I get the "Is this good?" question when people first see their numbers. I'm going to share the launch numbers of two shows I did that got a "mild send off" and the shows are growing.

Before we get into stats, we need to understand that downloads are just ONE WAY to measure your success. I know our ego is involved but the problem with comparing your podcast stats with others is: Podcasting is a lot like golf or bowling or any other sport that you do against yourself. I'm not saying there is no competition (often much less than you think) but we don't know what we are truly up against. Instead of starring at your competition and getting angry, stare at your audience to help give them what they want. 

Know Why You're Doing Your Podcast

For the School of Podcasting, my goals are to inspire you to start a podcast, go in the right direction with realistic expectations, and help you achieve your goals. How do we do that? By having you join my membership site and that is the biggest way I measure my show. 

Michael O'Neil was nice enough to take a picture of my book Profit from your podcast: Proven strategies to turn your listeners into a livelihood in a Fed-ex store (picture on the website). The goal of that podcast is to inform people with monetization strategies that make them buy the book. 

We All Go All In on the Podcast Launch

When we launch we tell everyone we know (family friends, co-workers, email lists, etc) and we might continue that for a few weeks until we realize that growth is slow. At first, you might jump 10-20% (but that's easy when your first episode had 15 downloads and the next one had 18). 

Full article with graphics at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/880