If you’ve made it to 10 podcast episodes, first of all — congratulations. That’s a big milestone, and you should absolutely be proud of yourself.

In this episode of Press Play, I walk you through what I call the 10 Episode Checkpoint. This is the point where you pause for a moment, look at what you’ve created so far, and evaluate a few important things about your podcast strategy.

Now let me be clear: 10 episodes is not the time to decide your podcast isn’t working. It’s way too early for that. This checkpoint isn’t about quitting — it’s about learning, adjusting, and fine-tuning your podcast so it can keep growing.

After 10 episodes, you finally have a little bit of experience and some early data. You’ve gotten a feel for recording, publishing, and how much time everything takes. That makes this the perfect moment to reflect and make small improvements.

Here are four things I recommend evaluating at the 10 episode mark.

1. Your Podcast Positioning

First, look at the clarity of your podcast positioning.

Ask yourself:

1. Can someone describe what your podcast is about in one sentence?
2. Are your episodes clearly focused on one core topic or problem?
3. Are your episode titles aligned with what you want to rank for in podcast SEO?

Sometimes the content is great, but the titles could be stronger or more searchable. This can be a great time to refine your episode titles or descriptions so they better attract your ideal listener.

2. Your Publishing Consistency

Next, evaluate how consistent your publishing schedule has been.

Did you release episodes when you planned to?

Did recording feel rushed or stressful?

If your current schedule feels overwhelming, this is the time to adjust it. Maybe you need to batch record, or maybe you need to move from weekly episodes to biweekly. The most important thing is choosing a schedule you can maintain consistently.

3. Your Podcast Content

Now look at the content itself.

Are your episodes focused on solving the same core problem for your audience? Or are you experimenting with too many different topics?

At this stage, repetition is actually a good thing. Reinforcing your main topic helps strengthen your positioning and build authority with your listeners.

You can also start checking your consumption rates to see if people are listening through your episodes. This gives you early insight into whether your content is resonating.

4. Listener Feedback and Engagement

Finally, pay attention to early feedback signals.

This isn’t just about downloads. Look for signs that people are engaging with your podcast, such as:

1. Messages or DMs from listeners
2. Reviews on your podcast
3. People responding to your call-to-action
4. Listener numbers slowly increasing

These are early indicators that your podcast is connecting with the right people.

Celebrate the Milestone

The most important thing at this stage is recognizing that you’ve already done something many people never do: you actually started and published 10 episodes.

That’s huge.

Now it’s time to make a few tweaks, keep going, and continue building momentum with your podcast.

If you are ready to create a podcast that pays for your business, come join the 7 day accelerator over on my Skool community! It's free for the first 7 days. Head over to www.podcastthatpays.com

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Music credit: Mavericks by Harrison Amer. A Podcast Launch Bestie production