Podcasts are everywhere these days. And now you’re thinking about jumping in too, but where do you even start?
The internet is full of people trying to sell you $2,000 worth of equipment and courses that promise to teach you the “secrets” of how to make a podcast. But most of it is unnecessary.
People have been talking into microphones for decades. The only difference now is that instead of needing a radio station, you can upload files to the internet from your kitchen table.
But just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean there aren’t some things worth knowing before you dive in. Especially if you want people to listen to what you’re putting out there.
Pick Something You Care About
This is where most people screw up. They think they need to find some magical topic that nobody’s ever talked about before. Wrong move.
There are already fifty thousand business podcasts, but none of them are hosted by you. Your weird stories, your takes on things, your voice – that’s what makes it different. Not the topic.
Think about what you end up talking about when you’re hanging out with friends. What gets you fired up? What makes you lose track of time when you’re reading about it online? That’s probably your sweet spot.
Don’t worry about being “unique” either. There’s room for another true crime podcast if you’ve got something interesting to say about it. The same goes for sports, cooking, parenting, or whatever else floats your boat.
Just make sure it’s something you could talk about for months without wanting to punch yourself in the face. Because that’s basically what you’re signing up for.
Equipment That Won’t Break Your Budget
Here’s where the podcast bros try to convince you that you need a $500 microphone and a soundproof booth in your basement. They’re lying.
A decent USB microphone costs maybe $80-100 and will sound perfectly fine for 99% of what you’re trying to do. The Audio-Technica ATR2100x is solid. So is the Samson Q2U. Both plug straight into your computer and sound way better than whatever built-in mic you’ve got.
Skip the Blue Yeti unless you’re recording in a perfectly quiet room. Those things pick up everything – your neighbor’s lawnmower, your cat walking around, probably your thoughts if you think too loud. Dynamic microphones are way more forgiving.
For recording software, just use whatever’s free on your computer. Audacity if you’re on PC, GarageBand if you’ve got a Mac. They do everything you need and won’t make you feel like you need a computer science degree to figure them out.
Your recording space matters more than fancy gear anyway. A closet full of clothes works better than most “professional” setups because all that fabric absorbs sound.
Actually Recording This Thing
Time to talk into the microphone. This is where people psych themselves out completely.
Your first episode is going to suck. Everyone does. The trick is making it suck less than it could and then moving on. Don’t spend three weeks recording the same five-minute intro over and over.
Write down a few bullet points of what you want to cover, but don’t script the whole thing word-for-word. Scripts make you sound like a robot reading the evening news. Just have a rough idea of where you’re going.
Talk like you’re explaining something to a friend. Because that’s basically what you’re doing – having a conversation with people you just happen to have never met.
Don’t edit out every “um” and pause. Real conversations have those things, and trying to remove them all makes you sound like an AI chatbot. Just cut out the obviously bad stuff and leave the rest alone.
One thing that’ll save you headaches later is recording about 30 seconds of nothing at the end. Just sit there quietly. It gives you clean audio to work with when you’re editing, and trust me, you’ll need it.
Making It Sound Decent
Editing doesn’t have to take forever. Most episodes need maybe 20-30 minutes of cleanup, not the four-hour marathon editing sessions some people seem to think are necessary.
Cut out the obvious mistakes, the really long pauses where you’re thinking, maybe that part where your phone rang. Don’t try to make it perfect, just make it listenable.
Volume levels matter way more than perfect cuts. If people have to crank their volume to hear you, they’ll find something else to listen to. Most podcast hosts have guidelines about this stuff, but basically just make sure you’re not too quiet or so loud that you’re blowing people’s eardrums out.
Add some intro music if you want, but keep it short. Nobody wants to sit through two minutes of music and credits before you start talking. Five to ten seconds, max.
Getting Your Show Out There
Once you’ve got an episode that doesn’t make you cringe, you need somewhere to put it. This part’s a little technical, but not as bad as it sounds.
You can’t just throw podcast files on your regular website – they’re huge and will probably crash your site when people start downloading them. You need a podcast hosting service.
Buzzsprout is pretty user-friendly and costs about $12 a month for most people. Anchor is free but has some limitations. Libsyn has been around forever and works fine. Pick one and don’t overthink it.
These services create something called an RSS feed, which is basically a list that tells podcast apps where to find your episodes. You submit this feed to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, wherever you want your show to show up.
Apple takes a few days to approve new shows, so don’t panic if you don’t see your podcast immediately. They’re just making sure you’re not uploading pirated music or whatever.
Getting People to Listen
This is the hard part that nobody really wants to talk about. Building an audience takes forever and there’s no magic trick to make it happen faster.
Your first episode might get downloaded twelve times, and half of those are probably you checking to make sure it worked. That’s normal. Don’t let it discourage you.
Understanding how to start a podcast successfully means accepting that growth is slow and mostly happens through word of mouth. Be consistent with your publishing schedule – weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever you can stick to.
Social media helps, but don’t just spam people with “new episode is live!” posts. Share stuff that’s actually interesting – behind-the-scenes content, thoughts on your topic, anything that gives people a reason to follow you besides shameless self-promotion.
Connect with other podcasters in your space. Not to beg them for cross-promotion, but to build actual relationships. The podcasting community is surprisingly supportive.
Guest swapping works once you’ve got a few episodes under your belt. You go on their show, they come on yours.
Making Some Money
Most podcasters aren’t quitting their day jobs. But if you build up a decent audience, there are ways to make a few bucks.
Traditional podcast advertising requires pretty big numbers. Like, thousands of downloads per episode before most advertisers start caring. But smaller sponsorships can work with more modest audiences if your listeners are really engaged.
A lot of successful podcasters use their show to promote other stuff – consulting, courses, speaking gigs, whatever. The podcast becomes a marketing tool rather than the main money-maker.
Platforms like Patreon let your biggest fans support you directly. Even getting fifty people to chip in $5 a month adds up to.
Stuff That’ll Trip You Up
After watching people start podcasts for years, the same mistakes keep coming up:
Waiting for everything to be perfect before you start. Your gear will never be perfect, your content will never be perfect, your delivery will never be perfect. Start anyway and figure it out as you go.
Publishing whenever you feel like it. Pick a schedule and stick to it, even if it means doing episodes less frequently. Consistency beats frequency every time.
Ignoring your audience. When people leave comments or send emails, respond to them. These early listeners are gold – treat them like it.
Not backing up your files. Hard drives die, computers crash, things happen. Keep copies of everything in multiple places or you’ll hate yourself when you lose three hours of recordings.
Time to Stop Overthinking and Start Recording
Starting a podcast can feel overwhelming when you’re staring at all the moving pieces – the equipment decisions, the editing learning curve, the promotion challenges, and figuring out how to sound like yourself instead of someone doing a bad impression of a radio DJ.
The thing is, you can spend months reading guides and watching YouTube videos, but at some point you just have to start talking into a microphone and see what happens. That said, having someone who knows what they’re doing can save you from spending half a year figuring out why your audio sounds like you’re broadcasting from inside a washing machine.
If you want to skip the trial-and-error phase and actually build something that sounds professional from the start, the team at Humanise has helped tons of people turn their podcast ideas into shows that people actually want to listen to.
Because there’s a difference between having something to say and knowing how to say it in a way that keeps people coming back for more.
