Does your audience know when to expect new episodes?
If you’re struggling to manage your time and keep your podcasting schedule consistent, creating a planning calendar can help.
Setting up a podcasting schedule will ensure you have the time to create content, edit episodes, promote your show and engage with your listeners.
Having structure in place allows you to create quality content and build an audience of loyal listeners. Scheduling when you release episodes also helps you create anticipation for your next episode. By keeping to a regular rhythm, your audience will learn to expect new episodes and be excited when they come out.
What Your Podcasting Calendar Should Look Like
Independent podcasters have a lot on their plate. There’s a constant deluge of tasks that need to be done, such as researching topics, interviewing guests, editing episodes, and marketing new releases.
A podcasting calendar can help you stay organized and on top of each task.
Monthly Approach
One method for scheduling your production is dividing your podcast into seasons – like a TV show. Break down each season into episodes and plan one month ahead for production. This allows you to focus on creating content, researching topics, and booking guests for upcoming episodes.
Project Approach
If your podcast is focused on a specific project, such as a series or miniseries, you may need to plan further in advance. In this case, it’s best to create an outline of the entire project, including each episode and topic. Then break down each episode into tasks that need to be completed (e.g., research, interviews, editing).
By planning ahead of time, you can ensure that you have the resources needed to complete each episode. This also helps avoid any last-minute scrambling when deadlines are looming.
No Matter What Your Schedule Looks Like, Be Consistent
Once you’ve established your podcasting calendar, the most important thing is to be consistent. Listeners come to rely on your show for content, so it’s important to stick to a schedule and make sure you release new episodes on time.
If something comes up that prevents you from doing an episode one week, let your audience know in advance and explain why there won’t be a new episode coming out.
What You Should Include in Your Schedule
To better understand your new podcast schedule, it’s helpful to think about your show in four phases.
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-production
- Promotion
- Pre-production
This is the research and planning stage. This is where you decide on topics, create outlines, book guests and create any assets needed for the episode (e.g., graphics, audio clips, etc…).
Most of your time should be spent in pre-production to ensure that you have the necessary resources to create your episode.
Production
This is the actual recording process. You’ll record interviews, narrations, and other audio elements for your show. With a tool like Boomcaster, you can schedule your interviews and recording sessions in advance.
Each participant will get a calendar invite with a link to streamline production day.
Post-production
Once the recording has been completed, it’s time to start editing and preparing your show for the world. This can include trimming down long interviews, adding music and sound effects, creating a show intro/outro, and mixing everything together.
Promotion
This is where you let the world know that your new episode is available! This can include sharing links to your show on social media, submitting it to podcast directories, inviting guests to share the episode with their networks, etc.
If you are working with a marketing partner, ask what the lead time is for creating promotional content. You can build this into your schedule as well.
How a Schedule Helps Grow Your Show
When creating content, consistency is key. With a thoughtful and strategic calendar, your show’s production will become a well-oiled machine.
Benefits for Creators
If you’re always scrambling to finish a show for its release date, a schedule will help streamline the process and make it easier for you to hit your deadlines. You’ll be able to see far in advance the work necessary to finish each episode.
In addition, a calendar ensures nothing is missed.
We’ve all been there — we’ve worked on a project, hit send, and realized it wasn’t quite finished.
Benefits for Listeners
Having a consistent schedule makes it easier for listeners to know when the next episode of your show is coming out. This will help build a loyal audience and keep them engaged with your podcast.
Additionally, a regular publishing cadence also helps you build up good standing with podcast directories like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. When new episodes are released on a regular basis, it helps boost your show’s visibility in search algorithms.
Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Schedule
Remember, this schedule (at least at first) is just a guideline for helping you produce more consistently. If you set your calendar and you find you’re still struggling to keep up with production, don’t be afraid to make changes.
Maybe you need more time for pre-production or post-production? Maybe you need to continuously look for ways to streamline the editing process. Whatever it is, take a step back and evaluate your podcasting schedule.
If you’re consistently missing deadlines, you may need to adjust your expectations or find ways to better manage your time.
Ultimately, the goal is to create quality content on a regular basis without burning yourself out. With a well-thought-out schedule and a little discipline, it’s possible!
Finding the Right Podcasting Schedule for You
So, what is the best schedule for your podcast? Well…that’s up to you!
Start with what you think is a manageable cadence for new content and work backward. Think about the following:
- How much time do you need to research a new episode?
- How much time do you need for pre-production, production, and post-production?
- What kind of promotion do you plan to do?
- Do you need to involve outside resources?
Once you have a sense of the timeline needed to produce each episode, build out a schedule that works for your show.