Amelia Hruby: 00:03

Welcome to the softer cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit. I'm Amelia Hruby, and I'm the founder of softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non binary entrepreneurs. On this show, I answer your questions about podcasting. Things like, should I put my show on YouTube? Can I just record it on Zoom?

Amelia Hruby: 00:26

How much do editors really cost? And how many downloads should my podcast be getting? Yeah, I'll even answer that question. Every episode of the softer cast is really practical, a little magical, and less than 10 minutes long. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show and share it with your podcast bestie.

Amelia Hruby: 00:47

Then head to the show notes to check out our free resources. No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Join us on the softer side of podcasting. Hello, and welcome to the softer cast. I'm Amelia Ruby.

Amelia Hruby: 01:10

I am the founder of Softer Sounds Podcast Studio. And on this show, I answer your questions about podcasting, whether they be big, small, or anywhere in between. I bring my tender and gently technical approach to finding ways to solve your podcast problems, and I love doing it. If you're not familiar with softer sounds, we are an editing and production studio that supports women and non binary small business owners and creators of all kinds. We specialize in working with folks in the business, career, entrepreneurship, wellness, spirituality, and arts and culture spaces, and we work with an amazing roster of creative people that I would love to add you to.

Amelia Hruby: 01:59

So if you are looking for a podcast producer, you can head to our website at softersounds. Studio to learn more about our production offerings. We also offer courses on launching your own podcast or expanding your podcast promotion and monetization, and I do one on one advising, so you can learn more about all of that at softersounds.studio. Now that you know what we do, let me answer one of your questions. So today's question doesn't come from a specific listener, but in fact, many, many people that I have been talking to about their podcasts at the start of the year.

Amelia Hruby: 02:39

And this question goes something like, how often should I release my show? Should it be weekly, biweekly or monthly? And is it okay if it just kind of comes out whenever? So if you wanna learn more about podcast pacing and release schedules, this is the episode for you. Let's go ahead and dive in to the pros and cons of different podcast publication schedules.

Amelia Hruby: 03:10

So I wanna begin by telling you a bit about the perks of publishing weekly, biweekly or monthly. We're gonna start with sort of these different consistent schedules and then I'll share some thoughts on what it means to be totally inconsistent in your practice and why that might actually be okay. So if you're thinking about starting a podcast and you're reading any of these like how to start your podcast blog posts that are all over the internet, many of them will tell you that you should be releasing your show every week. You should have a weekly podcast. Now the benefits of having a weekly podcast, the real perks here are that you build momentum quickly.

Amelia Hruby: 03:49

If you're releasing your show every week, you are really getting into the rhythm of putting it out, You're generating those new ideas quickly, and you're getting feedback really quickly because it's happening every single week. I think that this has a real benefit to you as a creator, as the podcaster, and also it has a benefit for growing your listenership. So when you're releasing weekly, you capture what I consider kind of, like, the holy grail of podcast listeners, which are the people who love podcasts and are looking for shows to, like, plug into their weekly schedule. So if you're releasing weekly, you can become somebody's Tuesday morning listen, their Thursday afternoon listen, their Saturday morning listen. Especially as folks are commuting or going back to commuting back to the office, I think we're gonna see a lot more or a resurgence of this weekly podcast rhythm as people kind of have their favorite shows that they tune into the same day every week.

Amelia Hruby: 04:47

I myself have a podcast that releases weekly. It's called Off the Grid. It is seasonal, so it's weekly when it's in season. But when it is in season, I hear from tons of folks who are like, this is my Wednesday show. I tune in every single Wednesday.

Amelia Hruby: 05:01

They build a routine around it, and those listeners are the people who become your die hard fans, and they can really help grow your show through word-of-mouth. So if you are looking to gain momentum as a creator and grow an audience that is really loyal and can grow relatively quickly, I think that weekly could be a great pace or podcast cadence release schedule for you. Now, what are the cons of releasing weekly? This is gonna take us into biweekly and monthly release schedules. So the challenge of releasing a podcast weekly is that it requires a lot of stamina.

Amelia Hruby: 05:36

Weekly pacing with podcasting is fast. If you're just starting, you may not know this yet, but if you are a podcaster, I don't have to tell you that there are a lot of steps that go into releasing a single podcast episode. And if you're doing that every single week, you have to have either a lot of time or a well honed system with support that helps you keep putting your show out week after week. I think that for most folks who are DIY ing their show and who are just getting started, weekly only works if you have a clear system and schedule and if you can kind of get ahead by batching episodes. So if you're just starting out and you wanna go weekly, I would say try to record 3, 4, 5, even 6 episodes in advance.

Amelia Hruby: 06:22

Make sure you have a nice sort of batch of them ready to go when you launch the first one so that you can be working ahead and keeping up with that weekly pace. Most of the podcasters I work with who've been running their own show or who are running a business alongside their podcast find that weekly is a relatively challenging pace to keep up with unless they hire a production studio to handle a lot of the logistics around the podcast. So at softer sounds, we definitely work on weekly shows. As I mentioned, I have my own weekly show, but it really takes a team of people to make that happen. So if you are a solo DIY podcaster, biweekly, meaning every other week, could be a great schedule for you.

Amelia Hruby: 07:02

I think that a perk of publishing biweekly is that your show becomes consistent, but it also gives you and your listeners more breathing room to listen to and reflect on the episodes. It gives you more space to be creating at a slightly slower pace while still having enough episodes come out that you gain that momentum. You know, I think twice a month is still a great pace for building an audience, but you're not overwhelmed by the constant tasks of podcast production. And I think that listeners, I'm hearing from more and more listeners who, if they love a show, they're pretty happy to get a couple episodes a month because their lives and schedules are already busy and they have to find ways to fit those episodes in. So I think that a biweekly release schedule is a great fit if you're running your show yourself or you already have a lot going on and your life is busy and full and you wanna make a podcast that is consistent, so it gains momentum and grows listenership, but you also wanna give yourself a bit of a break on the release schedule because, you know, you already have a lot going on.

Amelia Hruby: 08:03

Now that takes me to monthly. So if you are a busy human being who is running your show yourself, I find that having a monthly podcast can just be so, so manageable. You can set a same time of each month that you record. So maybe you record the 1st week of the month or the last week of the month. It releases once a month and it's just a very sustainable pace for podcasters with any degree of support.

Amelia Hruby: 08:28

So if you're working by yourself, I think that monthly is a great pace for you but also at monthly, a lot of people can actually afford support at that pace because if you're putting out 4 or 5 episodes a month, your costs are gonna go up really fast. But if you're only putting out 1 episode a month, there are probably very affordable editors or editing or production studios even out there that can help you at a price that you can afford. So I'm working with quite a few podcasters this year where we have a once a month show. Some of them are currently on a contract that's costing somewhere around $300 with the studio. So for $300 a month, they get to work with me 1 on 1, they get that support, their show gets edited by a team that they trust, and we can handle many of the pieces for them.

Amelia Hruby: 09:12

So I think that monthly is a great pace if you really wanna have a podcast, but you're okay with it growing very slowly and organically, or it's really just for the people who are already paying attention to your work and you wanna serve them in a different way, in a different medium. I think that a con of a monthly pace is that it can be hard to grow an audience at this pace. If you want new people to find your show and get excited about it, you often need more content and a faster release schedule or a more frequent release schedule to sort of bring them on and keep them excited about your show. So so far, we've talked about the sort of question of, should I release my podcast weekly, biweekly, or monthly? And I think just to recap, it really depends on your goals.

Amelia Hruby: 10:00

If your goal is to energize your content creation and build momentum with audience growth, then weekly might be the right pace for you. And finding a way to get the support that you need to produce at that pace may be your first priority for your podcast. If you want sort of the middle ground of, like, I do not have the time or energy to be putting out a weekly episode, but I would like some audience growth and momentum benefits, then I think biweekly can be a great pace for you. It gives you a good sense of, is podcasting right for me? And you could kind of either lean in and maybe eventually increase your release schedule, go from biweekly to weekly, or you can kind of be like, I don't know if podcast is for me.

Amelia Hruby: 10:44

Maybe I won't make my show anymore. Or maybe biweekly is just right, and it brings you that sort of, like, organic pace of growth that you can really be with and is really sustainable for you. And then, again, I think monthly is a great fit for folks who just wanna add another type of content to their mix, who are love being on the mic or wanna try it out, or maybe wanna do some interviews for their existing audience. If you're not focused so much on growth, but just on creating something, then I think monthly could be a great pace for that. So these are the 3 most common podcast release schedules that I work with with clients, but I also often get this question of, like, is it important to be consistent?

Amelia Hruby: 11:21

Do I have to be consistent with my podcast? Could I put out an episode like 3 1 month and then no episodes for 2 months and one the next? So what I tend to say to this is, like, I am typically here to give you permission to do whatever you want. It is your podcast. I, like, I can tell you what I see works.

Amelia Hruby: 11:37

I can tell you that I see weekly shows grow audience faster, but that doesn't mean you have to do it that way. I have definitely witnessed successful podcasters grow their show with an inconsistent schedule that's really focused on, like, surprising and delighting people and dropping content at, like, exactly the right times when it's really on trend or on top of a news topic or things like that. So there are many different ways to grow your show. And if you feel like having to put out an episode every week or every other week or even every month doesn't match your rhythm and energy as a creator, then I would encourage you to play with what pace works best for you. So something I say to clients sometimes is you can put your podcast out every week or whenever you want.

Amelia Hruby: 12:22

And what I mean by that is people who are podcasting weekly do build that loyal fan base of people who work the show into their weekly schedule. If you are not trying to capture that type of audience or build that type of fan base, then you can just let go of that vision, and you could start to just release as makes sense for you and your listeners. Because I kinda feel like you're either doing that weekly intentional growth or you're doing something else. And what that something else is is totally up to you. The other thing that might be coming up for you as you're listening to this is, Emilia, what about publishing twice a week or 3 times a week?

Amelia Hruby: 13:00

Or I see these shows out there that are publishing every single day. And I think that often shows will publish multiple times a week because they need more downloads to be eligible for working with ad networks and advertisers. So if you think about the shows that are really coming out 2, 3, 5 times a week, often, they are on networks, so they're supported by ads. And so by coming out more times a week, they have more downloads, which means that those ads are getting in front of more listeners, which means that they're able to make more money. So I see that often as a way of increasing downloads to increase earnings that may be in your future as a listen as a podcaster, but also may not be really important if you're just starting your show right now, or if you have a small audience, or you're a small business owner trying to, you know, create an audience that will buy things from you, like, we don't need to be working toward the same goals as people who are trying to land on a network and make all their money through ads.

Amelia Hruby: 13:54

That's a separate sort of intention and goal for podcasters that may not be your goal right now. So I think that the most important thing I can say to you in this episode is that when you're considering the release schedule for your podcast, when you're considering the cadence of how often the episodes go out and the pace of what it's gonna take for you to create episodes at that cadence, I think the most important thing to consider is what are your goals? What is most important to you about your show? What do you want it to do for your listeners? If your goals are really about audience growth and they're really about momentum, then I think that you might wanna consider a weekly or biweekly schedule.

Amelia Hruby: 14:33

But if your goals have more to do with creating this for the sake of creating it or connecting with your right fit clients or customers, then I think you can experiment with different release schedules. And I think what might be more important for you is how well you are promoting and marketing your episodes, how well you are creating a variety of assets and things from them, how are you repurposing the content. That might be actually more useful for you to focus on. Rather than pushing yourself to release weekly, what if you slowed down to biweekly, but you actually created blog posts and video clips for every episode? Those might serve you and your show better than simply sticking to a weekly pace, especially if it's feeling overwhelming or stressful.

Amelia Hruby: 15:13

So hopefully that helps. And if you want more support around this, I always invite you to submit a question through the SpeakPipe link in the show notes. You can always ask a follow-up about podcast release schedules and cadence and pacing. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the softer cast. I hope I hear from you, dear listener, you, the person with us in your earbuds right now, I hope I hear from you soon so I can answer your podcast question next.

Amelia Hruby: 15:46

Thanks so much for listening to the Softercast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie. And after you do that, go ahead and drop us 5 stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you'd like to submit a question, head to speakpipe.com/softercast to record a message or email us at hi atsoftersounds.studio. And last but not least, we made some awesome free things for you.

Amelia Hruby: 16:11

Head to the show notes to download our free podcast launch toolkit or our 3 step podcast audit. No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Thanks again for tuning in and joining us on the softer side of podcasting.