A Guide To Starting Your Own Podcast

You may have only become aware of podcasts within the last few years, but podcasts have been around since the 1980s. Previously, they were known as “audio blogging”. With advances in digital technology, audio blogging morphed into podcasts and are now very popular. 

However, very little is known by many about starting a podcast, planning the podcast, who to book as guests, whether to do an audio-only or video podcast among other things. 

If you’re looking for a guide that walks you through how to start a podcast, you’re absolutely in the right place!

Starting a podcast isn’t difficult, but there are a number of steps you’ll need to go through in order to get it launched.

• Planning your podcast – thinking of topics for your podcast
• Who to book as guests for your podcast
• Should you do an audio-only or a video podcast? 
• Should you use a studio for recording?  
• Building an audience for your podcast

Podcasts are not limited to any one group of people or organizations. Literally, anyone can start a Podcast if they wish to. 

The Guide

Before we dive into this guide that is going to help you launch your podcast, let us talk a little about why you should start a Podcast. If you are reading this, it is because you are already thinking that you should (start a podcast that is). Here is a general rule for doing anything in life, “don’t do it because everybody is doing it.” So, why do it then? 

Uhm, because you have something to share. Actually, you have great stuff to share. Everybody has something to share. What you have to share could come from any area of your life. 

It can be personal – You may wish to share your story of how you overcame challenges you were faced with, to be the bomb individual you are. 

Or maybe you want it to be from a professional angle – Maybe you have some tips to share on how to become better in a specific career field based on your experience. You may have always wanted to share the word of God from your perspective and understanding outside of the formalities of a church. You can start a Podcast for this. I mean, church is anywhere you want it to be these days. 

The point is, as long as you are alive, you have something to share about something. 
Through your Podcast, you can share your passion, your tips and tricks, your journey, your ideas, your vision, or your reality. The possibilities are endless. 

PLANNING YOUR PODCAST

Before you start your Podcast, you should put together a plan. In this plan, you should have the following information:

• Preferred Platform – Which Platform will you use to host your podcast?
  
  There are a lot of platforms that you can use to host your podcast. The reach you are hoping to achieve will largely determine the platform that you choose as well as the cost of the hosting platform. To name a few, here are some hosting platforms; Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, PodBean, Castos, SimpleCast, iHeartRadio, and Google Podcasts.

• Episode Frequency – How often will you air a new episode? 
  You must be consistent with the days a new episode of your podcast is aired. You must also be consistent with how many times per week or month a new episode is aired. 

• Choose Your Topic – What subject matter will you focus your podcast on? 

Here are some subject area examples: Mindset, Feminine Health, Motivation, Cooking, Lifestyle, Spirituality, Music, Gaming, Relationships, and Career.

A useful tip to help you in choosing your subject area is to decipher what you are passionate about. It is okay to be multi-passionate. In this case, choose a broad subject area that encompasses all your passions or most of your passions. Once you have chosen your broad subject area, start penning your topics. Once you have penned your first few topics, put together a list of goal(s) and objectives for your topics. In talking about this topic, what are you hoping to achieve? What are you hoping your audience will gain from this topic?

GUESTS – FINDING IDEAL PODCAST GUESTS 

You want to ensure that whoever you are booking as a guest on your podcast is someone who has authority on the topic that you are discussing for that episode. This builds your reputation and credibility. Also, ensure your guest aligns with your goal(s) or objective(s) for the topic that you are inviting them to speak on. For example, if your Podcast is about Success and you want to talk about how a positive mindset plays a role in your success, then you might want to invite a psychologist to speak on the connection between the two. 


AUDIO OR VIDEO PODCAST – THAT IS THE QUESTION!

The truth is that humans love seeing the face of the voice that is speaking. Audio-only podcasts are great but doing a video podcast where the audience is able to see the face of the host(s) and guest(s) will definitely give you more subscriptions and views. The advantages of doing a “Vodcast” are:

• Video captures more attention
• Seeing your face helps your audience to build trust for your brand
• Content is queen but video is king. Engagement with content through videos on social media is higher than audio only content.
  

WHERE TO CREATE YOUR PODCAST? HOME OR STUDIO?

Short answer, YES! Here’s why; professionalism. Using a recording studio to record your podcast makes for a more professional finish to your podcast. Your professionalism communicates authority to your audience and tells them that you are serious about what you do. If your audience senses that you are not serious about what you do, they will not take you seriously and you will lose your audience or not develop one at all.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS WE HEAR – HOW DO I START BUILDING MY PODCAST AUDIENCE?

• How do I get a an audience for my podcast?
  
  For whatever reason, this is one of the biggest questions we hear and people ask us question before they know what their show will be about. Don’t get too ahead of yourself – Think about creating quality content first. You can’t create an audience without anything to create it from!
  
• Create Value (quality content).
  
• Use Social media to drive traffic (curate a social media post that builds interest without giving away too much of the content).
  
• Pitch yourself as a guest on other podcasts (network).
  
• Cross-Promote (shout out other podcasts with similar topics and have them do the same). 
  
• Urge listeners to write reviews, share and subscribe.

Today is as good a day as any to start your podcast.