19 Communicate Your Holiday Posting Schedule
The Geelong Podcasters dive into managing your holiday posting schedule to keep your podcast thriving while balancing rest and festivities.
Topics Discussed This Episode:
00:00 – Opening: Managing your holiday podcast schedule without stress.
00:15 – Introduction to Geelong Podcasters and upcoming meetups.
00:37 – Planning ahead for holiday podcasting: batching, reducing, or pausing.
01:11 – Deciding your holiday posting strategy and communicating it.
01:48 – Tips for using short episodes, holiday rewinds, and popular re-shares.
02:55 – Announcing schedule changes within your podcast episodes.
04:08 – Expanding communication to social media, newsletters, and websites.
04:49 – Engaging audiences with sneak peeks and holiday interactions.
05:40 – The importance of taking a proper holiday for refreshment.
05:56 – Recap of tips: prep early, communicate clearly, balance rest and engagement.
06:31 – Teasing next week's special episode and closing remarks.
07:10 – Closing credits and sponsor mention.
Effective holiday planning can make the festive season less stressful for podcasters while keeping their audience connected and engaged. The key is to prepare early by deciding whether to batch record, reduce output, or take a break altogether. Each approach requires thoughtful communication with listeners about what to expect during the holidays to avoid any surprises.
Sharing your plans on both your podcast and social media ensures your audience stays informed. Whether it’s a quick mention in your outro or a detailed post on Instagram, clarity builds trust. Engaging your audience with holiday-themed content, such as sneak peeks of upcoming episodes or inviting them to share stories, helps maintain connection during the break.
The ultimate takeaway is to prioritize balance. Automate where possible, take time to recharge, and lean on lighter content options like re-sharing popular episodes. Need help nailing your holiday podcast strategy? Reach out to Zoë Wood at Video Confidence Coach to craft a plan that works for you.
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0:00
It's the most wonderful and hectic time of year. Holidays are around the corner, so it's time to stress about your managing your holiday podcast schedule a kid. Let's talk about how to manage it.
0:15
Welcome to Geelong podcasters. Your weekly podcast for tips and tricks to grow your audience. We are a group of passionate podcasters located in Geelong and the bellerine in Victoria, Australia. If you're down our way at the end of the month, why not come to one of our free monthly meet up events and also find the booking links and more in the show notes.
0:37
I'll show you how to prep your holiday posting schedule, communicate like a pro and keep your fans engaged without running yourself into the ground like I do every year. So do what do as I say, not as I do for your holiday schedule regarding your podcast, make sure to plan in advance. I usually start planning at least a minimum of one to two months before the holidays begin. If you're listening to this in real time. I'm sorry, but you've got a bit a little bit of catching up to do, but you can definitely do it. Yep, put this on your calendar, like maybe schedule in for next year so you can feel a bit more prepared.
1:11
Decide, ultimately, will you be posting regularly, or will you be reducing your podcast episode output, or will you be taking a full on break. All of those options are readily available and easy to do. You just need to make sure that you communicate them ahead of time. If you are posting regularly or reducing your output, make sure that you batch record your episodes so they'll be released during the holiday period to save you time and energy so you don't have to do your usual schedule.
1:42
And if you are taking a full break, make sure that you record either a couple of
1:48
podcast, standalone podcast episodes or even outros for your podcast, current episodes that you're creating before the holidays to
1:58
help energize people and get them to say, listen back to older episodes, so you can get your download numbers up, but also that they can still
2:07
enjoy the content that they've come to see from you,
2:10
consider creating maybe shorter, lighter episodes, or even re sharing in your feed again, so not asking people to go back to older episodes, but You are re sharing your older episodes, usually your most popular ones, as part of like a holiday rewind or down here, we have what is usually a summer series, because, of course, the holidays are in summer for us in Australia and in New Zealand and down the south. But make sure, ultimately, to keep a realistic balance, don't try and do everything. It is the holidays, no matter what, everything is going to be stressful, so take that time to relax and think about yourself during that time and what you need.
2:55
Now that you've made your decision, it's time to communicate in the podcast and beyond your plans for this holiday season, making sure to announce your schedule and changes on your podcasts, as in, in your podcast episodes, at least two to three episodes before the podcast start. If you're a weekly podcast, I would say around about a month. If you are a four nightly podcast, I would say two to three episodes, making sure, and this can be either at the end in an outro, or it can be at the start of an episode, again, whatever is your preference, and more likely, say, for example, something like heads up legends over the holidays, we'll be releasing two episodes instead of a weekly episodes. Make sure we, you know, make sure to listen to us with your fam as you're chewing on your Christmas ham. Again, I kind of lost the accent there. My apologies, but you understand what I mean is that it doesn't have to be a full thing. It can just be a couple of lines mentioning to your listeners, who are eager listeners of your show, to know ahead of time that you are going to be taking a break or there's going to be a change in their schedule, because changing humans routines scares humans, so you need to make sure that you give them a heads up
4:08
while also communicating in the podcast. You need to make sure that you communicate beyond that, utilizing your social media, your email newsletters or your website to reinforce your holiday plans and the schedule, in turn, make sure that you're and also making sure that you are clear about your return date so fans know what to expect, either that they are going to get new fresh episodes as of January 26 or or or something along the lines of when they can expect to receive new and regular content from you again, making sure that you don't burn yourself out, and keep that time in a reasonable time frame for you,
4:49
making sure to keep your audience engaged without burning out, is to share sneak peeks of upcoming episodes, maybe for the New Year episodes, to drive excitement, get people ready.
5:00
Who are ready for your new content,
5:03
and also encourage your audience to interact with you, to share any of their holiday stories or questions, get them to email you, get them to DM you, and then you will feature it in the New Year of the content you'll create again. Keep that engagement up, if possible. Make sure to automate any social media posts in advance over your break, so you don't have to go there and try and do it as you're there at the Christmas table and trying to communicate with your family about what you do, which is, let's just take one challenge at a time, shall we?
5:40
And always remember it's okay to take a proper holiday, you'll come back refreshed and ready to deliver your content. Burning out before the year even begins, can feel overwhelming, and it doesn't feel like it gives you the right start to the year.
5:56
Just to recap, prep early, if you can communicate clearly and balance engagement with your rest. Holidays are meant for recharging and spending time with family and friends. So plan it out. Tell your fans, then enjoy your Christmas ham. Thank you, everyone who has enjoyed and interact with us this year at the Geelong podcasters, and next year, we will be coming big back and stronger than ever. But before then, we have got a special episode coming up next week, which will
6:31
give you all the lowdown, before everything happens in 2025
6:35
oh, I know, shocking. All right.
6:41
This podcast is sponsored by me, Zoe. Video confidence coach, connecting the dots of your personal brand with the power of video. See more in the show notes. Speaking of show notes, see all the show notes, including links upcoming events and details for this episode and many more in the episode description. Or just go to Vcc dot training. Slash, Geelong dash podcasters, make sure you tune in for next week.
The above episode description and transcript were generated with ai.
Who are Geelong Podcasters?
Geelong Podcasters are a lively group of both professional and hobby podcasters based in Geelong and the Bellarine in Victoria, Australia. We release a weekly bite-sized podcast every Friday, exploring the wonderful world of podcasting, and host in-person catch-up events in the Geelong CBD on the fourth Friday of each month. Committed to community support, we regularly donate to local charities and use our podcasting efforts to make a positive impact.
Who is your Host?
Zoë Wood, your Video Confidence Coach connects the dots between personal branding and video marketing. Helping women and non-binary folk in small business, find their way in the world of marketing their passion without the energy drain.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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