205 | Why Your Podcast Isn’t Growing (And It’s Not What You Think)

[00:00:00] What if the real reason your podcast isn't growing has nothing to do with your marketing? Yeah, well, in this episode, we're not hacking some algorithm or fixing the foundation. Let's make your podcast worth sharing.

[00:00:20] Sound matters. Be heard. Welcome to the podcast where you get exclusive behind the scenes tips to make your own show sound truly spectacular. This is Podtastic Audio. What's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I am Chris and you clicked on the right show at the right time, baby.

[00:00:46] This is the world famous Podtastic Audio. You know, I designed this show for you so you can design your amazing show. I love podcasts. I love audio creation. I love all things audio. And if you want to make something amazing for yourself, you got to check out Riverside.fm. Today's episode is brought to you by Riverside, a platform that I really, really enjoy when I'm recording remote interviews for Podtastic Audio here.

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[00:02:53] So, on the very last episode of PODTASTIC audio right here, I was talking about how the other podcast and other podcasting gurus about podcasting seem to lack the fundamental part about making a great podcast that's worth sharing. They jump right into the marketing side of things. Your content is fine. Your episode is fine. Your shows are great.

[00:03:17] Let me tell you how you can sell and buy and maybe you can buy my thing, which can help promote your thing. Buy from me because I'm going to promote your podcast and market it and get you millions of downloads. Wouldn't that be amazing? Is your show good? I don't care if it's good. We're going to market it anyways. That's what they do. And that's exactly what I talked about in the last episode. But here, check this out. Great marketing by itself will make bad podcasts look huge.

[00:03:45] But it can't make them better. If you want real podcast growth, you don't need a funnel. You don't need paid ads. You definitely don't need another course. That's for sure. You need a show that's actually worth sharing. So, we're going to fix that today. Okay. So, maybe you've asked yourself, why isn't my show growing? Now, this is probably a big one for every single indie podcaster out there.

[00:04:14] Why is my show growing? Everybody else's show seems to be growing. They're bragging about all these great numbers they're getting, all these amazing things. Why isn't my show growing? I mean, you've probably done all the right things, right? I mean, maybe you posted on social media. Maybe you made the algorithms, the videograms. You did the video stuff. You did all that stuff. Maybe even dropped some cash on marketing. But nothing is really moving. Now, here's something that the gurus will never, ever tell you.

[00:04:42] Your show might not be ready to grow yet. Hey, and that is okay. That just means you're in the getting good right now phase. And that is totally okay. That is the normal thing that happens with any and every content creator, especially a podcaster. Because podcasting does not rely on these algorithms to market the show for us. I know algorithms can swing one way or the other.

[00:05:10] But with podcasting, you need somebody out there really pushing the show, marketing the show for you or a team or something. But marketing a show by itself, especially a bad show. If you market a bad show, you know what happens? It just multiplies the problem. It highlights. It's like highlighter for your show, your bad show at that. And because people see they're not really growing their show, they feel like they know everything there is to know about podcasts.

[00:05:38] And they feel they know everything there is to create content. And let me tell you, I've been doing this for a little while and I still don't know everything. I'm constantly learning new things and new ways and new ideas and new strategies and new formats. And I'm always evolving and thinking that maybe we can try it like this or maybe like that. Or this program might be better, that program. But programs aside, for the most part, most programs do essentially the same thing. It's really up to us to create the amazing content. That's what people seem to forget.

[00:06:07] We create the amazing content. By saying it into a microphone, maybe video camera, maybe both, it doesn't really matter. But the problem is that most people quit here because they think they're failing. They're actually not. They're just not done learning yet. There's an evolution that takes place with podcasting. There's an evolution as a content creator. You need to learn to evolve. You need to have some patience. Growth is not your first job. It's not the main point of your podcast.

[00:06:37] Growth is not the main point. The main point of your show should be getting better. And that was the thing about Chris and Christine's show when I first got involved with the show was that I was always looking for better ways to create something amazing. Better ways to record. Better ways to edit. Better ways to bring on good stories from guests. Better ways to enhance the listening experience. Whether through better audio.

[00:07:05] Trying to figure out which ways to make the audio sound great. Upgrading the gear. Now, this does not have to be expensive. Simple stuff. Figuring out which tools work best for your situation. Because not everybody has the same computer. And not everybody has the same space to record in. Not everybody has a studio built in their garage that's all decked out with cameras and lighting and all kinds of studio stuff. Not everybody has that. So, work with what you have. But also, think about the listener.

[00:07:36] Think about the listener's experience. What are they listening to? What are they hearing? What are they getting out of it? And that's what I did with the Chris and Christine show. And especially with this show right here. Podtastic Audio. It's all for you, the listener. That's why I do this. Okay, so think of it like this. Imagine you're trying to grow a show that isn't working yet. It's kind of like pouring gas on wet firewood. It just smokes at your motivation.

[00:08:01] And then you start to pod fade like all of the other millions of shows that started in 2020 that are probably gone now. As a matter of fact, I was just on Instagram today. And I was looking through different things it recommended to me. Because Instagram will recommend like check out this account or that account. And if they say podcast in the name, usually I'll follow them. But lately I've been going in there and actually looking at their very last post. And I've noticed a trend. It's like last post was made 2021.

[00:08:30] And I'm like, wait a second. We're 2025. So why would I follow a show that's obviously dead if they don't post anything? But getting back to podcasting here. What makes a show worth sharing? Hmm, that's an interesting question. What does make a show worth sharing? Well, okay. So check this out. How do you actually get good at your podcast?

[00:08:56] What makes a podcast so good that people actually want to share it without you begging to share it? Because you've probably seen that on social media. Now, let's talk about the four core things that every podcaster absolutely needs to nail down. Are you ready? Here we go. So number one, your audio quality has to be amazing.

[00:09:23] Your audio quality has to be so good that you don't have to apologize for it. Because I've heard some shows. Oh, my goodness. I'm sorry. Our microphone isn't working today. Or Susie is our audio editor. And she's not doing the audio editing today. So we're doing it ourselves. And it's just a raw recording from Zoom and blah, blah, blah. Or even worse, they'll blame the guest. They'll blame the guest all day. Oh, sorry for our interview today. Our guest did not have the greatest microphone. Our guest did not have this. Did not have that.

[00:09:54] You need to stop doing that. I mean, can you imagine if you're buying a car from somebody and you go to test drive the car and the guy's like, well, the tires are bald. They're flat. They go flat all the time. The engine barely starts. I'm so sorry for this car. I'm so sorry. Please buy it from me. Please buy it and give me a bunch of money. I'm sorry for the car, but please buy it anyways. Like, I don't know. I don't know if I want to buy this car now. So when it comes to audio quality here, you don't need a studio. I do not have a studio.

[00:10:22] I have a spare bedroom here, which had some stuff just rearranged in this room lately because we're selling the house, obviously. So we're making this house and this room look a little more presentable, I guess, as for the staging and the open house coming up next week or this weekend. And so it might have a little bit of reverb in this room. And that's okay. I've got some tools that can kind of handle it. My Rodecaster Pro 2 does have some features built into the processing, which can handle some of that stuff. It's okay.

[00:10:51] Like I say, your audio does not need to be like over-the-top studio radio quality. It does help, but it does not have to be that. But it doesn't have to be is this echo chamber, one microphone, five feet away from the person in an echo city, just real bad reverb, low quality, where you have to like crank the knob on your radio or phone full blast just to make out what they're saying. No, not like that at all.

[00:11:19] Just work on removing the basic things. I'm talking about the background noises. Don't have a lawnmower going on next door or perhaps anything really noisy going on like a vacuum cleaner. In fact, I was trying to do a podcast a little while ago, and the cleaners were here, and they were vacuuming the next room. I had to wait until they were done so that I could start recording. And I thought that maybe the Rodecaster with its noise gate would help fix that stuff. What a noise gate really does is that it really mutes out the parts when you're not talking.

[00:11:50] But if I'm talking, then it's going to all get mishmashed together for the most part, really. It's kind of how a noise gate works. And you can kind of tell with some shows when they're using a heavily noise gate, when you can hear when they're not talking, it goes completely silent. But when they start talking, they have this like hum or hiss or something with their audio track. That's a noise gate in full effect. And then add in some noise reduction. Use the noise reduction feature built right into Audacity for free.

[00:12:18] There's no discount code for that. It's all free. Download it today. Maybe you're using it right now. Audacity is great. I still use Audacity. I'm using it right now. I'm recording right into Audacity right now. And use some of these tools that they give you for free to clean up your audio. Maybe mic pops. That's just mic technique type stuff. I mean, we all go through these things. But if you can enhance your audio quality for free, use what you have and use it well.

[00:12:45] Basically, if your audio sounds like it's recorded in a bathroom during a hurricane, dude, nobody's sticking around for that. Moving on to number two, clarity on who you're talking to. Now, what does this mean? It means that you need to be crystal clear on who your podcast is for. This is a hard one nailed down.

[00:13:12] When you get excited about podcasting, first at your show, I made this very, very same mistake. When I started the Chris Christine Show, I based it on regular terrestrial radio. I based it on the morning shows that I listened to and the generic chit chat that you hear on talk shows, the Today Show, Good Morning America. shows like that was basically the baseline for the Chris Christine Show, which is pretty much like anybody.

[00:13:42] Anybody can listen to those shows, pretty much everybody. But that wasn't a crystal clear idea on who the podcast actually was for. So I made the mistake of trying to be for everyone. I want you to not make that mistake. Don't make the same mistake that I did. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Be something to someone. It's not about having a niche for the algorithm.

[00:14:08] It's about making a listener say, wow, amazing. This is exactly what I needed to hear today. And you can do that by knowing exactly who you're talking to. Okay, moving on to number three. And this is a big one. Hey, I guess they're all big ones if you ask me. But we're talking about consistency. And going along with that consistency is trust. Because consistency and trust go hand in hand.

[00:14:38] So when it comes to consistency, now I know it's difficult because I'm going to be moving soon. And my consistency with release dates is probably going to shift. I do not know when. I'm going to record as much as I possibly can up until the point I can't. And it's not because I don't want a podcast. And it's not because I got something better to do. It's because I might not have physical capabilities to record an episode without the gear I'm using right now.

[00:15:07] And if I do record episodes, it might be with a Samsung Q2U and my laptop MacBook. Very simple gear, which you can use right now. It's a great setup for simple podcasting, which I may end up doing once I box all this stuff up here. And it's in storage or wherever it's at, moving from house to house, which might be coming in a few weeks or a few months from now. And I'm being completely honest with you. And hopefully this builds trust. Honesty goes hand in hand with trust.

[00:15:37] So I know that when you do a podcast, especially as an indie podcaster, there's some things you can do. You can batch record episodes way in advance. And I'm working on that right now. But it does get difficult because you do have to dedicate the day to do the batch recording. If you don't have a full day to do that, then you're back to doing how many episodes you can do in that time frame. But when it comes to consistency, show up when you say you will.

[00:16:06] It definitely will matter for the audience. If you release a show, Mismash whenever, whenever you feel like it, blows with the wind, whenever your show comes out. Now, the audience that subscribes to your show, your show definitely will pop up in their podcast feed. But since you haven't released an episode in a while, that might be like, oh, that's cool. Joe does a podcast. I remember it's been a while since Joe released an episode. But I see he popped up in my feed. You know what?

[00:16:35] I'll get to Joe later because I got other ones that I'm really into right now. I'm into these shows right now. I'm going to put Joe back on the back burner. He's not going to be top of mind anymore. I'll get to him when I get to him. That's where you're going to sit if you are so inconsistent with your releasing of your show. So if you say you're going to release your episodes every Friday, well, guess what? You better deliver on what you actually say because consistency builds credibility.

[00:17:03] Without it, you're just another one-hit wonder. And I know there are a lot of indie shows that try to get the big-name guest on their show because they think, I don't know why they think this, but they think that if I just get this big-name A-lister on my show today, my show is going to have this amazing episode, one-hit wonder. And then all of a sudden from that one show, everybody's going to love my podcast. And they're going to want to subscribe to it. Right? Right?

[00:17:33] Well, you're not having that big A-lister on every day. You're just having them on that one episode. So why would they stick around for the next episode? Hmm. How does that work? So just imagine if your favorite TV show just, you know, didn't air one week with no explanation. Poof, gone. You'd stop checking in for it. Same thing goes with your podcast.

[00:17:56] Okay, moving on to the fourth and final thing today to help you figure out your show and figure out why it's not growing. This is a real important one. I said it the last time, but this is really an actual real important one that almost every single indie podcaster does. Without a doubt, I did this myself. And that is because we have other shows we look up to. We have other influencers we admire.

[00:18:24] We have other people that do shows already. And we say, I like to do a show like them. So what happens is that we're not using our real voice. We're just copying somebody else's voice. You need to work on your own real tone and your own real voice. Stop copying somebody else's.

[00:18:47] You know, stop trying to copy your favorite guru, your favorite YouTuber, your favorite podcast, your favorite whatever. Listen, I've made all these mistakes. I've done it all. And it's taken me some time to get comfortable making a podcast the way I want to do it in my own tone, the way I like to talk and the way I am in person. The way I'm on the show right here is exactly how I am in person. I kid you not.

[00:19:16] This is exactly how I am when I'm talking to people. And if I ever do live presentations, you'll see this for sure. I don't know if I ever do that. I might. I would like to someday. I don't know. I'll have to wait and see how that all pans out for me. But the point is this. Stop trying to copy somebody else. Be your own thing. Do your own thing. Your voice is what really matters. Be conversational. Be you. Don't try to be somebody else. There's already that person out here. Don't try to be exactly what they do.

[00:19:46] Just do what you do. You know, your real voice is what builds trust. Not some like fake radio voice. You know, you've heard them. These fake over-the-top radio personalities. This whole big thing they do where it sounds like they're trying to sell you something with every word they say into the microphone. No. Don't be like that. Be you. Be real. You know why somebody actually subscribes to your show versus somebody else's show

[00:20:14] that covers the exact same content. You want to wonder why they actually do that? It's because authenticity isn't a trend. It's the reason someone becomes a fan. And you get to that point by actually being real and being yourself, not a copy of somebody else. I think today in this day and age, we almost can tell when a content creator, no matter what platform they're using,

[00:20:41] you almost can tell they're trying to copy somebody else or they're trying to try too hard to look and sound like somebody else. I've seen it. I've seen it. You've probably seen it too. And I'm like, well, how hard is it to be yourself? Just be real. The listeners will really, really appreciate that. In fact, almost every single comment I get or email I get or DM I get about this show right here,

[00:21:04] every compliment has been mostly about authenticity, my real voice, me being real, me being honest, me being truthful, me being me on this show versus some other show. Because it's probably, like I said, a lot of other shows about podcasting. And I doubt it that they are as real and transparent and authentic as I am. And that is probably why you're here. And I thank you so much for that.

[00:21:31] Okay, so now that you're building something real, something that sounds good, helps people, and actually feels like you yourself, what happens next? What do we do? Well, that's when you start to see what I like to call real growth. Not fake follower counts, not viral one-hit spikes. I mean the stuff that keeps you actually podcasting. Now, I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again.

[00:21:58] I would rather prefer to have actual real listener feedback and engagement than thousands and thousands of downloads. Downloads mean nothing. They mean nothing if nobody ever says anything about your show. No one ever says, great job, I loved it. So if a listener sends you a DM, say thank you. You got it in your power to say thank you.

[00:22:23] Every single person that says you did a great show or DMs you or text messages you or something, something about your show, thank them. You are not big time. You are not too big to say thank you. Say thank you. If you record guest interviews and the guest actually shares the episode without you even asking, hey, that's what I do when I'm a guest. I share the episode without asking. That's what something that I do. I know not every guest does that. But say thank you.

[00:22:53] Highlight them. That is a win. When somebody actually shares your show that you did not tell them to share, if it was totally on their own, they went ahead and shared your episode, that is high praise. That is amazing. That is something well worth more than getting 1,000 randos to listen to your show. That means that somebody actually listened to it and is willing to physically share this. Now I know not all guests like to share episodes. I know that.

[00:23:22] Not all guests like to listen to the episode. Like why would I listen to it? I was on the episode. Why would I even listen to it? I like to listen to stuff. I like to share stuff. So if you ever have me on your show as a guest, I will promise you, I will definitely share the episode. I'll probably share it before you share it. That's what I'm saying. And those things make us content creators and podcasters feel so awesome. It's so amazing when somebody actually shares your stuff that you didn't ask for.

[00:23:51] It's so great. So say, for example, a listener of your show shares your episode in a Facebook group, a Reddit thread, a post on X or post on Blue Sky. They share it by themselves without you asking them to do that. How would that make you feel? I know how it makes me feel. It feels amazing. Way better than having a million downloads on a single episode. I can tell you that much because it means that you actually care. You listen.

[00:24:21] The things that I say resonate and the things that I do matter. They matter to you. That's real proof. That's real growth. That's what really matters is when somebody physically says, hey, I love your show. I'm going to share it out to my followers all by myself. You don't have to ask. You don't have to tell them. They just do it. And I remember a while ago on Podtastic Audio, it had to be somewhere around episode 30-ish,

[00:24:51] somewhere in that ballpark range. I was doing an episode on podcast media hosts. I was basically saying that one podcast media host is as good as another podcast media host. And if you remember back in 2020 in the pandemic days, when some podcasters were saying online, they're saying, oh, we're switching from Podbean over to this platform or from Buzzsprout to here or wherever. And they're balancing around letting everybody know that they're switching providers and all this great stuff.

[00:25:20] And they're thinking that if I switch providers from, say, Buzzsprout to Podbean or Podbean back to Buzzsprout or wherever they go, they're going to know that their audience is going to care, that their listeners are going to give a crap where they're hosting their show. And the truth is, they don't. It's like a chef, for example. I said this on the show. I said, if you were going to a fancy restaurant and you order the best steak they have,

[00:25:50] and it's delicious and it's amazing, and the chef cooked it amazingly well and exactly how you like it, best meal you ever had, greatest steak ever, do you care what farm the cow came from? Probably not. And so when I said that on the podcast, somebody, some random person on X was Twitter back then, actually quoted that very same statement on X. And they quoted me and tagged me on it.

[00:26:19] So they actually quoted my show on social media all by themselves. That is powerful. Something I said resonated with them to make them want to do that because they were listening and the words that I said actually matter. They meant something to them. They were actually listening to my show. Authenticity does that. Making an amazing show does that. And those are the things that really make the difference.

[00:26:46] Those are the things that make me want to keep podcasting. It's not because I hit 5 million downloads or whatever. It's not because of that. It's because you matter. I do the show for you, and you actually have proven that you enjoy the things I do on this show because you've mentioned it to me directly. And that's the kind of growth that doesn't show up in your Buzzsprout dashboard. It shows up in your email box, your DMs,

[00:27:14] and in your motivation to keep creating. Hey, listen up here. You don't need to go viral. You don't need a masterclass or a template bundle. You just need to make a better show. One that sounds good, has a purpose, and treats your listeners like they matter. That's what it's really about. Forget the funnels. Build a podcast that actually connects. That's how you grow. That's how you win.

[00:27:41] And that's how you stay proud of what you're putting into the world. So if this episode made an impact, if this episode made a difference, if this episode hit home for you, shoot me a message. Send me a DM. I'm on social media. You can find out all my social media links at podtasticaudio.com. In fact, you also can send me a message directly right there at podtasticaudio.com. And if you want to, it could be cool. If you could share this episode out with another indie podcaster

[00:28:10] who actually needs to hear this. We're all trying to figure this thing out together. I'm an indie show. You're an indie show. We're all indie podcasters in this together. And I'm here to help you make your show worth listening to in the first place. That is the only goal of Podtastic Audio because I love creating podcasts. I love doing this. So I share my love of doing this with you so you can make an amazing show of your very own. That's what it's all about.

[00:28:38] And you keep on making your amazing show. And until next time, happy podcasting.