Podcasting is all the rage these days and for good reason: it is a great way to communicate who you are and what you have to offer to potential clients. . My agency offers content creation and capacity building services that range from social media management to blogging to developing systems to streamline activities – I help business connect the dots to creative success. Back in the day, I used to have a career in radio broadcasting – before podcasting was an option. It was at that time I learned about the power of talking with others and sharing stories in this way
Why Podcasting?
1. People can listen while driving, walking, exercising, cooking! Super easy to take it in.
2. Now a days it costs very little to produce a podcast and creating one is relatively easy, unlike videos.
3. It is another way of letting the world know about you and your business.
4. I don’t know about you, but I am always looking at ways to expand my learning and this is a two-fer – you learn something new and the listener does, too.
5. You can create a show that represents who you are in the world and establish even more credibility in your industry by sharing knowledge in this way.
6. You can even earn a little money by finding sponsors for your show.
7. And, love to yak and to learn about other people’s stories – podcasting is fun and shines a little light on you on a personal level.
Here is a basic overview of what you need to produce a show:
Yes, it is relatively easy to put together a podcast and I want to share some of the key points in that process with you:
1. A show name should reflect your brand or service. I am launching a new podcast next month called BroadBand. It will feature women business owners.
2. I recommend writing out your intention for the show. Mine is to share insights of lessons learned by businesswomen and elevate their services to the greater community. How much production do you want to do? My approach is a conversational-style interview show that also includes tips, resources, and ideas to empower other business women to grow their own business ventures, which helps make it a bit easier to put together as opposed to say, an audiozine which has a mess of different components to it.
3. What platform will host your audio? I did a bit of research and I chose one platform. There are many available based on your needs.
4. You can use your phone or a laptop with the existing internal microphone or a USB connection microphone.
5. There are plenty of free apps on either kind of device to record your conversations. I use zoom which is another two-fer because I can use the video on my social media channels and also extract the audio for my podcast.
6. There are many free audio editing options out there. If you use a MAC, there is GarageBand – super easy. If you have a PC, I use Audacity – it is open source and easy to use.
7. Planning and scheduling is important. I created a spreadsheet to track my interview dates and when I will ‘drop’ the show.
8. I like to use the same presentation for each show so I create a template and drop in updated guest information so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel with each show.
9. You can get any kind of free music at FreeMusicArchive.org for your shows. I took a listen to their instrumental options and picked one as theme music.
10. I used to produce an arts podcast called Artclectic New England and would craft unique questions for each guest. For my new show, BroadBand, I am using the same questions for each interview and then crafting unique ones as follow up questions.
11. When picking your guests, be sure that it ties into your show purpose. For example, if you are doing a show on how to bake a cake, you wouldn’t invite a surfer onto the show, right?
12. Finally, getting ready to do the interview. Send a reminder to your guest with tips like, make sure you are seated in a quiet area, turn off your notifications on your device – that kind of stuff. And, have fun!
Promotions
The obvious, of course, is telling everyone about the show and upcoming guests, using your existing channels AND providing your guests with information so they can promote on their channels
You can also use things like Headliner App to create compelling content to promote the show.
And, although podcasts are audio, you can create graphics to use on social media posts, like Canva which now offers some animation options.
If you are looking to produce a show, I’d love to work with you! Contact me to get the ball rolling.
!! BONUS CONTENT !!
Thanks to my friends over at Descript for putting together this fantastic guide on how to record a podcast remotely.
Descript is a collaborative audio/video editor that works like a doc. It includes transcription, a screen recorder, publishing, full multitrack editing, and some mind-bendingly useful AI tools.
They even offer a freebie version so you can check it out. Sign me up!
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