Starting a podcast! Step-by-step guide for podcasting (2024)

Do you want to start your podcast and grow your audience?

Nowadays, people want to focus on multiple points in their everyday lives. Podcasts that enable storytelling without visuals are perfect for those who want entertainment or education while working on something else.

Statistics are showing the growing popularity of podcasts. In 2022, 177 million people have listened to podcasts in the US.

This popularity makes podcasts a great way of promoting products and services for brands and influencers.

To create a successful podcast campaign, you should start working very carefully from the first step. It may take time, but eventually, you will build strong audience loyalty.

So, are you ready to find out how to start a podcast? Let's begin!

How to start podcasting step by step

First of all, we should explain what a podcast is. A podcast consists of audio content with one or more speakers discussing a particular subject. Thousands of podcasts cover numerous topics.

There are many types of social media content. So, why should you start podcasts?
Compared to other forms of content, a podcast is more personal. Hosts, particularly businesses and marketers, can present compelling brand narratives.

Podcasts may foster a unique experience and personalize the brand by featuring voices and actual people. Compared to other content types, which seem mass-produced, this encourages deeper involvement and devotion among listeners.
Most content producers aim to expand their audience and position themselves as authorities. You may benefit from all of these advantages and more by starting a podcast.

When done correctly, podcasting can help you keep a competitive edge by remaining relevant to your audience or target market. Your brand will become recognized as a thought leader if you consistently provide content based on current developments in your niche and conduct expert interviews.

Creating a podcast can expand your network as an artist or brand and provide you with an additional source of income. Here is all the information a new podcaster needs to get going.

1- Find your subject

You must first identify your target market and study your niche's rivals.

Your podcast is aimed at whom? Determine your target audience's demographics, age, occupation, interests, hobbies, and pain issues.

Once you've decided on a theme and a target audience, look up other podcasts similar to yours. Understanding your rivals can help you position your podcast to stand out.

It's nearly complicated for generic podcast ideas to succeed in such fierce competition. Your podcast topic should be wide enough to support numerous episodes and detailed enough to appeal to a particular audience. You may produce pertinent and worthwhile content by understanding your ideal listener well.

Transcend the realms of business, politics, and the movie industry. Be more precise. Find out what the market is lacking by doing some study. Note your interests, your brand's alignment, and the knowledge and experience you can contribute after that. You may connect all of them to find your niche.

2 - Organize your podcasts in detail and posting calendar

First of all, you should find a name for your podcasts.

Regarding your podcast, you have the advantage of name recognition if you're a part of an established company.

If not, you'll need to think of something remarkable that sets you apart from other pods in your field. You can think of a name that is evocative and use keywords related to the subject that your target audience uses to search online.

Episode titles should be carefully chosen, just like a podcast's name. It ought to be sufficiently illustrative to inform readers of what to anticipate and persuade them to click. Inspiration can be found in your podcast's theme and the episode's particular subject.

Moreover, do you recall how I recommended adding keywords? Relevant keywords should be kept in mind. Episode titles, provider names, and podcast names are used to rank searches in podcast directories. Use the terms your audience is likely to look for that are pertinent to your issue.

What about the length of your podcasts?

There is no such thing as a podcast episode that is the "perfect length." The length of each episode varies between shows. Most pods appear to find a comfortable medium about the half-hour mark. However, others run slightly shorter (and some significantly longer). A survey found that 32% of respondents felt "put off by lengthy episodes of an hour or more." To construct from shorter episodes, it is preferable to start with them.

A decent rule of thumb is to adjust your episode length following the frequency of publication. If you post every day, keep it brief. If the podcast is weekly, keep it under 50 minutes. An hour per episode won't appear excessive to your audience if you provide content less frequently.

Then it comes to descriptions, notes, and transcripts!

Podcasting involves a lot of presentation.

Creating episode descriptions might assist you in letting potential listeners know whether or not a show is pertinent to them. Providing notes and timestamps is helpful for individuals who want to scan your episode but don't have time to listen to the entire broadcast.

Making your podcast searchable includes using episode descriptions as well. This is significant given that 73% of podcast listeners find new programming online. Use the keywords in the episode and podcast descriptions (but avoid keyword stuffing).

For first-time listeners, bullet notes, timestamps, and transcripts might be especially helpful. Use podcasting software with transcription capabilities to quickly record each word.

3- Choose your podcasting platform

You'll need a podcast hosting service to save audio recordings online for distribution. Then, using this hosting platform, you'll send content to a podcast directory like Spotify so that your audience may discover your show.

Consider aspects like storage and bandwidth restrictions, analytics reporting, and simplicity of use when choosing a podcast-specific hosting site.

To publish a podcast, you must build an RSS feed after choosing a podcast hosting service.

Your audio recordings can be distributed as podcasts via an RSS feed, which makes them accessible to everyone online. You can share your podcast using the URL and the information it includes on platforms like Spotify and Apple.

4-Have the right podcasting programs and tools

Contrary to popular assumption, purchasing the necessary equipment for a podcast doesn't necessarily have to be expensive.

Theoretically, you'd need a smartphone to assemble a high-quality presentation. A headset and a microphone are the very minimum equipment required for a properly recorded podcast. To achieve constant volume and tone, start by using a professional-grade microphone.

• Buy an XLR or USB microphone, such as the Shure SM series or the AKG Lyra. A decent microphone can be purchased for between $70 and $200.
• Using a USB audio interface, you can turn your voice and other analog audio impulses into digital signals that can be used by your computer. Both the Zoom LiveTrak and Focusrite Scarlett are excellent choices. Costs for a USB audio interface range from $100 to $200.
• Headphones: All podcasters should own a good pair of comfortable headphones. Good choices are the Sennheiser PC 7 and the Logitech H390 USB Headset. A USB headset costs less than $70.

You also need recording software:

To record a podcast, we advise using audio editing software. There are numerous paid and free solutions on the market. Several options for recording are:

• GarageBand (free for Mac users)
• Audacity (free)
• Adobe Audition (free and paid)
• Skype (free and paid)
• Zoom  (free and paid)

The greatest solutions for recording from many sources are Skype and Zoom.

In addition, you'll require at least one piece of software to edit episodes as they are being produced. Here are three of the best editing programs to take into account:

• Alitu is an online tool that automatically cleans up audio files and adds music or other effects.
• Riverside: An intuitive, user-friendly piece of software with cutting-edge editing tools.
• Logic Pro X is a cutting-edge audio editing program that offers complete control over music production, sound effects, and audio quality.

Additionally, you may record and edit your episodes immediately from a smartphone with platforms like Anchor.

5- Promote your podcasts

It doesn't matter how good your podcasts are! You should be able to promote your podcasts to reach more people and build a successful podcast strategy.

Social media is the perfect place to promote your pods and draw traffic to your episodes from various audiences.  

Circleboom Publish is the best social media management tool to manage your multiple accounts from supported platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile.

You can create, design, share, schedule, and automate social media posts for your multiple accounts for all supported platforms. This is a perfect way to promote your podcasts across various platforms and drive audiences.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

These are the most frequently asked questions about starting podcasts.

Is podcasting free?

Yes, you can launch a podcast without spending any money. You can launch a podcast for free if you have a computer and a smartphone. Use free podcasting software as well.

What is the first thing to start a podcast?

First, decide on the topic of your podcast. What can you speak about with authenticity? Is there a niche you’re passionate about and can provide fresh perspectives on? Identifying all these can set you on the right path to starting a podcast as a beginner.

What is the cost of starting a podcast?

You can launch a podcast for about $200, depending on the tools and software you use.

How long should a podcast be?

There isn't a set length requirement for podcasts. For new podcasts, a length of 10 to 30 minutes is a reasonable choice. New listeners are more inclined to try your podcast with brief episodes.

What is podcast equipment?

A podcaster needs a computer, microphone, headphones, and software for editing podcasts, among other things.

Wrapping Up

Podcasts are new and popular forms of social media content nowadays. Brands, content creators, influencers, etc., consider podcasts a good way of building brand awareness and a loyal audience.

It is not difficult or costly to start podcasts. But you still need to follow a step-by-step guide to be successful and create pods that stand out from others.

One of the most important steps for successful podcasting is promoting. You need more channels and platforms to share your pods. And social media is the perfect place for it!

Circleboom Publish is the best social media management tool to promote podcasts across many channels. It supports Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile.

You can benefit from many excellent features of Circleboom at affordable prices.