Podcasting tips for content creators who already have an audience

Podcasting tips for content creators

You already have an audience. That's a great position. It's also where most creators get podcasting wrong.

Most podcasting tips are written for someone starting from zero. Pick a topic. Buy a microphone. Choose a host.

That's not you. You already post. You already know what a hook is. You already have people who watch what you make.

So it feels like a podcast should be easy from here. Point your followers at it. Hit record. Watch it grow.

It rarely works like that. I've edited thousands of episodes over seventeen years in broadcasting with RTÉ, the BBC and MTV. I've watched dozens of successful creators and well known personalities launch a podcast and quietly stop. Not because they lacked an audience. Because they assumed the audience would do the work.

These are the podcasting tips I'd give a content creator, not a beginner.

01Your audience won't follow you over

A big following on another platform does not mean those people want a podcast from you.

A new podcast plays by the same rules whether you have ten followers or a million. Before anything else, it needs three answers.

1. Why does this podcast exist?Not why you want one. Why the world needs this one, from you, now.
2. Who is it for?A specific person you could picture. Not "my followers." Not "anyone who likes my stuff."
3. What is it going to change for them?What will they know, feel or be able to do after an episode that they couldn't before?

If you can't answer those clearly, your existing audience won't save it. They'll check out the first episode out of goodwill. Then they'll go back to what they followed you for.

02Your shorts audience is not your long form audience

Just because someone watches your shorts doesn't mean they want your content in long form.

They're different audiences. Someone scrolling past a forty second clip is in a completely different mood to someone choosing to spend an hour with you. Different attention. Different expectations. Often different people altogether.

Short formCaught in passing. One idea. Over in seconds. They didn't choose you, the feed did.

Long formChosen on purpose. Sustained attention. They came because the topic matters to them.

So treat them separately. Clip your episodes, by all means. But a clip is its own piece of content for its own audience. It isn't a trailer that will funnel people into the full episode.

The long form show has to win its own audience, on its own terms.

03Entertainment is the hardest niche there is

This is where most well known people come unstuck.

"Ask me anything." "Just hanging out." "Light entertainment." Two people chatting about whatever comes up. It sounds fun. It feels like the natural next step for a personality with a following.

It almost never works as a podcast. I've seen it fail over and over, for creators and for famous names.

Being known is not a reason to listen. A general conversation gives nobody a specific reason to press play, and no reason at all to come back next week.

Every podcast has to earn its place by giving someone a very, very specific reason to listen.

Your reputation might get you the first click. Only that reason gets you the second episode.

04If you start with the guest list, it's over

I've seen this over and over from big broadcasters, RTÉ included. They assume a good podcast means a good guest.

It doesn't. A good guest doesn't give anyone a reason to listen.

Podcasting isn't channel hopping. On TV or radio, you land on a show because it happens to be on. A podcast only exists for someone if they choose to press play. That's a completely different decision, and the psychology behind it is completely different too.

A known name is almost never enough on its own. Here's how that plays out.

Doesn't workA known name.

Starts to workA known name talking about her mental health after having kids, on a show for women who struggle with their mental health after becoming mothers.

Fails againThe next week, a known name talking about their favourite dinner recipe.

Notice it isn't just "mental health." That's still a stadium. Women struggling after having kids is a room. Someone in that room knows straight away the show is for them.

She came for the anchor, not the name. Break the anchor and you lose her.

So start with the reason to listen. Then ask who belongs in it. Never the other way round.

Here's what that looks like in practice. One line each.

Shows that work

• Women who struggle with their mental health after having kids.
• People with autoimmune conditions who can't get answers from their doctors.
• Farmers taking over the family farm from a parent who won't let go.
• HR leaders running their first round of redundancies.
• Freelancers who left a secure job and feel the weight of working alone.
• New managers suddenly leading the friends they used to work beside.

Shows that don't

• Two radio presenters chatting about their week and whatever's trending.
• A comedian having loose conversations with famous friends.
• A well known presenter interviewing a different celebrity every week.
• A personality answering listener questions about anything at all.
• Fashion, relationships, food and a bit of everything.
• A famous name talking about whatever is on their mind that week.

Every show on the left gives someone a reason to press play before they know who's talking. Every show on the right asks them to care about the host first.

05Use YouTube as your navigation system

YouTube isn't just where your episodes end up. It's the best research tool you have, and it works before you record a thing.

Look for outliers. An outlier is a video that got far more views than the other videos on the same channel. Same creator. Same audience. Same style of thumbnail. Something about that one topic pulled in people the channel doesn't normally reach.

That's your signal. Lock onto what's already working, then build out from there.

You won't find it in "founder chats about success" videos. That space is so crowded and noisy that nothing stands out. What you might find is something like this.

Founder used reality transurfing principles to build a six figure business.

The key word isn't founder. It's reality transurfing.

Now search for reality transurfing on other channels. If it keeps showing up as an outlier, on channels of different sizes run by different people, that isn't luck. That's demand. You've found product market fit before recording a single episode.

This is the research I do with content creators before they launch. It's the difference between hoping a topic works and knowing people are already looking for it.

06Title it for the search, not the episode number

"Episode 47 with Sarah" means something to you. It means nothing to a stranger.

Your title should answer a question someone is already typing. Here's what that did for one episode I worked on for the Wiser Than Before podcast, a show for people managing a chronic health condition.

218podcast audio listens

112,700+YouTube views

Same conversation. 517 times the audience on video.

The topic was specific. The title spoke straight to someone looking for an answer. YouTube found those people. The podcast apps never did. You can watch it here.

That's the specific reason to listen, doing its job.

07Don't buy the studio

That episode with 112,700 views? It was recorded on a guest's laptop webcam. No microphone.

Creators often feel a podcast needs to look like the big shows. Two mics on arms. Matching chairs. A neon sign on the wall.

It doesn't. People don't stay for the set. They stay because the conversation is useful to them or feels honest.

There is a floor worth hitting. No echo. No background noise. Both voices at a similar volume. A cheap headset mic and a quiet room get you there.

Past that floor, early on I polished every file until it was technically perfect. Hours went in. Nobody noticed. Spend that time on the idea instead.

08Let the first sixty seconds earn the next sixty

You'd never open a video with thirty seconds of music and a logo. So don't open a podcast that way.

Skip "welcome back to episode twelve." Skip the guest's full biography. Start with the best moment, or the question the whole episode answers.

Speak to the one person you want watching. Tell them they were right to click. Then get into it.

09Stop talking over your guest

This is the most common mistake I hear, across thousands of episodes. Hosts jump in. They finish sentences. They say "yeah, yeah, totally" while the guest is still mid thought.

It's worse on remote platforms like Riverside or Zoom, because of the delay. You both start talking. You both stop. The best line of the episode gets buried in crosstalk.

Creators are especially prone to it. You're used to talking alone. Filling silence is a habit.

1. Count one beat before you speak.It feels too long to you. It sounds natural to the viewer.
2. Nod instead of saying "yeah."On video, a nod does the same job and leaves the audio clean.
3. Write your follow up down.If you're afraid of forgetting your point, note it. Then let them finish.

Your guest's best answers usually come in the second half of a thought. Leave room for them.

10Let the numbers tell you what to make next

You probably already live in your analytics. Point that same attention at the podcast, but look at the right number.

Downloads tell you very little. YouTube retention tells you almost everything. Where do people leave? What did they search to find you?

Treat that as feedback, not a verdict. If people drop at minute four every week, the problem is probably minute four. If one topic keeps getting found, make more of it.

And give it time. Your audience elsewhere doesn't shortcut this part. A podcast compounds slowly, and the episodes that work keep getting found long after you've moved on.

Where to go from here

If you're starting completely fresh, these podcasting tips for beginners cover the basics: topic, length, equipment and hosting.

Want an honest second opinion?

A short call. No pitch. Bring your channel and the idea for your show.

We'll work out why it should exist, who it's really for and what it would change for them. Then we'll look at what's already proving itself on YouTube in your space. If it isn't ready yet, I'll tell you that too.

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