HAPPY FRI-YAY, friends!! I have gotten the request on how to start a podcast quite a few times now and have talked to so many of you on the ins-and-outs of starting a podcast. I have had the MOST FUN when it comes to kicking my podcast, Hustle Like A Mother, off the ground and it’s been one of the MOST fulfilling things I’ve done in my career thus far. Talking to amazing women every week and getting to share their knowledge with my audience?? The. DREAM. Plus, the feedback so far has been totally incredible. So..if you are on the fence about starting a podcast because you feel like it’s hard – allow me to shed some light on how it actually works!
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How To Start A Podcast (the EASY way)
Why start a podcast?
Podcasting is such a valuable form of content creation. Creating a podcast allows you to reach new people – those who may not generally read blog posts or follow social media. If they prefer audio content, you’ll be able to reach them this way.
You don’t need to have the biggest audience in the world to be successful at podcasting – you can easily build an audience from scratch and position yourself as an authority and expert in your industry. Podcasting looks great on a resume, it looks great on an “in the press” page.
In addition to that – podcasts are able to increase your SEO juice and drive traffic back to your website. You get a link back every time you publish a new episode, and you can direct listeners directly to your website at the end of each show.
PLUS: here are some awesome stats to know. According to the 2019 Edison Research Podcast Consumer Report, 51% of Americans aged 12+ have listened to a podcast, with 32% having listened in the past month, and 22% in the past week. Think of the opportunity.
Equipment you need:
- A microphone
- A sound filter
- Editing software
- Hosting platform
I don’t think I can stress this ENOUGH: you do NOT NEED to spend a million dollars on a program and it is not difficult to set up your show. I personally created my podcast cover art myself on Photoshop, but you could totally do this on Canva if you don’t have access to PS. It was 100% free to get my art! I also got my intro song from this podcast intro music website and it was really easy and simple. That being said, you don’t even NEED intro music if you don’t want to.
SO. Here are the steps I took to get my podcast started:
STEP ONE: Purchase podcast mic + pop filter.
- This was important to me because I wanted to have high quality sound right off the bat. You could use a pair of headphones with a mic if you want, but I opted to spend a little bit more up front and get the mic first.
- I have this Blue Yeti mic – but honestly, this one is less expensive but does the exact same job. If I were going to do this all over again, I would get the FIFINE one!
- The pop filter is also important because this cuts out any static noise or breathing noise from your recording. You won’t have to worry about editing that out post-recording.
STEP TWO: Download your editing software.
- So mine is a free software that comes with my computer. I use Garageband audio for my editing and it works perfectly. It’s very easy to use, I can drag and drop my audio clips and it makes it very easy to edit IG sound bites, as well! If you have a MacBook, this is a great option to go with and comes with your computer so you don’t need to pay for this offer.
- If you don’t have a Mac computer, Audacity is a great option that you can use with a Windows computer and it’s free as well.
STEP THREE: Hosting platform.
- I have Libsyn and really like it. It isn’t fancy – it’s very “bare bones” in the way it’s set up but it’s VERY easy to use and takes the guesswork out of everything.
- You can view all of your stats super easily, and it makes it very simple to draft things and schedule them for upload.
- It’s also extremely easy to get your RSS feed to roll over to everywhere Podcasts are available.
- The price depends on how long your episodes typically are because you have a certain amount of “upload space” to use per month. I have 400MBs to use and for me that is about 5 episodes worth (my episodes are typically 40min-1hr). If you only have 20-30min episodes, you could probably get away with less space!
PIN THIS FOR LATER:
SO. Now you have no excuse to go start something AMAZING. My email inbox is always open to chat about it, too! Take this guide on how to start a podcast and run with it!!
