So, you wanna start a podcast…
Laura Dolan
Content Marketing Professional | I bring structure to creative chaos. I empower successful businesses to significantly expand their online presence and reach through strategic organic growth.
Not sure where to start? Here are some basic best practices for getting the ball rolling on your brilliant podcast idea.
It’s not as difficult as you think it is. And it might cost you a little bit of money, but you have to treat it like an investment so you get out what you put into it, that’s all I’ve gotta say.
I’ve produced five podcasts for five different companies during my career and let me tell you, once you have a solid process in place, it really becomes a no brainer.
Let’s start with the basics.
Strategy
You have to start somewhere. Once you decide to follow through with your bare bones idea of wanting to start a podcast, you need to flesh it out and establish a few things prior to recording your first episode so you have a strategy in place.
Some things to consider:
- Episode themes/topics
- Working titles
- Episode launch cadence
- Episode length
- A guest list
- A logo or artwork of your brand?
- What kind of bumper music is ideal for your theme or topics? (A great tool I’ve found for free stock music is Mixkit )
- Ads or no ads?
- Is it going to be strictly audio, or will video also be involved?
- Where will you promote your podcast?
Once you or your team lock all this down, you’ll have a trajectory to work with. Trust me, you’ll want to lay the groundwork before you start building out this new channel; you’ll thank me later.
Equipment
For the love of all that is good and pure, you gotta invest in some good sound equipment and I’m talking mics. I cannot tell you how many podcasts I’ve listened to where the sound quality was horrific. There’s echoing, feedback, mumbling, uneven sound quality. That is not a pleasant experience for your audience’s ears, capiche?
So here’s what you do. You find yourself a good mic. I personally love the one I found on Amazon (linked for your convenience). The Logictech Blue Yeti is my go-to and it’s what I always recommend to my friends or colleagues who are looking to start a podcast.?
This thing will make your voice sound like butter, or as I like to say, buttah! If you plan to have other co-hosts or regular guests on your podcast, make sure they have the same mic or something similar so the sound is nice and even.
The last thing you want is getting beyond the bumper music and having a listener bounce after hearing three seconds of what sounds like distortion coming from the bottom of a well.
Spend a little money, and get yourself a good mic, I’m telling you, your audience will thank you in the long run.
If you also want to invest in a mic mesh or screen to soften the “p” sounds (y’all know what I’m talking about) you can also go the extra mile and invest in some mic accessories as well.?
Recording
There are many different platforms out there for recording your episodes, and most of the time, the hosts are recording remotely in different parts of the world, so these tools will help bring everyone together. Here’s a small list of recommendations to get you going:
There’s plenty more where that came from, but all of the above are great options, some of them free, some subscription based.?
My personal favorite is Zoom, just make sure it won’t cut you off after 40 minutes OR, if you want to have shorter episodes, that’s okay, too! You do what you can afford.
Also, DO NOT FORGET TO PRESS RECORD! Didn’t mean to yell, but I know a couple people who have recorded some phenomenal podcasts, without pressing the record button. You don’t want that heart sinking feeling when you’ve wrapped an episode.?
Once you’re done recording your episode, Zoom will render an audio file. Depending on how long the episode is, this can take a few minutes to process. Once you have the file, save it for the next step: sound editing.
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Sound editing
Here’s where it gets tricky. If you consider yourself a perfectionist like me, you can edit your own episodes yourself using tools such as GarageBand , Logic Pro , VEED.IO , or Podcastle .?
I am an editor by default, so I’m always cleaning up my content, whether it’s blogs, social posts, videos, or podcasts. It takes some practice, but once you get a rhythm going with knowing how to sound edit, you’ll be golden. You can either outsource this step, or I’m always happy to provide tutorials on how to upload and edit your podcasts so they sound flawless.
I always like to tell my guests there’s no pressure while recording because it isn’t live. If they make a mistake and want to say something over again, or they realize what they said needs to be “off the record” I simply say no problem, I mark the timestamp during the recording so I can anticipate when it comes up in the editing process, then I simply cut it out.?
And it’s not just for do-overs. I try to keep my podcasts free of “ums”, “uhs”, coughing, sneezing, long pauses, background noise, dogs barking - although sometimes I leave the dogs in for everyone’s pure amusement.
It all depends on how much time and effort you want to put into your sound editing. Some podcast hosts will leave the recording as is for a more relatable and raw experience for their listeners. It’s all totally up to you.
Distribution
Once you’re satisfied with the quality of your recording, now it’s time to show it to the world! Some podcast distribution tools or hosting platforms that I trust the most include:
And plenty of others that are linked above. Again, most are subscription based so it may all depend on budgeting. Once you figure out the best fit for your podcast, you can upload your edited sound file and it will be distributed to wherever listeners get their podcasts: Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, RSS feeds, etc.?
Be prepared to have some copy written about each episode including a title, a small summary, meta tags, episode art, logo, or graphics, and a landing page link, if necessary. These will all help optimize your podcast so listeners can find it easier.?
If your podcast is about true crime, make sure that’s a tag. If it’s about baking, add that as a tag. You get the idea. And again, happy to provide extra help and tutorials in this area of search engine optimization (SEO) where possible.
Extras
At this point, you can say, that’s a wrap. However, let me tell you how you can go the extra mile. If you want to help your podcast stand out and appeal to a wider audience, such as the hearing impaired, for example, you can use a transcription tool so others can follow along in different ways.
My favorite transcription tool is called Rev. You can start a subscription to Rev , upload your sound file with speaker names, time stamps, and whatever else you would like to include, and within 24 hours, you have an entire script of your podcast that you can repurpose into other types of content.?
You can create a blog with your entire conversation, a series of social posts promoting the episode, a series of sound bites that you can use to promote the episode again at a later date. The possibilities are endless. And it’s your content! If you talked about your business, your product, your brand, you have an entire content strategy right there in your hands.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask your listeners to rate your podcast, this will help your credibility and give you more exposure.?
The great summation
For those of you out there who are planning and excited to start a podcast, congrats to you! Once it goes live, please keep me in the loop. Comment with your podcast links below so that I may give them a listen and a 5-star rating.?
For more content marketing insights, strategies, and to stay updated with the latest trends and best practices, follow my blog right here on LinkedIn.??
Warm up your brain every Monday with my Marketing Mastery Mondays blog so you can start your week with fresh new ideas to feel empowered and inspired!?
Marketing leader | Brand awareness | Demand Generation | GTM | PR | Channel Marketing | Event Management | B2B | ex-amdocs | Proud mum of 3 girls (20,18, 15)
2 个月Thank a million from Germany, Laura!????♀???
B2B Marketing Operations | Marketo Consultant | ABM | LinkedIn Ads
2 个月Great advice Laura! Love all the software suggestions, really helpful!