Hang around with enough podcasters who've been at it for a while and you’ll eventually hear many of them ask the same question: “I don't know if my podcast is as big as it should be.” Or perhaps, in rare cases, “I don't know if the quality of the content I'm putting out is as good as it should be.” 

The best way to break the complacency trap is by understanding where you could be. You might have aspirations, but quite often they aren’t written down or codified in any way so that you or your podcast team can measure the effectiveness of your efforts. 

When you're not really sure what success looks like, you just keep going about the motions. You become complacent. Complacency breeds familiarity. Familiarity becomes habit. And habits develop into ruts. You do the same thing day after day, week after week, or month after month, without any growth or change. 

Once you’ve identified where you want to go, you're going to have to work harder. You have to dig in deeper, roll up your sleeves, and spend more time making great content. Can you do that? Can you afford that? Is that really what you want? Are you willing to completely overhaul your show? Are you ready to look at the consumption numbers provided by Apple Podcasts and Spotify to see exactly how much (or little) of your content is being consumed by listeners? Are you willing to make drastic changes when you face evidence that what you are doing right now is not resonating with your audience?

I know that’s a heavy set of questions to dump on you on a Monday morning, podcaster. But at some point, if you really do want to move closer to viability, you’re going to have to face the reality those questions present. Because complacency is the biggest mistake that mid-level podcasters are making today.

Raise this question with the other podcasters you interface with. Ask them if they’re complacent with where their show is today. Ask if they are happy or if there are things they want to do differently. Just by having this conversation with other podcasters, it’ll help you get over the hump and understand your own ideas around complacency and your podcasting efforts.

And while you’re having this conversation, be sure to tell them what sparked the idea. Maybe they're not yet listening to Podcast Pontifications. Maybe they need the regular kick-start I try to provide here on the program. I don't sell ads and I’m not even selling this type of advice, so please tell a friend about PodcastPontifications.com. [email protected] reaches me, and I’m always happy to answer any questions from listeners. Fire away!

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Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is aimed at the working podcaster. The purpose of this show is to make podcasting better, not just easier.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.