88: How to Start a Podcast (2021)

My goal for this episode is to give you a big picture roadmap for how to start a podcast. You give me 30 minutes of your time, I'll tell you everything I know about starting a podcast. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive guide that covers everything you’ll need to know (that would take awhile longer and I'd like to keep this pretty short), but my hope is that it gives you enough information to help you start making progress on starting your own podcast. If you’re listening to this in a podcast app, I’d recommend pausing it and switching over to my YouTube video. I’ll be showing some screenshots and other visual aids that I think you’ll find helpful. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/4zfglqqHHtA I also plan to publish a more detailed version of this episode as an affordable downloadable PDF and video and checklist, so I’ll include a link to that in the episode notes as well whenever it’s ready. A Few Pieces of Advice Before We Get Started: Anyone Can Start a Podcast Anyone can start a podcast! Yes, even you! To do it well does cost some money and a fair amount of time and effort, but it’s not extremely expensive, and you don't need anyone's permission to do it. The hardest part (from what I've seen) is growing an audience and getting people to listen to your podcast and share it with other people. Try to make a show that other people will find valuable and interesting A common mistake I see a lot of people make is starting a show where they just talk about whatever random subject they feel like talking about. It can be fun to do that for awhile, but it’ll be hard to convince strangers to listen to you unless you're already known for something. Everyone has an opinion, and most strangers probably aren't going to be interested in hearing yours. To stand out, you’ll need to figure out how to provide something valuable, useful, or interesting to them. Aim to make your show entertaining, educational, or inspirational. If you can make it be all three, even better. If you don’t feel like you have anything important or interesting to say, it’s ok to put off podcasting for awhile. Focus instead of becoming an interesting, experienced person who can talk about a topic or tell stories in a way that makes people notice and pay attention. Don't give up when the going gets tough. You’re going to encounter road blocks and get stuck sometimes. There are answers to every question out there on the internet in blog posts, YouTube videos, books, podcasts, etc. Be patient and learn to enjoy the process of learning. Don’t get frustrated if you can’t accomplish a task right away. Podcasting is a marathon, not a sprint. Success comes to those who stick with it for a long time, so don’t give up if you don’t achieve all your goals right away. Stay focused, keep working, keep iterating and getting better. If you have questions, please feel free to send them to me, or you can find more information out there on the internet if you search. The Ultimate Goal: End up with an awesome podcast you love My goal with this episode and show is to help you end up with a podcast you’re proud of and that other people love, listen to, and share with their friends. One of the best ways to do this is to learn from other people who have already created podcasts that people love. This is why I recommend checking out the top shows in Apple Podcasts and Spotify for inspiration. Pay close attention to their podcast cover artwork and their show descriptions. Look for shows that are similar to the show you want to make. Learn from them, get inspired by them. 4 Key Parts to Podcasting There are four main parts of making a great podcast. They are:  1. Planning & Pre-Production  2. Recording & Production  3. Editing & Post-Production  4. Launching & Promoting Let's go through each of these steps in more detail. 1: Pre-Production / Planning the Show The Goal: Come up a title, theme, short description, branding/visual style, and format for your show, and choose a time in your schedule to work on it. The first step is to decide: What your show is going to be called (the title) What it's going to be about (the theme) What your branding or visual style is going to be (the look of your artwork) What the format is going to be (Interviews? Fiction / Story telling?) When you're going to work on it (In the mornings before work? In the evenings after work? Weekends?) The Title: Check Apple Podcasts and social media to make sure the title you want isn’t already taken. The Theme/Format: Will you do interviews? Chat with a friend about a new topic every week? Tell a story in a narrative style? Do something weird and bizarre? There’s no rules here, so you have freedom to create the kind of show that you want. I’m guessing you have a few ideas based on shows you already listen to and enjoy. Make a show you’d love to listen to, and have fun! The Branding/Visual Style: Eventually you’ll need to create or hire someone to create cover art for your show. Your podcast cover ar