How Often Should I Drop An Episode?Frequency is another one of the evergreen podcast questions that has as many answers as there are podcasts. The truth is, there’s just no correct answer to this question. Having tried everything from daily to monthly frequencies here, I think I’ve come up with a rule of thumb that everyone can agree with, and that’s to find a schedule you can commit to and stick to it. If you can’t do a weekly podcast, then consider twice a month or even monthly.

There is one thing I’d like you to take into consideration as you think about what your show frequency will be. After you make the first three to five episodes and get into a workflow, consider how long it takes you to make an episode, from idea to finished product. In all likelihood, that time will come down as you get better and better at your craft and as you find tools that will help you speed up the process.

Once you’ve done this, look at the other obligations in your life. If you have a full-time job, kids, and other commitments that take up the majority of your day, a daily podcast may not be the way to go for you, and in some cases, a weekly podcast may be a dicey situation. You see, your ability to make a consistent podcast of some set frequency will be essential in your attempt to attract and keep listeners. My advice is to find the frequency that will allow you to do your best work and will enable you not to be ‘at work’ all the time.

That’s the fastest way to burn out, and I want to be right upfront about the subject of burnout. It’s happened to me because I stopped working one job and started working on another, and I don’t mean an eight-hour day followed by a couple of hours here and there. I did an eight-hour day job, followed by six to eight hours every night on the podcasting for years. Eventually, I burned out, and I stopped podcasting for about a year before I had a new idea. By that time, I had learned a little more about time management and balance, and I felt able to commit to consistent podcasting.

One other hazard to daily or weekly podcasting is just phoning it in. There were days when I had to make a podcast for the week, and I wasn’t feeling it. I felt the material was lackluster, and I didn’t have the energy in my voice that I should for the kind of podcast I was doing at the time. Looking back on those episodes, I can tell which ones were inspired and which ones were for the sake of consistency. A common myth is that more episodes mean more downloads, and while that’s true in the short term, if your show’s quality takes a hit because you’re just not into it every week, your listeners will drop off, and you won’t keep them.

Listeners will tell other people not to download your show. Just like the retail or restaurant worlds, word of mouth is still king in podcasting. Self-awareness is essential here; if you’re ‘not feeling it,’ there’s something that you need to address, and more often than not, it’s the frequency of the show or the amount of time you’re putting into it. If you’re serious about podcasting, find the episode frequency that’s right for your situation, and commit to it.

If, after a time, you feel like you need to scale back, then announce your plans to the audience clearly. Your loyal audience will understand that, but they won’t understand the hit-and-miss style of podcasting that has no consistency. Often, that’s the first step to Podfade.