Launching a podcast: Where to start?

Today, podcasts are one of the most promising and accessible media suitable for both business promotion and entertainment content creation. Is it possible to create your own podcast without massive investments in expensive equipment and hosting?

Here are 6 easy steps for you to start a podcast without investments:

1. Decide on a niche

Most successful channels tend to focus on a specific niche.
Choosing a narrow topic that appeals to a specific audience, you will help your potential listeners immediately understand what your podcast is about. This will give you a chance to connect with your target audience.
The rule of thumb is the more specific the podcast, the more loyal the audience. A good example of this is Laowaicast. This podcast is about China, and everything related to this country. It has been produced since 2009, and now it has as many as four hundred episodes about Chinese culture and language, news, interviews, and much more.

2. Formulate the topic of the podcast

Chances are you already have a rough idea of the topics you want to cover. If not, you should choose an area, where you:

Have or want to have some understanding,
Have first-hand experience,
Know about the existing problems.

Each podcast should give the audience something valuable, a reason for people to listen to each new episode. To find out what you're valued for and what people want to hear on your podcasts, communicate with your audience. Based on the feedback, you will be able to create more interesting content, find out which format is more suitable for your listeners.

3. Choose a catchy name

It is important to choose a title that fully reflects the content. It is difficult to choose the perfect name right away, so don't be afraid to experiment and be different.
There is a way to name a podcast as precisely and clearly as possible: formulate the idea of a podcast. If you can describe it in five words, use that description in your opening statement or as a tagline for your podcast.

4. Preparing for recording: Hardware

You can delve into the intricacies and details of the technical side for a long time, but when you are at the very beginning of the journey, this is unnecessary. A huge plus of podcasts as a genre is a low entry threshold.
Don't immediately buy an expensive Audio-Technica microphone and other equipment for perfect sound – try recording with what you have at hand. A voice recorder on your phone or a cheap microphone is already good, especially for the first releases.
However, the sound in a podcast is the most important thing, so before recording, make sure that there is no background noise and that all equipment operates properly. If you want to record the perfect video for your podcast, you can do this at the Jalinga studio, where, in addition to top-notch audio equipment, professional video cameras are used. You can book a slot via the link.

Book a studio

5. Preparing for recording:
Voice and story

Not everyone has the skills of a broadcaster or radio host, but some of their techniques are worth knowing if you decide to do a podcast. Before recording, you should practice diction and warm up the vocal cords so as not to injure them during recording (and not injure your listeners’ ears).
Sitting in front of a microphone and talking into the void can seem unnatural, especially if this is your first podcast. Try to imagine that you are telling a story to a friend or a person that represents your audience. This will help you sound more natural.

6. Editing and promoting

The first episode of the podcast is recorded – hooray! Now you need to make it sound nice to please your listeners. A great free option for audio editing and recording is Audacity. This software allows you to record live sound through a microphone or mixer, digitize recordings from various media, and even edit and publish episodes of your podcast in their directories.
Keep in mind that not all podcast platforms store your episodes in their cloud. Therefore, in order not to lose any information, store all your episodes where it is convenient for you – in the cloud, on a drive, or on a special podcast hosting.

What's next?

Go further: do not abandon your new business, try to release podcasts, if not often, then at least regularly. The gold standard for podcasts is to release three to four episodes per month. Over time, you will become more experienced, and you will have another reliable channel for promotion.

Learn more about Jalinga video studio
and see how it works here!

Get a consultation