By Ama Serwaa, Editorial · 13 min read
Podcast growth advice tends to be either vague ("just make good content") or dishonest ("here's the one weird trick"). Neither helps. This is a specific 90-day plan, week by week, that we've watched work for a lot of Fortify Cast creators. Follow it in order.
If any of those aren't true, fix that first before starting the plan.
End of week 2 you should have ~10–30 followers and some real listens. If you have 0, revisit whether your show description actually explains what the show is about.
That's it. Do not add anything else this month. The temptation to add TikToks, a YouTube channel, an Instagram Reels strategy, and a newsletter will be strong. Ignore it. Consistency in one place beats scattered effort in five.
End of week 4: 30–80 followers, small returning live audience (5–15 people). This is normal and fine.
Reach out to one other Fortify Cast creator in a related but not competing category. Propose one of:
Both audiences discover both creators. Costs zero, works every time it's actually done. Do not try to do this with a huge creator on your first attempt — reach out to peers.
End of week 6: 80–200 followers if the collab happened. Live sessions are getting a consistent 10–25 people.
Add a genuine "if this helps you, send a coin" at the end of live sessions. Set your first tip goal (something small, achievable, and specific). See the monetization guide. Do not lead with money asks — earn them by delivering value first for 6 weeks.
End of week 8: first meaningful tip income (usually GH₵50–400 depending on live audience size).
By now you have ~16–20 recorded episodes. Do a pass on episode metadata:
This is unglamorous work. It doubles inbound organic listeners over the following month.
Do a second collab, this time aiming slightly higher — a creator with 3–5x your audience. Prepare well: bring a specific angle, don't waste their time, follow up.
Also this week: pick your 3 best episodes and re-share them on WhatsApp Status and X with a fresh caption. Old episodes with good content deserve second lives.
End of week 12: 300–800 followers, consistent live audience of 20–60, monthly tip income of GH₵200–2,000. Not viral. Real.
Look at your data. In Dashboard → Stats you can see which episodes performed, which live sessions had best retention, and which days of the week converted followers fastest. Do more of what worked. Cut what didn't. Then repeat the 90-day plan with the adjustments.
Very few podcasts go viral. Almost all of them grow slowly and boringly for 12–18 months before the graph starts to look like a hockey stick. The creators who quit at month 6 never see month 18. The plan above works because it makes it possible to survive to month 18 without burning out.
See you at month 18.