Let me give you a few things we deal with.

Editing woes – A lot of podcasters hire audio editors like me to clean up their interviews. They wanted it to be sanitized from uhms and ahms, background noise, coughing and sneezing just so you don’t get pissed off. That’s how special you are as a listener.

Schedule – Most of the time podcast can get in the way with personal and family time. But let me tell you, these people who are dedicated in their craft, wants to be always on schedule because they know you’re waiting. So don’t unsubscribe right away, they too are human who needs some rest.

Brain Drain – Did you know that some of the producers of these podcasts that you listen to are more likely suffering from anxiety? When they run out of ideas or topics or guests, worry can set in. And it’s true, coming up with a topic and how to deliver it so it will have the biggest impact to you as a listener is a total energy zapper.

Tech Issues – These guys who are podcasting are not DJ’s or audio engineers. They’re entrepreneurs, poets, artists, athletes, doctors, philosophers. And as you can guess, they’re not techie. At least no all of them knows what LUFS means or RSS feed. So tech stuff can be a huge learning curve for them. And setting up that Skype mix minus to record an interview will surely cause some nosebleeds for them.

Cost – Not all podcasters are like Joe Rogan or Dave Ramsey who are able to monetize their shows and turn a profit out of it. Some are just doing it for the sake of their passion or for a cause. And so when the wallet runs dry, the passion may not be able to sustain because as you know, you also need to pay Libsyn or your podcast editor. Be considerate when there are few seconds of sponsor ads on the show. Even CNN needs some advertising so it can continue to operate so, relax if you hear a few seconds of sponsor ads, okay?

On the lighter side, here are some of the things I believe can help resolve these podcasting challenges.

Plan Your Podcast

There’s no better way than to set up a plan and stick to it. And yes, there has to be plan B too. Lorna Li of Entrepreneurs for a Change is a master of this  I’ve worked with a couple of projects, including Lorna’s podcast and a simple Google sheet with schedules of when an episode will be released, what’s the status of the editing, has the guest confirmed and stuff like that has tremendously worked to smoothen things and helped avoid cramming.

Outsource

Have you heard of John Jonas, Chris Ducker, James Schramko, David Jenyns? These are outsourcing gurus. You should learn from these guys about how to leverage the power of outsourcing. And if you know someone who has outsourced to an audio editor or podcast manager, you might as well solicit their recommendation or referral. Peer recommendation will give you a big head start when it comes to finding a good, reliable  and proactive talent. Oh, and I by the way, I do offer my services too so if you want to check me out, you can always click on the podcast services tab.

Network

There are lots of podcast communities that you can join and be refreshed with ideas and tips. So try to join a couple of them. Start by going to these 10 podcast communities. Engage and learn from the pros. I suggest you visit the podcast community on Facebook when you have time. There are lots of great people who are more than happy to share their thoughts and help you out with some of your podcasting challenges.

Balance

When we talk about cost, learn how to balance between cost and quality. The cheapest may not always be the best solution. And as time tells us, you get what you pay for.

Do any of these challenges resonate with what you’re experiencing now? Let us know in the comments.