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Podcast Content Calendar Planning for a New Year

There are several things to consider as you start your podcast content calendar planning and some may not be totally obvious to you. For example, did you know it’s SUPER important to schedule time off for your podcast before the new year even begins? Yup, it’s one of the most important ways to prevent burn out with your podcast.

Here are 3 major things to consider as you go into planning your next year’s podcast content calendar:

• Your Business Promotional Calendar

• Holidays

• Scheduled Time Off

Let’s break down each of these into what to focus on to make sure you’re making the most out of your podcast content calendar.

1. Your Business Promotional Calendar

If you’re not familiar with the term “business promotional calendar”, it simply means your business plan for the year. What are you going to be selling/marketing/promoting during given months out of the year?

A great example of this is when I promote my digital course – Proffitt Podcasting. There are certain times throughout the year that I’ll promote the course more than others. So I need to know when those times are so that I can ad in either CTAs (calls-to-action) or self-sponsored ads into my podcast content calendar to make sure I promote my program. 

To learn more about podcast ads and how to create them for your show, make sure you check out the video below.

Going into 2021, I know that I’m going to be promoting my own programs a lot more than I have any other year. So I have to mark those dates on my podcast content calendar. I do this well before the episode recording date so that I don’t forget important details. 

Have You Ordered
Your Copy?

2. Holidays

What I love about holidays is that they’re predictable. If you wanted to, you could plan out the next five years of your podcast content calendar with the major holidays! I do this every year when I plan out my promotional calendar and my content calendar. 

I don’t want podcasters freaking out because a holiday snuck up on them. So make sure you these important dates marked on your calendar well in advance so that 1) you can take time off if you need to or 2) you can create content related to the respective holiday that you know your audience is observing as well. 

Any time a podcaster’s publishing date falls on Christmas or another major holiday, they start freaking out. I remind them, “If you plan early, you can have a more strategic approach to the holidays. Don’t stress about it. You can either release a regular episode or throw out a bonus piece of content if you believe your audience will respond better to that.”

But don’t overthink holiday episodes.

If you want to take that time off, then plan accordingly. Make sure you check out the podcast episode about batching your podcast content.

“Boundaries”, Henry Cloud and John Townsend

3. Take Time Off

When I see podcasters on the brink of burn out, usually 2 things have happened:

1. They’ve lost sight of why they started podcasting in the first place.
2. They haven’t taken a break from their show since they started.

So let’s set you up for success from the beginning of the year!

I want you – when you’re planning your podcast content calendar – to look at your schedule. Now ask yourself, “How and where can I schedule time off of my podcast?”

To be clear, this doesn’t mean you’re walking away from your show months on end to return to a ghost town audience you’ve abandoned. No, we’re never doing that!

But I do highly recommend you schedule time when you’re planning your podcast content calendar long before the new year you’re starting officially begins. Trust me, you’ll thank me later!

When it comes to planning your podcast content calendar, don’t forget…

You’re doing this to be more proactive and less reactive.

The goal is to feel more confident about your podcast content and less overwhelmed. So schedule in those promotional times for your business to drop the guilt of “talking about your programs/services too much”, take holidays off without the feeling of “I really should be working”, and avoid burn out before it ever approaches by scheduling in a few long weekends or Fridays off for you to recuperate.

You’ll be grateful you did.

RECAP: Podcast Content Calendar Planning for 2021

• Business Promotional Calendar 
• Holidays 
• Take Time Off

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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• TheBestPodcastBook.com
• The Ultimate Podcast Checklist
• 9 Ways to Brainstorm Podcast Ideas
• The Poddy Report
• 500+ Podcast Ideas for Any Industry
• Proffitt Podcast Online Community Facebook Group
• Proffitt Podcasting Course
• Podcast YouTube Channel
• 5-Day Podcast Bootcamp

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