Amelia [00:00:04] [Twinkling, airy music plays, overlapping with the introduction to the episode] Welcome to The Softer Cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit.

Amelia [00:00:12] 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:

Amelia [00:00:23] Should I put my show on YouTube?

Amelia [00:00:25] Can I just record it on Zoom?

Amelia [00:00:26] How much do editors really cost and how many downloads should my podcast be getting?

Amelia [00:00:32] 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. Then head to the show notes to check out our free resources.

Amelia [00:00:51] [Music quiets but continues to play] No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Join us on the softer side of podcasting.

Amelia [00:01:05] Hello and welcome to The Softer Cast, a podcast [twinkling music fades out] about podcasting for anyone out there who wants thoughtful, strategic podcast support without all the tech bro bullshit.

Amelia [00:01:16] I'm your host, Amelia Hruby. I'm the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non-binary entrepreneurs and at Softer Sounds, we bridge the technical and the tender to support heartfelt podcasters creating soulful shows that grow their businesses.

Amelia [00:01:33] On this podcast, I answer your questions about podcasting, and this week we have a very special question from a Softer Sounds client. So, one of our fave clients— spoiler, they're all our fave clients [laughs]—

Amelia [00:01:47] But podcaster and breathwork practitioner, Amy Kuretsky reached out. She just relaunched her podcast, Breathe into Business. And in the process, she was trying to decide what day of the week her episodes should release on. So, that is today's question:

Amelia [00:02:02] What day of the week should I release my podcast episodes?

Amelia [00:02:06] Great question, Amy. Great question, listener. Let's dive into it.

Amelia [00:02:10] So, the general advice I hear among podcasters is to publish in the first half of the week and that Tuesday is the most popular data release.

Amelia [00:02:20] This is also honestly advice— it tracks on advice I hear about sending emails, that you want to send your emails earlier in the week, that Monday is kind of a black hole of everyone getting back to work.

Amelia [00:02:30] So, Tuesday then becomes this amazing day to send emails, to release podcast episodes. When we're all kind of awake, alive, and at attention [chuckles] for content, apparently, whatever.

Amelia [00:02:42] So, that's the general advice I hear:

Amelia [00:02:44] Publish in the first half of the week. Tuesday is the most popular day.

Amelia [00:02:48] This is backed up by some research that a few of the podcast hosting platforms have done. So, I was digging into this in prep for this episode and Podbean released some of their stats— Podbean is a very popular podcast hosting platform. And they say that according to their— when their podcasters release, that overall the most important time period for podcasts is Monday to Wednesday mornings Eastern Time.

Amelia [00:03:11] And that's based on when the shows on their platform are coming out and when people are tuning in to those shows. So, they're seeing that most listens are happening in that Monday to Wednesday morning period. So, I think this all tracks, right?

Amelia [00:03:26] We've got this sort of, like, you want your show out in the first half of the week, Tuesday is an incredibly popular day, and other than that, pick your poison. Pick your day. I need a better metaphor [laughs heartily]. So— should you follow this general guidance or is your show better served going against the grain, right?

Amelia [00:03:46] So, some of you might be listening and being like, "Great, I'm going to do what everyone else does." Some of you might be tuned in like, "I am certainly not going to do what everyone else does."

Amelia [00:03:54] So, let's talk a little bit about what might work best for you. When you're considering what day of the week to release your show, I'd suggest keeping these three things in mind.

Amelia [00:04:05] Number one: Your ideal listener.

Amelia [00:04:07] Number two: Your production workflow.

Amelia [00:04:10] And number three: Other podcasts, particularly popular podcasts in your niche that are released on that day.

Amelia [00:04:17] So again, I'll just repeat that because we're all listening and trying to soak it in. But if you're trying to decide what day of the week to release your podcast, I think that you should consider:

Amelia [00:04:27] One: Your ideal listener.

Amelia [00:04:29] Two: Your production workflow.

Amelia [00:04:31] And three: Other podcasts released on the days that you're considering.

Amelia [00:04:37] Let's dig into each of those a little bit more. So, I think the most important thing to consider when you're asking what day of the week to release your episodes is your ideal listener, right?

Amelia [00:04:48] Who do you want to tune into your show and when will they be listening? So, here are a couple questions to ask on that. What are your ideal listener's habits like? You know, are they busy at the start of the week? Are they busy at the end of the week? Are they hanging out at home listening on weekends?

Amelia [00:05:04] You know, if you have a podcast for, you know, career-oriented folks, you probably want to catch them during the week when they're working and thinking about their career. If you've got a podcast for service industry people, well, you know, they're really busy working all weekend and then maybe relaxing on that, like, Monday, Tuesday, those down days.

Amelia [00:05:26] So, is your podcast trying to catch them when they're, like, thinking about work, or is it, like, you know, a comedy show for folks in the service industry. And you definitely want that to drop, like, Monday afternoon when they're just kind of getting out of bed, recovering from the weekend, and thinking about what they're going to do with their days off, right? So, think about your ideal listener and what their habits are like, their life habits, and their listening habits.

Amelia [00:05:49] When do they have time in their week to tune into a podcast? So, I just gave that example of service industry folks and of career-oriented people. What if you host a podcast that's like a— you know, there are a lot— actually a huge podcast niche is, like, D&D shows that are hours and hours long. When might you want to think about releasing those shows? When is your player going to have the time to listen to that?

Amelia [00:06:14] I am totally out of my depth with knowing that ideal listener, so I have actually no advice for you [chuckles]. But you know there's so many different ideal listeners out there.

Amelia [00:06:25] If you host a, you know, morning route— daily morning routine show, you want it to come out in the mornings. If you're hosting a sleepy-time podcast, maybe it releases later in the day.

Amelia [00:06:34] Also, where in the world are your ideal listeners located? What time zones do you need to be considering? You know, really work on that sort of— what do they call— like the demographic and psychographic picture of your ideal listener and their habits so that you can base your release schedule on when they will tune in. That is way more important than matching it up with other popular shows.

Amelia [00:06:57] So, that's our number one. The most important thing to consider when you're asking what day of the week to release your episodes is your ideal listener.

Amelia [00:07:05] Let's move on to number two, your production workflow. So, your ideal listener is super important when we're thinking about your show, but you are also super important when we're thinking about your show.

Amelia [00:07:17] So, I want you to also consider your production workflow. And by that, I mean questions like:

Amelia [00:07:22] When do you record episodes?

Amelia [00:07:25] When do you edit them and write the show notes?

Amelia [00:07:27] When do you promote the episodes?

Amelia [00:07:29] Do you have a team that is working with you? You know, maybe you've hired Softer Sounds and my team and we tell you we need at least a week to turn this around. You're going to record on Wednesdays, we can't get it back to you till the next Wednesday. You know, these sorts of timing needs. So, the timing of how you make your podcast needs to work for you, not against you. And that means when you're considering your release date, I think it's important to consider your workflow, right?

Amelia [00:07:55] If you never ever, ever, ever want to work on the weekends, I would not suggest having a Monday morning podcast release because you might have things pop up over the weekend that you need to address before that episode comes out. I also would not suggest a Friday afternoon podcast release because you're going to be wanting to do your episode promotion right after that. It's going to bleed into your weekend, Saturday and Sunday, right?

Amelia [00:08:20] If you know that every Tuesday at work you are, like, in meetings from the start of the day to the end of the day, and then you're exhausted and you have to go pick up your kid and make dinner and, like, you have zero minutes for yourself on Tuesdays, don't release your podcast on Tuesday, right?

Amelia [00:08:38] Don't release it on a day where you're already exhausted, where you have no time to share the episode and celebrate it with your community and your listeners. Plan your podcast release schedule around your schedule as well. This is so important and something so many people forget. I have so many clients who, you know, it turns out we're releasing their podcast on a day that it's not a good day for them at all. So, just move it.

Amelia [00:09:03] Giving you permission— big 'ole permission slip to release your podcast when it works for you. I will also just add a note here that this also [laughs lightly] applies to the frequency of how often you release your podcast. So, if you are grinding to release a weekly show and it is just slowly killing your life force and energy, don't do it. Move on, try— do a different schedule.

Amelia [00:09:28] I give you permission to release your podcast at a frequency and day of the week that works for you.

Amelia [00:09:36] Okay. One more factor. So, so far, we've said you should consider your ideal listener and your workflow. And now we're going to consider other podcasts released on that day. So, I want you to think of some other popular podcasts in your niche.

Amelia [00:09:49] You may say to me, "Well, this is the only podcast in my niche. There are no other podcasts like mine." Which is great— that'll help you build [laughs] a really specific listener community.

Amelia [00:10:01] But think about other shows that your ideal listener might be listening to and when do those shows come out.

Amelia [00:10:06] Make a list, you know, of three, six, 12, whatever— the days of the week they come out. You want to feel aligned with that timing, but not like you're competing with it. So, if you know that you're in— you know, you're making a podcast for entrepreneurs. You can probably look and see that almost all of them release on Tuesdays [chuckles].

Amelia [00:10:25] And so, maybe you don't release on Tuesdays. Maybe you release on Mondays before those shows come out. So, people's podcast listening queue isn't so full.

Amelia [00:10:34] Maybe you release on Wednesdays, so you're catching them after that wave. Maybe you release on Fridays. You're like, wild card going to do it different [laughs] and you keep that in mind and maybe you make the tone of your show a little more fun, a little more end of the week, a little more, you know, party, TGIF-vibe because you know you're going to release it on Fridays.

Amelia [00:10:52] I think that, again, you want to consider when these other shows in your niche release so that you can feel aligned with that timing but not competing against that.

Amelia [00:11:03] So, that's it [laughs]. That's it, friends. I just sped through all of this in 10 minutes. It's my first episode that's actually going to, like, really be about 10 minutes long. So again, today's question was:

Amelia [00:11:17] What day of the week should I release my podcast episodes?

Amelia [00:11:20] And my recap is just that the most popular times are between Mondays and Wednesday mornings Eastern Time in the U.S.

Amelia [00:11:29] And then you— I want you to consider three things when you're thinking about when to release your podcast: your ideal listener, your production workflow, and then other podcasts in your niche that are released on different days or on the day you want to release.

Amelia [00:11:44] Thank you so much for tuning in to The Softer Cast. As always, we've got lots of great, free resources on the Softer Sounds site.

Amelia [00:11:51] If you are thinking about launching a podcast, you can grab our free Podcast Launch Toolkit. If you already have a show and you want to make it easier, better, and more fun, go ahead and grab our easy 3-step Podcast Audit that will guide you through a reflection process and then invite you to cast a spell for podcast success.

Amelia [00:12:10] Like I said, we keep it tender here alongside all the technical skills and otherwise, if you have questions, please submit them. There's a link in the show notes or below if you're watching on YouTube where you can leave me a voice note or you can always send us an email at hi@softersounds.studio.

Amelia [00:12:27] [Outro music begins to play] I'd love to answer your questions in an upcoming episode. Thanks again for tuning in and I can't wait to see you on the softer side of podcasting. Bye!

Amelia [00:12:43] Thanks so much for listening to The Softer Cast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie and after you do that, go ahead and drop us five 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@softersounds.studio.

Amelia [00:13:04] And last but not least, we made some awesome free things for you. Head to the show notes to download our free Podcast Launch Toolkit or our 3-step Podcast Audit.

Amelia [00:13:15] 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 [twinkling outro music fades out].