It seems like everybody and their brother claims to have a podcast now. The podcast landscape is an ever-expanding Wild West bursting with potential and possibility. Podcast revenue is forecasted to reach $4 billion in 2024, according to reports from the International Advertising Bureau. Life University (Life U) Business Administration and Computer Information Systems & Technology students may want to consider podcasting as a possible career path or skillset to add to their repertoire.
So, where to begin to see if podcasting is an arena worth exploring? And if it is, how in the world does someone get started? First off, a potential podcaster should first spend some time listening to different kinds of podcasts to get an idea for what they might like to employ in terms of style, structure and topics of discussion. Might we suggest the Living Life at Life U podcast as a good primer? The podcast covers all the latest developments at Life U, from academics and chiropractic education to athletics and so much more.
Take some time to immerse in podcasts that interest you; then think about what you might be able to add to the conversation. There are fascinating podcasts on just about anything under the sun, from computer science to environmental issues and even totally out-there stuff like true crime, obscure history or all things foodie. Bottom line, it’s best to discover a personal love for the medium before diving down the rabbit hole of starting a podcast yourself.
The Podcast Launching Pad
(Adapted from The Podcast Host’s article, “How to Start a Podcast”)
Congrats! You have decided to create a podcast. To set up your fledgling endeavor to succeed, a comprehensive plan is needed before you ever get behind a mic.
There are four indispensable questions to answer to get your podcast off the ground:
- Purpose: Life U students are familiar with the idea of finding your why in everything you do. So, what is the driving force that will fuel this undertaking?
- Topic: What is the goal and focus of this new podcast? What exactly are you wanting to talk about, at least in a general sense?
- Audience: Who am I talking to? What is the target demographic and what will appeal to them?
- Uniqueness: What about your podcast will set you apart and make others want to listen?
Purpose
It might be that this podcast is a marketing tool for personal or professional branding. Podcasting is a great way to establish authority and trust in an environment more personal than print blogging. Perhaps it is a creative outlet, so you can geek out over a passion for Pokémon, makeup trends or anything fun that you can expand upon at length. It could be for community building, connecting with people all over the world with similar ways of thinking. With a community-based audience, or any audience for that matter, it is important to build that group and find ways to communicate in a space capable of two-way conversation, which is traditionally social media.
Education is a large segment of the podcast sphere as well. If you are well versed in a topic, teach about it in an engaging way via podcast. Give examples that can help your audience grow their own knowledge and skillsets. It can be highly collaborative as well, such as coding podcasts that have contests on well-constructed code. Then there are podcasts purely aimed at entertainment, such as comedy shows, storytelling platforms and quiz games. It’s time to figure out what’s your why.
Topic
After figuring out your why, the next important step is deciding on your what, as in what do you plan to discuss in your podcast. Some of this step involves creating something of an on-air persona, who you want to be on the show, what you are comfortable sharing and endearing people to you. Be specific and think about 3-5 characteristics about the persona you would like to demonstrate for the purposes of this show and work on emulating that.
Here are a few examples of how this could look:
Why? Podcasting for my business
Who are you? A thrift store owner who is sassy, sweet and witty
Topic? Fashion on a budget
Why? Podcasting as education
Who are you? An informed animal lover concerned with animal welfare issues eager to educate in a compassionate manner.
Topic? Issues related to animal rescue, primarily dogs and cats.
Audience
Think of the perfect person that would just love your podcast. This is often referred to as a podcast listener persona or ideal listener. Keep that person in mind with every decision related to the podcast, from the name to the description, all the way to social media messages.
Taking the above examples, what are their ideal listeners?
Why? Podcasting for my business
Who are you? A thrift store owner who is sassy, sweet and witty
Topic? Fashion on a budget
Ideal listeners? People that like to dress fun and play with fashion trends, but that might not be able to afford the latest magazine drops or want to be smart with their money. Probably young adults, 18-35 range.
Why? Podcasting as education
Who are you? An informed animal lover concerned with animal welfare issues eager to educate in a compassionate manner.
Topic? Issues related to animal rescue, primarily dogs and cats.
Ideal listeners? Fellow dog and cat lovers or people who love animals in general. Shows an interest in animal rescue and animal rights laws.
Uniqueness
Why should people listen to your podcast with all the thousands of options out there? How do you cut through the noise? You need a unique angle, such as a niche topic, a personal take that is refreshing, a novel podcast format and/or exceptional quality on the podcast audio. Anything that can help you stand out among the rest is golden.
Let’s circle back to our two examples.
Topic? Fashion on a budget
Uniqueness factor? This is a makeover format show. I get a likeable guest to come on, talk about a fun outfit that they like in a popular magazine, and then I help them recreate or emulate that outfit using local thrift stores. I use this as a plug for my store and give tips on how to shop successfully as a thrifter.
Topic? Issues related to animal rescue, primarily dogs and cats.
Uniqueness factor? This is a niche podcast, focused on promoting dogs and cats in foster homes. Their foster families will come on the podcast and discuss their foster pet, what they love about them and the best kind of family for them. This podcast promotes all things animal fostering and educates on related animal welfare topics each week.
Equipment and recording
Please don’t wildly spend thousands on recording equipment right out of the gate. Remember, a podcast only needs a basic recording device and the internet. Smartphone recording works fine for a beginner, though an external USB microphone is inexpensive and a wise investment. A boom arm mic-stand can improve flexibility as well. In regard to audio recording, Audacity is a free platform that is a bit clunky but works. Adobe Audition is the pro standard for many.
Parting thoughts
There are lots of other considerations to factor in, more than we will go into detail here. The Podcast Host literally wrote the book on this, “Finally start your podcast,” so picking up a copy might give you a fuller picture.
But let’s touch on a few things to delve into more on your own.
- What show structure works for you? Do you want to record solo, with a co-host or conduct interviews?
- How long should the podcast be? Under 15 minutes is considered short, medium is 15 minutes to an hour and long is over an hour. The length that works for you will depend on the content and the audience. Just remember that attention spans can be short, so don’t pad just for length’s sake.
- Consistency is good, though not the be-all, end-all. Once a month is usually a minimum starting point though, or else your audience will drop off.
- What to call your podcast? There are many schools of thought on this, but people mainly need to know what the podcast is and be able to search for it. A clever name is great, as long as it isn’t so obscure that no one knows what it is about.
Happy podcasting!
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