Why Aren't More People Listening to Your Podcast?

So I'm in a Reddit group and somebody asked the question, why aren't more people listening to my show?

Well, let's talk about some of the possibilities.

Welcome to youo Podcast Consultant.

Small lessons with Big Value.

With more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands.

Now he wants to work with you.

He's your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.

70% of podcasts are discovered via word of mouth.

That's per Jacobs Media.

And if you think about it, what was the last thing that you recommended to someone?

Doesn't matter what it is.

Could be a restaurant, could be a movie.

Could be.

I'll give you an example.

There's a guy on Netflix right now called Anthony Jeselnik, and he is some of the darkest humor I've ever heard.

My brother loves that stuff.

So I told my brother, you gotta watch this guy.

I have another friend that is a Christian.

I saw the Jamie Foxx special on Netflix where he's talking about how he had a stroke and he gets very spiritual in a way.

I recommended that to my friend because I think he would like it.

So as much as people go, there's no discoverability in podcasting.

We need artificial intelligence.

We need an algorithm.

There's already one in place.

It's not artificial intelligence.

It's actual intelligence.

And the algorithm is your friends.

And when they know what you like, they should be recommending things that you would like.

And so on Reddit, somebody put, why don't more people listen to my podcast?

I've been producing a regular unsigned music podcast since 2008 featuring unsigned music.

I generally get around 50 listens per episode.

Is it the subject matter?

Is it me?

And so the first thing, if someone is unsigned, I don't care.

Yes.

The beauty of it being unsigned is you can play it on your podcast.

But if one week you're playing polka and the next week you're playing death metal, that's not going to work.

You need to pick a genre.

And so one of the things, as I mentioned, when people talk about your show, what do they say?

Do they say, hey, Jill, man, you have to listen to this show.

The artwork is amazing.

Hey, Jill, you have to listen to this show.

The guy has a black microphone.

Hey, Jill, you gotta listen to the show.

They are using whatever captivate for a media host.

No, they talk about your content.

So without hearing this person show, is it your content?

My guess is probably it almost always is.

Not that it's awful, but it's not good enough to inspire people to tell a friend.

And are you asking your audience to share it with a friend?

That is more likely the issue.

I used to listen to a radio station, and this was like two years ago, and I do not ever listen to the radio.

It's awful.

I live in Akron, Ohio, which is near Cleveland, and all the stations play the exact same music, except on Saturdays they had Kenny the Kid, and this guy played a mix of hard rock with kind of a wink to classic rock.

But the beautiful thing was he would take these bands that were big in the 80s and play their new stuff.

And I was like, they have new stuff.

And his knowledge of that genre was amazing, to the point that I would set an alarm on Saturday to listen to the radio.

That's insane.

And of course, he was so good, they fired him because it's radio and he's now trying to do it on his own.

I think he's using Live365.

But nonetheless, it was different.

It was information and I couldn't get anyplace else, and it really scratched an itch.

I was like, oh, man, I've never heard.

There's a really.

I guess if you're into the band Rainbow, one of their top songs is called Stargazer.

I had never heard of it.

It's amazing.

Wow.

So that's the kind of stuff.

Are you inspiring people to tell your friends some other things when you look at your episode titles, is it more than just the artist name?

And I mean, think about it.

If I'm just going to make up a name, right?

If it just says Jamie Evans.

Yeah, I don't know who Jamie is, and the title should make me want to click.

So if you're playing their music or if you're just playing their music or something, but get something there to where you want to click it.

And when people say consistency.

Yeah, it's absolutely important that you are consistent in schedule but also consistent in content.

So if one week all you played was polka, okay, that's consistent.

But the next week I tune in, I'm expecting polka, and you're playing country or swing or whatever.

Yeah, it's got to be consistent.

Now, there are those people that love all types of music, but you just have to know that going in.

Also, do you have a website and.

Yes, you need a website.

You know, take your show notes and use them as a blog post.

And then put a player from your media host.

Hopefully not Spotify, but okay.

And have links on your website to follow the show.

You don't want to do this whole, hey, find me wherever you find your podcast.

No.

What?

Why is your podcast lost?

Why do people have to find it?

It's not lost.

Send them to your website to reinforce your brand, and you know it's on your website.

There's no searching required.

And then he said he had 50 downloads an episode.

Well, if you divide that by 20, that's two and a half rooms.

There's two and a half classrooms.

My background's in teaching, and that's half a hallway.

And those people could be watching Hallmark movies, they could be playing Xbox, listening to satellite, reading a book.

You know, all this stuff.

But instead they're listening to your show.

So I know it's only 50.

Mm, let's remove that only word.

You got 50 people that have a lot of options, and they chose you because there is no spam in podcasting.

If I don't want to listen to your show, a few clicks and I'm unsubscribed, and there is nothing you can do about that.

So why are more people not listening to your show?

Often you ask your friends, your family, your mom, and they tell you it's great.

And I understand why they love you and they don't want to tell you that it's not that great.

So what you need to do is find some people that are your target audience.

And if you say my show is for everyone, well, that's a problem right there.

But find some people who will listen to your show and tell you the truth.

I offer this service for the record, but that's not why I'm talking about this.

Links in the show notes, but more often, it's the content.

It's not you, it's the content.

Maybe you're starting off the show with a bunch of chit chat.

We can work on that.

Because if you've already published episodes, you have what many people don't have, which is your need to serve your audience is greater than your fear of sounding silly.

And I can work with that.

That's a beautiful thing right there.

If you need help, go over to schoolofpodcasting.com start.

Let's get going today, because that's what I do.

I'm Dave Jackson.

I've been doing this almost 20 years.

I will celebrate 20 years in podcasting in 2025, and I can't wait to see what we're going to do together.