I see podcasters ask this in different ways: “Should I keep going if I have only 10 listeners?” “Only 100?”
The question shouldn't be, “Is my audience big enough?” Instead, the better question is, “Is this podcast still fulfilling the reason I started it?”
Audience size can matter. I’m not going to pretend numbers are meaningless. But they are not the only measurement of podcast success, and for some podcasts, they might not even be the most important measurement.
So before you let the word “only” discourage you, ask yourself these four questions.
1. Why did you start podcasting?
This is not an accusation. It’s an invitation to remember.
Why did you start your podcast in the first place?
Maybe you wanted to become known for something. Maybe you wanted to build a business. Maybe you wanted to share your expertise, connect with people who care about the same thing, or simply have fun talking about something you love.
That’s why I often talk about podcasting P.R.O.F.I.T.—and no, it’s not only about money. P.R.O.F.I.T. stands for:
- Popularity
- Relationships
- Opportunities
- Fun
- Income
- Tangibles
You and your audience can gain any combination of those from your podcast. But you don’t need all of them. You might be pursuing only one.
For more on that framework, listen to “What Is Podcasting PROFIT?” from episode 320 and “Why You Should Put Podcasting P.R.O.F.I.T. First” from episode 388.
For many independent podcasters, I think the R and the F—relationships and fun—matter most. They started because they wanted to talk about something they love, and they hoped to connect with other people who love it, too.
If that’s your why, then audience size might not matter as much as you think.
Is it automatically more fun to have 1,000 listeners instead of 10 if the quality of engagement is the same? Probably not. And a smaller audience does not mean a lesser audience. It might simply give you a better opportunity to go deeper with the people who are already listening.
That’s one reason I think depth matters so much in podcasting. Breadth is easy to measure. Downloads, followers, rankings, and chart positions are all visible. But the depth of your relationship with your audience might be a better sign of whether your podcast is actually doing what you hoped it would do.
So before you ask whether your audience is big enough, ask why you started. Then let that “why” drive your content, presentation, production, and promotion.
2. Are you achieving your “why”?
Once you remember why you started, the next question is whether you’re actually achieving it.
If your goal was fun, are you having fun?
If your goal was relationships, are you building relationships?
If your goal was income, opportunities, popularity, or something tangible, are you moving toward that?
My first podcast was a clean comedy podcast called The Ramen Noodle. Its main goal was simple: have fun. I had funny stories I wanted to share, and I thought other people might enjoy them, too.
That was it.
Yes, I experimented with the show. Yes, I looked at possible ways to monetize it. But the main goal was fun. And because we were having fun, the podcast was succeeding at what it was created to do.
This is where you need to be honest about your own podcast. Don’t judge a relationship-and-fun podcast by the standards of a media empire. And don’t judge an income-focused podcast only by whether it was enjoyable to record.
Different goals need different measurements.
If your podcast is part of your business, you probably do need to evaluate whether it is helping your business. But if your goal was to enjoy the topic and build meaningful connections, then a “small” audience might already be enough to fulfill that goal.
Special thanks
Speaking of deeper engagement, I want to thank a couple of people who recently supported The Audacity to Podcast through Podcasting 2.0 streaming payments.
Special thanks to Lyceum, who streamed 1,219 § and then 1,776 § on episode 433, “Four Types of Podcast Niches—It’s Not Just Your Topic!” Lyceum said:
“I will share this episode with two co-hosts for a forthcoming podcast that we are planning. We have recorded material for four episodes so far, and we will launch it in the near future. I will talk about this episode as I am celebrating 20 years as a podcaster, and I plan to publish some new episodes for EGO NetCast, Pluck the Day, Swing That Gig!, and Tea Party Media, on my birthday, on May 25.”
Congratulations, Lyceum, on 20 years of podcasting! I’ve been listening to podcasts for 20 years, but I’m “only” around 18 years into actually podcasting. And I still love it.
And thank you to Bryan Entzminger for streaming 459 §. I greatly appreciate that support!
That kind of support connects directly to this question of success. I did not start The Audacity to Podcast primarily to make money. I started it to share things podcasters should consider, challenge assumptions, educate podcasters, and give you the guts and teach you the tools to start and grow your own podcast for passion and profit.
That’s the goal. And I do feel like I’m achieving it.
Even if I had “only” 100 listeners, I would still consider the podcast a success if it helped those 100 people podcast better.
So what about your podcast? Is it achieving the goals that matter to you?
3. What are you doing to work toward your goals?
This is where the question gets more uncomfortable.
If your goal is to earn money from your podcast, don’t expect the “Field of Dreams” model to work: “If you publish it, mattress sponsors will come.”
They probably won’t.
If you want a larger audience, what are you actually doing to reach new people? You could publish a fantastic podcast in all the right places and still not grow much if you are not doing anything to bring people to it.
And I’ll be honest: I’m not great at marketing my own products and services, like Podgagement and PodChapters. I believe they’re useful, innovative, and genuinely helpful for podcasters. The people who use them usually like them. But more people need to see them, try them, and understand how they can help.
So I have to ask myself the same question: what am I doing to work toward that goal?
I’m learning how to reach the right customers, communicate benefits more clearly, and make the value more obvious. I’m reading books, listening to podcasts, and even using AI to help me think through ideas and tasks.
That’s not magic. That’s work.
And your goals need work, too.
If your goal is relationships, are you inviting responses and following up? If your goal is opportunities, are you making your expertise visible and easy to act on? If your goal is fun, are you protecting the parts of your workflow that actually make podcasting enjoyable?
Some podcasters do nothing to bring about the results they want and then get frustrated when those results don’t arrive.
Let me be blunt: if you’re doing nothing toward the goal, you probably shouldn’t be surprised by nothing happening.
4. How can you invest in what you have right now?
It’s easy to obsess over the next thing: the next milestone, the next sponsor, the next opportunity, the next thousand listeners.
But what are you doing with the audience you already have?
If 10 people listen to your podcast, do you know their names? Could you learn why they listen? Could you ask what they enjoy most, what they want more of, or what problem your podcast helps them solve?
Do things now that do not scale.
When your audience is small, you can personally reply to messages, ask thoughtful follow-up questions, mention listeners by name, read their comments, answer their questions, and make them feel like real people matter to your podcast—because they do.
Yes, some of that might not scale to 10,000 listeners.
That’s fine.
You don’t need to scale what you’re doing for 10 people. You need to serve the 10 people you have.
And when you invest deeply in your current audience, they are more likely to help your podcast grow. They might share it, support it, send questions, leave feedback, or simply become more connected to the show.
Engagement often creates more engagement. When listeners hear someone else’s comment read, question answered, or feedback discussed, they often think, “Hey, I’d like my message read, too!”
So don’t focus only on the people who aren’t listening yet. Serve the people who are.
If you love The Audacity to Podcast and value the podcasting inspiration and education I provide, would you please consider giving back what it's worth to you?
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Disclosure
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
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