The Guide to Starting Your Podcast

In a recent LinkedIn survey over 600 people responded, the results showed that 80% preferred podcasts over webinars. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but when thinking about it, it makes sense. Podcasts are much more accessible than webinars. There’s no need to clear your schedule, or to make sure you’re in a quiet place to join a podcast. If you’re not able to make it to a webinar, you’ll likely need to contact the company that hosted it or get notes from someone who attended. Most webinars are recorded and shared with those who’ve registered which is helpful, but that’s not always the case. With a podcast, listening to multiple episodes can be done while driving, working, or even out on a hike!

Hosting a podcast can give your company more exposure and provide educational information to prospective customers. What better way to build a personal brand than to get your voice on air and have some fun sharing content? Having guests on your podcast is a great way to build relationships with other brands too! Recording a podcast may sound daunting but it is much easier than it sounds,  and we've done the research for you on how to get started!

Step 1: Recording

Recording can be done in a number of different ways depending on how you want to present your podcast. If you are camera shy, then don’t record video to accompany your podcast. You don’t have a “high-tech” mic or camera? No one said a podcast had to be an investment. It's as simple as using headphones or there are a number of affordable microphone options out there that can connect to your computer or even your phone! We like using Riverside.fm for the quality audio and the option to record multiple people as guests or co-hosts, without physically needing to be together. Riverside.fm has multiple subscription tiers as low as $7.50 a month and all include video recording for easy repurposing or sharing to YouTube, etc.  A free option if you're solo or have some editing skills, is GarageBand on Apple products. Simply click record, and you’re on your way! It is a bit trickier to have co-hosts or guests when using GarageBand, but not impossible by any means.

Step 2: Editing

The next step, editing your podcast. GarageBand is a great option, especially for those flying solo on the podcast because there’s only one set of audio to edit.  There are ways to edit two separate audio files together for one cohesive podcast. Now we didn’t say it was easy, but it IS possible! Another option is the free download of Audacity. We use this to get clips and share them along with our podcast logo on social media! There are tons of online tutorials for using these tools, and even guides on how to add sound effects to your podcast! Bonus points if you want to get super techy with it and use Adobe Audition to edit your podcast.

Step 3: Hosting

Hosting is really just another word for where your podcast will be stored for easy sharing. We did some research on this and it really depends on how often you want to share a podcast episode, as well as where you want that podcast to be available. The best option we found was Buzzsprout. It's possible to use this tool for free if you're only looking to do a couple of hours a month (online hosting of your podcast only lasts 90 days without a paid membership). With paid plans as low as $12 a month and a 90 free trial, it’s easy to get your feet wet before committing to a podcast. We found that Buzzsprout really fit the needs of the podcast for our "Marketing on the Fly[wheel]" series. We use Buzzsprout for easy hosting, sharing, and obtaining transcripts to repurpose our content. Transcripts are helpful for use in content such as blogs, and captions that you can upload directly to YouTube if you decide to share a video-recorded podcast. There is a small fee for transcripts, but we’ll leave that up to you to determine if it’s essential or not. Hosting your podcast on Buzzsprout also integrates directly with Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio and so many more for sharing your podcast with the world!

Sharing is Caring

The possibilities are limitless on where you want to share your recorded podcasts. Depending on your goals, you can share to social media, a YouTube channel, or even on your website depending on which route you've gone to record your content. If you want to reach the most people you’ll want to share your episodes to the most popular podcast channels like Apple and Spotify. So now that you’ve got the tools,  go forth and podcast, friends!

Click below to listen to the "Marketing on the Fly[Wheel]" podcast created by our CEO, Mandy Thompson and Content Matterz CEO, Cara McDonald!