3 Things You Should Know Before Starting a Podcast

Here you are, with the idea of starting a podcast. Great! This is just the first and easiest step of podcasting. You may be thinking to yourself “Great, what do I do next?”. Don’t worry, we are here to help! I wish I would have taken these three steps to help make my life a lot easier.

Hi all, Hunter from Amplify here. When I first got into the realm of podcasting I thought it was going to be simple. Record the audio, upload it, and wait for it to grow on it’s own… I was sadly mistaken. Nobody had told me that when I was going to start a podcast how much time and effort was going to go into it. Although this may seem daunting, it is worth the effort and can be an extremely rewarding experience. Now there are multiple areas of podcasting that may be overlooked when first starting your show. There are three things I want to talk about today that will help alleviate some of the headaches you may run into. Those are: planning, organizing, and finding your niche. First up, is planning your podcast.

The planning stage. This is an exciting time for your podcast. You have the idea of what you want your show to look like, and are chomping at the bit to get your message out. Trust me, I was right in your shoes a few years ago. Before you can start doing that you have some work to do in order to increase your chances for success. This is the time for you to plan out your show and establish a template that you can use for each episode. One of the most important things in wanting to reach your audience is consistency. This may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, but it is not. Consistency is one of the biggest factors that will determine if you recruit a one time listener to your podcast or a branded follower. Listeners watch for consistency and want the ability to establish a routine. According to Podcast Rocket, “Studies show that in 2019, 32 percent of time spent listening to podcasts was between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the United States. Which means people like to listen to podcasts during their morning commute as well as early office work. Only 18 percent of listeners streamed podcasts from the late afternoon hours to evening, while only six percent occurred at night.” Taking this, in combination with planning ahead, means that you can achieve the maximum potential for success by publishing when people are going to be listening. Another thing you need to know is all about organizing.

Organizing your podcast may seem like the boring part of the show, but it will help you streamline your operation and save time. For those of you podcasting full time, you may have more time at your expense to work on editing audio, marketing your show, or looking for guests. That may not be the case for those that are doing it as a hobby or for those that are doing it apart of their job and have other daily tasks to complete. Being able to organize the operation of your show and how you spend your time means that you can do it more effectively. On my show, Life & the Stories Within It, I follow a checklist for each episode. This includes, from starting the episode concept with the title and guest information to having social links ready and have the footnotes prepared to be published. With this system, I can ensure that I have all the work done for each episode in a timely manner. The last point that you need to know before you start your show is finding your niche.

Your show’s niche is a small area of listeners that you hope to target with your message, AKA your target audience. Let’s say you are starting a podcast on business. As the host you have to ask yourself “Who is my message for?” Of course you can say “Well, anyone that is interested in business.”, but that isn’t the answer you should be looking for. This answer is too broad and does not allow you to effectively market your show to the appropriate audience. Let’s take that same business podcast idea and enhance it to a small business podcast showcasing small businesses in or around your community. Not only did you narrow down your topic idea, but you are now allowing yourself to be able to answer that question of “Who is my message for?”. This can be answered as, my target audience will be small business entrepreneurs, small business patrons, or those who want to learn more about the communities around them. One of the biggest things that I tell individuals is that you need to value quality over quantity when it comes to podcast. This means that you should value a smaller number of die hard fans that will be willing to share your show, be interactive with your questions, or possibly donate. Versus having a larger fan base who listen for the first couple of minutes and then turn it off. When you have your niche narrowed down and know who to market to, it will be easier to find those die hard fans and turn your show into a community.

Of course there are more than 3 things that I would love to share and tell you that you need to know, but these seemed to be the most important to me. I went into podcasting with little very knowledge and struggled in the early stages. There were points where I thought about quitting because I didn’t think I was going to be doing this podcasting thing right, but I persevered. Now I am here to help you establish your show and build your own brand. Whether this is a full-time or hobby venture, it will be an adventure.

Resources: Podcast Rocket, When is the best time to listen to podcasts?, Rob Scheerbarth, https://podcastrocket.net/best-time-to-listen-to-podcasts/