The world of podcasts has seen growth at a rate beyond imagination. It was a matter of two years that there was a reach of 1,500,000 active shows on a global level. Approximately 35 million podcast episodes were launched within this span. Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? Well, there is more as we start speaking on how in this year, you can start a podcast of your own.
Content creators, marketers, influencers, and so on are now opting for Podcasting. If we go back to the year 2018, it was an investment of $479 million that the brands spent on podcast ads. Looking at the full-fledged growth, the numbers are about to double. By 2021, the annual billing on podcast advertising revenue will see an increase of $1 Billion.
It is likely to be allured by all the description that we shared here. However, if you need to know whether podcasts are worth the trouble or not, then let us tell you why we are here. Starting your own podcast is an easy fix. This ultimate guide in 2021 will walk you through the entire process of how you can start a podcast in 2021.
Let’s start with the basics first.
What is a Podcast? – Here is what you need to know!
Podcasts are usually pre-recorded audio shows that puts their focus primarily on a centralized topic like travel or business. You can either opt to stream it online or listen later after downloading.
There are different podcasts platforms that you can use to stream your podcasts. Some of them are SoundCloud, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and so on. For a typical podcast to function, you can access these episodes anytime you like.
Podcasting has come to the limelight in 2000s. But it was in the year 2000 when the first iPod was launched and ever since then podcasting saw a growth. Earlier, the way these podcasts functioned were different. It usually happened by uploading an audio file that was pre-recorded directly to audio devices. Furthermore, the uploading could also be done directly by attaching them to the RSS feeds.
Podcast is a term which is a combination of two words, iPod and Broadcast. It was also called audio blogging for that reason.
People mostly went to Audible which also happened to be the pioneer of audio books and radio programs. They even sold subscriptions to popular American talk shows. Podcasts came as a breakthrough for the most of us. It gave ability to the users to listen to the audio of their favorite shows and programs. Additionally, it became easy for program creators to market their products to a large audience.
The Ultimate Guide to Start a Podcast
To start a podcast, you have to start with planning, followed by preparation, and so on. Let’s go through them one by one.
Planning
This is the stepping stone and the most overlooked stage to start a podcast. This is the primary step and hence, spending a good amount of time on planning is a good start before you think of moving on.
1. A ‘Topic’ that Defines You
This is the most crucial subject to consider since your podcast definitely has to focus on a particular topic or niche. Start with a topic that you wish to speak the most about. Try to narrow the results. Look for something that covers more than 100+ episodes. However, make sure that your potential audience is keen to hear you, therefore, keep the limits broad.
For instance, you can talk about cooking or books or even describe your travel experience for that matter. As your podcast starts to get popular, you can keep on expanding your areas.
2. A Partner will Go a Long Way
Friends, co-workers, business partners, anyone who have fine relations with can be your partner to start a podcast. Having a co-host/partner makes it so easy to start a podcast.
The conversations and ideas that you have will split up with your partner giving you more room to think. You can engage in conversations more and more if the topics and views you share are descriptive. Furthermore, things will also be more on track if you have someone to join along in the process.
In addition to all this, all your tasks of editing, promoting, etc. splits up and hence, the load is distributed amongst the two of you.
Every story has its side, Therefore, having a co-host also has a downside.
Commitment is the first thing to look for when you are looking for a long term relationship. Also, planning your schedules earlier and working on them diagonally can be a great way to pre-plan the scheduling plans for every week.
Just to be on the safer side, you can also continue going on with your podcast without your partner just in case they plan to drop. You can still go on without them and add a co-host in the program later.
3. A ‘Good Name’ is Significant
There are a variety of different names to choose and hence, it plays an important factor in the process too. You can look at the top Apple Podcast list to choose the right name for you.
There is a wide range of names to follow, you can easily check the details from the description to know more about the podcast.
Choose a name that goes well with your topic. It certainly needs to be broader than the topic. If you are looking forward to start a podcast, then go for a catchy podcast name. Just ensure that the name grabs the attention of the audience and is easily searchable.
Use a keyword that goes well with your podcast. Describe your brand with your name so that it is easy to recognized by people. Alternatively, you can also opt for a domain name with a hosting plan.
4. Describe your Show!
There are certain factors that you need to consider while you go forward to start a podcast. Here are some of the things you definitely need to consider as factors for your podcast shows.
Length
There is nothing of a certain length for a podcast. According to experts, there needs to be a certain length for a podcast but all of that is an understatement.
However, it is important to focus on the hard bits of your podcasts. You have to cut to the chase when you actually want to consider the average time of your podcast. People never like to list to podcasts that go for longer than an hour because that raise concerns for attention though.
If you look back, there are podcasts for 5 minutes and then there are podcasts for 5 hrs. You have find out the one that works out the best for you and you are good to go. What you certainly need to avoid is dragging your audio unusually which is where you lose the attention of people.
Style
You don’t have to do something knowing that it is popular. There are many popular things out there and you can’t chase it all to start a podcast.
As said earlier, your style should define who you are. People should know you for the way you speak and the way you address them. Go for solo shows or for co-hosted ones. Divide your time and share your attention in a similar manner.
You can also go for doing Interviews (well, its just an idea).
Format of the Episodes
What do we mean by a specific episode? What do we mean by how does it sound? There are a bunch of episodes and formats that are lying around on the Internet for you to pick from. Here are some examples: –
- Teaser
- Outro Music
- Ad Spot
- Interview
- Welcome
If your podcasts have a desirable length, it is easy to share these clips and videos on social media. Different segments make the job easy. One thing you must note here, that every episode you decide to put on, you will attract new as well as your old listeners, therefore, it is best to try to speak for both of them.
Preparation
So far, you are almost done with everything that we explained earlier, get going with a couple of more things before the final launch.
1. Go for a Cover Art
Your Cover Art is the primary artifact that people are going to notice and is definitely bound to leave an impression in the process. Most people who browse through your podcasts are going to notice the way your podcast is featured.
When your friends/colleagues share these images on social media, this cover art is going to be your identification. You can refer to articles to find the cover art that goes best with your podcast theme. Alternatively, you can also buy a cover art if you have the budget to go for it.
Refine your choices to the finest ones once different designers offer you their drafts to choose from. Choose the one that goes best for you.
2. Professional Introduction
There are tons of places which you can consider to as the best place to get quality voiceovers and intros for you to start a podcast.
Giving a chance to a third-party to introduce you takes that bar a little higher, Additionally, a great way to standout of the common crowd.
3. Choose the ‘Right’ Music
Discovering the right place to select your podcast music is significantly crucial. Searching is easy, you can easily get a license, and there are a bunch of different styles to make a pick from.
4. Microphone
One of the major aspects to start a podcast is audio. Audio has a huge part to play and so does the quality of the audio. However, it is not necessary to opt for a microphone that is highly expensive. Just a good quality audio microphone will do the job.
There are plenty of good choices like a USB Microphone and XLR Connection for a couple of microphones that helps in getting along with your podcasts in an easy and flawless manner.
5. Podcast Guests
Are you willing to start a podcast centered on Interviews? Well, then you need to put down a list of people who you want to be on your podcast. Further, you can reach out to them.
This will help people to book interviews whenever it is convenient for them and feasible for you. This saves one from a lot of trouble of going back and changing the meeting time every now and then. Hence, you can focus more on your guests.
Additionally, you can also ask users of participants of the interview to send you additional information like their Skype Username so that you can discuss urgent matters with them if needed.
Editing, Recording – Repeat Over
Not all of us have been active participants of editing software. There are many editing software that you can easily consider opting for.
1. The Easy Option
Audio production nowadays is all about complexity. To start a podcast, you should opt for an editing software that is considerably easy to use.
There are tools for podcast making that helps in automating and working around with technical parts. This is how it builds the applications for you. Everything that you drain is present in the browser and therefore, you don’t need to download any external software to get started.
Using these tools, you can do almost everything that you can possibly think of.
- Audio cleanup is easy.
- Allows users to add music.
- Create audio segments.
- Direct episode publishing
2. The Free Way
There are other audio editing software out there too that are almost similar but they have many advanced features which you can use to get started. Some of the great options include Adobe Audition and so on.
GarageBand is a tool that easy functions to be a recorder and an editing software.
Some of the primary things that you need to remember are: –
Creating a Template
Getting a template to work around works in the best way. If you have a template, you can use it over and over to record a podcast episode.
Therefore, you have your intro as well as outro music in place to get along with ad spots, to track your voice, and so on. One thing that you need to keep in mind though is how different these episodes format will be from one another.
Record your Episodes
You can either record a solo episode or you might want to go record the one you held you interview on. All you need to do is select the right track that you wish to record and tap the recording button to start recording the episodes.
Remote Interview
Nowadays, the most common medium that most people consider to record their videos are Skype, Zoom, and so on. They consider them to be the optimal way to record audio or video. However, there are tons of other options to choose from too.
To start a podcast, a good audio quality is primary. If you are looking to have an audio quality that is better than Zoom or Skype, you can opt for services like Iris. They excel in what they do by offering remote recording for conducting podcast interviews.
Additionally, once the recording is complete, you can place them as per your convenience.
Editing the Episode
There are many things that you can consider going for, however, setting them up beforehand is an important thing to consider. Along with that, you can also save it as a template that will help your podcast to sound better and eventually will help you to succeed to start a podcast.
One thing that you need to keep in mind is the ‘voice’ quality. It is different for everyone and is not always perfect. It is still a great way to at least get started.
- Choose the track that you wish to proceed with.
- In the plug-in box, look for an empty space.
- Go to Dynamics > Compressor and add compression.
- Adjust the settings according to your preference.
- Add EQ
You can look up on Google to have a basic understanding on how these settings work out for you.
Get, Set, and Launch
Well, now that all the prerequisites are taken care of, time to launch and finally start a podcast of your own.
Find your Podcast Host
There are many podcasting hosts that you can choose from. Choose the one that will blend well with the kind of podcast you are looking forward to inbuilt.
Additionally, users also get free Amazon gift cards if they opt for the paid plan. Look up on multiple platforms to get the finest brands for your picks.
On successful sign up, you will need to fill out some additional information that will consist of all the details related to your podcast like its name, description, purpose, and so on.
First Episode – Upload
It is a super simple process to start with. If you somehow fail to cope up with the changes, like mess up with ID3 tags into MP3. If at any point all of this process gets confusing for you, abort the plan right away.
All you should look for is the ‘UPLOAD’ button that will not only help you start a podcast but actually upload your first episode as well. Further to that, some cosmetic changes to your file like name, description, details, publish date, and so on.
Just in case you are planning to continue with your podcast for a long time, you can add details according to the ‘Seasons’. Don’t forget to click the explicit checkbox in case you are going to use bad words on your podcast description.
The best number of podcasts to begin with ranges from 3 to 5. Save the episodes and proceed with your telecast.
Apple Podcasts to the rescue
You can opt for other guidelines where you will find out more on how you can submit your podcast directly to iTunes. Furthermore, with different variations, the subject varies and the process differs as well.
Finally, you can go to your Podcast directory by visiting the RSS Feeds. Therefore, the best thing about all of this would be how every new video that you post on the channel gets updated on your RSS. Simultaneously, the feeds keep on updating themselves every time you upload a new episode on your podcast.
Let People Know!
Well, this is the final step to pursue. You can use the social media share feature to start sharing the word about your podcast. Alternatively, you can also generate teasers and circulate them around so people can know about your podcast.
There are many companies that you can opt for to generate different kinds of audiograms. However, if you plan to do it on your host, the creation will be easy and so will be the cost weighing light on your pocket.
There are many choices to consider if you wish to create custom videos and share them on the media. Along with that, you can also go for other marketing tactics. However, the one that is most impactful is creating your own website.
These are the primary things that you need to know before you start a podcast.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to promote a podcast?
Tips before you Launch
1. Make sure to record your podcasts before you launch them. At least film more than 3 episodes prior to the launch.
2. The description of your podcast should attract an audience. It should be catchy. The name of the podcast and the cover, them, have a significant role to play.
3. Enlist your podcasts to top-listed directories like Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Wynk, and so on.
Tips for launch day
1. A small base of listeners that have your attention on the launch day will do wonders.
2. Leverage communities with similar niche.
3. Encourage everyone who listens to you to share your podcast,
What are the ways to monetize your podcast?
1. Sponsorships
2. Ask for Donations
3. Create your own products to sell them
4. Affiliate marketing
5. Sell out your own services
Summary
That was it folks about how to start a podcast and the tiniest bits of details that we could share too. These are the initial steps that you must adhere to before you start a podcast. Therefore, make sure to follow the guidelines to see if they work out for you. Furthermore, it would just be a matter of time that people begin to listen to your podcast eventually making you popular in the process.
