Podcasting 101 Part 1 – Getting Started Checklist

May 3, 2024

I’ve fielded a lot of questions about starting podcasts lately. Enough questions I started to think the universe was telling me I should do a checklist podcast about starting a podcast. 

Luckily, with over 200 episodes under my belt, I feel like I’m getting this whole podcast thing figured out. 

So I cataloged my misadventures and advice into two podcast focused episodes:

And, of course, my degree in education required that I format it all into a downloadable list too.

PART 1

Podcasting 101: Getting Started Checklist

Why start a podcast?

I always like to start with why. Because whenever you start a new venture, things get itchy, it’s not always comfortable, you’re gonna have to learn some new stuff. And for some people, that’s awesome. And for some people, it is not so awesome, because it puts you outside of your comfort zone. 

Remembering why I’m doing something lets me move forward and push through when I hit those sticky points. For example, the reason many people, including myself, decided to start a podcast was to feed their marketing.  And since we’re talkers, podcasting is a sweet spot where we can use our strengths and assets to market our organizations. It  feels like a natural medium for us. Once we get all the tech stuff out of the way, we get to do what we’re good at, communicate with people, it just so happens we hit record! 

Only you can determine your why but here are a few reasons I hear often to get your wheels turning:

• You like to talk and it’s easier for you than writing!
• Feed your marketing
• Be considered a source for information in your profession
• Educate your audience
  • About your industry
  • What’s happening in your company
• Build relationships with guests
• Create an additional benefit for members or clients
• Communicate with staff and build company culture
• It stays out online FOREVER!
• If you put it on your website and on YouTube, it can show up in Google searches
• Your reach builds with each episode

Once you figure out your “why” write it down! Put it on a post-it note somewhere you’ll be able to find later. Because you may need to pull it out when you’re in that sticky spot to remind you why you need to keep moving forward. 

Will a podcast reach your audience?

All marketing first begins with keeping your audience in mind. Considering if your audience listens to podcasts before diving into podcast production. If your audience loves podcasts or shows a strong interest, then a podcast could be an excellent way to engage with them. On the other hand, if your audience prefers other forms of content, like blog posts, videos, or social media updates, it might be worth exploring those avenues instead.  

Podcast Listener Stats

Here are just a few stats to help you decide if a podcast would reach your audience.:

• 50% of people between the ages of 12 and 34 listen to podcasts.
• 43% of the respondents to the Statista survey between the ages of 35 and 54 had listened to a podcast in the last month.
• The fastest growing audience for podcasts is 55 and up.
• The United States accounts for 47.9% of podcast listeners.
• 80% of listeners listen to all or most of every podcast episode that they start.

But don’t stop here – do your own research! Conduct a poll and/or see if other people in your industry are finding success podcasting. Here are a few resources to get you started with your research:

• https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
• https://www.buzzsprout.com/stats
• https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/
• https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2023/04/18/podcasts-as-a-source-of-news-and-information/

For more information on making a marketing strategy that works for you check out our free mini-course, Marketing on a Shoestring!

STARTING A PODCAST CHECKLIST

4 Decisions to Make Before You Start

Okay, let’s say you’re ready to do this, what do you need? Here’s a checklist of podcast decisions, four to be exact:

1. Human resources (for set up and production)
2. Publishing Schedule
3. Show/Brand Details
4. Tech Stuff – Check out Podcasting 101 Part 2!!

1. Human resources (for set up and production)

In a nutshell, you need humans who can do tech/design/writing things. Producing a podcast can involve learning or finding humans with a range of talents, not just talkers! You’ll need someone to:

• Be your podcast host – your main voice
• A person to mix down and edit your audio
• Upload your audio to your podcast hosting service
• Research keywords related to your episodes
• Create and edit show notes (if you decide to have them)
• Write podcast titles
• Create artwork for the podcast as a whole and potentially for each episode
• Create a transcript 
• Edit promotional videos to promote the podcast
• Decide and plan out episode topics and make a schedule
• Write social posts, emails and other promotional content

You can certainly automate parts of this process, but you’ll still need some human involvement to make it happen. Now, people keep asking me if I will be that human for them aaaaand the answer to that is not on a day to day basis. We build websites at MayeCreate, we’re not a podcast production company. I can, however, help with the tech you need to get you set up and rolling. I dig into what all that looks like in Podcasting 101 Part 2 – Podcast Startup Tech Talk. If you need more help than that, let me know, I’ll figure out what you need and get you an estimate.

2. Publishing Schedule

How often will you publish your podcast?

The answer to that question has two aspects. First, consider how much bandwidth you have to dedicate to the project. Then ask yourself how often you need to publish an episode to satisfy your audience and your podcasting goals.

Podcast Frequency Consideration Checklist

• Episodes have a multiplier effect – The more you put up, the faster your downloads climb
• Consistency is key – it’s better to release consistently than have a bunch at once and then none for a long time.
• Consider your episode length when determining frequency – how much can your audience justifiably consume?
  • Many business podcasts try for a 20 – 45 episode. 
  • If you have shorter podcasts, you probably can publish them more frequently.
  • Longer episodes, 1 hour plus, are often best published weekly because many audiences don’t have time to consume a ton of weekly content.
  • Solo episodes are often shorter than interviews
• You can adjust it for the time of year your audience needs your content most.
• Go for quality over quantity.

Publishing Styles

1. Weekly/Monthly – Continual publishing, topics may vary or come in a series but they are released based on the day of the week or month.
2. Series – Publish multiple episodes at once as a series to cover a topic in depth.

Season – Publish a season of episodes at once. Topics usually build on each other.

Common Frequencies

1 per month (12/yr) = Minimum

Unless you’re just publishing a one time show or audio course, once a month is the minimum frequency I’d recommend to keep a regular cadence with your audience. If you want too long between episodes, they’ll forget you exist. 

Ultimately you want to show up in people’s feeds consistently so they’re still see your brand often enough that it stays top of mind. There’s a reason networks play the same TV ad over multiple commercial breaks –  it makes you remember the brand. And just in case you checked out the first time, it’s cued up and ready to go for the next break. Podcasts, email marketing, social media, they all work the same way. 

If you’re podcasting to meet more people or build business, you need to publish consistently, or you won’t get the results you’re after. So, if you can’t commit or don’t think you’ll podcast very often, just make sure you have a really good reason behind that. Or maybe don’t do it at all. You don’t have to start a podcast! 

3. Podcast Show/Brand Details Checklist

To wrap up this checklist, you’ll need to decide on your show details. Your podcast brand will be reflected in your title, subtitle, keywords, description, artwork and audio intro and outro. Make these decisions before you start recording your first episode because retrofitting is a mess. And you want to sound like a pro right from the get go.

You can use ChatGPT to give you ideas and help you craft all of these things!

5. Podcast Artwork

3000x3000px .jpg or .png

6. Intro/Outro

4. Script or recording for both the intro and outro
5. Optional music to mix in, make sure it’s royalty free

With those three decisions, you’re well on your way to starting your own podcast. 

Jump over to part 2 to dig into the tech details like finding the right podcast host, microphone, recording styles, production management, editing software and more!

PODCASTING 101

BONUS: Episode Details Checklist

You don’t have to make these decisions now, but you will need to make them when you start rolling out episodes. So here’s a quick overview of the episode details you’ll need for each you publish.

ChatGPT can also help you here! It can suggest topics, titles, questions, episode outlines and even more!

1. Title

Do some keyword research before writing your titles, but more importantly write for the humans who are listening.

2. Description

Explain an overview of the episode – this should also be keyword rich.

You can use this for your social posts about the episode AND your emails! Recycle!

3. Photo (optional)

I use a photo because then I have a graphic to add to my site and social media, but you don’t have to have a unique one for each episode, it’s up to you.

4. Transcript

4. You’ll need this to keep things ADA compliant. I use Otter.ai for this.
5. YouTube does it automatically
6. Some hosting services do it for you
7. Make sure to check that your guest names are spelled correctly and there aren’t accidental cuss words (if that’s not your thing).

Boom! And that’s all for part 1 of the Podcasting 101 checklist – hop on over to Podcasting 101 – Part 2 to talk podcast startup tech and get the skinny on hardware, software, podcast host comparisons, website set up and production management tips!