So you want to start a podcast: what you should know as you begin your podcasting journey - by guest blog writer Katie Cahill

Author Katie Cahill

Katie has been a podcaster on the Podomatic network for the last 5 years. In this blog post she walks you through her personal journey with the creation (and ultimately the end) of her first podcast. Along the way she'll tell you what she did right, mis-steps she made, and tips in general that will make your life a whole lot easier as you get your first podcast up and running.

Contents of this blog post:
​As You Begin Adventures In Podcasting… 
Know What You Want
​You Don’t Need Anything Special
Never Compare Yourself to Other Podcasts
Know When You Have Gotten Stale
​Practice Makes Perfect

​As You Begin Adventures In Podcasting…

My first podcast, Two Artsy Gals, went live here on PodOmatic April 2nd, 2014, but I had the idea for it two years prior to that. You might wonder why it took me so long to get started, and the short answer is that I got in my own way… but I am going to give you the long answer in hopes of helping all you podcast dreamers out there take the leap into making your podcasts realities (Also, this would be a terribly boring read if I just left you with the short answer and called it a day).

I got hooked on listening to podcasts after receiving an iPod as a Christmas gift in 2011. By the time I discovered podcasts, we already had many of the industry giants we know and love today. They are all so beautifully produced I was in awe! It wasn’t until I started searching for podcasts relating to my more specific interests that I understood literally anyone can produce a podcast. With that realization the idea for my first podcast came to me. Unfortunately so did the above-mentioned “getting in my own way”.

I wanted my podcast to be “perfect” and in 2012 I thought that meant new equipment, endless hours of research, and constant agonizing over even the smallest of details. I spent two years in a vicious cycle of preparing, starting, and starting over again before I ever recorded an episode, and in the process nearly drove myself crazy (my poor husband didn’t walk away unscathed either)!

Two Artsy Gals was a podcast about mixed media arts and crafts, with a comedic twist. The goal was to present information and tutorials on arts and crafts in a way that felt accessible to anyone interested. I saw moderate success and the show ran for almost four years before I decided to wrap it up (more on this later). During that time I started a short-run, “experimental”, PodOmatic podcast called the Awesome Talks Project. The premise for this show was to record great conversations with friends about normally taboo or touchy subjects, and post them unedited. Because the objective with this show was to capture conversations in a natural setting, and I was already busy producing Two Artsy Gals, I made it a point to create this podcast as minimally as was possible.

I launched Welcome To Your Midlife Crisis, my current PodOmatic podcast, in May of 2017. It is a neat amalgamation of my first two efforts, and the experience I’ve had getting this show off the ground is so different (for the better), I started noting what I have done differently. Most of the changes have happened organically because I know what I am doing this time, but some are changes I consciously made. Podcasting is an incredible way to let your voice be heard, and that is an empowering thing. If you are finding yourself wondering where to start, or are struggling with your new podcast, the things I have learned over the course of producing three podcast may be helpful to you as you being your adventures in podcasting.         

Know What You Want

Everything starts with an idea, but that is exactly what an idea is… a starting place. Do your research and develop that idea into a solid plan before you start thinking of any other details. It is far too easy to get off track and overwhelm yourself with the “how”, when you should first be thoroughly exploring the “why”.

You will have already thought to make sure the clever name you chose isn’t being used by another podcast, or someone else isn’t already doing what you want to do in his or her own podcast, but have you turned your idea into a plan? Is your show going to be an interview-based podcast? How will you find guests? Will it be a monthly or weekly podcast, or will you have more than one episode a week? How are you going to consistently generate fresh content? These are questions you must have answered before you begin and I highly recommend having them clearly outlined as your first step.

That being said, don’t over think it! You don’t need an answer to every single “what if” that pops into your mind while developing your podcast idea. Put thought into how you want to produce your show and layout the steps toward that goal, but don’t micromanage yourself. I have talked to more than a few podcast beginners and this is where many get hung up. Either they haven’t thought everything through and fall flat before they really get started, or they become so wrapped up with contingency plans and small details, they end up frozen in place (the latter is exactly what I did to myself when getting started). Ask yourself how you intend to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible and make it your plan.          

You Don’t Need Anything Special

In preparing to start my first podcast I purchased at least three books on podcasting, then slowly tried to accumulate as much of the equipment those books suggested as was possible, but once I actually got started I ended up not needing/not being able to use most of what I had purchased. You want to have a nicely produced podcast but that doesn’t mean you have to start out with all the best equipment you can get your hands on.

Here’s the thing… you don’t HAVE to do your podcast the same way anyone else does. It is your podcast. Yes, you need a basic understanding of how to get your audio files on your hosting site and how to get your show listed on iTunes, Stitcher and the like. You should edit for sound and content quality, and avoid using licensed music or images for your show. But what you don’t need to do is break the bank to produce a quality podcast, and you shouldn’t (especially in the beginning)!

Looking back on my first experience, the pitfalls I stumbled into are glaringly obvious, but I didn’t know any better six years ago. The list of things I invested too much time and/or money in the first go around is short, but would have made a huge difference for me when starting off.  

1. I wasted money purchasing books about podcasting when I could have found all the information I needed on the Internet for free. Each book I purchased, though containing some useful information, mostly ended up making me feel like I needed to go out and spend money on what the authors were using.

Tip: There are countless tutorials available on YouTube (just be wary of those trying to sell you products or services).  

2. After a lot of unnecessary frustration attempting to figure out the fancy editing software I purchased (because a book told me I needed it), I ended up stumbling upon Audacity. I still use it to edit my audio content and IT IS FREE!

Tip: Audacity has a YouTube channel with hundreds of tutorials on everything from how to get your show listed, to equipment, and even monetizing your podcast.

3. I eventually purchased a mixer and microphones once I had a following and was able to fund such things through the podcast, but they are really the very bottom-of-the-line in recording equipment. I ended up selling the fancy microphone I bought when I started out because it wasn’t ideal for the setup that ended up working best for me. The bottom line is that you don’t have to invest in a lot of equipment when getting started. Use what you have. Record through your phone if you need to. Only upgrade as production values dictate, and only as you can afford to.

Tip: There are many free voice-recording apps available for your smart phones. You can purchase small tripods for your phone for under $20. This stability allows you to do better quality recordings with your phone. This is what I did for on site interviews until I could afford a decent portable recorder.

4. I create all my own logos and artwork, but you don’t have to be a graphic designer to have a good logo or image associated with your podcast, and you don’t have to hire one either. Take your own photo and use that. Use your own charmingly simple doodle. Use a royalty free image. As long as the name of your show is clear, the file is properly formatted, and you own or have permission to use the image you chose, that is all you need.

Tip: Most photo editing software that comes with digital cameras allows you to add text to images. There are also countless free apps that allow you to do this from your phone. If you are looking for a more polished design for your logo, there are dozens of open source design programs available to download for free.

5. I am lucky enough to have musicians in my life and collaborated with them for the Two Artsy Gals and Welcome to Your Midlife Crisis theme songs. However, when I needed music for the  Awesome Talks Project I simply purchased a royalty free song from the iTunes store for $1.99, then recorded my voice over it as the intro. You don’t need to pay royalties out the nose for a theme song, and you absolutely DO NOT want to use something you don’t own (this can be a very costly mistake).

Tip: You can find thousands of songs and images free to use through the Creative Commons website. Pay attention to the terms of use just to be safe, but most artists allow their work to be used for free if they are credited.

Keep it simple. Start with the basics and build from there. You are going to learn a lot as you go and what you think or are being told you need many not end up being what is going to work best for you. Allow yourself room to grow.  

Never Compare Yourself to Other Podcasts

I can’t tell you how much grief I caused myself by comparing my download and ratings numbers to those of other podcasts. At times I felt so defeated I forgot about the ratings and downloads I did have. Not every podcast is going to be one of the giants. Not everyone will be sponsored or win awards. But don’t forget, most of those phenomenally popular podcasts started as a small idea with a handful of listeners. Just. Like. You.

Be your own cheerleader! Stop holding your show up against other shows and hold it against your own goals for your podcast. Compare your downloads this week/month to your downloads last week/month. Did you gain listeners? Celebrate that! If you didn’t, don’t beat yourself up, examine what you’re doing and improve upon it. Theodore Roosevelt summed things like this up perfectly when he stated, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

You aren’t going to do your best work if you don’t enjoy what you are doing. And you aren’t going to enjoy it if you are constantly measuring your success against the success of others.

Know When You Have Gotten Stale

I agonized over the decision to end Two Artsy Gals for an entire year before I did it. This decision caused me so much stress I lost sight of my goals in those final months. Looking back I can honestly say this prevented me from doing my best work on the show. Two Artsy Gals was a challenging podcast in the first place because we were talking about visual arts in an audio format. I wrote the blog for this show in conjunction with each episode so listeners had a place to view what we were talking about. This was double the work and towards the end I got less and less detailed on the blog. People noticed.

In total Two Artsy Gals recorded, edited and posted 156 episodes, most of which were over an hour in length. That is 156 blog posts written in addition to generating images and tutorials, not to mention all of the research that went into finding topics and accurately representing each of them for our listeners. By the final year we had honestly talked about every artistic medium or process we knew anything about. As we exhausted ideas, the amount of research required to generate new content became overwhelming. I have a day job and the podcast began eating into my work hours and free time. I was becoming resentful of my own podcast and it was starting to suffer for it.

In the end we were spending more time on the wacky sidebar conversations our listeners use to love than we were on our topics, and some people were beginning to complain. Our numbers went stagnant and nothing we did was able to move them. I didn’t want to give up, but realized I was going to ruin what I had built by refusing to let it go. Two Artsy Gals achieved what I hoped it would in most cases and there was just nothing left to build on. I archived the episodes on our YouTube channel, made them available on the website, and pulled the plug. In hindsight, I should have done this much sooner, but am glad I did it before the show started losing long time supporters.   

Practice Makes Perfect

My newest podcast, Welcome to your Midlife Crisis, is what my previous podcasts efforts morphed into and I am thrilled to be starting again within the familiar framework of those older models. The best part is that this time I have the advantage of learning from my mistakes. I have a better understanding of what works in an audio format and what doesn’t, and more importantly, I have learned what a realistic workload looks like for me. The lessons taken from my first experiences are helping me produce a more polished podcast, with much less stress this time around. My hope is that by sharing these lessons with those of you who are out there bursting with ideas but struggling with where to start, I am able to help more of you experience the magic of being heard.

Our world is diverse and tumultuous and beautiful, now more than ever it is important for our voices to be heard, and to hear the voices of others. Whether you are talking about new and upcoming musical talent; art, movies, current events, politics, comedy, true crime… or any of the other seemingly endless possibilities, it is understanding and learning about different points of view that serves to bring us closer as humans. Podcasting is a powerful tool that allows us to connect to others with greater reach. Don’t let fear hold you back; what you have to share with the world is important so record that podcast and be heard!
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