Podcast Playbook (Part 8): How to Launch Your Podcast the Right Way — Titles, Promotion & Momentum

Podcast Playbook (Part 8): How to Launch Your Podcast the Right Way — Titles, Promotion & Momentum

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to episode 267 of the Business Development Podcast. Today we've reached one of the most exciting milestones of the entire podcast Playbook series Launch Day. This is the moment your podcast goes from an idea. To a reality that people can actually hear. And in this episode, I'm gonna walk you step by step through preparing your episode for upload writing titles and descriptions that get clicks and scheduling your release, promoting your launch, and building early momentum, while avoiding the mistakes that can sync most new shows.

Launch Day isn't the finish line, it's the starting kind of a marathon. Stick with us. You're not gonna wanna miss this episode.

Intro: The Great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal, and we couldn't agree more This.

Is the Business Development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In broadcasting to the world, you'll get expert business development advice, tips, and experiences, and you'll hear interviews with business owners. CEOs and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business.

Brought to you by Capital Business Development Capital BD ca. Let's do it. Welcome to the The Business Development Podcast, and now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello. Welcome to episode 267 of the Business Development Podcast and part eight of our podcast Playbook series. Wow. Can you guys believe that we are already on part eight?

I know it's been a journey. Obviously we've had some like shows that have popped up in between, but. Yeah. We are getting to the end of this series. Guys. If you've been with me since the beginning, you know that this has already been quite the journey so far. We started with the question of whether you should even launch a podcast.

We talked gear and software. We built your show plan. We got your mic set up, and we even walked step by step through editing and post-production. And now here we are. Launch day. I have to tell you that putting this series together has been quite a trip down memory lane for me. I remember what it felt like when I was preparing to launch my own show.

The nerves, the excitement, the doubt, and of course the determination. Creating this playbook has brought me right back there to those moments, and it makes me excited to think that many of you are about to go through the very same thing and just to keep things real. Even after hundreds of episodes, the journey never stops teaching you lessons.

In fact, on episode 267 of the Business Development Podcast, we had our very first equipment failure. Guys, my RodeCaster Pro 2 audio interface, which you guys know is a pretty important piece of equipment for me. It's been with me all the way from episode one. Every single episode of the BDP has been recorded through it, it decided that it was done last week. Super, super annoying. It's been a week of getting things, you know. Back and forth, sent away for warranty. But thankfully, road customer service has been exceptional. Massive, massive shout out to RODE guys. They have been exceptional. No questions. Once I explained to them what happened, they basically said, here's our warranty center, just send it in.

Not like five days later, I had a message back saying, no problem. We will be replacing this under warranty. It has failed. So. RODE customer service every step of the way was exceptional. Highly, highly, highly recommend. They are replacing the unit under warranty, which is incredible. In the meantime, I'm actually running the show on a little backup device that I want to tell you guys all about.

It's called A SHURE MVX2U. It's an XLR to USBC interface guys, and it is tiny. I wanna say like. Three inches long, four inches long max really quite incredible. And honestly, it's doing a really great job. The show you're hearing right now is run through this itty bitty interface, so, just shout out to SHURE as well for making a really cool product.

And there is a lesson to be learned here, guys, a lesson that I hadn't really considered. But from now on, I will always have a backup interface ready to go so that nothing gets in the way of this show. Always have a backup interface just in case. See, we're learning. We're still learning. Even now, even 267 episodes into podcasting, there are lessons to be learned.

It is a journey, guys. It's an incredible, incredible journey, and you will learn lessons. Every step of the way. My hope is that this series helps launch not just dozens, not hundreds, but thousands and thousands of shows over time, if you've made it this far. Thank you so much for sticking with me.

You've invested the time to build a foundation that many new podcasters skip, and that alone already sets you apart. And we are not done yet. After today's episode on Launch Strategy, we still have some more crucial parts to cover. Part nine will be about marketing and growth. How do we build our audience over time?

This one will be powerful for you. Part 10 is on monetization strategy and the different ways to turn your podcast into revenue and opportunity. It will be critical for the long-term success of your show. Part 11 will be our mindset and final tips episode. The things that I had wished somebody had told me when I was just starting out, but today is special.

Today we cross the line. This is the moment all your preparation pays off. This is where you finally get your voice out into the world Launch day, after all, isn't just another day on the calendar. It's the day your podcast takes its very first breath, and you can officially call yourself a podcaster. And here's the thing about it all.

You only get one launch. You can always release new episodes, but you only get one. Launch day one, first impression. And that impression matters. When people find your show on Apple and Spotify, they are making a quick decision. Do I trust this host? Do I like how this sounds? Do I want to come back for more?

The way your podcast sounds, the way it's presented and even the way you describe it, all sets the tone from day one. Now let's talk about Momentum. Podcast platforms actually watch what happens in these very first few days. If you drive listens, reviews, and shares early, your show has a much better chance of being picked up by algorithms and recommended to new listeners.

That initial push can set you up with a level of visibility that is hard to replicate later. And on a personal level, launch day is a mix of nerves and adrenaline. I'll never forget launching the Business Development podcast and hearing myself on my Alexa for the very first time. It was a surreal moment and it was scary at the same time, and I really didn't like how I sounded, but trust me, that is super, super normal.

You will get used to your voice. I remember hitting publish and wondering, will anyone even listen? Looking back now after hundreds of episodes and hundreds of thousands of listens, it's humbling to think about how it all started with just one day, one episode, and one decision to put it all out there. So here is what I want you guys to remember.

Launch day is not the finish line. It's the starting gun of a very, very long marathon. It's the beginning of everything you have been working toward, and if you treat it with the respect it deserves, it will give you the momentum and confidence that carries into every single episode After launch day is about building momentum, trust, and that one time shot.

Had a first impression, but knowing it's important is only half the battle. The real question is how do you actually prepare your episode for launch? What do you need to double check before you hit publish to make sure that your podcast is truly ready for the world? That is exactly what we are going to cover next.

How do we prepare our episode for upload? Before you publish, you've got to make sure that your episode is truly ready for the world, and I can't stress this enough. First impressions are absolutely everything. Your first episode is the lens through which new listeners will judge your entire show. Think about it.

If someone tunes in and the audio is off, or the details are sloppy, they won't think, oh, it's their very first episode. I'll cut them some slack. They'll just move on. But if you nail this step, you'll sound professional from the very start, and that trust carries forward into everything else and every episode.

From that point forward, what are the steps to follow? Number one, we talked about this before, but you always want to have a final listen. You always wanna make sure that the quality is perfect. Play your audio file from start to finish. Is the intro strong? Is the outro smooth? Are the levels consistent?

Number two, pride test. Ask yourself, if this was the only thing someone ever heard from me, would I be proud of it? If the answer's no, wait until the answer's yes. Number three, technical check. MP three Format 1 92 kilobytes per second to 320 kilobytes per second. Every single business development podcast episode guys is mastered at 320 kilobytes per second with a peak at minus three decibels and loudness normalized to minus 16 LUFFS stereo.

This is the the podcast standard that I go with guys. Review your metadata. Make sure your title, artwork, description, and your name are all correct. And five, launch format, one episode versus a batch of three to five statistically batch releases. Give listeners more reasons to subscribe. So the recommendation that I've heard from nearly everyone is to start with three to five episodes.

Release them all at the same time. And that way your listeners get to see a little bit more of you than, let's call it a 20 or 30 minute introductory episode. They get, you know, a few hours worth of content to get to know you, which is a better way. It makes sense to me. I launched the business development podcast guys with one episode.

Here's the thing though, we were releasing two episodes a week from the very beginning, so it was only a couple of weeks until I had four episodes, so it was very similar. But I didn't do batch release. I just did four episodes fairly quickly. You choose, I think it can work either way. I'm not partial one way or the other.

But if you're only releasing an episode a week, it actually might make sense to go with a batch because you wanna make sure that ultimately you have more than one episode fairly quickly for your listenership to, to grab a hold to. Number six, your topic selection. Make sure your first topics are evergreen and strong.

People will go back and listen and I can absolutely attest to this. Guys, my most listened to episode and take this however you want, grain of salt, whatever. But the most listened to episode of the Business Development podcast of all time. And I feel like at this point it's gotta be pushing up on like 30,000 downloads is episode two.

Episode two of the Business Development podcast is the most listened to episode of the entire show. So people do go back and listen. People do go back and listen to the beginning of your show. Make sure that your first shows are evergreen content that are going to make people want more. The next piece that we have to consider guys, is that we have to write titles and descriptions that get clicks, and I get it, you know, over time.

The reality is, as I listen to podcasts, I could pretty well care less what the title is of the shows that I listen to on a regular basis. Why? Because I trust the host. I trust the show. I know for a fact that if I listen to like a Jim Harold's campfire or a Scared to Death or a ONE BIG THING. I'm going to probably like the show.

I don't really care what the episode is. However, once again, remember I have built, I have built a history with the show, with the host. I know what to expect. I know that I'm going to enjoy the content that they put out in the beginning. People are going to cherry pick your titles. They are gonna look for something that resonates with them.

So now let's talk about the front door of your podcast, your titles and descriptions. This is what people see before they ever hear your voice. Like I said, it's, I think it's more important in the beginning. I think it's more important for the first couple of episodes where people start to get to know you, but it is absolutely critical in getting those initial listens.

Here's the harsh truth. You could have an incredible episode, but if the title doesn't grab attention, nobody is going to click it. Your description has to seal the deal by telling people exactly why the episode matters to them. What steps should you follow? Number one, craft clear titles. Skip inside jokes or vague labels.

Make sure that the benefit is obvious. Number two, add intrigue, hint at the payoff, transformation, or lesson you are going to deliver them. Number three, include a short hook in one to two sentences, explain why somebody should listen to this episode. Number four, value bullets, two to four quick points of what they will learn.

Number five, have a call to action. Always end with a call to action, subscribe, share, or review. And number six, keyword check include natural terms business development, sales, leadership. With the business development podcast titles, guys, I like to make sure that we have a pretty powerful hook line, but I don't like long titles.

You know, I've looked at a lot of other podcast titles that are like super long, two sentences, multi-part, not a fan of those at all. I really like a short. Concise title wherever possible. And I have found that that just works well. 'cause you have to remember, just like in business development and marketing, you're mostly marketing to millennials at this point, right?

Us millennials, me included, have very short attention spans. We don't have time to read 18 lines of titles. We just don't do it. So what I always recommend is keep your titles as short. Sweet and powerful as you can. Yes, we wanna make sure that it has a great hook. Yes, we wanna make sure that it's accurate to the episode.

That's something else that's really important to consider. I always make sure that my titles are accurate to what we discuss in the episode. Then nothing makes people matter. Then clicking a title that says one thing and listening to a show that is something completely different. Make sure that your titles are coherent and cohesive with.

Your show itself, but make sure as well that you're phrasing it in a way that has impact, that's going to speak to millennials, that's gonna speak to people with short attention spans. Okay. All right. Once we have our title and our descriptions locked down, we need to talk about uploading and scheduling.

Uploading sounds like a technical step, but really it's about building trust. Your release schedule is a promise, which is why we talked about it really early on in the show, and your audience will decide if you're reliable based on whether you keep it. So if you say, I'm gonna commit to one episode a week or two episodes a week, come hell or high water, and suddenly you start dropping episodes willy-nilly on different days, three weeks out.

You miss a week, your audience isn't going to rely on you. Your audience isn't going to trust you to give them the content when they want to hear it. Listen, the Business Development podcast releases two episodes a week. Come hell or high water, I don't care if it's Christmas, I don't care if my son was just born, literally just happened.

I don't care if the water pipe just burst on my house, you will. Get an episode of the Business Development Podcast on Wednesday and Sunday, you will, and that is my commitment to you. You have to make that level of commitment to your listeners. You have to show them they can trust you. You have to show them that you care about them, that you wanna make sure that they are getting their content when you said you're going to get it for them. Okay. So we have to have to have to make sure that we have consistency because consistency turns casual listeners into loyal ones. It tells people they can count on you. Steps to follow. Number one, upload your MP three into your hosting platform. We talked about hosting platforms earlier on, guys.

Go back to that. If you need a refresh, we use Captivate here. Buzzsprout is also another really popular one. But the first thing we have to do is upload our polished, finished MP3 into our hosting platform. Then we have to add the details, add your great title that you just came up with, add the description.

The other thing guys, with your descriptions, make sure that your description format is standardized. We use a two paragraph format, so all of our descriptions for the business development podcast are two paragraphs. So you pick whatever you want to go with, but make sure as well that your description format becomes a standardized format for you.

Make sure that you upload your artwork. Some of you may just have your one podcast cover art, if that's it. Your your hosting platform will likely default to that. But sometimes, like the BDP is a great example. We've started uploading guest artwork, so whenever we have our guest shows, we have a special guest guest artwork for them that we use as the cover for their show for Podcast Playbook series.

You may notice listening to the series, the cover Art for podcast playbook is completely different than the typical business development podcast cover art. Okay? So you have to upload whatever your specific cover art is if you want to use different cover arts. Okay? Then you wanna make sure as well that you are uploading your transcript.

Now I get my transcripts out of my edit through Descript, so I mentioned that the last piece of my edit is actually running it through Descript. When I'm done running it through, I'm done making sure that the words are accurate. I export the transcript and I import it. Technically not into my hosting platform.

I actually import it into pod page, which is my website for my podcast. However. Kind of gets to the same place. So ultimately pick your spot, but make sure that you are uploading a podcast transcript. It really helps you with the marketing side later through SEO. And then we need to schedule our publish.

Well, what do we tell you You're gonna publish on your day, right? What's your day? Is it Sunday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter really what day you pick. But if you say to your audience, you are gonna release a show once a week on Thursday. Make sure that your scheduled publish is going to launch on that day and that time and stick to it.

And then we want to check our directories. Make sure that your RSS feeds are all connected. Most of these most of these hosting platforms have a very easy connect features for you to pick where all your show is gonna go to. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, rss.com, wherever you're sending this thing, just make sure that you have all of the RSS feeds that you want your show to go to.

Linked with your hosting platform. And last, do the preview feed. Always test your publish feed just to make sure that everything is set prim and proper, and your audience is going to get the right cover art and right show that they are looking for. Now picking your launch day guys, I'm just gonna like take a little minute here and chat about my Wednesday and Sunday launch.

I just wanted to make sure that we had even spacing between our launches. My idea between a Wednesday Sunday launch was Wednesday's, middle of the week. Just a great time in my mind to launch a show. And then Sunday is a great motivational show for the coming week. So my idea was I'm gonna get people midway through their work.

Week and give them something that they love, hopefully. And then on Sunday, I am gonna motivate them for the coming week. You pick whatever launch days you want, but we started with Wednesday and Sunday and we've committed to that time and we have no no intention at this time to change it. Okay, so we are completely set up.

Our podcast is set to launch. We know the day, we know the time. Now let's talk about launch day promotion strategy. Okay? Here is where most podcasts fail. They publish quietly and hope people stumble onto their show. That just doesn't work, guys. It doesn't work. Launching isn't uploading. Launching is telling the world that your show is here and giving them reasons to care.

Okay? Every single time that I launch the Business Development podcast, guys, we have launch posts. We have videos that go along with our guest episodes. We have cover arts that go along with our guest episodes. We do teaser posts. We are talking about it on LinkedIn, on Instagram, and on YouTube. Okay. We have various platforms that we like to shout it from the rooftops, but I can tell you if I have a new show coming out and you follow me, you are going to know about it.

And that is the strategy that you must take as well. We need to, number one, create a launch post. Share your why. Your audience and your first episodes, let them know you're a podcaster. Let them know the title of your show. Talk about it every chance you get. And heck, if you know other podcasters ask to come on their show, ask to come on their show and share your expertise with them, and then pitch your show.

Okay. Find ways to talk about your show as often and as much as possible, especially at the beginning. Listen, people aren't gonna know about it. The odds that people just organically stumble upon your show as much as we wish that that was the case, they're not that high. We have to educate them. Just like in marketing, just like marketing a product or service, we have to market your podcast.

We gotta get it in front of people. We gotta shout it from the rooftops. We got a business development the heck out of it. Okay? We want to post that thing everywhere. LinkedIn, Instagram X, Facebook, every social media that you got. Get that information out there. It's okay to copy and paste the post, but just make sure that you are telling people about it, that you are talking about each episode release, what you talk about, what the value is for them, and why they should.

Listen, follow and subscribe to you on all platforms. Okay? We wanna leverage groups, guys, LinkedIn groups specifically is super, super powerful for business podcasts. Okay? Once again, I my my lenses are tinted. My lenses are tinted. So much of this is definitely for podcasts in general. It's valuable to pretty much all podcasts, but remember.

The business development podcast that you are listening to right now is a business show. And listen, the biggest online business community there is, it's LinkedIn. It's LinkedIn, okay? And specifically LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn groups has absolutely massive, massive reach. Some of those groups guys have 2 million plus people in them, okay?

Start to leverage LinkedIn groups. Letting people know about your show and make sure you're doing it consistently. We have to get repeated exposure over time. Always record a promo video. Listen, it's 2025, 2026, if you're hearing this. 30 to 60 second short form content that's authentic, straight to the point.

Letting people know that your show exists, what it is, where they can find it. It's gonna be powerful. It's gonna get lots and lots and lots of impressions. Make sure that you're sharing clips, okay? If it's just you and your show and you're not. Comfortable on video? No problem. Share Audiograms. You can make audiograms in Descript, so if that's already part of your show processing formats, you can actually make audiograms right outta Descript.

You may notice that for my individual shows when I launch them, I do typically include audiograms from that episode. Okay. Haven't really been doing it in podcast playbook, but yes, typically I do share audiograms from my individual episodes and I share. Video clips from my guest episodes. Okay, so make sure that you are using audiograms quotes, clips, carousels.

Find ways to let people know what that episode is about and point them to it. Make sure that you were asking for reviews as well, guys. Dm, all warm contacts. If somebody reaches out to you and is like, I loved your show, be like, amazing. Appreciate you endlessly. Do you mind leaving me a review where you listen a rating, a review?

Man, they're powerful guys. They are absolutely powerful. Those reviews, especially ones coming from Apple, Spotify, things like that, they go across the internet. It is incredible how far they go. Do not underestimate the power of ratings and reviews for your show. Ask for them always. Heck, if you can bake that, ask into your outros of every show, okay?

Always ask follow, subscribe, wherever you hear us. It is powerful for organic reach over time. Oh man. My LinkedIn strategy guys has changed so much from the very beginning of marketing the show, but yet still so much has stayed the same For myself and the Business Development podcast, I like to make sure that every single time we launch a new episode, we tease, especially the guest episodes, right?

You have to make sure that you're letting people know for a little while ahead that guest episode is coming at least a day. Give yourself at least a day. Two, three would be a little bit better. To let people know, I have a guest episode coming out with X, Y, Z guest. We talk about this. Here's who they are.

It's valuable guys. We wanna make sure that we're giving a little bit of runway whenever we're doing guest stuff, but when we're doing single post episodes, make sure that you are, you're talking about it, that you're letting people know, Hey, I have a show coming out every Wednesday, especially for the first bit.

People will start to catch on that your release day is Wednesday or Thursday or Tuesday, whatever it is, but make sure that you let people know, Hey, if you like this episode, we have another episode coming out next week. You'll be able to hear it at, let's call it 12:00 AM Eastern Time on Tuesday, whatever.

Let people know endlessly what your show is called, where they can find it, what time it comes out, what time your release is, and how often you plan on releasing, especially in the beginning. Pound it. We wanna make sure that your listeners, the people who really love you, who are gonna follow your show.

Start to make it part of their weekly habits. Okay. Part of what makes that successful for you is making sure that they are aware, very aware of when things are happening, and like I said, with LinkedIn, make sure that you are, you are using clips, right? We live in a time where if you're recording on Riverside, especially your guest episodes, Riverside squad cast, anything like that has the ability to make clips for you.

Opus clips is also a really great option that many of us use, although, can be better, could be worse, whatever. It has ups and downs. But there are lots and lots and lots of of programs out there available to you to help you make video clips to tease and promote your show. So please, wherever possible, take advantage of that 90 second video is powerful.

Powerful right now. Okay, we want to build early momentum wherever possible. Your goal on launch day, remember isn't to go viral. Of course, we wanna go viral, right? All of us wanna go viral, but it's not that. Podcasting is a long game. We have to build momentum. Small wins always stack into big wins over time.

The BDP is a great example of that, guys. It has just been one show after another, after another, but we have absolutely solidified our spot as the largest resource of business development information on the internet. Guaranteed two and a half years of consistent, small wins in the business development world, in the business world.

Okay, it's consistency over time. That will build your success. Consistency over time. Nothing happens as fast as we wish it would, right? It's just that's not the world we live in. It's consistency over time, which is why I tell you guys, commit to 100 episodes when you start. Remember, it's going to take a hundred episodes just to get your feet under you.

It really is. So commit to that a hundred episodes. Show up, come hell or high water, and always release that episode consistently. And it's those small wins over time for you that are gonna stack your show into a big winner. Long term momentum is what keeps you encouraged and what tells your audience that this thing is real.

Remember to just keep at it. Keep releasing episodes, hold to it, hold to your guns. It's not always gonna be easy. Podcasting. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Okay? It's not always gonna be easy. There's gonna be lots of days that you don't feel like it, but it's on the days that you don't feel like it, but show up anyway.

Those are the biggest days in your podcasting career because those are gonna keep the momentum going and that momentum is going to build into. An avalanche for you over time. So what steps do we follow to build that early momentum? Number one, we have to celebrate micro wins. Our first 10 downloads, our first review, our first international listener.

Okay, these are huge. These are huge. I look back and I like threw a little party for myself, guys on my first a hundred downloads, and then my first thousand, I couldn't believe it. We had a. Thousand downloads, a thousand people. Listen to our show now we're like closing in on 300,000 and at the moment right now, but like honestly, 300,000 won't feel as good as a thousand did.

There was something about a thousand that just felt absolutely incredible, and I remember celebrating it with Shelby and the family. Guys celebrate the small wins. Okay? It's absolutely gonna keep you going. Number two, watch your engagement. Listen, shares, reposts, and messages mean more than the raw numbers at first.

Don't worry about those downloads, guys. Screw them. Don't worry about them. They're only gonna cause you headaches and pain in the beginning. It's not going to grow as fast as you wish it would. Nine times outta 10. Okay? I get it. There's unicorns out there where it's like, boom. Oh, we're got 10,000 downloads.

Like that's typically not. How podcasts go. Okay. Just understand that from the beginning. Don't worry about that. Look at what people are saying when you get that first message. Hey, I heard your show. Loved it. Totally resonate with it. Keep going. Thank you for putting that out there. That is the power of podcasting.

Those are the messages that keep podcasters going, okay? Trust me, look for those. Look for that feedback. It will encourage you, it will encourage you and keep you going. I look back to when I released episode 21, guys, I, I released episode 21 and one of our listeners who's actually become a really great friend, sent me a video that was talking about how at 21 episodes, statistically you're in the top 1% of podcasts or something like that.

But it made me feel really good because at 21 episodes I was feeling pretty down. It wasn't growing as fast as I wanted it to. Things weren't seeming to go to plan, and I really needed that encouragement in the moment, right? So don't underestimate the power of those messages. Don't underestimate the power of that support.

Had that message not come at episode 21. Guys, I'm not sure that we would be having this show today. Encourage rankings. We wanna make sure that we are asking for reviews on air and online. Like I said, every chance you get. Ask people to leave you a review. Ask people to follow you. Ask people to tell someone about your show.

Okay? Number four, stay consistent. Make sure that you're dropping your new releases on time, because that shows reliability to your listeners. If they see reliability, they're gonna come back. Number five, make light adjustments. If listeners connect with one style, give them more of it. Watch your shows guys, if you see that one show really outperforms another, ask yourself, what did I do in this show?

Listen to it again. Listen to the show that may be underperformed and see if you can understand the difference. Because when you can lock down that difference and understand what it is people love, do more of that. It is only gonna grow your show over time. Let's cover some of the traps that can kill a podcast before it even gets going.

These are mistakes that I see over and over again, guys. Number one, bad audio. Don't launch until your sound is at least clean and clear. Listen, this is the thing that is going to stop people in their tracks. It's why we put such an emphasis on the production side. That's why I've put a lot of time talking to you guys about.

Editing and plugins and making sure that your audio is perfect. 'cause here's the thing, just like in marketing, if people can't get past the front cover. It doesn't matter how good the content is, your sound is the front cover, okay? Don't launch until your sound is clean and clear. Number two, over hype.

Without a plan, don't build a ton of hype about your show. If you can't maintain consistency. If you're out there promoting your show, talking about your show, and then suddenly you drop three episodes and then you just go radio silent. Guys, that's not gonna be good for your image. It's not gonna be good for your brand.

It's not gonna be good for your show. You're better off to just have consistency over time and have people discover you than to hype hype, hype. Have people super excited, and then let them down. That's gonna be horrible for your show. Number three, expecting chart success. Listen, almost no one charts on day one.

Don't measure yourself against that many of the shows you're competing against. On charts, guys have hundreds and hundreds of episodes. Listen, we do pretty all right on the BDP, and we're still working pretty hard to get into those top charts, okay? It's not easy. It takes consistency over time.

It's a long game if you stay at it. I promise you, you will chart in time, but it's consistency over time. That will get you there. Don't worry about it in the beginning. Number four, ignoring analytics, track downloads, geographies, and platforms. This is important from a few different standpoints. No, I don't want you to obsess over your downloads.

Listen, that number is gonna grow over time. Don't worry about it. If you have a show and people are messaging you and telling you that they like it within the first month or two, you're fine. You're fine. Your show is going to do great. Don't worry about it. Once again, it's consistency. Over time, the downloads will come as your episode count increases.

Okay? As you start to approach 50, a hundred episodes, you're gonna start to see spikes in your downloads, okay? Because people are finding your show and now they have a catalog to listen to, not just three or four episodes. You wanna make sure that when people find you, they have a catalog to go back on.

One of the big successes of the business development podcast. Is our massive back catalog of, at this point, 200 plus episodes, nearly 300 episodes of back catalog episodes. Those are powerful. When people find us for the first time, they have nine full days of content as of this recording to catch up.

Nine days. That's where the downloads come in. Guys, don't worry about it. Your downloads will increase. As your content numbers increase, it's inevitable. But in the beginning, we still want to understand how our audience is finding us and listening to us because it will help us as we try to expand the show later.

Okay? So start to track where are people listening? Are they listening in your country? Are they listening in countries from around the world? Are they listening on the computer? Are they listening on mobile? Are they listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or one of the other numerous listening platforms?

Try to understand as much about your listener as possible so you can understand how to target them and find more of them later. Okay. Number five, not enough content in the pipeline. We wanna make sure that we are starting to build a back catalog of episodes as quickly as possible. Okay, so we talked about in the beginning, batch releasing.

In the beginning four to five episodes. Great idea. It is a great idea. Like I said, I didn't do it, but I didn't do it because one, I didn't know better. And two. I was releasing episodes two a week, so it was very quick. It was only a couple of weeks until I had five or six episodes, right? But had I started with maybe five or six episodes, it's possible that my launch might've been better.

So making sure that you have content in the pipeline, understanding that your download numbers are gonna go up. The more shows you have, because it's simply more shows for people to catch up on, is going to be a motivator in the beginning to start to release consistently and make sure that you're getting up to that 20, 30, 40 episodes as quickly as you can.

Now, let's zoom out. This is the truth of podcasting. Success doesn't come overnight. The average show dies after episode seven, guys, seven. Most people quit before they've even given themselves a chance. I truly believe at this point, guys, you need about a hundred episodes before you quit. I really, really mean that.

Commit to 100 episodes because it takes that long to start to get your traction, especially when you're competing out there against, let's call it 5 million podcasts at this point. We have to make sure that we are showing up consistently and stacking the odds in our favor that our show becomes successful.

It's going to take like a hundred episodes. If you stick with it and you commit to 100 episodes, your odds of success skyrocket. And I really mean that skyrocket. Here's how to survive the long game. Number one, accept small beginnings. Treat your first 10 listeners like gold. And I'm not even kidding. They are like gold.

They're incredible. They're choosing you over everything else they could be listening to appreciate them endlessly. Number two, stay consistent. Weekly publishing beat sporadic drops. Choose your launch schedule. Stick to it. Hell or high water burst pipes, births, whatever. Figure out a way to release your show on the days you say you will on whatever release schedule you choose.

Number three, build Your Back Catalog. Always aim to be one to two episodes ahead. Guys in guest recording on the Business Development Podcast, we are actually 50 plus episodes ahead. So pick what you wanna do that might be excessive for a lot of you, and, and it took a long time to get there. But always make sure that you have a couple episodes in your back pocket, just in case.

Number four, look at monthly growth. Don't obsess over daily spikes. Zoom out and see the trends. Is your show growing over time? If it's growing or staying consistent over time, you're doing fine. Stick with it. Number five, play the long game. Give yourself a one year minimum commitment, one year a hundred shows before you judge your results.

I guarantee you that if you do that, you will be happy with what happens for you. Give yourself. The time to win. That's been my story with the Business Development Podcast guys. My first year was small, but I kept showing up and over time people began to trust that I wasn't going anywhere. And that trust has turned into hundreds of thousands of listeners across dozens of countries.

And here's the mindset shift. You're not just releasing a podcast, you're actually building a library. Every episode you publish is a brick in the wall. That can serve people tomorrow, next month, and even five to 10 years from now. That is the compounding magic of podcasting. So let's pause and celebrate.

You've launched your podcast and that puts you in rare company. Most people talk about starting a show. You actually did it. You can now call yourself a podcaster, but launch day isn't the finish line. It's the starting gun from here. The work is about reach, repetition, and growth, and that's exactly where we're headed in part nine of Podcast Playbook.

We're diving into marketing and growth, and I'm gonna walk you through how I took the Business Development podcast from a handful of listeners to a global audience. Everything from leveraging guest. To creating content clips, to growing organically on LinkedIn and beyond. You've launched your podcast.

That's massive. Now let's make sure the right people hear it. Okay, that takes us to the end of today's show, guys, if you enjoyed this show. I would love, love, love to invite you to join us inside of The Catalyst Club. Okay. The Catalyst Club was built for you. It's built for podcasters, entrepreneurs, and leaders of all types.

It is a community built on privacy, safety, support, and peers. It's a community of people who get you, who want to support you, who want to build your dream with you. Join us, KellyKennedyofficial.com. And also, guys, please remember, just like in this episode, please leave us a review. Wherever you listen, rate, subscribe, and follow us on your platforms of choice.

Until next time, you've been listening to the Business Development Podcast and we'll catch you on the flip side.

Outro: This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry, and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization. Is in customer relationship generation and business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website @ www.capitalbd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.