Everyone wants to be the best in the biz. You enter the industry, wanting to make your mark while forming important connections. Everyone’s teething at the bit to make it big, especially in the beginning.

However, the harsh truth is that gaining competency in any field takes time, luck, and nose-to-the-grindstone effort, and sometimes it might not always seem like the various challenges you face getting to that level are totally worth it.

That’s why I bring to you today a short guide on 3 steps to picking your battles, and how to overcome some of the challenges in finding your identity and niche as a podcaster, focusing less on the menial things and more of what you enjoy doing and your overall goals.

1. You’ll never be able to keep up with the latest tech. 

Production value is important. You also want to be able to sound professional and express yourself well, and good tech can help that. That being said, there comes a point where it simply stops being economically viable to pursue the latest technology (which is constantly changing anyway).

There’s also quite of bit of legitimate time expenditure in learning about the latest codex or researching how one company tweaked this or that. But here’s the beauty of podcasting: You don’t need to worry about it!

The cost of entry for this particular medium is so low, and there are so many useful tools now to help you stay competent and professional sounding that everything else starts to become white noise, especially when you’re just starting out and getting a handle on the basics.

2. You can always say more, and that’s a good thing!

When you cut recording and get all of your information ready for the editing bay, it’s kind of inevitable that you would have some concerns that you didn’t get the most use out of your guests time, or that you could have said so much more if you just gave yourself a moment to think and expand on a topic.

And that’s perfectly understandable. You’re the expert, and you want to show it as much and as often as you can!

As you’re speaking and interview skills develop through your podcast, you’ll find yourself able to say more with less, and saying it more effectively.

Unless you have an extremely structured script (there are even exceptions then), there will always be things that you just can’t communicate in a 30-40 minute show.

That comes with being well-versed in your field and years of practice.

What you can do about it is A) talk more about it when the opportunity arises on your show, adding more to your own “conversation”, and B) engage your audience by asking them what you might have missed, inviting conversation, and growing both in your expertise and as a podcaster.

3. It’s about making yourself STAND OUT. 

More important than production, or how experienced you are in front of the mic, or how well versed in your field you are, is standing out from your competition. That’s marketing 101.

Granted, having a better overall show quality, or being more knowledgeable is incredibly important too (you don’t want your listeners turning off the show 5 minutes in because they can’t hear you).

However, showcasing your personality and creating remarkable content is just as, if not more, important than. What’s also important is showing some old fashioned, unbridled love of what you do and what you’re talking about.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that a little bit of simple, jovial passion for what you do as a podcaster and being someone who’s knowledgeable in your field is essential to most of what I talk about in this article.

Start developing a voice, engage your audience, and focus on content. Besides, if you don’t feel strongly about what you’re talking about, how much can you really say to an audience that cares enough to listen?

How do you overcome the various challenges that come by your show from time to time? Talk about it in the comments!