Thread by @MrAsquith

1/ Produce fewer #podcast episodes but grow your audience faster (with a framework to copy).

Cumulative downloads = the total number of downloads that your entire show has had for the period across all episodes.

Aka "the biggest number".

2/ As a marketer and software company founder, the biggest number is the one you keep an eye on and tell your mates about, but it's not the one that you focus on.

3/ As a podcaster, total downloads is our "big" number and it's the one that you see smattered all over sales pages for courses from gurus. They have achieved those numbers but in doing that it's often implied that it's that number that matters day-to-day as a podcaster.

4/ In my business I'm more interested in trial sign-ups, activation rates and churn rates because if those numbers are performing well, the "big" numbers (sales, total revenue) will increase naturally & without those supporting numbers, the big numbers don't exist.

5/ With that in mind, the advice that many gurus dish out on how to grow your show being "produce more content" begins to waver a little. If we produce more, we get busier OR we get more automated.

6/ Often, these two outcomes lead to our content being worse because we're focused too much on quantity versus quality and if we think even deeper on that, it could mean that our per episode download number decreases as our content gets worse.

7/ We enter a cycle of diminishing returns and should focus on producing better content rather than more content to grow our audience of genuine fans.

The thing to remember is this...

8/ Podcasting is a game of attention.

First, we have to get it (more on that when we start to talk episode titles!) and then we have to keep it.

The latter is arguably harder than the former because people change their habits based on their moods.

9/ I may have a habit of listening to a podcast every time I get in the car, but my mood changes & my habit may be to listen to the one or two shows that I cannot miss before hunting for new content to satiate today's mood for comedy, or drama, or musical interviews for example.

10/ The only way to keep someone's attention in anything is to be so good at what you do and to give someone something that they simply can't do without, that you become one of those top few "must-listen" shows.

Automating and doing more episodes is not the way to achieve this.

11/ Producing significantly better content is the way to do this.

But what is "better" when, in theory, "better" is subjective?

We have to get more *objective* about producing our episodes and here's a short, simple framework to use to do that:

12/ A podcast episode must be constructed in such a way that it benefits the listener, not us. Rather than creating a simple, repeatable *format* for the show, we should be focused on creating a simple, repeatable *formula* that results in a depth of content.

13/ Before creating your next piece of content, ask yourself these questions:

a) Have I crafted an introduction that spends time telling the listener why they should stick around? @yourlondonlegacy and @richardleehoede's "Forgotten Boxers" do this well.

14/ b) Have I approached my subject from a fresh perspective or dug into elements of the subject that are interesting, yet underserved? A great example of this is rather than telling the story of some*thing*, tell the story of some*one* and their motivations for doing the thing.

15/ Remember: Humanising everything creates emotional triggers and tethers.

c) Have I focused on editing my episode into the most cohesive, tightly focused version of that episode possible? Have I cut out anything extraneous or that doesn't serve the listener or episode?

16/ By focusing on the questions I've set out here you can be sure that you're looking at your episodes from a more objective, listener-focused perspective and from there you can build your episodes around that listener.

17/ The goal of every podcast episode that you produce is to take your listener on a journey from A to B; from not knowing something to understanding it a little better; from being in need of entertainment through to feeling entertained.

18/ We can't ask listeners to make us their number one, must-listen, podcast choice without giving them a reason to do so and if we do give them a reason to do so then we stand a chance of them sharing what we do with other people.

19/ TL;DR

Focus on creating higher-quality #podcast episodes by putting yourself in the mindset of your listener. Get out of your own head and ask yourself if you've approached something from a new perspective, with a human touch and with tight editing.

Keep going!