In this week’s reading, The Business Pocasting Book offered some advice that struck a chord with with me. I wanted to copy pages in the section “Setting Realistic Goals and Measurements” and send them to my boss. Cangialosi writes that “you should not expect an explosion of activity with record-breaking numbers of downloads. It will take time for your podcast to gain any critical mass and for a solid subscriber base to form.” It’s important to recognize that the benefits that result from implementing social media applications aren’t apparent overnight, and they’re not always easy to recognize.

In publishing, we’re continually told that “content is king,” and if the product is of good quality, you will win and keep subscribers. But subscribers don’t necessarily convert into faithful citizens of an online community — those who listen to every podcast or comment regularly on blogs. Unless you have a built-in base like NPR, you’re not going to see a return on your podcast right away.

My company had introduced a blog not too long ago, and saw little response from viewers in the first two months. The blog was soon neglected, as the perception was that no one cared (even though poor visibility was likely the culprit). My fear is that a podcast series will get the axe as well if we don’t see an immediate response That is why it’s so important to set realistic expectations from the start, and have some well-defined expectations of success.