How to Start a Podcast. In 4000 Words or More.

If you’re reading this, you might be interested in starting a podcast (just a keen intuition). Here's the nitty-gritty of what's worked for me so far.

At the end of 2022, I started the podcast Content People (which you can check out on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts). This week I just wrapped Season 1, which had 18 episodes, and hit the 🔥 Top 100 careers podcast chart in the US, Canada, and Australia. Season 2 starts on June 15th.

If you’re reading this, you might be interested in starting a podcast, too (just a keen intuition). Maybe you’re planning it as a personal project or maybe you’re looking to start a podcast for your professional brand or business.

At 18 eps in I’m really still a newb who is just getting going. But I learned a fair bit across season 1 and started to get some questions about both the technical and content side of podcasting. 

Below, in no particular order, I’ve detailed the nitty-gritty of what has worked for me so far - from just getting started, to the operational and technical side of things, and tiny steps toward growing the listenership.

If you think I’ve missed anything or have further questions, feel free to hit me up on Linkedin, via email, or in the comments. 

Here we go.

How do you come up with your podcast topic, angle, or idea?
Some of you will have a very clear vision of the specific angle that you want to take on a subject. I think that can make it easier to define the project to others (like guests and potential listeners), especially in the beginning. So - if you’ve got that, great. You probably don’t need to read the rest of this section. I would just suggest you give it a think and make sure your niche or angle is broad enough that you won’t get too bored after like 6 episodes.

But, some of you (this was definitely me) likely have more of a general direction of travel in mind, rather than an air-tight angle and elevator pitch. What I would say to you folks is: That sense of needing to wait til you are 100% clear and ready is ruinous perfectionism talking. I wish I’d started sooner so I’d be better at it now.

Suggested Step 1: Tell perfectionism to f*ck right off.
Suggested Step 2: Define your current topic as well as you can for right now and just go for it. 

I can almost guarantee that as you’re forced to define the show (when writing the show summary, pitching it to guests, talking to friends about it, etc) and work through episodes, something more solid will begin to take shape.

Or - another idea? Maybe you want a mission, rather than a niche. Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab podcast has referenced how he’s used his mission to guide the show. On a recent episode, he said something to the effect of: He has a mission to share cutting-edge medical information and research with a wider audience. But, he also hopes that the podcast looks very different in five years than it does now, and he’s aware (and grateful) that it has already evolved significantly since the early episodes. 

So, one approach could be: Get clear on your mission but allow how you serve that mission - via the angle, style, or content of the show - to evolve over time.

And, finally, I know that you all know that you can google your current idea to see if there are already people out there doing the exact show you have in mind. But, even if they are: Your approach would be different. So I wouldn’t let that deter you.

What assets do you need to start a podcast?
You’ll need a few assets to get started. This Medium article by Tae Haahr explains it all better than me so I’ll just link it here. I second her advice to (1) not get caught up on building a “brand” in the beginning, and (2) use Canva to create your thumbnail - it’s easy and it’s free. Don’t labor too long over the basic assets. This is a “done is better than perfect” situation. You can change them in the future, when you’ll have more clarity around your vision, voice, and direction. 

How do you choose your podcast category?
So technically this is easy to do - all platforms that you distribute to will prompt you to do this.  But it’s actually fairly important. And, stressfully! (is that a word? should be), some platforms won’t let you change your category after you’ve selected one.

Categories matter because they help your audience find you, and they also determine the other podcasts you’ll be ranked against.

For example, Content People has ranked among the top 100 podcasts in the category of Careers. That category is less competitive than the Entertainment or News categories. If I’d tagged the show as News, I wouldn’t likely have “hit the charts” because it would have been in a more competitive landscape and needed more listens per episode to rank. So, tag it as specifically and accurately as possible.

How do you track podcast rankings and why do they matter?
I use chartable to track rankings. It’s a free tool that shows you where your show (or any other podcast) is ranking across your selected categories. The rankings are based on the total number of listens.

Something to be mindful of: Rankings swing significantly every day - even for some of the most popular podcasts. You can rank one day (amazing!) and plummet 40 spots the next day (very depressing!). So, don’t get too caught up in it but do keep track - if and when you do rank you’ll want to know.

Why does ranking even matter? A few reasons:
⭐ It feels good to rank. 
🪶 It’s a bit of a feather in your cap that will help you as you seek out more prominent guests. I’ve included our rankings in my Season 2 guest outreach.
📊 It’s data that can help you understand the competitive landscape. You’ll know how many listens you’re getting from whatever analytics tools you’re using. If you check out your listener numbers for the days that you ranked, you’ll get a sense of the listener volumes you’ll need to achieve regularly to stay on and move up the charts.

For example: Content People had about 1400ish listens the week that it hit #99 in the careers category in the US. So, I know that about 1400 listens per week gets me on the chart (just barely), but I’d probably need to achieve significantly more to get up into the top 50 for the careers category in the US.

Wait, which analytics tools show you how many podcast listeners you have?
Great follow-up question. We use Zencastr for recording and distribution. It’s cheap and easy to use. Zencastr also provides aggregate listener data about each episode. If you want platform-specific data, Spotify, Apple, Google Podcast Manager, etc. all have their own logins and dashboards that are fairly easy to set up. They’ll give you more detailed, platform-specific information about data points like listener demographics, how many people started vs finished the show (and where they dropped off), the number of subscribers, etc.

How do you get podcast guests?
This part is only relevant if you plan to have guests on, but it is perhaps what I have gotten the most questions about. 

This was my approach: I had a basic email template that I’d customize a bit when reaching out to guests. I was only reaching out to people I genuinely admired, which made it easy for me to very authentically express my admiration for their work. In season 1 I leveraged Brafton’s distribution and reach to entice guests. Across season one my approach evolved and I’ve taken a slightly updated tact for season 2.

Season 1 Guest Outreach
For Season 1, which was distributed by Brafton, I first worked with the Brafton marketing team to add podcast content promotion into the company’s content plan. Then, in my outreach to prospective guests, I’d highlight the number of subscribers to Brafton’s newsletter (which was promoting each episode) and the number of site visitors the company blog would get per month (because each episode was promoted via a summary blog post). I’d also, as the season went on, reference previous guests in the outreach - that way the potential guests knew that other prominent folks had been on the show and they’d be in good company.

⭐ If you want to start a branded podcast for your business or organization, this is an excellent way to leverage your lists and traffic toward high-profile guests from the jump. ⭐

Season 2 Guest Outreach
For season 2: Because the podcast is no longer distributed by Brafton, and the podcast has grown over the first season, I’m highlighting (1) where we’ve ranked on the Top 100 charts for careers (so guests know there is a fairly good listenership) and (2) a full list of previous guests - again, so they know they’d be in good company.

The template also provides info on the process, which includes (1) me sending questions/notes ahead of time for their review and input, (2) a way for them to book the recording session themselves via Calendly (if they’re interested in being on the show), (3) the offer of a pre-recording intro/prep session (which some guests take me up on and some don’t) and (4) the request that they promote the show when it goes live.

How do you find potential guest emails, you might ask? Just keep googling. Seriously. Thus far, with some deep googling, I’ve been able to find the email addresses of everyone I wanted to invite.

Finally, for both seasons, I ended each outreach email with this sentence: If not a fit right now - no worries, and I remain a really big fan. This little sign-off felt important to me because (1) it’s true,  and (2) I wanted to make sure to express that to these folks who I really do admire when I was asking something from them. 

If you’re like - good for you. But I don’t have a global company’s blog or email list to promote my new show and entice guests. What do I do to get listeners?

I’ve been giving it some thought because I want to give useful advice to folks who are starting from a different situation than I was. Here are some ideas:

• Launch a newsletter and work on building your readership so you have a place you can promote the podcast.

• Build up your social media followings and engagement.

• Create an email group of (consenting!) friends, family, and coworkers. Every time you publish an episode: post on social → email those social post links to that list → ask folks to like, comment, share, and engage. Also ask all of those folks to rate, review and subscribe.

• Connect with other podcasters who have a similar target demo and reach out to see if they’d be interested in a “pod swap.”

• If you reference brands, publications, products, or people you admire in the podcast, tag them on social and send them an email with the episode link. Ask them if they’d consider promoting it.

• While you’re doing all of the above - just go for it and start podcasting. Prospective guests will say yes more often than you think - especially if you’re being polite and comprehensive in your requests and communication. And good guests beget good guests. So create your list of dream guests and start sending emails. If you send 5 great emails a day for a week or two you will absolutely get a few guests lined up sooner than you think. If even just a few of those guests promote the podcast in a way that impacts your numbers it can jumpstart your growth.
  

How do you prepare for the interviews?
Ahead of each episode, I put together about 10+ questions for the guest. I call it a Convo Direction Rough Draft - {Guest Name} (because I want it to feel flexible) and then share that document with the guest at least a few days ahead of time. I invite them to let me know if there’s anything they want me to add, subtract or make sure to help them promote. I also make a point to say that these questions are just a rough direction and if we get off topic or into the weeds on something that is totally fine. 

I’ve found that prepping these questions makes me less nervous and gives me clarity and direction for the interview. It’s also helpful to your guests to give them a sense of what you plan to cover so they can prep a bit if they’d like. 

In my outreach note, I also offer to do an optional, 30-minute pre-record prep session. This seemed to make folks who aren’t regularly interviewed feel more comfortable with the experience.

How long should your podcast be?
This is, obviously, totally up to you. That is a fun thing about podcasts - you’re 100% in control. There are best practices but ultimately everything is your creative choice.

If you’re super busy and want to make sure you commit to sticking with it, keeping episodes short, actionable, and not overly editing makes sense. One of my fave new podcasts is That’s Marketing, Baby! with Jess Cook and Susan Wenograd. Episodes are 20-something minutes, fun, never stuffy, and packed with tangible advice.

On the other end of the spectrum is My Favorite Murder or The Joe Rogan Experience, which consistently rank in the top 5 spots for all podcasts. Both are long, meandering conversations and they’re not overly edited. 

Call Her Daddy, which is consistently the #2 podcast in the country, has long episodes. But host Alex Cooper has talked about how much time she spends editing (up to 20 hours an ep) to make sure the content is fast-moving and packed with bite-sized segments that map to our shorter, modern attention spans.

PS. If you don’t know who Alex Cooper is and feel like Going On A Journey, watch this video.

Podcasts are a commitment. Consider branding your show as a “Limited Series” to start. There are a lot of stats bandied about on this, and they’re hard to verify, but the general narrative is that most published podcasts only have one episode, and the median number of episodes is only 14. So, most podcasts stop very early on. A reddit thread that got a lot of traction last year (here) claimed that:

• 90% of podcasts don’t get past episode 3. 

• 90% of those that make it past 3 eps will stop after 20 eps. 

The gist is: Lots of people stop. For whatever reason. I suspect some of it is working through how much time it takes (and it takes longer in the beginning), and feeling disspirited when your early episodes don’t sound or perform as well as you’d like. I posit that at least 30% drop off because it is an existentially trying experience to hear what your voice actually sounds like. Just spitballing here.

If you might feel uncomfortable stopping out of the blue but aren’t sure you’re in it for the long haul, I suggest branding your first “season” as a limited series. Then, if you want to keep going, go for it. That’s what I did with Content People, and it was nice to know that I had a somewhat graceful exit, if I wanted it. Building in “seasons” does basically the same thing in perpetuity.

Ok. Enough of this. How do you actually just record the podcast?
For recording, we use Zencastr (which I mentioned above). It’s very easy to use and not expensive. It serves as both the conference call link and the recording mechanism.

Once you and the guest click the link you’re in “the room,” you check everyone’s audio levels, hit “record” and go.

I won’t try to explain exactly how to use it (there are tons of demos and videos and guides online) but know that:

→ I can’t say it’s all super intuitive but once you know what to do it’s very easy.

→ I had the luxury of learning how to use it from our experienced producer, but there are a ton of videos, etc. online to help you if you get stuck on something.

There are other platforms out there, like Riverside and Anchor, for example. I can’t say if Zencastr is better or not because it’s the only one I’ve worked with. But it was the best and cheapest for what we needed and I’m happy with it so far.

What equipment do you need to record a podcast?
This is less complicated than you might think. If you or your guests are on a newer Mac, the built-in mic is wholly sufficient. You or they don’t even need headphones. If you don’t have a great built-in mic, this $49 snowball is also great. If you don’t want to buy the equipment I know that some public libraries lend out mics and other recording accessories - so you could check into that.

Do you need a special room to record a podcast?
Not really. A quiet space with lots of rugs, curtains, or other fabric-ey items is ideal - those soft, fabric surfaces will absorb sound. If you notice that recordings still sound a little hollow or echo-ey there are sound panels for walls and ceilings. Some are really great looking and some are very inexpensive. Sadly, I haven’t found any that are both.

Also: Don’t knock the closet. I’ve been recording in my closet (really), which has been a good solution for me. (Bonus: It’s a nice icebreaker to show my guests how many pairs of jeans I have. A lot.)

If you want a really, really polished product, or if your home is super noisy, you could check into podcast recording booths or studios in your area.

And, keep in mind: Really bad audio quality or annoying sounds like consistent, high-pitched ringing noises (which some electrical devices can produce) will bother listeners and turn them off of your show. So - sort those out. But even the most produced podcasts have gotten more casual since remote work became a norm. A little bit of occasional background noise, like a truck passing or a text message ding, is (in my opinion) ok and maybe even a little more authentic.

What tool do you use to edit the podcast?
Currently, I use Descript, which is the tool that our producer found when we first started. Similar to Zencastr, it’s cheap ($30/mo) and it does the job. 

Also similar to Zencastr: It’s not super intuitive, but once you know what to do it’s easy. One thing I really like about it is that it converts the audio files into a transcript, and you can edit the text rather than trying to edit linear audio. Again, I had the luxury of being taught to use it by our producer, but there are a lot of videos online if you get stuck on something.

Can you give me the broad strokes of how to use all these tools together?
Yes. All of them have good videos online and customer support, so I won’t try to be comprehensive, but the rough workflow is:

• Record the convo in Zencastr. 

• Export both the guest and the host audio tracks as .wav files from Zencastr and into Descript. (Drop them in together and the program will sync them for you.)

• Edit the transcript. In addition to editing for flow or to remove mistakes, use the function that removes filler words (like um and ah) and run the “studio sound” effect function, which helps even out the sound and removes some background noise.

• Record an intro and outro in Zencastr, drop those back into Descript, 

• Drop in a music audio file at the start (there are tons of free audio libraries you can check out if you want a theme song and intro/outro music). 

• Export the final version as a .wav file.

• For the last few eps of Season 1 our producer has uploaded the final file to Zencastr for me, but moving forward I’ll do that myself. 

And: I should also say I’m looking into a few editing/distributing services for season 2. I wanted to make sure that I knew how to do all of the above, so I could if I needed to, but the editing can be time-consuming. There are services out there that will take your .wav files, edit and distribute them (so steps 2-5) for less than $70 an episode.

How often should you publish a podcast?
From what I’ve read, it’s important to publish at a consistent cadence. Meaning: Choose the frequency (number of episodes per week or month) and time that you think you can commit to and do your absolute best to stick to that.

You also want to create consistency for listeners. So, if you say you’ll publish every other Thursday at noon but you’re going to miss the deadline, you might want to record a small “update” for listeners and release it to the feed (so, in my case, upload the audio file via Zencastr) at the planned release time. Just say something like “Hey, running late/ stay tuned/ taking a week off/ etc.”

Not a question, just a suggestion: Record in batches and stockpile episodes.
For most of Season 1, we recorded episodes several weeks or months ahead of time. The few times we were recording, editing, and publishing an episode in the same week were a little bit hectic. If the guest had cancelled or something urgent had popped up we would have needed to skip an episode or publish late. Luckily, that didn’t happen in Season 1, but my preference is to record a large number of eps (like 6-8) in sprints ahead of time. Then I’m never worried about rushing to get something done for release that week.

I’ve also seen some advice to record and publish a few episodes at launch. That gives listeners a bit more to dig into when they first find you. We did a trailer a few days ahead of our first episode, but if I could do it again I might do: Trailer and 3 Episodes at “launch.”

What if you make a mistake or there’s a glitch in the episode?
Around Episode 5 we accidentally uploaded the wrong episode file to Zencastr. We resolved it fairly quickly, but for subscribers who automatically download the episode upon release, it was still playing the wrong ep. So, our producer and I chatted and he recorded this little announcement and uploaded it to the feed. If you do make a similar mistake (or you have an announcement), you can use the feed to talk to listeners.

Not a question. But go easy on yourself. 
Putting out any creative work, especially one that you are in the process of (very publicly) learning how to do, can be confronting. I think it’s normal to hit some walls. Walls like: self-criticism, feeling like it’s not taking off like you want it to, feeling frustrated at yourself for being less immediately skillful than you expected, etc. You might need to work through some self-doubt and self-criticism. I definitely did and still am. 

But, I’ve also really enjoyed learning how to produce this kind of content and am starting to have ideas about how to get better. Some content I’ve found helpful and relevant as I’ve been working on this: 

• This Ira Glass Video, The Gap, is comforting and motivating. 

• Caroline Winkler’s Video How to be a Confident Bitch: “Embarrassment is ideas about somebody else’s theoretical ideas about you. It’s not real.” And also some of the things she said in our interview here.

• Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. And his Huberman Podcast Ep.

• When I interviewed Liv Albert, host of the podcast Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! (which gets 10 Million downloads a year) she said something to the effect of: Your first 20 episodes are basically just practice. 

So. I’m still just practicing. But, if you have questions on the above, think I missed something, or just want to chat podcasts, hit me up on LinkedIn or comments. If you’re a subscriber, just reply back to this email.

Thanks for reading. And, you know, rate, review and subscribe. 🌟 You can check out Content People on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.