It’s that time of year when people who work in ‘normal’ jobs talk about the time that they’re taking off - whether it’s for Thanksgiving in the US, or Christmas in many places - or any of the other myriad holidays that occur across the globe.
But does that mean you should take a break from your podcast?
As with almost everything else we talk about on this podcast - it all depends…
First of all, it depends on your availability, your commitment - your time. What are you plans? Are you able to take your setup with you? Do you want to take your setup with you?
Are you co-hosts available, and do they want to take time out of their celebrations? All of these things could help you make your decision.
Secondly, it depends on your content.
If you have what is referred to as a Hobby Podcast - this is generally people talking about their hobbies, likes, lifestyles etc, for the pure joy of talking about them - then you are in a better position to carry on, if you want to.
However, if it’s a business-based podcast, then you should look at resting it over Christmas.
People want to take a break - and SHOULD take a break over the festive season.
Also, from our experience, downloads and listening figures for business-based podcasts take a little dip towards the end of the year.
This is also one of those times when we would say it’s okay to think about yourself.
As you’ll know from other articles on this site, we’ve been very much in favour of thinking of the listeners - and you shouldn’t move too far away from that thinking - but if you are in need of a break, take it.
The listeners shouldn’t be an excuse for you keeping going over the festive period with something that you need a break from. Listeners can pick up on stuff that you're not full committed to - and it doesn't make for a good listen.
It's also worth pointing out that this advice doesn't just apply to the End-Of-Year festivities that occur across the globe - it also applies to things like Summer Holidays and trips away.
The one thing we will say with some sense of the definite is that, if you ARE going to take a break - don’t forget to let the listeners know. Keep them informed.
The penultimate episode before the break, make a brief mention of it then, post about it a couple of times on social media - and mention it in more detail on the final episode before the break.
Whenever you do mention it, keep in mind the fans of the podcast, by giving them a definite return date.
Something like this ‘Okay, the podcast is taking a bit of a rest for the next couple of weeks, but we’ll have a brand new episode on January 9th!’. Of course, that's just an example. Bring your own delivery and personality to it.
If your podcast has got a healthy, loyal following - don’t worry, they’ll still be around when you come back.
Don’t forget to schedule some social media posts whilst there is no new content coming out - reminding people of the great content that you’ve produced in the past.
Finally, keep in mind that so many people will be getting devices for listening to podcasts on for the first time at Christmas, so there’s a whole load of new listeners out there, looking for something to start listening to!
So, schedule those post - remember to include links - and then leave it all to run itself while you take a well-deserved break.
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