As I am starting to write this it is 12 hours and 14 minutes until my first episode of a Swedish Fika goes live on most podcast apps. I can’t believe it is that close. I really started to work on this back in April when I did a general series of tutorials about podcasting on my YouTube channel. That’s when the idea for A Swedish Fika was born, and I started to do some prep work.
In the beginning, I did not have a schedule for when I would start the podcast, my focus was still mainly on my YouTube channel and creating the internet and social media tutorials. The podcast was very much a side project. But slowly it started to shape into something that would become a reality, and I really got more focused.
It got real for me at the end of July when I chose Buzzsprout as my host and started to work on this website. Since then I have added a Facebook page, an Instagram account, a Twitter account, a YouTube channel, and the latest addition a TikTok. I have studied as much as I can about starting a podcast, and I think I am well prepared for this. My two first episodes are uploaded and scheduled to bot Buzzsprout and YouTube, and I have created lots of shorts, stories, and posts on all my other social media.
And tomorrow is the big day! The audio-only podcast will go live at 11 AM CST and you can find it at
A Swedish Fika, the video version will be a premiere where you can come and chat with me as we watch the first episode together on YouTube if that is your preferred media.
The anxiety levels are high
The anticipation after working on a project for five months is at its maximum. I must admit that I am rather nervous right now, not so much about people hearing my voice and seeing me in videos, that worry is long gone since I have been on YouTube for so long, no this is more about how well did I understand the new media which is a podcast, and how do my material works for this format? Did I make the right choices? Is my audio satisfactory? Will anybody be interested, more than my friends that have been very supportive and helpful during these months, or am I fooling myself.
I know I have so much more to learn about podcasting and audio, and I will not be too hard on myself in the beginning, but I know from YouTube how harsh people can be in their comments and their judgments, so I am preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best. Well, the worst would probably be that no one would listen or watch at all, and that will at least spare me from negative comments.
Some upcoming changes to my blogposts
From tomorrow, there will be some changes to the posts here. Sundays, when a new episode is going live, I will focus my posts on show notes. This will be a transcript from the show itself, some additional information about the topic if needed, and less of me rambling about my feelings.
I am at the moment thinking of creating a schedule for posting here. I will post a blog post every Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesdays will be more about the upcoming episode, while Thursday will be more about my reflections on how my podcast is performing and what I have learned as a new podcaster.
So you can expect three blog posts per week from now on, Sunday will be show notes, Tuesdays will focus on my next episode, and Thursdays will be more of thoughts around podcasting in general and my experience in particular.
Added some shorts to YouTube and TikTok
On both these platforms, I have started a series of shorts about Swedish expressions, and now I am wondering would you be interested in me adding some language learning to the regular episodes as well, something like “weekly phrases for visiting Sweden” at the end of each episode? Or should a create separate episodes about tourist Swedish that can help you if you visit Sweden? Let me know what you think in the comments.
If you want to keep up with everything A Swedish Fika, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter
2 thoughts on “12 hours to lift off”
Pia I understand how you feel and I know those feelings will go away probably after the first few weeks of having your podcast out in the world, the best thing I think you can do is just know that you have people that will support this and help try to promote it!
Thanks, DJ, and I know how you have helped me promoting. I am just not sure how to get people to write a review in their podcast player, do you have any ideas?