“When you started your podcast, you had an idea in mind, probably, of what you wanted to offer to your audience. And maybe you’ve been chugging along and you felt great and it was working and it was making a difference and your audience was growing and then something happened.”
~Andrea Klunder, Your Podcast Boss
I don’t want to offer you another recap roundup or year in review episode. Nope. As a podcast fan, I don’t really like the roundup episodes at the end of the year. I tend to skip them. It’s not my favorite strategy.
The other thing I’m not offering you is a “new year, new you” episode. I am not here to do some high pressure sales tactics about everything that is lacking or any ways in which you are not already sufficient in what you are doing. In fact, I thought I wanted to sell something in January, a new coaching program, a consulting package, and then I realized… I just don’t.
Winter is that time of year for me when I kind of want to slow down. I want to be reflective. I don’t want January and February to feel like a hustle. So I wanted to give myself a little bit of that space to continue to support my clients at The Creative Impostor Studios and to continue to percolate on some ideas that I have.
But I DID want to come on here and have a podcast conversation with you, even though I am on winter break, because what happens to me is as soon as I give myself a legit break, my brain suddenly starts giving me all of these new ideas, all of these new visions…
Hey, have you thought about this?
Hey, what if you did this?
Hey, you know what would be really awesome for that client?
Hey, you know what you could do is…
That always happens to me when I start to slow down. Can you relate?
You take some time off and suddenly all these new ideas for projects or services or new podcasts or new episodes or new content or new videos or new social media or whatever it just starts crowding into your brain! So I am at once bursting with new ideas and also trying to tell myself to…
Stay in the slow place.
Stay in the calm place.
Stay in the winter holiday break place and don’t go launching into a million new things!
However, the reason why I’m here is because things are changing.
Slow and fast.
Everywhere.
I guess things are always changing. Anybody who studied Buddhist philosophy knows that the law of impermanence, like nothing is permanent, everything is always changing. And that may be true, but there are some times when I feel or observe or experience that things are changing even more than usual or even more significantly perhaps than usual. And I’m actually pretty excited for 2024!
This episode was originally recorded as a live stream. You can catch future streams by following me on Instagram @thecreativeimpostor, LinkedIn @andreaklunder, or YouTube @thecreativeimpostor.
Continued below…
Special Offer
Podcast Envy New Year Dreaming Sessions
Need a strategic thought partner to support you in making a change to your podcast?
If you have actively decided to make changes with your podcast, or if you are feeling stagnant and stuck, and thinking you need to change something, but don’t know what that is, let me help!
Inquire about booking a New Year Dreaming session with me in the month of January 2024.
We’ll sit down for about 45 minutes and we talk through whatever’s on your mind, whatever isn’t working, whatever you’re frustrated with, whatever you have questions about, whatever you want to try.
We will talk through it and figure out the best next step and path forward.
This session is usually only available to my existing production and editing clients, but I have a little bit of flexibility in my schedule in January, so I am offering a limited number of spaces.
I will send you pricing, details, and a scheduling link. When you book, I’ll send you a short questionnaire and listen to your show. We’ll meet for 45min and then there will be a follow-up.
If you could use a thought partner to talk through some of your ideas, I’m happy to shed some light and help ensure your changes are grounded in your purpose and aligned to your bigger vision for the year ahead!
“I love being a brainstorming partner to point out opportunities that they may not have seen, easier, more efficient ways of going about something, or potential pitfalls that they may not have considered yet that I can hopefully save them from falling into.”
Andrea Klunder
Article Continued
2023 had a lot of ups and downs for me, a lot of downs, to be honest. And that was one reason why I wasn’t creating any new episodes of Podcast Envy. I was very deep in creating some really outstanding content and providing services to my existing clients. Key Change, the show that I produce on behalf of the Santa Fe Opera’s Department of Community Engagement, actually won two Signal Awards this year. We won a silver award for Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Episode and a bronze award for Best Music Show. So I was thrilled with that!
But as for my own channels, I didn’t really know what I wanted to say. And I’m not someone who can be consistent with putting out podcast episodes, putting out shows, putting out live streams if I don’t have a clear idea of something that feels significant or feels useful or feels important. I’d rather say nothing than to say something that feels like nothing for my audience.
Then the third reason was that for most of this year, I personally was experiencing major burnout. I did not feel creatively inspired. I felt frustrated with things that I see going on in the podcast industry. I wasn’t happy with the financial picture of what was happening in my business. I felt like things needed to change. I tried a few things and they didn’t work out the way I wanted them to. I worked with a couple of coaches. I worked with a couple of therapists. I was like…
Is it me?
Is it the industry?
Is podcasting coming to an end?
All these shows that I love to listen to as a fan as an audience member are getting canceled due to lack of funding, due to advertising, due to Spotify shenanigans… and I kind of started to doubt whether I was in the right space, whether I was doing the right kind of work, whether I wanted to continue on this path, what needed to change for me.
These thoughts were crowding into my mind and it made it feel like the act of opening my laptop lid required some feat of supernatural strength. I didn’t want to keep doing what I was doing. I thought…
Does my work matter?
Does podcasting even work?
Maybe no one should have a podcast.
Maybe podcasts shouldn’t even exist.
And all of that wasn’t true. What that feeling was, was things changing whether I wanted them to or not.
Podcasting as a medium as a tool has changed and is changing very rapidly right now. So to stay in the game, we need to also change.
We need to go with that flow and move in the direction that the current is taking us, to get our feet underneath us and figure out where we land, where we fit within that new current.
So I read some reports, some studies that have come out recently that have shown some of the challenges that a lot of content creators and podcasters and small business entrepreneurs who are using podcasting in their work and in their visibility. And what I want to offer you now is a double thumbs up if you are considering changing something up in your podcast strategy during the year ahead.
One clue as to where you can look for change is…
What does your audience, your community need right now?
What are they struggling with right now?
When you started your podcast, you had an idea in mind, probably, of what you wanted to offer to your audience, a problem that you were solving or something that you wanted to speak to. And maybe you’ve been chugging along and you felt great and it was working and it was making a difference and people were joining your podcast and your audience was growing and then something happened.
You became bored or disillusioned with your show, or your numbers kind of stagnated or maybe even dropped. But it’s not that you suddenly are doing something wrong – it’s that your community, your audience is also changing. And so looking at what it is that they need now and how can you shift to meet that need?
You don’t necessarily need a whole rebrand.
You don’t necessarily need to shut down your podcast and start something new. But maybe there is a shift that you can make that better addresses what your people need now.
So if you’re asking…
Why isn’t my podcast working?
Why isn’t my show growing?
Why aren’t my numbers growing?
Why aren’t people buying the thing?
This is a brilliant opportunity to look at what has changed and what is changing. You get to be the expert in what is changing in your world, your industry, your business. Or for you personally!
And then what I function as in the role of producer, strategist, and consultant is what is changing in the podcasting landscape, that we can we make some tweaks that match the adjustments that you’re making in your space so that we’re not just trying to use the same old strategy, the same old content, the same old messaging, the same old tactics.
What can we creatively come up with together that may or may not work? Let’s play within that space and try something and see how it works. Because trying something, even when you’re not sure whether or not it will work, is better than doing nothing and feeling frustrated or missing out on an opportunity.
Things are changing, things have changed, things will continue to change and it’s a good idea to get creative and have an open mind about how to use everything that you’ve built up already with your podcast, and with your audience, and to see how can we use this in a smart way to meet those changing needs for yourself, your brand, your community, your audience.
This is your green light to go ahead and switch it up!
Maybe you shied away from directly selling your product offerings on your podcast because you didn’t want to feel salesy but maybe now is the time to commit to that and to see how you can integrate that into your show in a way that feels authentic and feels right to you. Maybe it’s about your messaging. Maybe there are some new topics that you need to address on your show this year. Maybe you’re going on a curvy path to lead your audience in a different direction. Maybe the purpose of your podcast has shifted, or where it fits into your organizational model is different.
What do you want to change and why? How is that going to help support you and your bigger goals, your more important intentions for the new year?
So… this is your green light, double thumbs up if you’re thinking about making changes big or small. I encourage you to be intentional with those changes and to not feel like you have to know that they’re going to work, that you can experiment and adjust as you go.
On the live stream where I recorded this episode, one community member, Bri, summed it up perfectly in their comment:
Don’t fear change.
Listen to your audience.
And try new ideas.
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Thank you for being a part of my listening community and if there is something that you feel like you’re needing as a podcaster, as a producer, as a content creator, as a small business owner who is dabbling in or fully invested in podcasting, if there’s something that you’re needing support around, or a question that you have, or a change you’re trying to make, email me and let me know: andrea [at] infuselife.net.
During the month of January 2024, I’ll send you details to book a New Year Dreaming session with me (limited spaces available.) And even if we don’t end up booking a private call together, or you’re catching this after that month, maybe I’ll create a podcast episode about your question. You never know!
Connect With Me
Email: andrea [at] thecreativeimpostor.com
LinkedIn @andreaklunder
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