Podcasts have never been more popular. More are arriving every single day and there’s not a topic in the world that can’t be found to have a podcast attached to it with some level of competence. Despite this, it can be great to start your own podcast. Whether you’re intending it as a kind of business or are hoping to do it as a hobby, having your own podcast is something that a lot of people can take pride in. Many people get nervous when they think of starting a podcast however. They believe that there’s a magic recipe or that they already need a following of people to get started. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Really, you just need a passion for a topic and the right equipment. We’ll go through the steps you need to start your own podcast and hopefully get your name out into the internet.
Picking a Topic and Name
The first thing you should do is figure out what your topic for your podcast is going to be. It needs to be something you are knowledgeable about and interested in. First, think of what your episodes are going to be to start. You need to get to a list of around 25-50 episodes that you could put together easily. If you’re struggling to get to that amount, it’s possible that maybe you need to do more research on the subject before you become the expert. There’s nothing worse than starting to get a following about a topic and you can’t come up with any ideas for new episodes! You need to examine the topic long term as well. Make sure that it’s something you’ll still be happy to explore one to three years from now. Talking about the same topic once or twice every week can sometimes destroy interest really quickly. Form there, you can pick the title of your podcast. If you’re pushing your own personal brand, ensure your name is in the title. Then you can go with podcasts that have obvious names which are very clear about what they will be about. Something like “Technology New Today” for example is very clear what you’re talking about. If you prefer something a little more abstract, try something that relates to a specific reference on your topic, but won’t give it away.
Getting Your Equipment
A lot of people think that they need an expensive setup tot start making a podcast. You want to make sure you have an excellent microphone, but you can save a lot of money and skip optional extras like amplifiers or or mixers. Do you really need that for your initial episodes? The absolute basics you’ll need to begin include:
- Quality Microphone
- Boom Arm or Kit for Microphone Placement
- Recording Software
- Editing Software
When it comes to your software, there are again options which are relatively cheap, or often free that you can use. If you’re doing interviews, you can use Zoom or similar programs, but you may wish to invest in a higher quality interview platform software. It will usually make it very easy to record the best audio you can. Learning to use your software can start online. Youtube tutorials abound for every aspect of setting up and using your podcasting software and equipment.,
Choosing Your Podcast Format and Hosting Service
It’s important to know what the format of your podcast is going to be like. How long are you going to make each episode? Many popular ones started smaller and tended to grow as they got more fans. Also, will you be doing the podcast on your own, with a common group of people or perhaps interviewing different people each time. This is important for setting up your podcast description. Finally, you should decide how often you’re going to be publishing to your hosting service.
There are dozens of podcasting services that people can choose from and many are good. What you really want is one where you can easily and intuitively publish your podcasts and they will distribute them to various popular podcast networks. From there, you can gain more listeners. A common and popular option as a podcast host is Fusebox. It’s a good starter choice that is easy to use and relatively cheap. Once this is set up, you’ll be able to begin recording your episodes and distribute to everyone interested.
