How To Start a Podcast

What is the secret to creating a successful podcast that makes money?

It’s not complicated:

Then … commit to publishing hundreds of episodes …

And do it consistently.

Where most go wrong, and what many people don’t know about Internet marketing, is this: You only need 1,000 true fans to make more money than you could ever dream.

The goal is to have a narrow niche that will appeal to a specific audience.

How?

Today you’re going to learn to take a podcast from “idea” to “successful” in these five stages:

Ready to quit your 9-to-5 job and get paid to talk about your passions?

It is possible.

Learn to launch a podcasting business!

We’re going to cover how to …

Choose a Passionate Topic that Matters to You

More than what specific topics, products, or sponsorships you may get..

How do you break down a topic that matters to you and make it interesting?

It will be in one of these three ways:

Which one or two do you want to accomplish for your listeners?

You see, creative endeavors need to be more than just trying to make money- really engage in understanding who your audience is and what they care about so that these things will matter to them too!

What matters to your future audience?

Being inspired, entertained, or challenged.

But you can’t challenge, inspire or entertain without passion so…

A niche topic is simply a conversation that many individuals are interested in—parenting, guitar playing, philosophy, pop culture, marketing, writing, etc.

You may not be able to come up with 30 episode ideas at once, but if you’re having trouble getting past five, that niche may not be the right one for you.

Here’s a tip:

If you’re falling short on ideas, YouTube it!

A fantastic way to find ideas for new podcast episodes is to jump on YouTube and see what similar channels in that niche are talking about.

Identify a few YouTube channels you follow that are relevant to your niche … channels whose subscribers are similar to the audience you hope to connect with via your podcast.

Head over to those videos, and sort them by most popular:

Note:

For most people, these questions quickly limit the possibilities down to just a few niche ideas.

And that’s your passionate topic.

What does this brainstorming session help you find?

Your best listeners.

At this point you might say, “But my show is for anyone.”

Resist that urge.

If you spread your net out too far, you’ll lack the depth needed to connect on a more personal level with your real tribe – your 1,000 true fans.

It’s okay to have more than one listener avatar, as you might cater to a couple of distinct needs. But to begin with, focus on one person when planning your podcast episodes.

Here’s how to find the perfect avatar …

Ask “For Whom?”

Look at a few of your topic ideas and add these two words at the end: “for whom?”

This exercise will lead you to create a “niche within a niche,” which should result in you connecting with your 1,000 true fans more quickly.

Here are a few more specific examples:

Determining who you are speaking to in your podcast episodes – moms, beginner guitar players, coffee drinkers from home – will also help you more quickly make money.

How?

Topics like these will discuss multiple products your audience will want to buy …

And guess what!

You can make money with affiliate marketing from these episodes, easily. (More on this later.)

How do you discover these “make money” episode ideas?

It wasn’t because you wanted to put that item in a drawer; it was going to solve a problem or help you accomplish a goal you have.

Your listener avatar will likely need help in accomplishing those same goals.

Note: Once you’ve brainstormed ideas for possible episodes, placing these ideas into Workflowy or another free online list platform will help you to never run out of topics for your podcast episodes.

A great exercise for this is to build out all of that information, and then create a little narrative that describes your listener, their challenges, and why they want to listen to your podcast show.

Tip: For many podcasters talking about their passion, the first person to look at for an ideal customer avatar is you – or a younger version of yourself – and this can give you powerful insight into what your target audience looks like.

Even though this is a fictional character, imagine that your avatar is also a friend.

How would you share your information with a friend?

People want to be spoken to directly, personally, and individually. They don’t want to be part of a big group you’re selling to.

Keep this in mind with everything you do – podcast episodes, marketing campaigns, emails, etc.

If you’re still struggling with these first few steps, here’s something that might help!

Check out how Jay grew a podcast to over 400k downloads in 9-months and the details of the affordable course in this 3-minute video.

There are no right or wrong answers here, though there are a few benchmarks to consider.

Should Your Podcast Have Guests?

Step 2 – Branding Your Podcast

In the case of podcasting, good branding means a few things:

Design Your Artwork

(And the video does not have to be anywhere close to perfect. Look at the quality of Joe Rogan’s videos back in the day.)

Snappa once again comes to the rescue here.

Using a YouTube channel art Template ensures that the content is viewable on each of these different devices with only one image.

Build an Epic Website for Cheap

A podcast website gives you the power to effectively monetize your podcast!

Step 3 – Recording Your Episodes

Let’s jump in!

Set Up Your Podcast Studio

Your basic podcasting studio will need these three key items:

Here’s the skinny on each of these, and a few other items you should get if you hope to level up your podcasting game …

Microphone

Search for “podcasting mic” online and you’ll find a thousand and one options.

Which one should you get?

Different microphones are useful for particular purposes.

These are three main decisions you’ll need to make:

It depends on what kind of recording you’re planning to do.

So, let’s figure this thing out!

Interface or Recorder?

If you have chosen an XLR mic, since it is analog it needs to be converted to a digital signal in order to record.

Enter the audio interface!

This converts the mic’s analog signal into a digital one for your computer.

So what?

So, you can use it on the go! It doesn’t need a computer connection in order to record.

The one you buy depends on what kind of podcasting you’re planning to do.

Podcasting on the go? … A recorder might be the best option for you.

Podcasting in a home studio? … You’ll want an audio interface and a computer for editing.

Or a rocking device that does both is the affordable Zoom PodTrak.

Zoom PodTrak P4

“The PodTrak is an audio interface, and field recorder, that also streams and records Zoom, Skype, and phone calls so you can record any remote interview easily.”

Buy Now on Amazon

The Zoom PodTrak also has outputs and volume control for four headphones, it really is a crazy powerful podcasting tool.

Similar to the RodeCaster but for less than half the cost!

Dynamic or Condenser Mic?

Here’s what you need to know.

Dynamic mics tend to be the best option for podcasting.

Why?Unless your ready to drop a few hundred dollars in soundproofing a condenser is likely going to pick up to much room noise.

And that’s what Joe Rogan, Gary Vee, Tim Ferris and what tons more big podcasters have learned.

The Joe Rogan mic, the SM7B is the best but it’s like $400 dollars. There are a handful of solid SM7B alternatives to check out.

The best budget pick is the Rode Podmic.

Tim Ferris uses a decently affordable handheld dynamic mic, the Shure SM58-LC.

A similar to the SM58 style dirt cheap mic that’s super reliable is the Behringher XM8500.

Pairing a couple Podmics or XM8500’s with a Zoom PodTrak would be a setup you would take a while to outgrow, if ever!

You can check out a decent list of affordable podcast bundles here.

Polar Patterns

A mic’s polar pattern indicates its directional sensitivity.

There are three primary polar patterns:

You’ll probably want to go with the cardioid, as it zeros in on your voice.

You can also look for a mic that allows you to switch between the three, depending on what you need at any given time.

Quality Cables

You can avoid crackly background sounds by investing in high-quality cables.

Make sure that they are also long enough to move around without getting in the way.

What Else Do You Need?

So far, so good!

The equipment above covers the basics, but there are some other items that will give you a professional podcasting setup:

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

When editing your podcast episodes, you will need to:

Headphones

You want a solid set of studio headphones so you can hear yourself while recording, catch problems as they crop up, and adjust them accordingly.

Invest in a good set of headphones.

Create Your Intro

Just like those catchy TV theme songs, every good podcast show has an intro … a theme, so to speak.

As with your artwork, you’ve got two options.

If you’re DIYing, write up a little script, record it, and lay some royalty-free audio under your script.

Premium Beat is a great place to look for a large variety of royalty-free podcast music. 

FreeSound.org requires a little more digging, but is another safe way to find audio that you won’t get sued for using.

Record Your First Episode

So, what’s involved in recording a podcast show?

Creating a Podcast Outline

Start with an outline of what you’re going to talk about!

Should you use a complete script?

Some podcast hosts might write out an entire script.

But if you read a script, that’s exactly how it will sound to your audience … not very authentic or engaging!

However, it’s important to have something to help you stay on track – especially if you plan to have guests.

So, write out an outline:

f you plan to have guests on your podcast, write down a few questions to ask your guest.

Don’t Overthink Your First Episode

One of the biggest mistakes that beginner podcasters make is to overthink it before they ever publish their first episode.

They start thinking about future episodes, marketing, how to get from point A to point B …

… and they freeze!

But think about it like this:

When you are just starting out, the only thing you really need to know is how to get that first episode recorded and published.

That’s a huge first step!

After that, all you need to worry about is taking the rest of the process step by step, learning about it as you go.

Some people recommend that you launch your podcast once you’ve published three episodes, so that:

There’s nothing wrong with that approach.

But here’s the real deal …

If that approach overwhelms you, just focus on publishing one episode to start with. Get it recorded, get it published, share it … and pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

You just took a very important first step into a bigger, larger world.

Ready to hit that red button and record?

Here’s how.

Note: It tends to be easier to edit audio properly on a computer.

In your audio editing software, you should start by chopping up your audio to remove any noises (loud breaths between speech, coughing, etc.)

This will ensure each podcast episode you publish has the best possible sound quality.

And you won’t lose potential new listeners who tune out because of unprofessional content.

Here are three reliable options.

Best Cheap – Libsyn

Libsyn has been in the business longer than almost anybody else for podcast hosting. It is dirt cheap, beginning at $5 per month.

Even when you scale, it is still less than other podcast host options.

It is super easy after you set it up and use it a few times, but those first few times might be a challenge as it’s an older podcast hosting site.

If you can deal with the learning curve, you can’t go wrong with Libsyn.

Best Bang for the Buck – Transistor

Step 5 – Marketing Your Podcast

Here’s how to do all that …

Leverage Podcast Directories

If you want to get in front of as many people as possible, then you need to get your podcast on all relevant directories.

The best podcast directories to grow your audience are obviously those that have massive user bases themselves.

iTunes, for example, has a massive 525 million active users with 315 million of them accessing podcasts on iTunes regularly. That’s a huge opportunity.

Other podcast directories to leverage include Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher – and one that doesn’t start with an S – Apple Podcast.

But you may be wondering how you’ll rise above all the other podcasts out there.

Leverage this option …

Maximize New and Noteworthy

New and Noteworthy is a curated list of podcasts by Apple, which you’ll find on the homepage of iTunes.

When you launch your podcast, do everything you can to get on this list, as it means a free promo spot in front of millions of listeners.

Launching with at least three episodes is going to help you out here, as are maximizing traffic to and increasing listeners of your website.

The bigger the impact you can make at the beginning, the better shot you have at jumping on this list and massively propelling your podcast listener base.

Start a Free Email List

Here’s the thing about email …

Everybody hates it but most email users still check their email every single day.

There is enormous potential … as long as you use emails with enormous respect.

Get it wrong, and you will receive unsubscribes. But get email marketing right, and you will create the best fans, and never have to worry about money again.

The wrong way to do email marketing is to only send emails every time you want to sell something, have a new product, create a new course, etc.

Only one out of every four or five should be “email blasts”.

With the others, offer value.

When you send out your new episode announcement …

At the core of sending emails, just like creating podcast episodes, is this:

Delivering value instead of only asking for what you need.

GaryVaynerchuk wisely calls it, jab, jab, jab, right hook.

To start getting email addresses, you need three pieces:

Make the Most of Social Media

As soon as your podcast launches, you’re going to want to let people know.

Short of your organic reach on social media platforms (i.e. your friends and family), how do you do this?

You find existing communities that might be interested in what your podcast show is about, and leverage the heck out of them.

Post in these groups to let members know that you’ve just launched a new podcast.

More than that , reach out to the leaders of these groups and ask if they’d be interested in being a guest on your podcast.

If you can get some of these group leaders on your podcast, they’re probably going to promote for you, maximizing your reach.

We’ve already talked about reaching out to groups and pages that might be relevant to your podcast.

That’s akin to spreading your nets in the ocean and roping in as many fish as you can, but there’s another angle you’ll want to take.

When individuals start engaging with your posts, engage back with them.

This is more of a spearfishing approach, where you’re aiming to build a stronger relationship with people who might turn into active, regular listeners.

Add Podcast Content to Your Blog

What’s powerful about podcasting? You’re creating a bunch of words with every podcast that you record.

And the most powerful place on the Internet to place those words is where people can find them when they search on Google.

Why?

Because more people use Google every day than anything else on the Internet.

And what are they doing?

They are searching for solutions they desire, problems they have, dreams and goals they want to accomplish.

In other words, they’re searching for the very things you are probably talking about on your podcast.

How can you leverage this?

… and boom! You just took a huge step in making your podcast much more likely to appear in front of your target audience.

Google will crawl this content and rank it based on your keywords.

Typically in each podcast episode you will have a broad topic, along with a few subtopics.

Each of those subtopics can often be their own blog post.

When people find you on Google for free, you grow your reach for your podcast, get more leads, and make more money.

Podcast Networks

You can also join a podcast network: a collection of multiple podcasts that are produced, distributed, and/or made available through a single network or company.

This isn’t the road for everyone. But it’s something to consider.

How to Invite Guests to Your Podcast

You’ve probably already got a few ideas for who to bring on board. Simply reach out to them and see if they’d be interested.

You can also try posting in relevant Facebook groups to find more people to connect with!

It’s also a great way to let people know about your podcast show and hopefully grow your audience while you’re at it.

Just make sure you’re planning and locking in guests well in advance to keep your show on track with your schedule.