There are more than 850,000 podcasts and about 103 million people listening to them weekly.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder so many people are thinking of starting a podcast for their current business, to launch a new business or just as a fun hobby.
If you have a great idea and want to put it out into the world, here are 10 podcasting tips for beginners.
1. Don’t Wait To Get Started
Just like any other worthwhile venture, making a podcast takes time and effort and the anticipation of all the work and energy you’ll need to put into your podcast can seem overwhelming.
These fears can cause you to procrastinate until you realize it’s been a long time since you had your idea to start a podcast but you’ve done nothing in the meantime. Realize that your fears are not your reality and you have a much better chance of creating an amazing reality by getting started. Learn how to get started today!
Choose A Topic You Love To Talk About
It’s important to choose a topic you can talk about endlessly without getting bored.
In the best-case scenario, your podcast will gain popularity and you’ll have many listeners streaming and downloading your episodes because they love your particular take on the subject of your podcast. If you can’t imagine talking about the same topic weekly or monthly for at least a year, that might not be the best topic for your podcast.
While choosing your podcast topic may not be the easiest step, it is one of the most important things you can do when starting a new podcast.
3. Create A Podcast Brand
Your podcast brand is an important element that will keep people listening to you and it will also make you stand out from other podcasts in your niche.
Branding your podcast can be done in a few, simple steps:
- Identify your ideal audience and how they relate to your topic
- Create your mission and vision for your podcast
- Determine a podcast name
- Create your brand identity (colors, fonts, logo, and photos)
- Establish your brand voice
- Establish your brand online via social media and a website, if necessary
- By taking the time to create a brand for your podcast, you are encouraging listener loyalty, which often results in them voluntarily bringing even more listeners to your podcast.
4. Create Your Podcast Creation Process
In the beginning, creating an episode may feel slightly overwhelming and that is why you should create your podcast creation process.
Your process is a list of every step you take to create your podcast, from the very beginning to the final promotional tactics you use with each episode. Creating your process will streamline everything and allow you to make improvements as you go along.
5. Invest In Quality Equipment
While you don’t need to start with top-of-the-line equipment, you should invest in a quality microphone, audio editing software, and a good headset. With these items, you can produce a podcast with clear, quality audio that your listeners will find easy to understand.
Publishing a podcast with good audio is a simple step that will showcase your professionalism, and build listener loyalty.
6. Plan Out Your Content
One of the most important tips on starting a podcast is to pre-plan several weeks of content. In the beginning, you may have many ideas for your podcast because you are excited and have not published any episodes so nothing is off-limits. Eventually, this might change and you may struggle to find interesting things to discuss.
This is why pre-planning content is so important. You’ll want to write down all of your ideas in the beginning and create a podcast editorial calendar to help you organize your ideas.
Schedule a monthly brainstorming session and plan your content month-by-month. By paying special attention to your content planning, you can avoid running out of subjects to talk about.
7. Be Consistent
Being consistent is the difference between a successful podcast and one that never seems to get off the ground.
Consistency is an important element in cultivating a loyal following. If you are consistent, your listeners will know what to expect from you and when to expect it. They will know they can depend on you and count on you and your podcast brand.
8. Make Your Content SEO-Friendly
Did you know most podcasting platforms are search engines? This is great news for the beginner podcaster because it means with a few SEO podcasting tips and tricks, you can get your podcast noticed by potential listeners right from the beginning.
SEO is vital to the success of your podcast. You can improve your podcast’s SEO by doing the following:
- Use a specific keyword for each episode
- Write keyword-rich episode descriptions and show notes
- Submit your podcast to directories
- Use categories and tags
By following these basic tips, you’ll give your podcast a fighting chance to be found on podcast platforms.
9. Use Royalty-free Music And Audio
There are many levels to the music licensing for podcasts. Some require special licensing and some are royalty-free and do not require licensing or have any restrictions.
The best practice as a beginner is to create your own music and audio clips for your website but depending on your topic, that may not be doable. The second best option is to use royalty-free audio.
If you must use someone else’s music, check the licensing and make sure you have 100% permission to use the music or audio in your podcast.
10. Have 3-5 Episodes Ready Before You Launch
One of the best tips for podcasting is to complete a few episodes before you officially launch. Oftentimes, the first episode of any podcast is more of a getting-to-know-you, one that acts as an introduction to the podcast but doesn’t give listeners useful content about a particular subject.
While the introductory episode is essential, it can be a little frustrating for listeners who have been anticipating the release of your podcast and the interesting content they were expecting.
You can solve this problem by lanching with a few podcasts so listeners can get to know you and have a chance to dig into more relevant content.
Podcasting Tips For Beginners: The Bottom Line
By following these podcasting tips for beginners, you can quickly create and launch your podcast.
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