Everything You Need To Know About Starting A Podcast (Mega post)
In March 2015 I launched the Discover Your Inner Awesome Podcast — a show where we have conversations with entrepreneurs, startup founders, artists, and musicians about their struggles, achievements, and failures. The goal of the show is to uncover the real side of success, and help creative thinkers better understand their own process, by talking about the things that don’t usually get talked about.
We are now approaching 100 episodes of the show. Ever since starting the podcast, people have reached out every now and then asking for advice on starting their own show. In the last few months, I’ve had several people a week reach out.
I unfortunately can’t make ‘pick-your-brain-about-podcast-coffee-chats’ a regular part of my schedule, so I figured the best way for me to effuse all my knowledge about starting a podcast would be to write a super long blog post about it.
My intention here is to tell you everything I know about getting started. Consider this an opinion-based guidebook. This is the kind of post you might not read all the way through today, but you’ll want to bookmark the page because you’ll have a question three months from now and this post will have the answer.
Please note: This is about getting started. You won’t find much info around monetization (because I haven’t directly monetized my podcast), growth hacks, etc. What you will find are the answers I give to the questions I get most often related to getting started. Also, if your question could be solved with an easy Google search, I’m probably not wasting time here answering it.
Sound good? Okay, let’s do this…
Everything You Need To Know About Starting A Podcast: A Guidebook from RajNATION Innovation.
Table of Contents
- Should I Even Start A Podcast?
- How Much Of A Commitment Is It?
- What Equipment/Software Should I Use?
- What If There Is Already A Podcast About My Topic?
- How Long Should An Engaging Show Be?
- How Often Should I Release Episodes?
- How Do I Book High-Profile Guests?
- How Do I Get Listeners? What’s the best channel to promote?
- How Do I Get The Show On iTunes/Apple Music?
- How Do I Monetize A Podcast?
- My Closing Thoughts
Should I Even Start A Podcast?
As a rule of thumb, pretty much anyone can start a podcast. I say pretty much anyone because, to be honest, there are some people who just have terrible-sounding voices, and it makes the show intolerable.
Assuming you have at least a halfway-decent sounding voice, podcasts are phenomenal to establish yourself as an expert, promote your startup, and build an amazing network.
Most people think they need to already be an expert to start talking about something. That’s false logic. You don’t need to be an expert to get started. The podcast can be your vehicle towards developing expertise. The fact that you have stepped up to actually do a show puts you a few steps ahead of 99% of people.
I personally think it’s less about getting started, and more about committing to it once you have started. Which brings me to the next question…
How Much Of A Commitment Is It?
Having a podcast is more than just hosting the show and that’s it. Responsibilities around podcasting include:
- Finding guests
- Booking guests
- Hosting
- Editing/production
- Getting it online
- Promotion
If you are in a position where you can hire someone to handle most of those tasks, you’ve saved yourself a ton of time. For Discover Your Inner Awesome, I handle everything but promotion (and I actually even do a portion of that). Hosting a single episode, editing, and getting it online take about 3–4 hours a week. That might not sound like a lot, but keep in mind I also have a business to run (and I teach yoga…and I make music). I like to play things close to the chest and be close to the episodes, hence why I haven’t outsourced those tasks.
Quick, relevant backstory for you
…
Discover Your Inner Awesome started in 2015 as part of my previous company, Idea Lemon, which I cofounded with my friend Martin. We cohosted the podcast together.
We shut down Idea Lemon in late 2016. In dissolving the company, we had long discussions about what to do with the podcast. Ultimately, I purchased ownership of the show. We agreed to do one more season together (more on doing seasons later) and would decide after that season if we should continue to cohost.
Because I now had 100% ownership of the show, Martin’s only contractual obligation was to be the cohost. I found it impossible to do all of the tasks listed above AND promote the show too — I simply didn’t have the time nor mental capacity. Plus Martin found the show no longer suited his pursuits.
We cordially parted ways (you can listen to our breakup episode here) and now Victoria Cohen is my new cohost (you can listen to her welcome episode here). In addition to cohosting duties, she manages social media promotion and strategy, along with one of our listeners, Matt Martinez, a social media expert, who reached out offering to help. Victoria also handles what I call ‘Guest Hospitality’, following up with them after a recording to get all their information and photos, and informing them when their episode airs.
…
That story hopefully sheds more light on the responsibilities and commitments of podcasting. If you want to do it well, it’s a part-time job that you’re not getting paid for (at least directly, and in the beginning…more on that later). That’s why I recommend two very important things to make this work for you:
- Host a show that takes minimal editing. Unless you are specifically developing production skills, don’t try to make the next This American Life, Serial, Freakonomics, etc.
- Make the show something that integrates into what you’re already doing. In that ‘floating’ season after Idea Lemon and before Victoria, the podcast became a distraction conveniently disguised as a podcast. I had started a new business, RajNATION Innovation, but didn’t tie the podcast to it. Therefore any time spent on the podcast really was just taking time away from my business. When Victoria came onboard as cohost is when I decided to make the show a media property of RajNATION Innovation. I now use it as a promotional tool as well. It’s no longer a convenient distraction, it’s an integral part of my business.
If you’re a founder, find a way to make the podcast an ingredient in your company, or (if doing the show more for your own personal brand) delegate appropriately so it takes up minimal time.
What Equipment/Software Should I Use?
I hate this question because legitimately this is easily Googleable, but I’ll give my opinion anyway. If our guest is local, I record directly into Garageband on Mac. Windows users, I got nothing for you. If our guest is virtual, we do a Skype call and record it with a software called ecamm which can be purchased for $30). More recently I’ve considered switching to Zoom because call quality is generally better on Zoom.
For almost 90 episodes, our microphone was a Blue Snowball USB mic ($49) that plugs directly into the computer. I was never a huge fan of it. It’s kind of clunky, and frequently would record at a very low volume. Recently we switched to a SHURE MV5 USB mic ($99) and I LOVE it. It’s super compact to the point where we carry it around in a cloth sunglass case, with extremely clear recording.
I do want to point out that when I started the podcast with Martin back in 2015, our first few episodes we used the Voice Memo app on the iPhone, and that was it. And it worked. As long as you’re in a reasonably quiet room with minimal echo, you can use your phone and record a podcast. Don’t let lack of equipment prevent you from getting started. Get started then figure out how you can make it sound better.
Since I am also a rapper, I happen to have a Bluebird studio microphone ($300) and Apogee One interface ($250). I record the show intro and outro voiceover with this mic. Again — I already had that equipment. It works great, but I don’t recommend you go out of your way and shell out almost $600 for additional recording equipment.
What If There Is Already A Podcast About My Topic?
Good. It means the topic is worth talking about. If you think you’re going to be the ‘first’ to do what you’re doing, think again. There are a lot of people in this world, and a lot of access to information. It’s probably been done already.
I have said this on my show before about starting anything (not just podcasts): If you are worried that you can’t do something because someone else already is doing it, just turn on ESPN or CNN or any news channel and watch it for an entire day. There are 10 different channels talking about the EXACT SAME TOPICS, and each of those channels has 10 different shows within it talking about the EXACT SAME TOPICS. People gravitate towards the voices and opinions that speak best to them. It’s not necessarily about the information, but the way you are able to present that information. You might be on the same topic as others, but give yourself some time and you’ll find your sweet spot, and listeners will come to you for your personality and the way you share knowledge with them.
Place an emphasis on how you can be a little different from everyone else. Discover Your Inner Awesome has no script. We don’t do interviews — we have conversations. And our listeners appreciate that. I’ve had listeners tell me they feel like they are a fly on the wall listening to our show, and that’s the effect I strived to create from the start.
How Long Should An Engaging Show Be?
My show is weekly, people like that. Unmistakable Creative, which is a very popular show, is twice a week. I recommend a maximum of twice a week. Weekly not only works well but is more manageable, especially if you’re doing a lot of the work yourself.
Daily shows usually end up being crap content, unless you’re someone like Neil Patel who has accumulated such a vast wealth of knowledge that he can do daily 10 minute episodes and they are strong, because he’s doling out specific strategies. Whatever you choose, just make sure you are consistent with your releases. People need to be able to rely on and expect when they hear new episodes. If you choose Tuesday mornings, then always release on Tuesday mornings. Don’t do Tuesday one week, then Friday the next week, then Monday the following week, etc.
Imagine if randomly one week Game Of Thrones decided to not have an episode on Sunday night. Be consistent.
Consistency is the most important thing. Unless you already have a huge following, be prepared to have single digit listeners out of the gate. But if you are consistent and continue to churn out good work, your listenership will grow.
It’s so easy to start anything, which is why a ton of crap gets produced. But there aren’t a ton of people who stick with something past the initial excitement. A lot of people give up after a few episodes because they don’t have hundreds or thousands of listeners. Be patient. Be consistent. Over time people will see you are still going, and maybe it’s worth listening to. And at that point, they will be able to go back into your archive and run through your history of episodes. With almost 100 episodes in the books, my most popular episode to date is still the first episode we ever released.
We divide Discover Your Inner Awesome into seasons. Episodes release weekly, but they release as S7E1, S7E2, etc. This allows us to take breaks in between seasons if we need it. For example, between Seasons 6 and 7, I needed about a month to get Victoria onboarded and record a few new episodes. Our listeners know if they see a few weeks with no new episodes that a new season will release soon. But during a season, the episodes come out every week — even if I’m on vacation.
Unless your show is about current events and thus is dependent on daily or weekly news (which I don’t recommend because those are better suited for live radio), I recommend always having 3 to 4 more episodes recorded than what you’ve released. This gives you some buffer if you don’t have time in a given week to record a new episode, and keeps you on your consistent release schedule. I’ve been in situations before where I had to record an episode on Saturday to release it on Monday, because I was out of new episodes. It’s not fun, and it’s unnecessary pressure.
How Do I Book High-Profile Guests?
I once had someone come up to me after I gave a talk and tell me he was having trouble getting potential guests to respond to his inquiries. I asked him who he had reached out to, and he told me “Dan Bilzerian”. Ummmm.
If you’re not familiar, Dan Bilzerian has 22.6 MILLION Instagram followers. Word of advice — don’t reach out to the most popular guy in the world to be your guest, and then be disappointed when you don’t hear back.
As Discover Your Inner Awesome closes in on 100 episodes, I’ve had the pleasure of having the likes of Hamilton cast members, pro wrestler Colt Cabana, and many other amazing people as guests on the show. But I didn’t reach out to Colt on day 1.
You have to understand the concept of value. You need to be able to bring value to other people. Being a nobody trying to interview a somebody doesn’t provide them with any value.
If you don’t have much of an online presence or following before starting your podcast, then find the interesting people already in your network. Figure out who you can provide value to by putting them on your show. You know what’s awesome about someone who has never been interviewed before? They will share that episode with every single person they know.
You know what most really popular people do when your episode goes live? Nothing.
At one point we had Jordan Harbinger, host of The Art Of Charm podcast, as our guest. It’s my least favorite episode in our show’s history. I am sure Jordan is a great guy, and I have friends who attest to his personality and character. But he made it abundantly clear before we started recording that he did not want to be there, and the only reason he was doing the show was because a mutual friend introduced us, and he felt obligated. When the show aired I don’t think he even hit the retweet button.
I don’t blame him at all. In retrospect, what could our show have provided him? His audience was 100 times the size of ours, if not more. What would *maybe* a couple more listeners do for him? Nothing. So it makes total sense that he would do nothing to promote it.
Your social/professional sphere will climb as you put your content out there, but understand it takes time, and you often have to wait to have big name guests. And even when you do, it might not matter.
It’s also worth noting that if you have a big name guest, people are probably already familiar with that person because they have done so many interviews. So unless you are taking an unusual angle, you aren’t necessarily giving your audience something new and interesting. That’s why I recommend finding the people with interesting stories. Find those who have something to say but haven’t had a chance to share it.
I’ve had two members of the Hamilton Chicago cast on our show — Amber Ardolino and Samantha Aberman. They are members of the ensemble. Their character names are usually “Woman #3” and “Woman #1”. As much as I would love to talk to Lin-Manuel Miranda (and hope I do one day), or even Javier Munoz, or even Miguel Cervantes (Chicago’s Alexander Hamilton), those guys are doing interviews with major outlets all the time, and producing Disney soundtracks.
So I reached out to the cast members who I thought would have interesting stories, but aren’t the ones everyone else is reaching out to. Those two are now two of my favorite people and favorite episodes. And they were cool enough to hook Martin and I up with show tickets!
I’m not saying don’t reach out to big names, I’m just saying temper your expectations. Chase the story, not the status.
How Do I Get Listeners? What’s The Best Channel To Promote?
I’m not a social media wizard, and I am sure there are plenty of other posts which will give you great information on building your audience using social media. Rather than try to B.S. my way through social, here’s my complementary advice:
- Start an email list. Create an opt-in form on your podcast website. Every week when you release an episode, send an email out. It’s not enough to just release your episodes every week. You have to remind people about them too. Prior to starting Discover Your Inner Awesome, I had an email list I had been nurturing for a year. It was a more natural jump to go from reading my material, to hearing my voice. I was just giving them a new medium. But even then, it took time to get people to tune in every week.
- Start your list by exporting all of your Linkedin contacts to a .csv file. Delete everyone who you don’t think would care about your show. Send the rest a mass email from your personal account (bcc everyone) and let them know you are starting a show and thought they would be interested. Let them know how often you plan to email. Then give them an opt-out. If they don’t want to be included, tell them they can reply and say so, but ask for 3 episodes/emails before they decide if they are out.
How Do I Get The Show On iTunes/Apple Music?
(Side comment: I just want to throw out there that I’m pretty sure the name ‘iTunes’ will be done away with in the next two years, if not sooner, and ‘Apple Music’ will supplant it. If you look at Apple’s branding across the board , they are dropping the “i” more and more. It’s the Apple Watch, not the iWatch. I’m also pretty sure that when they get to iPhone 10, they will reset their counting and call it Apple Phone.)
You can Google how to get your show on iTunes. It isn’t hard. Just make sure you have 2 or 3 episodes preloaded into your RSS feed first.
How Do I Monetize A Podcast?
I haven’t directly monetized Discover Your Inner Awesome. As far as I understand, a preroll or midroll ad typically sells at a rate of $10 per 1,000 listeners. Ad revenue *probably* isn’t going to be your breadwinner. Instead, look at how you can use the podcast as a credibility tool. I have never solicited any advertisers for our show, but I have plugged my own work as a midroll, and oftentimes I will send specific episodes to a potential client to help them out. They get something of value out of listening, and are more likely to work with me. That’s why I say I haven’t directly monetized the podcast, but I have indirectly made it a revenue-generator, using it as a piece of thought-leadership and social proof.
My Closing Thoughts
- If you’ve read all this and still want to start a podcast, I implore you to give yourself time to let it develop into what you want. Don’t give up after a few episodes because you don’t have the traction you desired. Keep at it and the numbers will slowly climb. Just as important is that giving yourself time will allow you to figure out your on-air personality and style. It took me about 45 episodes to finally figure out a show intro script that I actually like, and have been using since. And even then, when I launched Season 7 with Victoria and made the show part of RajNATION Innovation, I found a slight update to that introduction to better position the show for the startup community.
- My favorite podcasts are:
Rich20Something Podcast with Daniel DiPiazza
The Leadership Podcast with Jim Vaselopulos and Jan Rutherford
Unmistakable Creative with Srinivas Rao
The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
(and it should be no surprise that these are all people I have met, have had as guests on Discover Your Inner Awesome, and/or consider them friends and mentors. I met all of them through this process of sticking with it, and practicing value-based relationship-building.)
- If you’re worried about not having all the answers right away, don’t let that stop you from getting started. Give yourself permission to fail. All the stuff I wrote about here I had to figure out from trial and error. You have a head start with this Guidebook, but there are plenty of other things I am sure I haven’t covered. Trial and error is good. It’s how you learn, and are then able to come up with your own tips and strategies for the people who start coming to you asking for podcasting advice.
If you STILL have questions after reading this, email me at rajiv@discoveryourinnerawesome.com and I will do my best to answer. Just note it might take me a couple weeks to respond, and if your question can be answered by something I already wrote in this Guidebook, I won’t respond. I don’t mean to be a dick, but if I’ve taken the time to write and give you all this free information, the least you can do is comb through it first and do your part.
**I may updated this Guidebook from time to time as I gather new insights or get multiple email requests asking the same question. Hence why I recommend you bookmark this article.**
Happy podcasting!
Hi, I’m Rajiv ‘RajNATION’ Nathan, I’m the founder of RajNATION Innovation. Feel like your story sucks? I work with growth-focused startups like Keyo, FanFood, and more on pitch and story to help you raise venture capital and acquire customers. Visit www.rajnationinnovation.com and holler at me. I also host the Discover Your Inner Awesome Podcast — real convos with entrepreneurs, founders, artists and musicians to bring you the real side of success.
