Starting a podcast has never been easier than it is right now. As the host of a podcast that’s now over 60 episodes, I think I have a firm grasp on everything that has to happen for a podcast to get off the ground. In that time I’ve learned a lot through trial and error. I’ve had multiple other podcasts fail for a variety of reasons I’ll get into later in the article, but each one of those failures taught me something new going forward.
Getting started you’re going to need a microphone to talk into. If you’re going to have a co-host, or guests, you’ll need more. I get asked a lot about the mic’s that I use, and mic’s that are good for someone starting out. My advice would be don’t overspend on your first mic. My first mic I bought was a blue snowball mic back when I was in high school and it was around 40 dollars. I then bought another mic and pop filters my freshman year of college, again the mic was around 40 dollars and the pop filters were about 8 bucks each. That’s really all you need to be spending on audio equipment. You don’t want to spend $300 plus dollars on a mic and another $150 on a mixer then start recording a few episodes and realize it’s not for you. The audio quality will be fine, make the content good, and an audience will find you.
Next, now that you have a mic, you’ll need some software to record on. I use Garageband because I have a Mac and that’s the easiest way for me to record. If you don’t have a Mac there are free software like Audacity out there that do the same thing. You don’t need to pay for this part, so don’t. This software will allow you to record your audio in them and save it as a file. You can also add other noises, and cut anything you don’t want.
So, now you have your mic., you’ve recorded your episode, and want to post it. If you want anyone to hear your episode you’re going to want to get your episodes on as many platforms as possible. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud, etc. but how? Well, you’re going to need what’s called a hosting service. What’s a hosting service? A hosting service lets you upload your files to it and post it to all the platforms I listed above. It provides these sites with an RSS feed that allows this to happen. Why can’t I just upload the episodes myself? Good question, because you probably don’t have the storage space to hold that many episodes. Podcasts are generally pretty long and take up a lot of space. The hosting service is your storage unit, but also your distributor. A popular host is “Anchor” which is free, another one is “Libsyn” which is 5$’s a month.
Finally, I’ll discuss sponsors. How did I get mine? How do you get yours? So when I started my podcast my co-host had already had a podcast he was sponsored by. So right off the bat we were sponsored by audible and someone else, I don’t really remember. Anyway, it’s not that hard of a process to go through to get sponsorship. For the most part you just have to apply to get sponsored, or if there’s a product you really like, emailing the company could lead to a sponsorship. Many people think that your podcast has to hit it big time and sponsors approach you, not the case. Unless you already have a big following and sponsors when you start a podcast I would just apply for sponsorship after you put out a few quality episodes.
Now you have all the steps to starting a podcast laid out in front of you, but what’s going to differentiate you from the over saturated market? When I started my podcast I struggled with this a lot. Making yourself different can be challenging. I would suggest starting with a genre you’re interested in and building around that. From that point, get into a niche within that genre. What do I mean by this? Let’s take a broad example and say I’m really into sports. There are already so many podcasts about sports. So maybe I narrow that down and focus on basketball specifically. Well, there’s still a lot of podcast’s about basketball already so I need to narrow my scope even further and focus on a team. So I pick my favorite NBA team but there’s still some other podcasts that are just about that team, but at this point you’re competing against fewer shows.
Your next step after finding that niche genre should be to make yourself unique. As stated earlier, there are still other shows focusing on the same content as you and you have to stand out from those shows. So you create segments, structure, and personality that is different from everyone else and that’s where you can start gaining traction.
That’s a lot of information I just threw at you all at once. Let’s review, first up buy a mic. (It doesn’t need to be expensive). Next, download a software that you can record on Garageband, Audacity, or any program that you can have the audio file on your computer. Finally, get a hosting service to distribute your episodes on popular podcasts mediums like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Once you’ve produced some good content start applying for sponsorship, if you want it.
When thinking of ideas for your podcast pick a genre and narrow it to the point where you can find an audience. Make your podcast structured with unique segments that make the show entertaining/informative. Then keep pumping out content consistently to grow your audience. Lastly, go subscribe to my podcast “The Blockbuster Boys Podcast”. The number 1 college comedy podcast in the world.
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