You've been thinking about it. Obsessing about it.
You feel it in your soul is what you want to do. Maybe as a way to give back to a community
that has given you so much over the years.
Perhaps you have the burning desire to once and for all share your story with an audience.
Maybe you want to find an outlet for your creativity and break loose from the monotony.
Whatever the reason, you are ready to start a podcast, and you don't want to wait any
longer.
In this video, I will share the things blog posts, videos, and podcasts about podcasting
are not telling you.
A reality check so to speak. Not to discourage you, but to empower you
and inspire you to launch the podcast of your dreams.
Hello, and welcome to the Pod Sound School channel.
The place to be for all things podcasting.
In our channel, you can find videos about planning and promotion, audio production,
content strategy, and more.
So, make sure you subscribe, so you don't miss any of our video releases.
Number One: You Need More than Just a USB microphone to Start
Some videos and articles will tell you that
the only thing you need is a USB microphone, a computer, and editing software to start
podcasting.
We even have a video that teaches you how to start podcasting with your smartphone.
But even in that video, I interrupted Studio Steve to tell our viewers that planning and
researching come before recording and publishing.
The process of starting a podcast starts way before you start recording.
It begins with thinking about your why.
Your WHY is all the reasons you have in mind that inspire you to start a podcast.
Unlike what many people believe, your WHY is not only connected to your personal goals
and desires.
Your WHY is intimately connected with your audience and centers in service.
In other words, your why has to match your audience's needs.
Having this clear from the beginning will help you create a podcast not only for you
but also for an audience of people excited to tune in every week to listen to you.
Number Two: You will be Podcasting for an
Audience not just for you and your friends
If you're a content creator already, you understand the importance of creating content with your
audience in mind.
However, many of us start a podcast because of how attractive and fun this platform is.
We have no idea about content creation, and we don't even consider ourselves content creators.
Therefore, we don't understand that before we spend the time creating episodes, we need
to know who we'll be creating our podcast for.
What are their needs and desires?
What they do for fun.
How they like to learn.
What do they do on the weekends?
Are they podcast listeners?
What kind of podcasts do they listen to?
How do they want to be entertained?
What does their day-to-day look like?
Don't make any assumptions about what your ideal listener wants.
Don't assume that they will be drawn to your content even if they don't find it interesting.
Don't assume what they want or need.
Interact with your ideal listener on social media. Ask them questions directly. Do market
research and competitor analysis to find out exactly what your ideal listener is interested
in.
Ask for feedback, run polls and surveys.
If you're ready to start doing your market research in this video, I share my best strategies
and tools with you.
You can go watch it after you finish watching this video.
Number Three: You Will Have to Get Creative
to Make Money with Your Podcast
We get many questions on our YouTube channel from new podcasters wanting to monetize their
podcast right after launching.
The truth is that unless you're a celebrity, influencer, or have a lot of followers on
your social media channels, you will not be making money from your podcast right after
you launch.
And this works for every platform you're in.
You don't start making money with YouTube with less than 1000 subscribers. Brands will
not begin to approach you on Instagram until you have thousands of followers. Building
your authority and brand in podcasting to the point where you can start monetizing from
your podcast is the same. You need to have at least 1000 downloads per episode before
you start reaching out to sponsors or advertising networks.
I see a lot of our podskis using Anchor cluttering their episodes promoting Anchor without having
enough downloads yet to start monetizing.
They add a 2 to 4-minute Anchor ad at the beginning of their episodes, turning listeners
away.
Nobody likes to be sold to for that long.
Fortunately for you, advertisement is only one way to start making money with your podcast.
There are many creative ways you can start making money, even with small audiences. For
example, if you have a specific niche audience, you can approach brands directly to get sponsor
deals.
You can use your podcast to promote your own services and products.
You can sign up for a crowdfunding platform like Patreon or Supercast and create a paywall
for your premium content or ask for donations to support your show.
If you're interested in learning about more creative ways to start making money with your
podcast, I created this video on how to make money directly and indirectly from your podcast.
Number Four: Audio Quality is Important and Your Smart Phone Will Not Give you Professional
Sound
If you're just testing and experimenting with podcasting, it is okay to have a low-risk
investment and start podcasting with a cheap microphone or even with your smartphone.
But once you're sure you want to keep podcasting and see your audience grow, you will have
to step it a notch and invest in recording equipment.
I've seen many people commenting that they're not willing to invest money in their podcast
set up because they want to see if their idea works first.
This is a thinking error. First, this is why I recommend everybody who
is thinking about starting a podcast to do market research. Market research will tell
you whether there is a demand for your podcast idea.
Second, you're already putting time into planning, recording, and editing.
Time is money. While you're wasting your time creating a podcast you're not proud of, or
that only your family and friends are listening, there are people out there going all in, getting
results faster, and ripping the benefits of podcasting.
Third. Whether you realize it or not, you're building your brand with your podcast.
Your podcast is a reflection of your brand. You want your podcast to speak highly of you
and your brand. Finally, podcasting is a medium of audio.
Therefore, good quality audio should be prioritized.
The same just like a TV show or movie creates an experience for their viewers. You will
be creating an experience for your listeners.
You wouldn't waste your time watching a show with low production value, poor writing and
planning, and bad acting.
So why would you produce a podcast you wouldn’t listen to.
Go all-in with your podcast. Putting your best effort in planning, audio production,
editing, and promoting will allow you to take advantage of this relatively new platform.
Stay consistent, and you will see the results you want.
Number Five: You Will Have to Become Marketing Savvy
When you create a podcast, you're basically
creating a product.
You will have to learn how to pitch, promote, sell, and make it stand out.
There's this misconception that publishing a podcast in the major podcast platforms is
all you need to grow your show.
That your listeners will come to you if you keep putting episodes out.
The truth is that if you're not having a good number of downloads from the moment you launch
your podcast, you won't even appear on Apple Podcast or Spotify popularity lists.
If your podcast does not appear on these lists, your chances of getting discovered on these
podcast directories are very low.
This is why it’s important to have a marketing strategy even before you launch your podcast.
This involves email marketing, an aggressive social media strategy, and networking. The
key is to have as many people as you can listening to your podcast the first few weeks after
launching.
The more downloads you get, the more chances you will have at being featured on Apple Podcast.
We teach everything you need to know from content strategy, planning, professional audio
production, editing, and launch strategy in our comprehensive program Smart & Sexy Podcast
Launch.
This is a seven-week intensive program that will get you launching a podcast with strong
social media presence, branding, and, most importantly, a podcast that sounds professional.
Number Six: You Will Have to Invest in Yourself
and Your Podcast
Most new podcasters wait until they've had episodes out before they realize they should've
invested in better recording equipment and training.
They don't know how to make their podcast sound better because they didn't take the
time to learn basic audio production skills.
They don't know their audience and what their audience wants because they didn't take the
time to research.
They're running out of content ideas because they don't know content planning and strategy.
They don't know how to get more attention on social media because they didn't learn
social media strategy.
They want to spend very little time and money in their podcast and still have outstanding
results and become well known.
They want fast and easy results.
But this is backward thinking. Because they're not investing the time and money in their
podcast, they're depriving themselves of learning strategies and getting the support and mindset
to help them achieve their podcast goals.
Invest time and money in your idea. Watch videos, tutorials, and learn about audio production
to make your podcast sound professional. Invest in a podcast course or one-on-one coaching
so you can get months and years ahead. Believe in yourself and your idea.
The main reason why we don't invest in ourselves is because we believe we're going to fail
even before we try it.
If you put in the work, you will see results. At the end you have a choice, you can choose
to DIY your podcast launch, or you can choose to have the right support and a roadmap, so
you know the exact steps, information, and skills you need to learn instead of getting
lost and wasting time trying to do all things. The only thing you will need to do is to show
up and do the work.
Our podcast has opened many doors for us. Because of our podcast we have a community
we love, clients we enjoy working with, a growing business, the opportunity to teach
thousands of podskis how to podcast with our channel and having hundreds of students in
our program. But we wouldn't have gotten to where we are if we didn't believe in investing
in our podcast and ourselves.
Okay Podskis, I hope this video inspires you to find your WHY, start identifying your podcast
audience, and invest in yourself and your idea. And if you need more guidance and inspiration
join our Facebook group podcasting for bosses. The link is in the description below.
Before we go two things
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE!
and
No olvidan hacer la tarea!
Happy Casting!