Beyond Downloads: The Moments That Prove People Are Listening

When Did It Feel Like You Had "Real" Listeners?A grocery store clerk recognized one of my listeners' co-hosts. A pharmacist gets stopped at conferences for selfies. And one podcaster got an email that ended with, "Yesterday, you and Krista saved lives." This month's Question of the Month asked how long it took before you felt like you had real listeners, and what made you realize it. Seven podcasters answered, and here's what surprised me: not one of them said "when I hit a million downloads." If you're staring at your stats wondering whether anyone is out there, press play. I'll also show you the real median download number on Buzzsprout (it's probably a lot lower than you think) and the 30-second test you should run on your website right now.

(Links to everyone's show is at the bottom of this post)

Why I Asked This QuestionI'm trying to help new podcasters set realistic expectations. This month's question and next month's are both about that. So: how long did it take before it felt real, and if it doesn't feel real yet, what would make it feel that way?

Neal Veglio: Feedback, 100%I recorded Neal's answer live on Ask the Podcast Coach when he sat in my co-host's chair. For Neal, it's feedback. Our mutual friend Rob Walsh is right that you shouldn't crap on the download, because it's the only measurement we've got. But a download is a number. An email, a text, any outreach from your community, is what tells you it's actually landing with people. When Neal gets an email, he celebrates.

Josh Liston: "We Listened to Know If We Wanted to Move Here"Josh hosts Sake This, a short-form sketch show about news, trivia, and travel stories from Japan. But his "real audience" moment came from a hyper-local show he co-hosts with Mel called Punching Sideways. Multiple people told them they listened before moving to town (for work, the military, whatever) to learn about the local music scene, the sports stars, the art scene, the comedians. All from a podcast they started just to make each other laugh. His advice: it took a while, so stick with it.

Mark Lawley: "Yesterday, You and Krista Saved Lives"Mark from Practical Prepping watched the download numbers like everyone else at first. The real moment came around the one-year mark, when listener emails started showing up: thank-yous, topic suggestions, and then the ones where people had followed their advice during a severe weather event or personal crisis. He shared one at Empowered Podcasting about a young mom of two who