The One About Setting Up for Success

We recently shared a post featuring all the options podcasters have when it comes to their podcasting setup. It was a fun post to research and put together because a) there are so many great options available, and b) different setups work (or don’t) for different podcast types and formats, so it’s actually really vital that you get your podcast setup right.

But then this got me thinking about how important setting ourselves up for success really is. Because success – whatever that looks like to you – never just happens.

Sure, success is the result of hard work, consistency, and skillset, to a large degree, but there is another not-often-talked-about element at work here – how much you’ve prepared, or set yourself up, for success.

Let’s take podcasting as a practical case study here…

No matter how clearly defined your niche is, how valuable your content is, how great you are as a host, if you are not set up correctly – your recordings sound like a tin can, your episodes are full of feedback (and not the good kind! 🫣) or your recording space picks up so many echoes, it may as well be the Grand Canyon – you’re simply not going to hold onto your listeners.

Let alone achieve any form of long-term podcast success…because your podcast is not set up for success.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that when we talk about setting yourself up for success, it’s often really small changes that make a big impact on the outcome.

Let’s look at the podcasting scenario again. If that podcast host simply mastered their mic, figured out its sweet spot, and moved their recording space to a more sound-conducive room, the audio quality would be seriously improved.

And once those small changes have been made, all the other areas that were already being done well, get the chance to shine!

So, setting yourself up for success is really all about making small changes that yield BIG results.

Final takeaway? You’ll never be kept down by making those small changes that set you up for success.

- Jennay

P.S. If you want to learn more about the different ways you can set yourself up for success when it comes to your podcast recording setup, we've got all the bases covered in this post. 👇

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Behind the Scenes...and Beyond the Mic

On the latest episode of Business Beyond the Mic, Carli van Heerden sits down for a great conversation with Kathy Caprino. Kathy has a wealth of knowledge about podcasting to share with us!! 🤩
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Not only is Kathy the host of the Finding Brave podcast and the author of two top-rated books aimed at supporting the advancement of women in business — Breakdown, Breakthrough, and her latest, The Most Powerful You, but Kathy is also an international career and leadership coach, writer, speaker, and educator dedicated to helping professional women build rewarding, impactful careers of significance! (We told you, a WEALTH of knowledge!)

This is another episode you don't want to miss! ➡️ Expanding Your Curiosity and Changing Lives Through Podcasting with Kathy Caprino.

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Links Worth A Look...

• Some super interesting stats! 😎 Spotify’s Megaphone published its Podcast Trends 2023 report. The report shares data on topics such as the cultural moments of 2023 that made podcast listeners tune in most, how podcast listenership grew across different demographics, and the content categories listeners were most engaged with.
• From Tom Webster, Podcasting Lessons From Dogs. It's a pawsome 🐾 read. (Sorry, that pun was pawful.🫣) (Okay, I'm done now.)
• And finally, Buzzsprout has announced support for Podroll, a simple way to recommend podcasts you love to your listeners, reminiscent of the blogrolls from the early 00's. 🤩

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Founder's Corner

On the topic of setting yourself up for success, I wanted to dive into something that is a constant work in progress for me, personally... time-wasters!

In the world we live in today, there seems to be a revolving door of time-wasters just waiting to be served up to you.

As I'm writing this, there have been millions of things that pop into my "workspace" to distract me...

► everything from going over my own to-do list, to skipping between tasks, or spending too much time organizing the things I still need to get done instead of actually doing them!

So why is it important to identify these time-wasters?

Most of the things that we consider time-wasters are just daily habits or routines that we've developed with little to no positive effect on our lives as a whole. They can also be classified as "busy work" that gives you the illusion of feeling productive without you actually making any progress at all.

This ultimately creates a vicious cycle - the more you waste time, the more stressed you become over your lack of productivity, the less productive you are. 🤯🤯

Quick fact:

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a time-waster is “an activity that takes a lot of time and does not achieve anything important."

In fact, some of the biggest time-wasters can be directly linked to your own individual habits. Such as trying to multitask, getting held back by perfectionism, or even occupying your mind and time with "busy work".

Let's look at two of the most common time-wasters:

Multitasking

When it comes down to it, multitasking is such a natural human impulse. We are always striving to do more, tackle more tasks, and essentially.. get more done! We mistakenly think that we are built to chase many goals at once when actually multitasking can be a major pitfall for our productivity.

Our minds crave novelty!

And that novelty is often found in either a distraction or simply starting something new. Skipping between tasks satisfies that craving while also acting as a mirage, misleading you to think that you are being productive when in fact, research shows that it can decrease your productivity by up to 40%!

Perfectionism

Another common limiting factor in your productivity is getting caught in the perfectionism trap. Focusing on achieving unattainable standards can lead us to spend far too much time on a task, without necessarily giving you better results.

This is a topic that I've discussed at length! If you want to dive deeper into the strategies for stepping away from the limitations of perfectionism, read the article here.

So now that we know where most of our time-wasting occurs, let's look at three steps to set yourself up for success, and re-focus on increasing your productivity.

Step 1: Know Yourself

The first key to setting yourself up to be more productive is to truly know yourself. Take time to identify not only your most common time-wasters but also the daily habits that you've formed that are preventing you from being your most productive self.

Next, take time to figure out when in your day you are naturally most productive. Use that to your advantage, making sure that you tackle the most important tasks when you are operating at the peak of your productivity.

And finally, make yourself harder to contact in the times when you need to be the most productive. There's nothing that distracts us more than the urge to clear notifications and answer those emails. And although they too are important, find the right time and place for it in your schedule instead!

Step 2: Build in Efficiency

Streamline, streamline, and I'll say it again - streamline! One of the biggest learning lessons I had from launching the podcast was that in order to work ahead of schedule and take the stress out of it was to create a succinct, streamlined process.

But Carli, how do you keep distractions out of this streamlined process? Great question!

The more efficient your process becomes, the less room is left for time-wasters to creep in. And if they do, a great tip is to use a "distraction list" - a running document or notes folder where you can simply jot down any ideas or distracting thoughts so that you can tend to them later.

Analyze every aspect of your work day and find repeatable shortcuts and ways to make your processes more efficient.

► Even the smallest changes can have huge results down the line.

Step 3: Manage Your Energy

Now, this last step is a crucial part of the plan towards setting yourself up for success.

In order to give, whether to others or to your work, you have to operate from a "full tank". Take time to reflect and recharge, and find ways to fill your metaphorical cup so that you are not running on empty.

Manage your energy. Not just your time!

This goes hand-in-hand with the task of planning ahead. When you have an active plan for the future work that you have to do, it frees up a lot of brainpower for you to use to accomplish your most important tasks.

The same thing rings true when it comes to knowing when to ask for help! Sometimes to increase your productivity, you simply need to delegate!

Until next week...

Happy podcasting! 🎧

The Team at We Edit Podcasts

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Is it your first time here? Then, welcome! Allow me to officially introduce you to We Edit Podcasts.

We are a full-scale podcast production agency, on a mission to provide everything you need to simplify your podcasting process, reduce overheads, and publish quickly with a strong team behind you!

Our team has been serving podcasters since 2015, so by now we know a thing or two about what it takes to create a successful show!

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So, how can we help YOU and your podcast? 👇

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