How to Start a Podcast Step By Step in 2023 (Updated)
In recent times, a podcast has become an important aspect for any successful content strategy and which made “How to start a podcast” the most searched question by content strategists all over the world. This is article shall provide the necessary information regarding how to start a podcast, how a podcast works, and why the podcast is important.
For any successful business, connections with the consumers are of utmost importance and podcast does that without invading the audiences or consumers’ time.
Even though podcast has been in existence for the last 2 decades, yet it’s less unexplored territory, considering its tremendous potential. Only recently the instant and impactful aspect of the podcast has caught the eyes of big marketing agencies and it is gaining popularity each passing day.
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What is Podcast and how to start a podcast step by step?
A podcast is in the simplest term just like a talk on the radio, the difference is one can listen to it through a smartphone, in presence of the internet.
The audio files in the podcast get distfributed via the internet and one can download and listen to them anytime anywhere in their leisure time.
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Now into more technical definitions of the podcast:
A podcast is an audio recording of any information, show, storytelling sessions, etc. which is delivered to its audience through digital portable audio. Generally, the files are in MP3 format.
This is the primary difference between Radio and podcast is the method of delivery to its listeners. A podcast can be downloaded to the listener’s devices through the web and they can hear it any time.
The most important part of the podcast is the RSS feed. This RSS feed is a small file that acts as a playlist. When the listener opens it, with any podcast player such as iTunes, the listener will get automatic updates on new shows, and when the host updates the RSS feed the listener will be able to download it.
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What are the advantages of a podcast?
The popularity of podcasts has emerged from the notion that podcast is a fun and casual way of gaining knowledge or connecting with different subject matter. The greatest flexibility of podcasts is being able to listen to them in one’s own time while performing other activities, which gives an edge over other mass media.
A podcast is emerging globally as an ideal medium of storytelling, narratives, investigative journalism, etc. Keeping a view of the recent marketing trends podcast is establishing itself in the marketing world and it is in for a long haul.
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Here are a few points which state the benefits of the podcast :
- There is a consumer for every product, the important task is to guide the product to the consumer or guide the consumer to the product. The key factor here is increasing the awareness about the product Creating buzz for a new product using all the available marketing resources. Podcasts through their dedicated listeners help in creating a buzz in the market.
- Whatever product one may be selling, connection and good communication with the consumer will always give one’s business the edge over the competitors.
Podcast hosts over a while one can have dedicated followers and the listeners develop a connection with the host. If the podcast conducts an episode around the seller’s product review, it shall likely be respected by the listeners. Which in turn can help the seller to connect with the consumer at a personal level through audio or video. This is far more impactful than just an email packed with product information.
- One cannot read a blog while walking, driving, or working m but they can surely listen to it. This is one of the single most important marketing strategies that a podcast has over other media. One can listen to a podcast at their convenience.
- A podcast is cost-effective. It not only zeros the cost of print media, but it also reduces the email storage costs, meeting costs, etc. Updating and archiving podcasts is very easy and it is very user-friendly.
- The portability of podcasts is also a great advantage of the podcast. One can carry it on a computer or any other compatible electronic device. One can listen to it anytime, anywhere on a simple mobile device.
- A podcast is more demand-centric technology. This means the audience will opt for what they want to hear and once they have subscribed to the podcast, they will receive the information that has been provided in the same.
This is one of the reasons why the podcast is gaining popularity each day. People want to listen to the topics they are interested in and podcasts provide exactly that to the listeners. If one is interested in history, he or she will listen to history-related podcasts, in their own leisure time.
As the podcast subscription is purely based on an individual area of interest hence, the likelihood of reaching the content to the audience is very high.
- People listen to the podcast become they find it relevant for them or can relate to them. Even though the communication is one-sided yet people listen as they feel connected.
This connectivity to the product helps the business to grow. So, podcasts as a marketing tool can be very powerful provided it is used effectively keeping the listeners in mind. The podcast community will grow so as the business if everything works cohesively.
- The popularity of the podcast depends on its host, the listeners tend to have a deep respect for the host, and advertisements, endorsements, recommendations of the host are generally respected by the listeners. There is a lesser chance that listeners will be tuning them out like day-to-day marketing approaches vide other mass media.
- Podcasts improve the traffic to a website recommended in a podcast. The podcast shoutout works. Podcasts create a familiarity, which in turn helps to reach out to new audiences, and as traffic increases, so is the popularity and ultimately those listeners turn into consumers of the products.
Apart from the above, there are numerous reasons and advantages podcast be used as a medium of mass communication. In this digital fast-paced world, where the only precious commodity is “time” podcast fits in the bill perfectly.
A podcast is very easy to start. However, a few important aspects should be kept in mind before starting a podcast and without following these simple guidelines it is difficult to keep the podcast alive in the long run.
Numerous questions emerge when individual plans to start a podcast some of the most frequently asked questions are: “What is needed to start a podcast”, “How to start a podcast”, “How much money do you need to start a podcast”, “What is the best equipment to start a podcast”, “Can we start a podcast for free”, etc. While attending to the various questions,
Here are 10 step by step narrations on how to start a podcast:
1. How to start a podcast from scratch
It involves choosing a topic that the host has good content and can commit to it. It is very easy to get carried away when one sees successful podcasts everywhere, but all those successful hosts have one common thing. That is passion, excitement, and commitment for what they are doing, and good planning ahead of every episode.
Proper planning on episodes and a pool of content that shall last more than 5 episodes is a good way to start. The host should keep a long-term perspective while choosing a topic to start a successful podcast.
What is your content for the podcast is the most important topic of “How to start a podcast” The primary goal of the podcast, is a marketing tool for business, or starting a podcast as a hobby is very significant as both have different goals.
For example, if one wants to market its product in the podcast and the core business is “footwear”, it will not be a good podcast if it is just about marketing shoes, the approach might be might, best travel shoes to pack, hiking shoes, beach walk footwear, etc.
To keep oneself motivated a host should never lose his focus and stay motivated. As the audiences grow, the responsibility of the host increases to provide quality content.
Hence, eventually, a successful podcast can become a full-time job considering the amount of research that goes behind every episode.
In general, the common goals behind podcasts generally fall under the following categories:
- To establish a brand value for their business.
- To establish oneself as a leader or expert in a particular field of work.
- To spread awareness, message, or popularize a certain kind of belief or thought process.
- Just for fun and interactions with the audience.
2. Research:
Once the topic and the goal are finalized, now it is time for the host to start researching. In the Apple podcast, one can check if the chosen topic has similar podcasts and listen to them. This will provide the new host some ideas about how to approach what way he can improvise which will give him an edge over others.
3. The title:
The next significant aspect of the question “How to start a podcast” is the title of the podcast. While giving a name the few important aspects to be considered:
The name should represent the topic, however, while choosing the name, one should keep in mind the fact that the host might want to expand the area of expertise in the future so.
The name should be such that it is catchy, memorable which talks about the genre, and have the right keywords.
Suppose a person wants to start a podcast about book non-fiction book reviews, instead of just calling it “Review books non-fiction” it can be called “Review books fiction and non-fiction” thereby keeping the options open for the future if the host wants to review other books apart from non-fiction.
In the Apple device there are a few guidelines for picking the right title for a podcast:
- To rank high in search, Apple uses description fields, title, and author.
- Podcast Artwork and metadata are considered as the packaging of your product and it affects the visibility of relevant search engines.
- The title should be specific, despite good content a vague title is very unlikely to attract listeners.
4. The format of the podcast:
In the quest for how to start a podcast, the format of the podcast covers what type of podcasts it shall be. Various types of podcasts exist and the numbers are increasing sing day by day. A few of the popular formats of podcasts are:
- Interview podcast
- Monologue podcast
- Roundtable podcast
- Conversational podcast
- Hybrid podcasts
- Theatrical podcast
- Repurposed podcast
- Educational podcast
- Global news podcast
Even though the theme or format of the podcasts may be different yet, here are the few points that can be kept in mind for any type of podcasts formats.
- Whether it shall be an audio or video podcast. As each has different requirements.
- The duration of the episodes could vary from 10 /20 minutes to 60 minutes or more. Even bite-size podcasts for 5 minutes can also be prepared depending on the target audience.
- Target audiences should always be kept in mind. People prefer to listen to a podcast while commuting from home to the office or while jogging. So, one has to keep in mind, how long average commuters take to reach work.
- The host can design his episodes keeping in mind that timeframe. In a metro city, the traveling time varies from 30 minutes to 1 hour or more. However, in a small city, it might just take 10/20/30 minutes.
- The gap between the episodes or the scheduling of episodes. It could be weekly once or twice.
5. The minimum requirements to start a podcast and how to start a podcast as a beginner
Can anybody start a podcast for free? Starting a podcast is not expensive if you have the basic requirements.
- Good quality microphones
- A skype account
- Software to record skype calls (Pamela)
- Basic editing software (Audacity)
- Internet connection
- Computer or laptop
These are the basic requirements for starting an audio podcast, for a video podcast few additional things like a webcam. Even all this equipment is not for free, yet it does not create a big hole in the budget.
6. Hosting set up:
To set up a Podcast it needs hosting just like any website to keep its media files. Even though one can keep the podcast on its website, yet it is not recommended because downloading podcasts can make the website slow.
So, it is advisable to use a dedicated podcast host like “Libsyn”.
7. Podcast cover Artwork:
This is the face of your podcast; most listeners get attracted to the artwork even before listening to the podcasts. Even though it is very important to have a podcast cover artwork, yet it is better if one can wait for a couple of episodes to analyze the direction or path that the podcast is moving towards, which in turn helps to depict the same artwork of the podcast.
8. Introduction and conclusion part of the podcast:
The host can provide a short introduction about the podcast, what is it all about, how interesting it is basically to attract the attention of the listeners.
A host can record the same with the host’s voice or it can be done by professionals. In the same way, one should record a conclusion also, giving away the details about how to reach him, where he can reach for more content about the podcast, etc.
Preparing and Saving the introduction and conclusion not only helps the podcast host in the editing part but also gives a certain familiarity to the listeners every single time they catch up on the episodes.
9. Launching the podcast:
One of the most frequently anticipated questions about how to start a podcast is the launching and technical part of the recording.
In the beginning, an individual can begin his recording with a microphone with a pair of headphones.
Even though the sound quality is important yet initially one should concentrate on quality content rather than worrying about sound quality. Average sound quality with very effective and brilliant content always attracts more listeners than superficial content with good sound quality.
Once the podcast channel gained its popularity because of the good content the host can invest in superior quality equipment.
The process of recording and uploading a podcast:
- For recording the audio and editing, the microphone needs to be connected to computer software. A few examples of editing software are Audacity, Adobe audition, Alitu podcast maker, etc. After setting up the microphone with the software the recording can start and the host starts with the introduction, and then the main content, etc.
- After recording the production period of the podcast will start. During the time of production time, the mistakes are edited, music was added if required, mixing of sounds, EQ leveling, etc. shall be done.
- After production, the podcast is ready for publishing.
One can publish the podcasts on the platforms like Spotify, Libsyn, SoundCloud, Anchor, Transistor, google podcasts, Apple podcasts, etc.
10. Reviews, subscriptions, and marketing of podcasts:
To gain more subscriptions, one has to improve its ratings, and initially, they can take help from their friends, family, and other acquaintance for feedback and reviews.
Promotion or marketing of a podcast is a little bit tricker as each format of a podcast can be promoted in different ways.
One can prepare small soundbite clips for 15 to 20 seconds and share them on social media. Built-up anticipation in the social media for upcoming episodes, converting the audios into YouTube channels, submitting a podcast to podcatchers and aggregators, running a giveaway content after a few weeks of publishing, etc.
The steps that have been mentioned above about how to start a podcast are some of the simple guidelines which shall help an individual to start as a podcast host for the first time.
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How to earn money from podcasts?
This question emerges in the minds of each individual who wants to know about how to start a podcast. Numerous articles state the benefits of starting a podcast, how to start a podcast, etc. but there are only a few details about the earnings from a podcast exclusively.
Here are a few ways to earn money from the podcast:
- Using podcasts as a medium of advertising is a popular way to earn money. Through podcasts, one can do affiliated marketing by referring people to the companies for products and earning money when the recommendations purchase a product. This type of marketing works effectively when the host explains his personal experiences with the products and those are authentic reviews.
- As your podcast grows, the sponsors and advertisements shall come in their way. However, to receive advisements or sponsorship, the viewership has to grow at least 5k and above per month.
- Online educational podcasts are one of the emerging trends in the field of teaching as well as learning. If the content is good, people are ready to opt for paid subscriptions also.
- Crowed funding and donations are another way to ask for donations to help the podcast. Generally, people prefer to pay for entertaining podcasts.
- A business or company can hire a host to run a podcast for their products, just like a marketing agency and the content created by the hired agency for their products.
- Podcasts can work as a medium for advertising oneself as a good motivational speaker or public speaker. Successful podcast hosts are always in demand of public speaking. One can create its brand and popularise it through a podcast.
- Apart from the above, there are a few other ways such as coaching, establishing a brand for business, hosting events, etc.
- The host should be able to keep the content gripping so that listeners do not log out in the middle of a podcast. Even a good conversation with a co-host can be fun and entertaining with the brilliant script while discussing or promoting a product.
Conclusion :
As the popularity of podcasts increasing so are the listeners and slowly and surely podcast industry is booming. One has to understand the fact that, this is the era of good content and innovative ways to present those content to the consumers Hence, the podcast is here to stay for the long run and the time has already arrived to explore podcasts as an impactful marketing asset.
