GROWTH:

Launching a Podcast in 30 Days

A captivating podcast makes the monotonous Los Angeles traffic that much more bearable — they even get me inspired during a workout on days I’m feeling particularly unmotivated. Because of these uses, I have several podcasts I listen to religiously. From how start-ups are built and personal health optimization to spiritual insight and the daily news — I love me a thought-provoking podcast.

Given these strong feelings towards this medium of educating, it should come as no surprise that last year I decided to start my own podcast. I felt like I had accumulated enough knowledge from my various life experiences and had connections with inspiring people that came from different walks of life that I could put together one badass podcast that could help people.

I would love to say that I dove right into the process and got started on my podcast — not so much. I thought about the overall prospect of starting one and felt extremely overwhelmed. All of the unknown was intimidating. Who was I to put on a podcast?

Once I started to tell people about my plans to begin a podcast — ultimately holding me accountable — I began to research the steps to starting one. Instead of looking at the bigger picture, I planned out the baby steps that would get me to launch my first episode.

The learning curve was a bit steep; especially when it came to editing and figuring out the right kind of equipment that I needed. But in the end — and at this point, I have 5 episodes recorded, and two are live — I overcame all of the obstacles that I thought would hold me back.

For all of you dreaming of starting a podcast in your niche, let me shed some light onto what the process looks like, mistakes I made, and the lessons I’ve learned thus far.

The First Step is the Scariest

Whether your first step is picking a name, deciding on a niche, or finally pulling the trigger on equipment, the first step is always the most intimidating.

Luckily, the name of my podcast came to me most quickly. I was sitting in my car one day, and a name sprung upon me like it was always meant to be. I knew I wanted to help people become more aware of their health — mental and physical — and the name The Wellness Hustle came to mind without me giving it much thought.

That could technically be considered my first step, but creating the logo was the first actual, physical step that would cement my investment into producing this show.

Designing a Logo

The logo is what will show up on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, etc. when people search for your podcast. It’s not something you should stress over — but you want to make sure it’s a bit eye-popping. A lot of people put themselves in their logo. I am no different, except that I decided to hire a friend who did a sketch style logo of me.

Fiverr is a great place to find a designer. If I had outsourced my logo via the internet — that’s where I would’ve checked. I took a quick look at the offers on there, and the portfolios looked pretty impressive and cost-friendly.

Niching Down

I had the name and the logo, but I kept being told that “wellness” was too broad; I needed to niche down. I hate this advice, not because I think it’s terrible, but because I have so many interests — I don’t want to be limited! Maybe it’s my free-spirited Aquarius nature, but I want to be able to talk about anything that comes to mind.

But I’m not Oprah. I don’t have thousands of devoted followers. When it comes down to it, niching down helps people find your podcast. Marketing for your podcast will be easier, and you’ll rank higher in your category on iTunes if you’re not an umbrella category.

I ended up not niching down too much if I’m being honest. I decided to focus on shifting people’s mindset from hustling for external aspects like fame, career, money, stereotypical “success” to hustling for themselves — choosing to put effort into their physical and mental health. I wanted to do so via interviews with people that have inspiring stories and industry professionals.

Your Format

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to interview people on my podcast. I love talking with people, I don’t get shy about opening up to strangers, and I learning more about a person’s journey makes me happy.

That’s definitely not the only format. You can do a purely solo podcast. That means that it’s just you — talking into a microphone about a particular subject. These podcasts do great especially if you’re able to carry yourself well verbally and have a lot to say on a topic.

I’ve also listened to on the field podcasts — essentially interviewing people or recording outside, while on the go. I’ve heard gaming podcasts are big. People play their favorite videos game, and people listen to what they’re saying while they play. Personally, I have zero interest in video games and therefore have never heard this sort of format — but they’re out there.

Picking Equipment Seems Confusing, But It Can Be Simple

I felt the most lost when it came to choosing equipment. Articles were very conflicting about what all you needed to record accurately. Microphone, mixer, a second microphone, headphones, pop filter, microphone stone, etc. Woah. I have no idea what to buy.

I started out buying a mixer, pop filter, and an Audio Technica microphone that was dual XLR and USB input. I wanted this microphone because I could plug it straight into my computer or my mixer.

I ended up not needing the mixer, at least not for the podcasts where I was interviewing people online. I used Skype to record the audio and be able to see my guests. My mic, along with my pop filter clamped onto its stand, was plugged straight into my computer. The quality of the audio was, and I had zero problems.

I held onto my mixer though. I thought I would need it to do in-person interviews. But when my first in-person interview ended up being unexpectedly booked with less than two days of notice, I had to go in person to buy another microphone at a store instead of Amazon. Going into the equipment store near my house introduced me to a special microphone called an omnidirectional microphone. Instead of pointing in one direction, like my Audio Technica, an omnidirectional mic picks up sound from all around it.

I ended up leaving the store with a Blue Yeti Nano. I wanted to give this a try because I could, once again, plug the microphone straight into my computer and it would be relatively easy to travel with if it worked well.

It did. My first in-person interview sounded great with the microphone. So much so that I am considering trying to return my Audio Technica and the mixer I bought is now wholly obsolete in my process.

Maybe the sound quality could be a little better, but honestly, I think a better investment on sound quality would be renting a small room or buying an acoustic wall panel.

Use an Email Template but Customize It

If you plan to reach out to people for interviews, create a template to email out to them but make sure you customize it. Anyone can smell a generic email from a mile away, and those don’t make anyone feel special.

Take the time to explain to the person why you think they would be a great fit and topics you would like to talk to them about. Maybe even compliment them on an article they wrote or talk they recently did.

Just Send Emails

Fear doesn’t do anyone any good. Yea, someone might not email you back but so what? Their loss.

When it came to inviting people onto my podcast, don’t be afraid of their response. Podcasts are such a new medium that most people are excited to be invited onto one. You at least have that to your advantage. Mix in a little bit of flattery, and your chances of landing a guest are high.

Editing Software

I chose to use Audacity. I’ve heard of people using Garage Band — I don’t have much to say about that since I have never used it. But people say it works great as well.

I love Audacity. It’s simple enough, didn’t take a lot of technical skills to manage, and you can google any problems you do encounter. A lot of people swear by it in terms of podcast editing and, for me, it’s been without issues.

Hosting Platform

Again, I only use one, so I can only vouch for the one I use. Buzzsprout came up as number one when I googled which hosting platform to use. Side note: I googled different steps on starting a podcast a lot. I hope my article helps but make Google your best friend along this journey too.

The feature I love most about Buzzsprout is how they streamline the process of submitting your podcast to different platforms like iTunes and Spotify. They list several platforms out for you and a step by step list on how to submit your show. For some platforms, like Spotify, all I had to do was click a single button on Buzzsout’s site. Boom — several hours later and my podcast was live on Spotify.

Launch It

For some reason, I thought the process of actually making my podcasts live would be a lot more complicated than it actually was. It all happens on Buzzsprout (or your hosting platform).

You need to make sure to fill in the show notes with pertinent information — articles referred to during your show, information about your guest, an explanation on what the episode is about. Then just add a title, number, and publish your episode. The first time I hit publish, I thought it would take a day or two for iTunes and the other platforms to approve it. Nope. It took a mere two hours.

Even though I had a ton of fear and felt overwhelmed in the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the whole process was. Maybe it’s because I changed my mindset to focus on one step at a time, but no aspect to creating my podcast wasn’t achievable (or googleable).

Hosting a podcast is a great way to get your message out into the world. It’s a freeing platform too — you control what you talk about. It’s still such a new medium that there is a lot of room in the categories for you to dive into.

Within my first week of launching my podcast, I was #202 on the chart for Alternative Health. That may not be high, but if I saw my ranking for the same category on Instagram, I would be MUCH lower.

Get out there and launch a podcast. It’s a fun endeavor, not that much work, and a great way to share your knowledge. I hope my article helps and I’ll make sure yo keep you guys updated on my podcast.

If you want to listen to my show for the references made in this article, it’s called The Wellness Hustle. Feel free to comment if you give it a listen!

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