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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we reflect on the fresh new year of 2023 and our own resolutions as podcasters for the coming year.

Many podcasters are giving their opinions and details about what they plan to do in looking forward to their success in the podosphere for 2023. Some of these are glimmers of hope for growing your audience and being successful in monetization of your podcast shows.

However, with the millions of podcast shows now in the podosphere (and still growing on a daily basis for the launch of new podcasts), the competition for both your eyes and ears in selecting content and consuming it becomes very acute.

So a key question would be: what would make your podcast show (especially if you are going to be launching a show or improving it in 2023) so desirable for a possible listener or viewer to consume your content? And how does the all-being problem of discoverability pervade the podosphere now as a challenge for you?

Perhaps you can answer this question by focusing on the first part of the problem and making it attractive to your audience — that is, if you have done the groundwork necessary to create, grow and nurture an audience (once you have proven to yourself that you know what your target audience is)? The results of surveys, background research for those who want to listen to your topics and just plain “gut feel” for this type of listener or viewer to consume your content could be the formula that you can use to address the topic.

For the second part of the question which we just introduced, we have to look into the podosphere for all the tools available to us in order to get the discoverability problem addressed. Not only do we have to put our podcast show in front of our targeted audience, our prospects, and even our suspects — but we have to ensure that our messages present a clear and dynamic statement to those who are looking for great content. Perhaps one way to do this is to go back to 2008 from the advice of podcaster, Paul Colligan, who labeled the acronymn ISYOT (i.e., “I see you out there”) and execute strategic inclusion of your show into the various networks for podcasting and today’s directories. For today’s environment is not merely the iTunes directory — there are a myriad of directories and sites where your podcast may have to exist, so that discoverability of your show can see some success, and thus your audience can grow — and not just in terms of downloads, but also on episodes completed by the listener and action taken by the listener due to your calls-to-action.

And finally, once you may have the attention of your intended audience, how clear will your call-to-action(s) be? Will they be appealing enough for the audience to take action and pursue the tasks which you outline? And these may be as simple as just signing up for your show and follow it (or “subscribe”), or it could reach all the way to being sold on a solution that you present and following through and ordering it (be it for money or for content)?

Of course, the ultimate goal may not be financial. While most entrepreneurs wish for monetary success with orders for your solution or content due to your podcast show, please remember that many of us still like to listen to “fun” podcasts from hobby-podcasters who engage in their craft of creating episodes as a labor-of-love, without regard to any financial results. If you fall into this category, you have to be serious and create final goals for your show (in terms of acceptance or downloads or following) that are beyond the dollars that many people consider “success” from a podcast show.

So for this new year, what would be your considerations for success in growing your audience (and move them from prospects or suspects to subscribed ‘followers’? And what can you plan in 2023 for monitoring your success in seeing positive results for your calls-to-action? These are the big questions you may have when creating and solidifying your planning for adapting new year’s resolutions for 2023.

Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time.