How to Start a Podcast

Podcasts are right up there with short-form video in terms of engagement and consumption. People are gobbling them up! Why? Because podcasts are so easy to consume. You can listen to a podcast when driving, doing laundry, washing the dishes, exercising, or just lounging. This has made podcasts extremely popular among busy people who want to consume bite-sized pieces of information without having to stop what they are doing. If you want to use podcasting to build your influence and promote your business or brand, here’s how to get started:

The Basics

What’s a podcast? It’s a piece of digital-format audio content that can be downloaded or streamed for consumption. Podcasts are accessed primarily through digital libraries like iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Podcasts are important because they give the podcaster their own sort of radio station where they can touch base with audiences every day or week or month. The only difference with radio is that podcasts are prerecorded and not live like radio. Now that we have the basics, what’s the next step?

Ideation and Outlines

Before hitting that record button, you need to first figure out what your podcast will be about, how often you’ll be recording and publishing, the format of your podcast (interviews, segmented, storytelling) etc. As you do this, you also need to think about the episodes you will record. Ideally, you need to start a podcast that has enough material to sustain upcoming episodes well into the future. Once you have these ready, it’s time to look at the equipment you will need.

Equipment

At a bare minimum, all you need is your cell phone and a story to tell. It’s that simple. If you don’t have the money to buy expensive equipment, don’t let this hold you back. However, great audio will always make your podcast better quality and more enjoyable to listen to. There’s a myriad of options when it comes to podcasting equipment so start by reading some reviews and seeing what other podcasters use. It’s important, however, to first try your hand at creating and publishing a few cellphone podcasts before investing in this more-expensive equipment.

Recording and Editing

You now have your story ready and your equipment. It’s finally time to hit record. You can use a tool like Audacity for this. When recording, try and find a quiet place you can record from. Also, practice speaking into the mike until you can speak in a natural voice that is easy to listen to. Also, record a few episodes upfront so you can publish them all at once. This will get your audience hooked and give you some lead time to create new episodes. When it comes to editing, focus on cutting out any areas with awkward silences, or cleaning up areas with background noise. Remember not to fuss too much about getting it perfect. You’ll have all the opportunity you need to perfect it once you become a pro podcaster.

Distribution and Promotion

Lastly, you want all your hard work to be appreciated by an audience, so you will need distribution and promotion. For distribution, you can use podcast hosting platforms like Anchor, Libsyn, Shoutengine or Simplecast. These only host your podcast and provide a link that will then be syndicated to platforms like iTunes and Spotify. To get your podcast out there, you will need to aggressively promote it on social media and other channels like email. Keep in mind that promoting a podcast is different from promoting let’s say a product in that you want people to tune in and keep coming back.

The cost of starting and running a podcast is practically zero. The potential the channel has, however, is limitless. You can use it to promote your brand or business, other brands and businesses or just to tell the world your stories for what they are worth.