. So
379
00:13:58,659 --> 00:14:00,519
I think you get what I'm saying. Right?
380
00:14:00,659 --> 00:14:03,379
I do understand what you're saying. And a
381
00:14:03,379 --> 00:14:06,679
podcast is generally a group effort, and it's
382
00:14:07,220 --> 00:14:11,059
the what's that phrase? Poor planning on your
383
00:14:11,059 --> 00:14:13,700
part does not constitute an emergency on my
384
00:14:13,700 --> 00:14:14,200
part.
385
00:14:14,714 --> 00:14:16,954
And that don't get me wrong. That is
386
00:14:16,954 --> 00:14:19,934
a very true statement for many situations. But
387
00:14:20,475 --> 00:14:22,574
your podcast, at the end of the day,
388
00:14:22,794 --> 00:14:24,014
if plans change
389
00:14:24,394 --> 00:14:25,454
for the betterment
390
00:14:25,754 --> 00:14:26,254
of
391
00:14:26,889 --> 00:14:27,389
yourself
392
00:14:27,850 --> 00:14:29,149
and which will probably
393
00:14:29,610 --> 00:14:32,169
include the podcast in that, then go that
394
00:14:32,169 --> 00:14:34,190
direction. You know? Things change.
395
00:14:34,889 --> 00:14:36,830
Focus on what you can
396
00:14:37,529 --> 00:14:39,850
and and just try to move forward. That's
397
00:14:39,929 --> 00:14:42,075
I think that's the most important thing. Yeah.
398
00:14:42,075 --> 00:14:43,754
And, I mean, I think the bottom line
399
00:14:43,754 --> 00:14:44,254
for
400
00:14:44,875 --> 00:14:47,615
for this entire episode and I feel like
401
00:14:47,915 --> 00:14:50,315
I tend to be labor points way more
402
00:14:50,315 --> 00:14:53,455
than I should. But just know that
403
00:14:53,835 --> 00:14:56,175
podcast growth is about you.
404
00:14:56,634 --> 00:14:57,774
It's not about,
405
00:14:58,450 --> 00:15:01,429
you know, chasing trends or having instant results.
406
00:15:01,889 --> 00:15:04,710
You really just build habits and systems and
407
00:15:04,929 --> 00:15:05,429
content
408
00:15:06,049 --> 00:15:08,769
that support your goals as they change. We
409
00:15:08,769 --> 00:15:10,470
try to give a little bit of structure,
410
00:15:10,610 --> 00:15:13,154
but the biggest takeaway is just slow down,
411
00:15:13,315 --> 00:15:14,375
give yourself grace,
412
00:15:14,915 --> 00:15:17,975
and know that everything's gonna be okay. Yeah.
413
00:15:18,274 --> 00:15:20,295
You know, the tracking progress
414
00:15:20,754 --> 00:15:23,154
for your podcast is important. We're never gonna
415
00:15:23,154 --> 00:15:25,715
not say that, you know, that's something you
416
00:15:25,715 --> 00:15:27,889
shouldn't really take a look at. One of
417
00:15:27,889 --> 00:15:30,129
our main offerings as a podcast host is
418
00:15:30,129 --> 00:15:30,629
podcast
419
00:15:31,170 --> 00:15:31,670
statistics.
420
00:15:32,210 --> 00:15:34,610
Like, we Right. We do see the importance
421
00:15:34,610 --> 00:15:36,290
of them, and we know the value that
422
00:15:36,290 --> 00:15:36,950
they hold.
423
00:15:37,490 --> 00:15:38,870
But it's also not
424
00:15:39,824 --> 00:15:41,985
worth it enough to obsess over them to
425
00:15:41,985 --> 00:15:44,304
where it is detrimental to yourself. You know,
426
00:15:44,304 --> 00:15:47,664
obsessing over something to the point of you
427
00:15:47,664 --> 00:15:48,884
only care about
428
00:15:49,424 --> 00:15:51,125
the feeling of that obsession
429
00:15:51,504 --> 00:15:54,549
and not Mhmm. Putting your efforts and mental
430
00:15:54,549 --> 00:15:55,769
capacity towards
431
00:15:56,149 --> 00:15:59,110
actually reaching that goal, you're gonna not enjoy
432
00:15:59,110 --> 00:16:00,870
your podcast as much. And we want you
433
00:16:00,870 --> 00:16:02,250
to be having a good time.
434
00:16:03,110 --> 00:16:05,350
Yeah. For sure. We're we're in the social
435
00:16:05,350 --> 00:16:07,524
age. Like, we are watching all of these
436
00:16:07,524 --> 00:16:10,504
very curated lifestyles and and things like that
437
00:16:10,565 --> 00:16:12,824
on social media, on television, on,
438
00:16:13,605 --> 00:16:15,625
in the things that we just consume
439
00:16:16,004 --> 00:16:16,824
all the time.
440
00:16:17,284 --> 00:16:17,784
And
441
00:16:18,339 --> 00:16:21,220
we do see people that obsess over their
442
00:16:21,220 --> 00:16:22,919
numbers, and if they dip
443
00:16:23,460 --> 00:16:25,080
more than they should or
444
00:16:25,460 --> 00:16:28,259
or whatever. I've seen people just get into
445
00:16:28,259 --> 00:16:29,639
a big panic, and
446
00:16:30,274 --> 00:16:31,955
it's not worth it. It's not worth it
447
00:16:31,955 --> 00:16:34,215
because then you're you're you're not having fun.
448
00:16:34,434 --> 00:16:35,575
You're not wanting
449
00:16:36,355 --> 00:16:37,495
to push toward
450
00:16:37,875 --> 00:16:38,774
more growth,
451
00:16:39,315 --> 00:16:41,794
really. You're just you wanna get that I
452
00:16:41,794 --> 00:16:43,955
don't know if it's dopamine or serotonin, but
453
00:16:43,955 --> 00:16:46,000
you need you need that hit because,
454
00:16:46,379 --> 00:16:47,919
oh, good. I hit, you know,
455
00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:51,419
my my golden number in my stats. Mhmm.
456
00:16:51,419 --> 00:16:53,039
Just don't forget to have fun.
457
00:16:53,419 --> 00:16:55,339
You don't have to conform to all of
458
00:16:55,339 --> 00:16:56,720
the the social media
459
00:16:57,674 --> 00:16:59,995
trends and things that are that are out
460
00:16:59,995 --> 00:17:01,914
there right now. And sometimes we just need
461
00:17:01,914 --> 00:17:02,975
reminded of that.
462
00:17:03,274 --> 00:17:05,035
It's a very good mindset for the beginning
463
00:17:05,035 --> 00:17:08,714
of the year. Yeah. Planning growth is, is
464
00:17:08,714 --> 00:17:10,555
all up to you, but we just hope
465
00:17:10,555 --> 00:17:12,234
that we can help you make it more
466
00:17:12,234 --> 00:17:12,734
achievable.
467
00:17:13,349 --> 00:17:15,829
Fully what we've provided here, even if some
468
00:17:15,829 --> 00:17:18,309
of it is belabored, welcome to me being
469
00:17:18,309 --> 00:17:19,369
on the show now.
470
00:17:19,670 --> 00:17:21,910
Hopefully, this all works as a guide for
471
00:17:21,910 --> 00:17:24,630
you, and we're excited for your 2026
472
00:17:24,630 --> 00:17:27,609
and the years that you continue to podcast.
473
00:17:28,054 --> 00:17:30,294
Plan ahead now, and you're gonna be less
474
00:17:30,294 --> 00:17:31,194
frustrated later.
475
00:17:31,815 --> 00:17:32,315
Absolutely.
476
00:17:32,615 --> 00:17:34,934
It's gonna look different for every show, every
477
00:17:34,934 --> 00:17:37,734
podcaster, every host. But the important thing is,
478
00:17:37,734 --> 00:17:39,815
you know, just stick with a plan that
479
00:17:39,815 --> 00:17:41,835
you actually want to work on.
480
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,119
And if you need tools, there's a lot
481
00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:45,799
of them over at blueberry.com.
482
00:17:45,799 --> 00:17:47,099
So tools, resources,
483
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,720
and you can even talk to myself or
484
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:50,940
Mike over at support.
485
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:52,920
So go over to blueberry.com
486
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,319
for that. Thanks everyone for listening to Podcast
487
00:17:55,319 --> 00:17:57,315
Insider. We'll see you next time. Thanks for
488
00:17:57,315 --> 00:17:59,875
joining us. Come back next week. And in
489
00:17:59,875 --> 00:18:03,075
the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com
490
00:18:03,075 --> 00:18:04,054
for more information,
491
00:18:04,434 --> 00:18:05,095
to subscribe,
492
00:18:06,034 --> 00:18:07,974
share, and read our show notes.
493
00:18:08,355 --> 00:18:10,294
To check out our latest suite of services
494
00:18:10,515 --> 00:18:13,660
and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage
495
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,779
your podcast. Visit blueberry.com.
496
00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,880
That's Blueberry without the e's. We couldn't afford
497
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:20,619
the e's.
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