A Stage by Stage Guide to Launching your Podcast

What's involved in starting a podcast?

How much is it likely to cost?

How do you get it on the various lists for listening to?

What are the ingredients of a good podcast? 

Welcome to Part 2 of Your Podcast Questions Answered!  

Question 1: What's involved in starting a podcast? Using my Podcast Playbook, I talk you through each stage that's involved.  [0.54]

Download the Podcast Playbook here for Free 

Want to read the Blog series I'm writing in this? Find it here.  

Question 2: How much is it likely to cost? [19.44]

Question 3: How do you get it on the various lists for listening to? [26.16]

Question 4: What are the ingredients of a good podcast? [27.26]

Still have questions? Email me at rachael@rb-va.com  

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to podcasting one on one with Rachael. This podcast is for busy female entrepreneurs who run their own businesses and want to start a podcast or who may already have a podcast. I want to share practical information and tips on how you can get your podcast started and managing it along the way.

I'll also be interviewing other female podcast hosts to give you real insight into what's Hi,

and welcome to this week's episode. Today, I'm going to be answering your podcast questions. I did an episode like this earlier on in this season. So check that out if you haven't already listened. So I'm going to be answering some of the other questions that people had [00:01:00] sent in to me regarding podcasts.

The questions I'll be covering today somebody was asking about what is involved in thinking about a podcast the steps that you would need to take? There was a question about how much is it likely to cost? So we can look at this in two ways. So how much is it going to cost if you're going to do it by yourself and the potential cost if you're going to work with somebody like me, who's a podcast manager.

Also, how do you get it on the various lists to listening to that's to do with podcast distribution and then the ingredients of a good podcast. I'm going to talk about what's involved from thinking about it to actually starting one. So I actually have created a free resource called the podcast playbook.

And this is a free guide, and I will leave the link in the show notes if you would like to download a copy of this. And it's just a guide to help you get clear on whether a podcast is right for you and what the next steps would be. So this [00:02:00] is the stages in which. To go through to getting your podcast launch.

I'm also at time of recording and that is May 2024. I'm writing a blog series based on this podcast playbook that's released on LinkedIn. So the first one has already gone out at time of recording. So if you're interested in reading a blog version as well, I will leave a link in the show notes so you can, you can catch up on all the blogs there and you'll get a link to where they are on my website.

So, I do say this a lot, and this is the one thing that I do say to a lot of people when they ask me, you know, about wanting to start a podcast is, have you got time for a podcast? It's important to be realistic about what is going on in your life and your business as to whether or not you have time to fit in a podcast.

There is a lot of elements involved to podcasting. I'm not going to lie, it does take time, as does a lot of things in your business. So you need to think about whether you have the time to invest in [00:03:00] doing a podcast. Even if you're planning on outsourcing the podcast, you will still need to be able to create.

The content or have time to create the content and record the podcast as well. Even if you're going to be outsourcing the production elements, the editing, uploading, maybe you've got a VA that's going to help you with your promotion, which is a very important part of it, which I'll get back to. So think about the time that you have in your business.

If you have perhaps a big launch coming up for an offer that you're, you're doing at the moment, maybe starting a podcast isn't at that particular time. Isn't. Good. Maybe you should wait until that launch is finished, or if you, you know, you have to consider what's going on in your personal life as well.

So a great way to kind of track your time. I use an app called Toggle. I found out about this from my VA days, virtual assistant days, and I now track everything in my business. Everything that I do, I track so that I can have an overview of where I'm spending my [00:04:00] time in the business. So whether that's a personal or, you know, like I did Pilates this morning.

So I would add in, I did Pilates for 45 minutes because If you leave things out, you won't get a realistic view of exactly where you're spending your time. So it's not an exercise to make you feel guilty about where you're spending your time. It's just an exercise to make you aware of where you're spending time in your business.

And like I said, there's a lot of things involved in doing it, coming up with the content. Recording, editing, writing show notes, uploading, creating marketing material, you know, even the learning part of the things. So if you are going to be doing it yourself, you'll have to do a little bit of research into how you're going to record, how you're going to edit, what hosting platform, all of those different aspects as well.

So you have to leave a little bit of time in there for the learning. So that's the first thing take a little look at your business and your life and work out whether or not. Okay. It's going to fit in there. And I do want to just add on the podcasting is part of your marketing. It's not a [00:05:00] separate entity.

You don't have your business and you're marketing for your business. And then your podcast is a separate element. It's part is a strand of your marketing strategy. So think about your podcast could be the tree for all of your content and all the rest of the other content branches off of that.

And. This way of looking at it is you're not, I mean, yes, there will be extra, you will be spending extra time doing some of the things, but your content will be, your podcast, sorry, will be your long form content for your business. And then all the other pieces of content can come off of your podcast. So you are not reinventing the wheel here.

I'm sure in your business, unless you're fairly new to your business, You will have a lot of content already that you could use for your podcast. So don't think of it as a separate, separate thing to your business. Think of it as part of your marketing, part of your business. So number two, why do you want to start a podcast?

Think about all the reasons why you do want to start a [00:06:00] podcast. Don't, I mean, podcasts are very popular. They are quite trendy to have a podcast. Lots of ex-TV talent are having a podcast and things like that. And there are lots of people out there having podcasts for their business.

And I think it's an incredibly valuable tool to have for your business. Obviously, I'm biased because I love podcasts and that is what I do. But You need to, you know, look at the benefits of podcasting. What are the benefits of podcasting for your business? Increase visibility, building a deeper connection with your audience.

Make streamlining your marketing, making your marketing easier in terms of creating one piece of long-form content and pulling all the rest of content over it instead of creating lots of little pieces and not having that long form content. So think about your why and then. Importantly, think about who is your podcast for?

You need to have somebody in mind as your ideal listener. Now, your podcast is going to You know, if you're listening to this, [00:07:00] you're a woman in business like myself and your podcast is going to be the same as your ideal client because your podcast being an extension of your business and your marketing, you're going to be talking to the people that you're going to help in your business, help transform, transform their business or transform their lives depending on what it is that you're doing.

So you need to think about that person. Who is that person? What? pain points do they have? Just like you do for the, you should be doing for the rest of your marketing. Your podcast is for them. It's, it's not a place where you can get on your soapbox and talk at people and expect everyone to engage with your content.

You want to be creating something brilliant and adding value to your audience. What are your goals with your podcast? What do you want to achieve by starting a podcast? So I talked, I suppose this is kind of, this is similar to why do you want to start a podcast? The benefits of podcasting really like the type of goals, you know, you want to build authority, [00:08:00] increase your brand awareness, and then think about how you can measure that success.

In the blog series, I go into a little bit about smart goals and thinking about it. Ways to quantify your podcast in terms of, you know, would you like your podcast to bring you in more leads? Would you like your podcast to reach you more people? How are you going to measure that success? And success doesn't always have to be numbers.

So, for example, for me, The main reason why I wanted to start this podcast is, well, first, I really wanted to start a podcast because I love podcasting. And B, I know that everyone can't afford to outsource their podcast. It's not possible. You know, there are lots of things I'd like to outsource in my business, but I don't have the finances to do so.

So I listen to podcasts, I consume content to help me do that. So this, I want this podcast to be helping you If you want to do your podcast by yourself, you can listen to my [00:09:00] podcast episodes and get that information there. And for me, that is the single biggest goal that I want to have. So when someone tells me that they listen to my podcast and it's helped them, to me, that is a success, regardless of how many downloads or listens or whatever metrics there are out there.

So think about what does success look like for you, because it does look different for every business and for every person. Then let's think about. What is it going to be about? So going back to who your ideal client is, your ideal audience, thinking about things they want to hear about. So brainstorming ideas that can be turned into topics.

I recommend that you can head to answerthepublic.com. You may or may not have heard of this, so you can use a free version where you can put in a search term. So like, you know, for example, How do I start a podcast? And it comes up with all the different search terms that people have been using. So then answer those questions.

These, you know, these might be frequently asked questions that people are asking you every day in your business. [00:10:00] So for example, with this podcast, when I first started it, I thought of all the questions that somebody might have when they were starting podcasts. How do I record? What do I need to think about?

How do I edit? How do I upload? Where do I upload it to? All of those types of questions. And then I answered those in podcast episodes. That is a great starting place for you. And also if you have been in business for a while, then have a little look at you have been doing for your clients and the transformations that you've made in your business and think about how you can, you know, You know, articulate that into a podcast.

Then you need to consider the frequency, length and style of your podcast. Podcasts are extremely accessible, accessible and flexible. So you can make the podcast, how you do it, fit in with your business. So do you want to start a weekly podcast? This is, you know, quite a big commitment. You have to commit to releasing an [00:11:00] episode or you might want to commit.

To release the episode every week, every month, every two weeks or a limited series. For example, now I am doing a seasonal podcast. So this season will comprise of nine episodes and I release them every two weeks. And then I'll be taking hiatus over the summer and then back in September up until the new year.

So think about how you can make your podcast work for you. You don't have to just, if it's too much for you to start a weekly podcast and that's it. You. Quote unquote doing it forever. That's not how it has to be. So think about the different ways and how you can make podcasting fit in with you. And. Also, people ask questions like, you know, what's the ideal listener length?

It depends. I know that's not very helpful. It depends. There's lots of stats out there talking about, you know, average podcast episode length being 20 to 40 minutes. I think it does depend on what you want to achieve with your podcast. So I love a short, actionable [00:12:00] podcast. There's a lady Hilary Salzman, who did come on last season and she has the Everyday Storyteller.

So her way is, she releases Five to 10 minute episode, Monday to Friday. And she tackles a different part of storytelling and she has, she tells a story, she has an actual tip. That is the way that, and I think it's a brilliant way of doing her podcast. So think about, think outside the box in the way that you could do those podcasts.

If you're having guests on, you need to consider, you know, do you want, are your listeners going to listen to an hour of you talking to a guest? And this comes back to. The content and thinking about what it is you want to achieve in that episode. So making sure that the episode is. You know, full of the type of things that your ideal listener wants to hear.

So they, they very well may listen to the whole episode. So there's no right or wrong answer here, but it comes back to thinking about the relevance of your episode to your listener and making sure that the timeframe fits in with that. Like I, there's a [00:13:00] podcast that I listen to that's maybe an hour and a half long.

I don't often listen to it all in one go, but I do go back to it, but I know everything in there is relevant to me. That's what I want to hear. So that I think is the key is to make your content as relevant as possible to keep people coming back. You can also choose to do solo episodes, co host, interview style, a mix.

So this is a solo episode. I don't often do solo episodes anymore, but this is a second one in this season. And then I have interview style. I love having somebody on to talk to, to bounce off. Have that great conversation. And also I always learn something from my guests as well, which is great for me, but I also think it helps bring out a great conversation and the content in a fun and conversational way.

So, you know, think about how, what best way you could get across your content, whether it's yourself, solo co hosting or. With guests. So once you have [00:14:00] your, your content in place, you need to think about the branding. How is it going to look? This is an important part as well. Thinking about what is going to be your podcast cover art, whether you're going to choose to have individual episode art as well.

So for this podcast, I have a main cover art and then for each episode, I have a different cover art for each episode with the picture of each guest. and the title on there. Keeping it consistent with your overall branding. So linking back to having it for your, for your business. I did actually create separate branding for my podcast.

So I have different colors to my business, but they, they do link together. And I have often thought about potentially changing one or the other. So that is, it is all the same. So but there are just things to, to think about there. Most of you, I would imagine, you're women in business, you would know about Canva, but if you haven't, you should be using it.

I use it for all of my [00:15:00] graphic design. There are lots of templates and things out there. You can set a brand palette, so you can adjust templates to fit in with your own brand. There's lots of ideas there as well. And I think that you should probably have your face on there because you are the face of your business, you're the face of your podcast and keeping it fairly simple as well.

Remember the size in terms of when you're looking at your phone or podcast app, how much can you see of other people's cover art? Have a little look through Spotify or Apple podcasts to see, you know, what other people are doing as well. And see how you can incorporate some of those designs for yourself.

Promotion and marketing plan. Think about how you're going to promote. And market your podcast. There are lots of different ways to do this. You can use social media. You can, as I talked a bit about earlier, about turning your podcast episodes into smaller forms of content. So you can create captions from your episodes, audio clips, [00:16:00] video clips, if you're recording it, turn these into reels, TikToks, everything.

Type of content you can imagine you can do. But I think when it comes to the writing, the captions is to try and do it in a unique way. Don't do it like, mm, this is me listen to my episode. It needs to be more creative in terms of can you share something that you learn? Can you share the key takeaways from the episodes?

If you have a guest, can you share a funny anecdote of something that happened? And don't just post once and that's the only, that's the only other time people are going to know about the episode. Make sure you're repurposing it, sharing it multiple times, sharing it with your email newsletter, sharing it with friends.

Maybe there's someone you know that would really benefit from that episode. Those kind of ways are really, really important. Great to get your episodes out there. I know a lady, Loretta Milan, who came on this season with the Origineur podcast. And if she meets somebody [00:17:00] and they're having a conversation and she's kind of like, Oh, I've talked about this, my podcast, let me send you the episode.

I think that's a fantastic way to promote your own podcast, but also really show that, A, you're listening to the person when they're telling you about things they might be doing. Be coming up against in their business or in their personal life and, and being able to recommend an episode that will help them.

I think that's, again, this is helping form that deeper connection. I really think that's such a fantastic way to share and promote your podcast. So that comes to the end of the podcast playbook that I have, but I do have a little checklist at the end. Some other things that you obviously need to think about when you're doing your podcast.

So naming your podcast, looking at a hosting platform and then distributing your podcast, checking that you've got the right equipment, microphone, headphones, not that they all have to be expensive. You don't need expensive equipment to start a podcast, but nonetheless, audio is important. It is important to record.

As good audio as you can, because otherwise it just gets very [00:18:00] distracting for listeners and may put people off. But again, this doesn't have to be an expensive exercise. The recording software for this episode, I'm actually trying out Squadcast. I usually record on Riverside. fm, but recently you may or may not have heard of Descript.

And Squad, Descript I think they merge with Squadcast and with my package with the So I'm giving it a try out for this episode, just to see what it's like and, you know, compare the quality and the ease of the dashboard and the ease of recording. So far it's going good. So you'd also need to look at some editing software, record a trailer, an intro and outro for your podcast, confirm your launch date.

Commit to it. Create a timeline and plan for all the works complete. So taking into consideration everything we've talked about here from this playbook, creating. So once you've got your time, your launch date, you can work backwards for your, you know, your pre-launch promotion and all of those types of things, get everything ready.

I would say [00:19:00] you don't have to, because it can Of course be done, not that far in advance, but if you are able to, to have episodes in the bank, planned out your content, you've got your promotion materials to go out, it will just make everything go that bit smoother and allow you that extra grace for when times are busy and you aren't able to do it.

So those things are really important to think about. And then launching it out to the world. So I hope that process has been clear for you. Again, like I mentioned at the beginning, this is available as a PDF, so you can download it for free. I will pop the link in the show notes for you to be able to do that.

And also the link to the blog series, if you'd like to take a look at that as well. Somebody asked, how much is it likely to cost? Well, You can pretty much start a podcast for free. So you may have a mic. Everyone's got a phone and a computer. I mean, I know people that have started a [00:20:00] podcast on their phone and it has sounded fine.

So you can start it very low cost. You could use a host like Spotify for podcasters. You can record on. I think Squadcast has a free package. A few of my clients use Zoom. A lot of people use Zoom for their business as well. So you can use a recording software like that and just take into consideration your recording environment, which you should anyway, but just that extra bit, turn off notifications, don't record in a room that's just made of hard floors and hard walls.

You know, sending that, those considerations onto your guests as well. I do think that having a mic and headphones is. quite important and you can pick up mics for fairly cheap. My own one was on an Amazon Prime day. It's a Behringer Bigfoot mic and I love this mic. I definitely noticed the difference in audio quality from when I was using.

I had a radio mic. My husband is a sound engineer, so he had mics lying around, but I did notice the difference in the quality. And when I [00:21:00] started using an online studio compared to Zoom, the audio quality is just that much better. That bit better. Riverside. fm do also offer a free package. It's two hours free a month.

I think if you're recording video, it has a Riverside watermark, but if you're just recording audio, it's not a problem, you'll get two hours free a month. So that's something to consider as well. So you can get, I would recommend wearing headphones, wired headphones, not Bluetooth ones. I found there was a delay in Bluetooth headphones.

And I also think that the headphones should be plugged into your mic so that you can hear. So if you're doing a solo episode, you'll be able to hear yourself in your headphones through your mic and you'll also be able to hear any other noises if you're banging the desk, perhaps with some bracelets or, you know, fiddling with the wire that can cause noises in the recording.

So you can, you can hear some of these things in your headphones. Also with your guests, you're able to hear them better and also detect people. Possibly something coming out of their end. So it just makes the [00:22:00] recording experience better and helps with the quality of the audio. You can just use the in ear buds with a cord and plug those in.

If you have those, I'd say. 99% of people have those type of headphones li lying around. Or the headphones that I wear, I think there are Sony headphones, but they were about 10 pounds on Amazon. Again, you could wait for an Amazon Prime day or something like that to get a discount. So I would say below a hundred pounds you'd be able to get yourself a mic and headphones.

That will make all the difference to your recording editing software. There are free editing software out there I use. Software called Audacity, which is free. I do feel there is a bit of a learning curve with this. But it is not impossible to learn. I taught myself how to use it. Some of the podcast hosting platforms allow you to record and edit within the platforms.

When I've edited within those type of platforms, I found it very clunky and hard to do. [00:23:00] You can edit in platforms like Riverside as well, and Descript, they edit through the words. Although I must say, that's like AI technology, although I must say, I don't feel like it edits as cleanly as if you do it on Audacity.

This is, I edit. professionally for a living. So I would always prefer to use something like Audacity and not the AI, but people I know that are under time constraints, cost constraints, using something like Descript or Inside Riverside is a great option. If you were to outsource your podcast, then to someone like me, who's a podcast manager, then It just depends on how much or what, what it is that you want to outsource.

So for example, I offer different packages depending on how often your podcast is. You know, if you're doing a weekly podcast, it might cost you £700 a month or up to £1,200 a month. This is my package for a weekly podcast. But this includes [00:24:00] editing, setting up hosting platform, distribute your podcast, trailers, intros and outros, show notes.

Ongoing monthly support and planning and also the done for you digital content. What people offer will vary depending on the amount of pieces that you want to outsource. I do also offer edit only packages if that's something that people are interested in. So prices do differ and it isn't, you know, it isn't cheap because there is a lot of things to do and it does take time.

But you just need to think about if you're thinking about outsourcing is if you were to spend that time in your business doing it yourself. If you outsource that part to somebody else and you had a client take that space, would that pay for, that's one way to look at it, would it pay for it? So I'm not saying you should outsource.

If you are happy to do it yourself, you absolutely can do it yourself. And I am, you know, a big advocate of there not being any barriers for [00:25:00] podcasting because if you want to DIY your podcast, you absolutely can. And I'm sure that you will make a great podcast, but for those of you that do want some help, there are people out there like myself that can help and support you with different elements.

Of your podcast, how do you get the podcast onto various lists for listening to, this is to do with the distribution. So once you upload your podcast to your hosting platform, you will get an RSS feed, which is the code for your podcast, and then you connect it up to the different apps. So if, for example, if you're using something like Spotify for podcasters, once you publish an episode, you will automatically be added to Spotify.

In the distribution list, you will see all the different other types of apps that you can be added to. So Apple podcasts, Google podcasts is no longer a thing. They are, they, the app is defunct now and it has been taken over by YouTube. They want to amalgamate into YouTube music. At this point in time, I'm not entirely sure [00:26:00] what it looks like.

You can actually add your RSS feed, claim it on YouTube, but I am not sure on what kind of analytics and things like that are in. You know, the benefits of doing that, but you can have your app, you can have your podcast on Amazon Music. You can have your podcast on SoundCloud, CastBox, there are a few different other kind of smaller indie apps that you can get your podcast out onto.

With Apple, all you need to do is have an Apple ID and create a free Apple Connect account. And once you have published an episode, and I recommend that you publish a trailer first, before you publish your episode so that you get your RSS feed and you can connect up the distribution prior to launching your podcast because it makes it a lot smoother on the launch end.

SoundCloud And then you enter your RSS feed into Apple connect or the different apps that when it requires it, some will auto connect, some won't, you'll have to create a free account and it will pull all your information from your [00:27:00] host, whether that's Spotify podcasters or some of the other platforms like I use captivate, it will pull the information from there where you set it all up.

And then your podcast will be, they'll approve it and then it'll be out there on Apple Podcasts. And then every time you update it with an episode, it will sync and then they'll be out there. So it's fairly simple. It's fairly simple process to do. A little bit of opening, you know, some free accounts and connecting it up, but it's, it's a fairly simple process.

And the last question is the ingredients of a good podcast. So I touched on this a bit earlier when I talked about your ideal client or your ideal audience and creating the content that is relevant for them. I think the content is the most important thing. The top thing you should be thinking about is your ideal listener.

And creating the content that they want to hear and don't create content that you want or you think they want to hear know and understand who will be listening to your podcast and create the content that will be relevant [00:28:00] for them. And then creating as good audio as you can so that you are not putting people off who are listening.

and have some best practices in place. Think about your recording environment. If you're inviting guests on, perhaps if those guests have not, don't really feature on podcasts, how can you make their experience with you a good one and get good audio out of them? Simple things often find is shutting the doors so no one interrupts and the dogs don't, you don't hear the dogs barking.

You shut the windows, you turn off all your notifications, you. You know, have a meeting with them beforehand to try and see, have they got a mic? Have they got some headphones with a mic in it? All those kinds of things that can make your audio sound The editing process as well, I do feel like you don't have to cut out every and ah.

I do say a lot when I'm recording and I do edit a lot of those out. But you need to think about the flow of the conversation. Whether it's you talking by yourself, with your co [00:29:00] hosts, with an interview, if you over edit things, it will sound too clipped, not natural. So listen back to what you are editing and see whether or not The conversation flows.

Don't say if there's someone's taking their time answering and there's a little pause, don't feel like you have to cut that pause out so it answers really quickly. You know, when you're, I tend to do, to when I'm editing and when I'm editing for my clients as well, I tend to close my eyes and listen back to it and feel like, Does it make sense or does it feel like it's too big a gap to have that there?

So this is a skill that does come with the more things that you edit. You can have a fairly raw podcast as well. There's nothing wrong with that. I do listen to a lot of podcasts that aren't, aren't over edited, which is absolutely fine. But I think that you just have to listen back to your podcast and not be.

overcritical of the way that you sound because we all don't like the way that we sound when we first start recording podcasts. I have got a lot more used to my [00:30:00] voice and how it sounds now, but just think about the flow and how it would sound and put yourself in, in, in someone else's shoes that's listening.

That's it for this episode. I hope you found this episode useful and that I have Answered those questions with enough information. If you do have any more questions, please get in touch with me. I would love to know what you thought of the episode. And if I haven't answered one of your burning podcast questions, please feel free to email me or connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message.

I will pull the links to those in the show notes. I also want to just add on that if you are thinking about starting your podcast and you are still feeling a little bit overwhelmed and you've downloaded the podcast playbook and you still feel a little bit unsure about how to get forward, or you want a little bit, maybe you want a little bit more knowledge about the tech.

the software, the, the hosting platforms and those kinds of things. I do [00:31:00] offer podcast strategy sessions, which are 90 minutes where you can come and ask me anything you want really. Whether you like, like I said, whether it's to do with the tech to do with helping you put a plan together, helping you sort out your content, anything like that.

The sessions get recorded and transcribed and sent to you afterwards to keep. Also no frantic note taking whilst you are in the session. All I ask is that if you just let me know what you want to. To do in the session beforehand so that I can be prepared and you'll get the most out of your 90 minutes.

I've done a few of these now and I'm really seeing the benefits that it's having my clients that are coming along to these. So I will again, leave the link in the show notes for you to check out a little bit more on my website about those. I do also offer a 30 minute free consultation, a 30 minute free session for you to come and get some personalized advice as well.

So please take advantage of that. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you in next [00:32:00] episode. Thanks for listening to the show. If you'd like to connect with me or get in touch, then head on over to my website. If you liked the episode, then I'd love it. If you could leave me a review in your chosen podcast app, your feedback is much appreciated.

See you next time.