Podcasting continues to grow as a powerful medium, offering a unique way to connect with your audience who can listen and consume your content whilst doing their daily tasks such as driving, exercising or the chores around the house.
There’s no doubt that podcasting has seen huge growth over the past 5 years but it’s not too late to start a podcast. I recently recorded an episode ‘Should I Launch a Podcast in 2024 or is it too Crowded’ which you can check out here.
However, before you launch your show, there are some essential steps you should take to set your podcast up for success.
1. Strategy, Branding & Planning
Begin with a clear strategy that sets the foundation for your podcast. I cannot stress this enough.
Did you know that 44% of podcasts don’t get past 3 episodes and only 720,000 (of 4.3 M) podcasts have more than 10 episodes!
And one of the biggest reasons for this is that these podcasters didn’t start with the strategy and planning. Start by working out your objectives and goals, your ideal audience and your success measures.
This first step will help branding and planning a lot easier. And you’ll have more confidence knowing you have a clear strategy right from the beginning.
2. Equipment & Software
Selecting the right equipment and software is critical for creating professional-quality audio. You don’t have to spend a fortune setting up your podcasting gear… but if you can afford to, purchasing a microphone is worth every cent. You can purchase a basic good-quality USB microphone for under $100! You also need to work out the software you’ll use for recording and editing. If you are planning to self-publish, I absolutely recommend Descript and/or Riverside.FM which are fantastic one-stop-shops for recording audio and video, editing, creating social clips, writing AI show notes, AI transcripts and the list goes on.
Click here to see my Equipment & Software recommendations.
3. Recording & Editing
It’s really important to produce episodes with good audio quality which can be easily achieved through proper recording and editing practices. And the biggest tip here is to get the best audio quality at the recording stage because there are some things you just can’t fix in editing. There are lots of easy and non-expensive software options now and one that I highly recommend is Descript – they have partnered with Squadcast, where you can record your audio and video episode, and edit in Descript easily. Some other editing processes to consider are:
- noise reduction if necessary
- a smooth transition between two different sections
- deleting any errors or re-starts
- removing filler words such as ‘umm’ and ‘aah’ (that is a personal choice if you want to leave them in or take them out). I think if the conversation flows naturally and they aren’t too annoying, you can leave them in there. But with programs like Descript, you can easily remove these quickly so when making the decision, think about your listener’s overall experience.
4. Launching Your Show
Prepare for a successful launch by creating excitement and anticipation among your audience and potential listeners. Plan your launch day strategy, including multiple episode releases to give the audience something to binge on and get a good feel for your show. Schedule your emails to you database, clients, friends and family to let them know that you have launched your show and would like their help getting the message out there. And ensure your podcast is available on major directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and Amazon for maximum reach, and then spend some time getting on all the smaller directories as well.
5. Promoting Your Show
Once launched, steadily promote your podcast across multiple channels. Use social media, engage with online communities in your niche, and consider collaborations with other podcasters for cross-promotion. Create a content calendar to share highlights and episodes consistently, ensuring your podcast remains top-of-mind with your audience. And most importantly, don’t just post once about it once on social media when it’s published. Get creative and re-purpose your episodes into multiple posts and clips for different platforms, email your list and get the most out of each one.
By following these steps which are outlined in more detail in my Podcast Launch Checklist, you’ll be on the right path for creating a successful podcast that resonates with your listeners.
