How To Start A Podcast
Podcasting?
Podcasting has exploded recently. Almost every person you run into has a podcast that they regularly listen to or create on the regular. It may be surprising at first thought, but the more you think about it, the basic podcast is not complicated to assemble. You just need a microphone and a topic to talk about. Well… there’s more than just that, so here are some tips to get you started.
Creating a Topic and Target Audience
The topic is the most essential part of your podcast. It’s what you’re going to regularly talk about for how many episodes you chose to do. Now you don’t want to be basic here, there are thousands upon thousands of podcasts. You have to do something unique to separate yourself from others, but still, something you enjoy.
According to “The Podcast Host”, “the bottom line is that the podcast topic needs to be interesting and engaging so that people will listen. And, it still needs to be something you are passionate about. If you don’t enjoy making it, then certainly nobody is going to enjoy listening to it,” (The Podcast Host).
You have to have passion for your topic or else it will end up sounding like a forced class presentation. You have to be excited to talk about it so other people will be excited to hear.
Speaking of people excited to hear, you have to have a target audience. It’s who you want to hear the podcast and direct it to. Say you have a Pittsburgh Penguins podcast, then you’d obviously want your target audience to be Penguins fans.
Spotify has identified clever ways to find this, such as “to investigate the audiences of other podcasts that could be similar to yours. Use those shows that inspire and influence you to get a better idea of who you could reach. Check out the social media followings of other podcasts. Take note of who is engaging with their content. Do they fall into certain demographics, like age, gender, interest, profession, or background?” (Spotify for Podcasters).
This is almost like a cheat code for success. Just look at other podcasts, see what they’re doing and who they’re attracting, and take note of it. It gives you an idea of what you can do to target the right crowd.
Publishing and Editing
This category might be daunting to some people, however, publishing and editing could not be simpler today. There are so many free tools at everyone’s disposal for this, but my favorite has to be Spotify for Podcasters.
Spotify for Podcasters’ interface.
Spotify for Podcasters is a digital swiss army knife in podcasting. It allows you to edit and publish all in the same spot online or on the app. It allows you to record right on the spot and then immediately edit the clip or upload your own clips. Spotify states, “Creation couldn’t be easier. Just record and edit your audio, arrange your segments, add transitions and background music, and you're set,” (Spotify for Podcasters - Grow). It’s as simple as that. The interface is so easy to use and it guides you through the steps all the way.
Once you finish editing and are ready to publish, you can directly publish the podcast to Spotify from there. That’s all. So easy. Spotify will then give you insights into your audience and podcast performance, allowing you to stay on top of all your crucial data.
Cover Art
You want your podcast to look appealing and that all starts with the cover art. Now you just can’t slap just any picture you find online and make it your cover. There are a lot of legal issues in doing that with copyright. Instead, it’s better to make your own image. Whether it be your own photo you took or creating one in a photo editing software, as long as it’s your own image, then you’re good. There are also free-use images you can get online, but you have to look into their fine print before actually using them. Overall, the cover art is the viewer’s first impression of the podcast.
According to Castos, “They’ll [the viewers] use your artwork to decide if they should read the description, skim your episode titles, or listen to their first episode. In short, the podcast cover is beyond critical for promoting your podcast,” (Castos). You always want to have a good first impression, especially when it comes to podcasting. You want people to view your content, so obviously you want to make it look good. The better it looks, the more traffic it will receive.
Final Thoughts
Podcasting is pretty simple. With the tools that are at our fingertips today, it’s so easy to start podcasting even with no prior technical experience. Go ahead and give it a shot!
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Errey, Sean, and Matthew McLean. “Podcast Topics & Ideas: How to Create a Unique Podcast.” The Podcast Host, 17 Feb. 2023, https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/podcast-topics/.
Hewitt, Craig. “How to Create Podcast Cover Art and Logo That Grab Attention.” Castos, 14 Nov. 2022, https://castos.com/podcast-cover-art/.
“How to Discover and Reach Your Podcast's Target Audience.” Spotify for Podcasters, https://podcasters.spotify.com/resources/learn/grow/podcast-target-audience.
“Spotify for Podcasters - Grow.” Spotify for Podcasters - Grow, https://podcasters.spotify.com/features/grow.