This is another episode where I share some of the "mistakes" that I see people are making in the podcasting space. We need to focus on our audience, not the technology. There are times when we focus on the technology because you are using the wrong tool. Here are things some thing that may be burning you out, wasting your time, and stopping your podcast from being successful. Sometimes Obsess Over Details that Don't Effect Our Episode As a tech support person, I see people obsess over details that will have little or no effect on their episode or podcast growth. I want to know how many people listened in Mongolia on December 12, 2017. Unless you're going on tour, why? The music in my add is of beat The video on Facebook that NOBODY is watching more than 2 seconds. Using The Wrong Software to Create Your Podcast I often refer to this as painting with peanut butter. When you use the tool for the job, you make creating your podcast a hassle and you are likely to get burned out and quit. If the tool you are using to create your audio doesn't allow you to create an mp3 - it's the wrong tool as you will have to use a different program. I see people who use the wrong software go to Facebook groups trying, and trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. I recommend Hindenburg Journalist (I use Pro), Audacity, and Adobe Audition. I'm not saying all video programs are bad, but they need to be able to export as an mp3. If you need help turning a WAV or AAC file into an mp3 I've got a free tutorial for you. Troubleshooting Trying to Get Something Bright and Shiny For whatever reason, I could not use Belive.tv. My computer would lock up. I had tried a couple of things, but it would always lock up. Again, this was not their problem, it was a problem with my machine. I could have wiped my computer clean, and reloaded all my software, backed up all my files and spent a TON of time. This is where you need to ask FOR WHAT? Lower thirds on my video, and video switching. This is where you need to ask a question, has my audience asked for the feature I'm trying to add? Is this really something that is going to help me grow my audience? Missing the Off-Ramp to Happy Town There are times when you want technology to work, and it doesn't. Then someone alerts to a solution, but you don't like it. Instead, you decide to go back and bang your head against a wall. Different platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn change how they handle podcasts on a somewhat frequent basis. You want it to work one way, but it doesn't. You can manually post to any of these places taking the same steps. You found success - follow it. Maybe you're trying to do something and it won't work with Safari, but it would work with chrome. Instead of using Chrome you decide to band your head against the wall using Safari. You just discovered a solution. You can move forward using a new tool, or troubleshoot Apple's product for free. Working Outside Your Zone of Genius I spent some time playing with the Divi WordPress theme on one of my sites, and I hit some issues that is probably with the Media host. It might be a problem with some plugins. I am working with the tech support team, but web design, in general, is not my best skill, and it might make more sense to let an actual web designer take over, and then let me maintain. Confusing Activity with Productivity I was spending hours listening to podcasts about podcasting that were not bad shows. However, I am blessed with my students, my audience, and lots of contacts in the podcasting space. With this in mind, I'm not learning anything from these show. For the investment in time, I'm not learning anything that I can share with you. Meanwhile, I'm reading books that have me thinking, and coming up with new ideas for episodes. Creating Garbage Audio to be Cleaned Up Later If you are doing a podcast with Interview is have the potential guest record something and send it to you. This will help separate the good from the not so good. If