Would you cancel your podcast after 100 episodes and tens of thousands of downloads?

About once a year I take a close look at the state of my show, the Empowered Podcast, and the direction it's heading.

Pivot One

The first time was after Podcast Movement 2014. Up until that point, I'd been focused on motivation, encouragement, and helping listeners realize that if my guests had overcome significant obstacles, then they could too. This strategy was fun, but I felt it lacked... purpose.

It took me a couple of months to generate new content and produce what I'd already recorded so the show could change directions. An observant listener might notice the shift beginning around episode 50 and in full-swing by episode 56 with Jon Harrison.

I realized motivation is cheap, but someone who can help people make a needed change is in high-demand.

Pivot Two

The second time I made changes to my show was in January of 2015 when I began to incorporate live Experts Calls from my Membership Site into the podcast. These calls are with business owners who are in the trenches and doing what my members and listeners want to be doing.

These Experts Calls stripped out all theory and got to the heart of entrepreneurship and building a business. I was worried these episodes would be too technical for the average listener because they were edited versions of the full calls which are members only.

But they weren't.

In fact, the podcast episodes which featured these in-depth business cases have become some of the most popular! It turns out, people are tired of fluff and theory. What listeners crave are real, relevant case studies that help them get meaningful results.

Pivot Three

The third time I decided to make changes in my show was after Podcast Movement 2015. It was at that time that I realized I didn't want to be "another podcaster," but that I really wanted to double-down on helping people start businesses that will allow them to develop an exit strategy so they can leave their crappy jobs.

But, this left me wondering how to best accomplish this goal. Since August, I've released a total of 4 episodes instead of one every week. Consistency went out the door, but I was focused on only producing the best possible content which I knew would help people in meaningful ways.

What Do I Do Now?

A couple of months went by and I still didn't have a clear path on how I wanted to move forward with the show. Do I continue doing interviews? Do listeners want shorter episodes? What type of help do they really need?

So I asked them.

I sent this email to some of the most active members of my community and asked them:

What would you like to see from the show moving forward?

Here's what they said...