7 Big Podcasting Myths Beginners Need to Know Before Starting
1. Podcasting is easy
It’s just talking right?… Absolutely wrong.
Underestimating workload is the biggest reason 90% of podcasts don't get beyond 3 episodes. While starting is a HUGE step that should be commended, once you start, you will be amazed by the sheer amount of work involved.
While not everyone thinks it's easy per se, every podcaster I have worked with has definitely underestimated the amount of time and work involved in releasing a podcast. This often leads to fast burnout or quitting.
Booking guests, research, titles, show notes, editing, publishing, promotion. There is so much to think about that it can be overwhelming.
The most significant time suck that people don’t recognize is research. Booking many guests in your network for a chat is good, but why should the listener care? They don’t want to hear 2 people talking about themselves, they want to know what’s in it for them. Figuring out the hook of every individual episode is the most important and most time-consuming aspect that people underestimate.
Conclusion:
Start small - commit to 2 episodes a month for 12 months, and make every second episode a solo episode to reduce the work involved in sourcing guests.
If you are self-funding and don’t want to spend, start with 1 episode every month for a year and increase if time allows, this is a much better approach than going in to release once a week and then cutting back.
If you are dedicated and you can expense it, hire an editor or producer - being able to offload editing and production will free up a lot of time for you to focus only on the parts you want to.
Side note: What’s the difference between an editor and a producer?
An editor will take technical responsibility, such as turning your raw files into packaged content. A producer will handle editing but will also help you with things like figuring out the hook and finding gaps in the market.
2. Podcasting is a money-maker
While making money can be the ultimate goal, it should never be the initial goal.
A Podcast's primary focus must be to serve the listener. Podcast listeners are intelligent, and your go-to is to make money from the outset; this will come across fast and make people turn off. It will also cause you to become impatient very fast, as Podcasts generally take years to grow and become a revenue generator.
Podcasts are also not a direct way to make money. Sponsorship and advertising remain elusive in the podcast space, and it can take years and years to build up the credibility to have interest from a sponsor. Most sponsorships barely cover the costs involved in running a podcast.
A more thoughtful approach is to think of a podcast as a lead generator for your business.
Conclusion:
Accept that money can only be a long-term goal. Go into a podcast with the sole aim of helping the listener. If you do that, everything else, like networking and lead generation, will follow.
Nail down your target audience and what they want to learn or figure out how to do. Find your niche within a niche; the more detailed you can get about your listener, the more targeted you can get with your content. This, in turn, can lead to a lucrative sales funnel for another business.
3. If You Build it, they will come
There’s a misconception that listeners will flow once you start dropping podcasts.
You could have the best podcast in the world, but how do you expect people to find it?
Discovery is, without a doubt, the most challenging aspect of podcasting. New audio-only podcasts are nearly impossible to discover.
One of the first things I ask potential new clients is, "How will people find your podcast?" the answer I get most commonly is "Google and Spotify". There is a massive myth that your target audience will discover your podcast on a podcast app.
Think of the behaviour involved from a listener's perspective. No one searches topics on podcast apps; they open the app knowing what they want to listen to and search for a show name.
So, let's say I want advice on investing 10,000 euros. Would I search "best ways to invest 10,000 euros" on the podcast app? probably not but even if I did the results would not give me what I wanted (see image below)
Would I search on Google? Yes, probably, but a podcast will not show up and similarly, show notes you've pasted onto your website don't show up either because they don't provide enough context or value on their own (they need the supporting audio). Google does not deem show notes credible for people searching for a fast answer; remember that SEO on show notes does not exist, and you should avoid anyone who sells Podcast SEO.
Take a look at how the results of a search engine on a podcast app differ drastically from Google:
Conclusion:
The best platform for podcast discovery is, without a doubt, YouTube. Unlike podcasts, YouTube videos DO show up on Google searches, and YouTube is also the 2nd biggest search engine. So it’s possible to leverage SEO, more importantly it has an algorithm that PROMOTES podcasts regardless of how many subscribers it has.
If you have a niche podcast, you MUST be on YouTube. YouTube is complicated to crack but what it does is forces you to figure out who your audience is and what they want.
In the 2nd half of 2024 I took a client with 0 social following and no profile to find his place on Youtube and grow his podcast. The stats were able to tell us so much about who the audience was and what they needed most help with, we were then able to anchor the podcast around these topics and scale growth.
We now have videos that get thousands of views and 10,000 hours watch time in a year:
If you need help with YouTube strategy, reach out for a free consultation.
4. It's a numbers game
It’s NOT about how many downloads or views you get.
So many podcasters obsess over downloads, listens and views. You must avoid falling into a trap because it's nothing but a vanity metric.
The only person who cares about the stats is you.
Stats are EASY to manipulate in 2025. Many shows are embellishing their numbers to try and give themselves credibility. Simply clicking the "promote" button on YouTube and paying some money can make it look like you have thousands of views, but this is of no help to you if the viewers click off inside the first minute or don't engage with your content, in fact it’s super damaging to a channel and can leave you in a loop of needing to pay for promotion with every video because the first time you don’t will see a huge drop off of numbers.
But who does this actually help to have inflated numbers? sure, a podcast being high up the charts is nice, but to have something of real value, you need true engagement.
Conclusion:
Create short-term, medium-term and long-term KPIs that will demonstrate how engaged your audience is. The smartest approach is ask something of your listener, this could be a sign up or selling something: a consultation, course, or programme. If your audience is bought into you and your podcast, then you should see some lead-generation
I write this blog with that approach. While I know the numbers are very small in terms of readers, I also know that those who take the time to read it find it super helpful, a small percentage reach out for a call and some of them convert to clients.
This is far more valuable than a blog that gets read thousands of times, but no one ever reaches out.
Download numbers and views are a vanity metric, don’t get caught up with it!
5. You don't need video content
It's 2025 and your podcast needs some form of video!
As I mentioned above, growing a podcast with audio only is very hard. Podcast apps do not have algorithms that promote unknown podcasts, so you always swim against the tide on podcast apps.
Audio clips and Audiograms are outdated (no one is paying attention to a moving waveform). You need to do more if you are going to promote your podcast. Platforms like Riverside.fm, make it so easy to record video alongside audio. They are also making it easier and easier to create supporting content you can release alongside your audio podcast. There is no excuse, if you are going to be discovered, some level of video is A MUST!
Caveat: A small percentage of podcasts can succeed without video. These are Documentaries, shows with network backing, someone with a ready-to-go social following or someone with a profile.
Conclusion:
Get used to being on camera!
Figure out how to start posting your video content across at least one of the major platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Linkedin.
Think long and hard about your hooks, titles and copy. Post 3 pieces of content per episode and figure out what works and what doesn't.
6. You need expensive equipment
Fancy mic, expensive camera, lights, soundproof room.... SLOW DOWN!
Remember the stat: 90% don't make it past 3 episodes; you are likely part of the 90%, so why spend a ton of money now? Get 20 episodes recorded first!
If you're launching a podcast, the initial goal should be to release content that helps a specific person. Quality content will always win, so even if your technical production is low, people won't care if they get value.
Podcast starter equipment can cost as little as $25 - $90
Conclusion:
My go-to recommendations for starting a podcast are a Jabnectar Headset or a Samson Q2U Dynamic mic. Both of these microphones are USB and will sound good in any room. Check out the video below to hear samples of both:
Jump to the middle of the video to hear me use the Jabnectar headset
In this video my client uses the Samson Q2U
Buy one of the above and commit to 20 episodes. This will give you an acceptable standard of audio to launch from... for video, use your webcam. This equipment will get you started. Re-evaluate everything once you have done 15-20 episodes.
7. It's a saturated market
I'll end precisely where I started; 90% of podcasts don't make it past episode 3. Yes, there are tons of podcasts, but the majority are dormant because they quit soon after launch. Many podcasts are also failing in the fundamentals like having a defined audience, being targetted, being clear on the outcome or learning, getting to the value fast. This means it’s not saturated, there’s actually a gap in the market!
Getting to 20 episodes puts you in the top 5%.
Conclusion:
It's an overused word, but niche is very important. You must refrain from trying to appeal to a mass audience. Set a goal of releasing 20 episodes on your chosen niche and then pivot if needed. I guarantee you will learn a hell of a lot.
