Sustainable Podcast Growth: A Mom Podcaster Roundtable

Links

• Join the waitlist for Pinterest Magic for Podcasters (launches Sept 29 – get $10 off!)⁠
• Follow me on Instagram⁠
• Candace’s podcast: The Podcasting Mentor: Better Brave⁠
• Scotti’s podcast: Unlocking School Success⁠
• Kristen’s podcast: Amplify Ambition⁠
• Ashley’s podcast: Taboo Science⁠
• Erin & Heather’s podcast: Three Kitchens⁠
• Sarah & Kenzie’s podcast: Cosmic Group Chat⁠
• Rachel’s podcast: Teenagers Untangled

Unedited transcript of the episode:

 Hi, I’m Andy Smiley, your friendly podcast guide and the podcast coach for moms who want to grow their podcast without burning out. I share practical podcast tips, stories from my own journey and wisdom from some of the smartest podcasters out there. Today I’m trying out something new. I asked seven mom podcasters for their best advice, and I’m gonna share their nuggets with you.

And add my own commentary so you feel guided and not overwhelmed.

At the end, I’ll wrap everything up into just one next step so you leave clear and confident. Before we get into today’s round table of advice, let me share something that completely shifted how I market my podcast. This summer I stopped chasing Instagram and leaned into Pinterest.

And you know what? My podcast kept growing without me glued to my phone. One pin has more than 6,000 views and it’s still sending listeners my way, months later. That’s why I created Pinterest magic for podcasters.

So you can do the same. It’s my step-by-step system that takes less than an hour a week and helps mom podcasters finally market their show without burning out. The wait list is open now. The link is in the show notes, and if you join, you’ll get $10 off when it launches on Monday, September 29th.

And that’s exactly why I wanted to bring in other moms advice today because sustainable podcasting is all about finding what works for you and letting go of the rest.

Let’s start with mindset, because honestly, that’s where so many of us get stuck. Candace, the host of podcasting mentor, better brave, reminds us that imposter syndrome doesn’t need to be our constant companion.

 Start where you’re at. I think that the, one of the biggest holdups, or that I see all the time is thinking that we don’t know enough. We, we feel like we need a degree, we need credentials, a certification. We need to have more clients. We need to reach this certain bar in our head that we’ve decided for ourselves, and it’s just this myth, mythical thing that we’ve decided on.

And so we can decide differently. We can decide that actually we have experience and we have knowledge, and we have value to bring to the world. And that there is someone and. Probably a lot more than just one person looking for you and your take specifically, right? They haven’t connected with you or me, and they are waiting for you.

Your take, how you do things, what you’re about, your message, your vibe, your value, and that there, there are people like that for all of us, and that’s why we all need to, to use our voice and we need to stop thinking that we don’t know enough. We aren’t experienced enough. Someone else knows more than us, quite frankly.

Yes, someone else does. Those people, uh, that are looking for you though. They want you and where you’re at. And so you can get people to exactly where you’ve gotten yourself to, that makes you the expert. So starting where you’re at, um, and not waiting to, you know, feel like you’re ready or have more credentials.

I love that because not only does it apply to someone who has been thinking about starting a podcast but hasn’t done it yet, but I feel like it also applies to a podcaster who’s been podcasting for a year or two, but they’re like worried to. Ask someone to be a guest on their show that they think is like too big for them or they’re worried to apply for awards or whatever.

So yeah. I love that advice.

Scotty host of the Unlocking School Success Podcast has advice that is perfect for all of us, no matter where you are in the podcasting journey.

She says, I just started my podcast in June. My best advice is to just take the leap. Yes, it’s work, but it’s also fun and interesting. I spent too much time worried that it was going to add too much to my plate or that it would be too difficult. Just dive in, make some mistakes, and keep going.

Scotty’s, right? Waiting until life slows down is a myth. Podcasting will always take some energy, but it’s also fun and deeply fulfilling. The first messy step is what actually creates momentum. Okay, so once you’ve started, the next challenge is staying in it without burning out.

Let’s talk about protecting your energy.

And this is where you get to hear my biggest piece of advice as a mom podcaster, and that is to take intentional breaks. I know you’ve heard this from me before, but I am just gonna keep saying it until everyone is doing it. Having a seasonal show is what will make sure that you don’t burn out, especially when you’re a team of one.

And this is why I coach moms to think in seasons. It builds rest and flexibility into your plan. From the start. Kristen, the host of Amplify Ambition, gives us all the reminder that I know we need sometimes.

She says, my advice is that nothing needs to be perfect. Sometimes done is good enough to move to the next task.

Yes. Perfectionism is one of the sneakiest causes of pod fade. Your listeners need your words not perfect. Editing. Ashley, the host of Taboo Science gives us practical advice that we might not want to hear. 

I get up before my kids. I know that that’s like. Everybody says to do that. Uh, I think it only works if you are truly a morning person. Um, I am, so it works. Um, but yeah, I get up, I get up an hour before my kids do, and then I work on my podcast for that hour every single day.

Um, so that it, it always feels like I’m making forward progress.  

I love this and I’ll add, find the rhythm that works for your season of motherhood and your personal preferences.

Morning might work for you or maybe nap time, or maybe batching during a weekend.

Erin and Heather, the host of three Kitchens, gives the advice that I wish someone would’ve told me when I first started podcasting.

They say be okay with interruptions. Even when you have a guest, they’ll understand

and be flexible with your schedule. Kids have a way of throwing in the wrenches.

I couldn’t agree more kids throw curve balls instead of fighting it, build podcasting into the reality of mom life. Imperfection makes your show relatable, not unprofessional. There were so many times when I first started my podcast that my kids would interrupt and at first I was so.

Frustrated about it, but then I realized that it just made me more human. And most of the time I could edit it out and it wasn’t that big of a deal. And usually I’d put it at the end as part of a blooper, and people always loved that part of the episode the most anyway. Now, let’s shift into systems because they’re what make long-term consistency possible.

We heard from Candace earlier, But she also had some advice about her specialty podcast Guesting.

 Be intentional and to, uh, first step in my process always is to find your speaking topics. I call ’em your niche topics. Having three on hand is. What I like to go with, being very specific and, um, true to what you do and your message and the services you provide, because so many people aren’t doing that.

As a host, you probably know you’re getting bad pitches, email pitches, they’re just ick, right? You can’t even keep a straight face. They’re so bad. Um, and so if you do that, you are gonna be way ahead of the game and as a host, a podcast host, all that we care about when you come to us. Pitch to be on the show is, have you listened to the show?

Have you done your homework? And number two, the biggest thing is what kind of value are you gonna bring your audience? And so if you’ve done that and you’ve thought that out, um, that’s gonna be huge. It’s gonna be an easy yes or no. And the the yeses are then gonna be so aligned and put you in front of the warmest audience, people that are possibly already searching for your services, and they just haven’t found you yet.

And so getting you in that room is key. But it also ensures that, uh, the host is gonna ask you questions that are in your zone of genius. And that’s how you are gonna be positioned as the expert, the authority thought as the go-to in your industry when you guest and have an actual plan, instead of just doing it excitedly having no strategy.

And that, that’s fine too. But if you want it to help grow your business, to help provide visibility, there’s a plan and some strategy that we need to put in place.

Having a plan and a system for being a podcast guest really is the key to make sure that it’s helping your show grow, and not just wasting your time.

Sarah and Kenzie, the hosts of Cosmic Group Chat give this great advice about staying ahead they say after podcasting for their last five years. I think batching episodes would actually be my biggest piece of advice. The way to win at podcasting is through consistency and you never know when your schedule might need to unexpectedly change as a mom. So staying ahead allows you to have flexibility when needed. I completely agree. Batching is the secret weapon. Even two episodes ahead buys you peace of mind when a week goes sideways. Rachel, the host of Teenagers Untangled, gives us advice on using all of the amazing tools that are out there.

 So my best advice is it’s all about AI and I use it in two different ways. One is I use podcast for editing. Now. I used to use Adobe and it’s so complicated and so much more clunky, and I found podcast. It’s got a magic dust button that you can press and it just cleans up all your audio. It’s amazing, and I can put my video in there as well and edit really, really simply.

It’s very, very simple editing. But it’s very effective and quick. So number one, love that. Number two, I use Otter ai. I don’t know, I haven’t looked at a lot of the other programs out there, but I’ve been using it for a long time and I now use it once I’ve got the transcription. I use it to give me my top sort of five points that came outta a podcast episode so that I can use them on social media for reels or on threads, just to make points, and I find a really quick, effective way of just speeding everything up and making life easier.

Love it.

And another thing that I used to do meticulously was I used to take out all the ums and ahs and little filler words. And I’m now much less careful about that. And the reason for that is I think people like authenticity. They don’t really. Need it to be a perfect recording.

I do think if people kept using fill words like, you know, you know, you know, then that can get annoying. But mostly just leave them in, let it breathe, and people appreciate the authenticity.

I co-sign this all the way. Use the tools that make your life easier and don’t over edit the ums out of your episodes. It kind of takes away the humanity. Authenticity is part of your connection as a podcaster.

Ashley, the host of Taboo Science, we heard from her a little bit earlier, also gave advice about AI tools that I just had to include.

 I use AI tools a ton. Um, I have a project set up in Claude that knows, all of the transcripts of all of my episodes. So if I ask it a question about something that I’m trying to figure out.

Uh, what to do. It can give me really like, well thought out advice. I use it to suggest guests and then research all of their work in past interviews and then give me a little research report to, to kind of tell me everything about them, and then that lets me. Write interview questions, and then I feed the interview questions back into the project and let it kind of tell me where, what I’m missing or how I could phrase things better.

Um, and the last time I interviewed somebody using this process, they said, oh my gosh, you have really. Like done a lot of research on me and I was like, yes, I did it. Um, so things like that, I mean, ai, AI tools really, saved my butt a lot, because, you know, we are all strapped for time and they, they help me, make things more efficient.

This is such a smart example of using AI to save time while leveling up. The more prepared you are, the more confident and professional you’ll feel as a host. So if all this advice feels like a lot, here’s the big picture.

Start before you’re ready. Protect your energy with intentional breaks, flexibility and letting go of perfection. And build systems, and use tools so you can stay consistent without exhausting yourself. And if you only try one thing this week, let go of perfectionism in some small way.

Publish the episode, leave in some ums or hit upload. Even if your hair wasn’t perfectly done for YouTube. Every step you take makes you a stronger podcaster. If this episode helped you, would you share it with a mom podcaster friend?

And don’t miss next week, I’ll be walking you step by step through using SEO for your podcast. Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next week.