Boo! In honor of the Halloween season, I’m serving up advice from our spooky supernatural friends, the ghosts!

Ghosting: When a person cuts off all communication with their friends or the person they’re dating, with zero warning or notice before hand. You’ll mostly see them avoiding friend’s phone calls, social media, and avoiding them in public.

courtesy urbandictionary.com

Imagine this…

You happily discover this new podcast and the first few episodes have you feeling hopeful. You can see the promise and potential for the future of this show. As the weeks go on, you feel more and more like you really know the host. You’re starting to trust them —  you even share the podcast with your friends, hoping they’ll like it too.

And then suddenly — you realize it’s been weeks since you’ve gotten a new episode in your queue. You check your app, make sure you’re still subscribed. You look on social — where are they? You go back and replay the last episode — did you miss something? You tweet them — crickets.

Time goes by.

Silence.

You feel lost, betrayed. What could have happened? You hope they’re okay… I mean it was going so well. The only way they could disappear like this is if they were dead in ditch somewhere, right?

Do NOT do this to your listeners…

Continue reading below.

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Article cont’d

I know, sometimes podcasting is frustrating. It’s a lot more work and takes more time than anyone ever lets on in the beginning. And there’s the whole downloads thing — Apple is not the promised land of instant subscribers and an immediate crowd of podcast fans. Your show may not be the overnight success you imagined it would be.

And as the weeks and months go on, you find yourself getting less and less excited to go into a closet with your microphone (or shell out for recording studio time if you are so lucky) to record.

Maybe it’s been ages since you got a review, a 5-star rating, an email from a listener or geez– at this rate even some hearts on your audiograms in Insta.

But trust me — your listeners are out there, and they need you.

So before you give up completely, here are a few things you can try…

1) Consider your WHY — Remember why you started podcasting in the first place. Assess what you are personally getting out of podcasting with or without large numbers?

2) If you’re feeling overwhelmed, how often are you releasing episodes? Could you scale back? Or could you make less work for yourself — maybe outsourcing something like editing or doing less detailed show notes.

3) If you’re getting bored, can you switch it up a bit, invite some guests if you don’t usually, do some solo shows if you usually have interviews, do a deep dive mini-series in a topic that feels current or interesting to you?

4) Remember, it just takes TIME to build — so much time. Especially if you didn’t start with a huge following. Plus, numbers are subjective. I don’t know what your numbers are but you MIGHT be surprised about how intimate the average listening audience is by comparison — most people who share their stats have freakishly high numbers that don’t represent the full picture of indie podcasters.

If you’re still over it…

Could you take a break and see if you miss it? And if you do, then come back in a month or 2 months? If you do this, be sure to announce it to your listeners! Be honest about your intentions and let them know how to stay connected with you in the meantime (like will you still be posting on Facebook or in your newsletter)?

And when you’re truly done…

Say a proper good-bye. It doesn’t have to be long, drawn out, and dramatic (unless that’s your style.) It doesn’t have to be apologetic or self-deprecating (unless THAT’S your style.) Just a simple, heartfelt, honest ending to give your loyal listeners some closure.

Let them know you appreciate them and the time they’ve spent listening to your show — maybe recommend some other shows you think they might like to check out (if that feels right to you) and as in the above tip, tell them how to stay connected to you (unless you’re going totally offline!)

Believe me, no one likes to be ghosted. To this day, I will never understand why it happens so so so much in the online dating world. But that’s an article perhaps for another time.

Treat your audience with the respect they deserve and it will leave a lasting impression that matters.

A Halloween gift for you!

This month, October 2018, over on my LinkedIn, I’m sharing podcasting tips, practices and fun all around a Halloween theme and I’m kicking it off with a Tarot Card spread for your Podcast Content Marketing Plan.

This is a nod to the nostalgic defining moment of my childhood when I won (or at least placed) in a costume contest at the public library for my gypsy fortune teller look. No tarot cards are NOT fortune telling but I didn’t know any better when I was 9!

So if YOU want to get the spread either to DIY with your own tarot or oracle deck OR you want me to do a 3-card reading for you and YOUR show, click the button below and drop your email there for me and you’ll get instructions and a super brief questionnaire in case you want me to pull cards for you.Get the Tarot Podcast Plan!

Resources

5 Questions You Haven’t Asked About Your Podcast (FREE)
I mean, you want to make a show that matters right? You’ve got a message, a passion, a purpose. How can you make sure it’s landing? These questions from your Podcast Boss (me) will help!Get the questions!

Podcast Boss Interview Setup Guide (Premium)
Get a handy PDF of our dual recording setup for online interviews using Ecamm Call Recorder for Skype AND and the Zoom H4n Pro recorder.

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