TL;DR
We believe every startup should have a podcast, as podcasts help you build brands and networks and generate leads efficiently. Founders often resist, fearing a massive time commitment like the Joe Rogan or Tim Ferriss podcast.
The truth is that there are so many different formats, styles, and flavors of podcasts that you can choose from so there’s no excuse not to have a podcast for your company, even if you as the founder decide you don’t want to do it.
There are many pros and cons to having a founder-led vs a non-founder-led podcast, and you should make the decision based on your own goals, the company’s goals, availability, and interests.
“Think about what you can learn even if you fail at podcasting.”
You shouldn’t start a podcast to make money or get famous. Podcasts are the perfect excuse to reach out to the people you look up to in a way that makes them look good and makes them willing to talk to you. It's a great way to expand relationships and connect with passionate people with similar interests not to mention potential clients or investors.
It also can help improve your communication skills and boost your confidence, both important skills for a founder.
Launching a podcast requires dedication and hard work to bring it all together. Tim Ferriss advises recording five episodes and publishing them before listening to them back, as a way to get feedback quickly. Don't be afraid if your first few recordings seem rough everyone gets better with practice, just like with all skills.
If you're ready to dive in and start your own podcast, here are the steps to get you on the right track.
What is your goal? Is it to get clients for your business? Meet interesting people? Learn? Once you know why you are starting your podcast, you can figure out the concept.
Once you know your goals, take a deep dive into your areas of interest, passions, and expertise. Ask yourself, what topics do I know a lot about? What are some subjects I enjoy learning about? Who do I want to get to know better? Who do I want to connect with? Make sure it’s something that you won’t get bored with over time.
Tip: Concentrate on producing evergreen content that remains valuable over time by offering information, knowledge, or resources to your audience that will be relevant in months or years after publishing. Each episode is like you having a conversation with a listener, but asynchronously.
It's important to choose a format that aligns with your topic, style, and goals. Try different options and find the one that works best for you and your audience. Here are the main styles we see and some of the defining features of each:
These are just a few of the many styles you can try. Go to your favorite podcast platform and listen to different podcasts to get ideas that match your interests.
When creating your podcast, choose the episode length that fits your format and your goals. Unless you love doing long interviews, we suggest keeping episodes between 20-40 minutes to capture people's attention during commutes, riding the subway, or traffic jams.
Consistency is essential for building a successful podcast. Set realistic goals, and decide if you want to release episodes weekly, biweekly, or monthly. By establishing a consistent publishing schedule, you can build a loyal audience, credibility, and improve your podcast's discoverability.
“Once you’ve mastered the art of showing up, scaling it up, and increasing the scope is much easier once you’re already the kind of person who’s doing it every day”.
Music can effectively set a tone and establish a mood that creates a more engaging and immersive listener experience.
Platforms like Artlist, Premium Beat, and Epidemic Sound offer a wide variety of music tracks and you can easily search for music by genre, mood, and other criteria. There are plenty of royalty-free music platforms available where you can find the perfect sound for your show.
Don’t overthink your music, just pick something and get going. You can always change it later.
To record your podcast, you'll need some basic equipment. It's not necessary to spend a lot of money, but choosing the right one will make a significant difference.
A microphone is crucial in podcasting. The quality of the microphone can significantly impact the overall listener experience. A high-quality microphone will pick up a clearer sound and a poor-quality one can distort sound and create an unprofessional impression. Blue Yeti USB and Blue Yeti Nano Premium are a few options to buy at a good price.
If you want to get started, use a nice pair of Airpods in a very quiet place with good internet. Nathan records most of his podcasts now using Airpods rather than the nice microphone. A better mic is worth it, but it won’t save you if you’re in a noisy place or have bad internet.
In addition to a microphone, you may also want to invest in a windscreen and microphone foam to reduce background noise.
There are several great options to choose from. Zoom is a popular choice for recording remote interviews and panels because everyone has it and you can record into the cloud from both sides of the audio. If you're looking for a tool that combines recording and editing, Riverside and Descript are great all-in-one solutions. The downside of podcast-specific platforms is that they are more likely to fail compared to Zoom or force your guests to create accounts or download software.
Podcasts are one of the holdovers from the open internet. Most work on RSS feeds, so that when you publish on one platform, you can easily push them to all of the major platforms. Choosing one platform to push out episodes makes it easier to manage and track your podcast's performance across multiple channels. There are many hosting platforms available, including Buzzsprout, Libsyn, and Spreaker.
To make your podcast available to listeners, there are several platforms you should connect to:
When choosing a hosting platform, consider elements such as:
Recording an episode requires careful planning and execution to ensure content quality. Make sure to follow some essential steps to record an episode.
Editing helps to improve the overall quality of your podcast, and there are many reasons why editing is essential.
There are several free tools available that can help you with basic editing tasks such as cutting, noise reduction, and audio effects. Audacity and GarageBand (for Mac users) are great options. However, if you have a larger budget, you may want to consider advanced tools that offer additional features and more user-friendly interfaces like Descript and Alitu.
If you're new to podcasting or don't have the time or team to produce your podcast yourself, working with a studio can be a great option. However, it's important to choose the right studio that fits your needs. If you need help producing your podcast:
Show notes improve the listening experience for your audience. When your listeners can follow along with your podcast episode and have a clear understanding of what was discussed, they're more likely to stay engaged and even return for future episodes.
Show notes also play a crucial role in discoverability. By using relevant keywords in your show notes, you can increase the chance of your podcast appearing in search results.
So, how can you write great show notes for your podcast?:
Just because you have a great podcast, it doesn't mean people will automatically find it. You need to actively promote it to make sure it reaches your audience. By promoting your podcast across different channels, you can reach new listeners.
Social media is a great place to start. You can share your podcast on your personal or business accounts, as well as in relevant groups or communities. Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all great platforms for sharing podcast content. If you have guests tag them on your social media posts so they can share it on their accounts, this will help you to reach a new audience.
Email marketing is another powerful tool for promoting your podcast. By building an email list of interested subscribers, you can send out regular newsletters featuring your latest episodes.
Engage with your listeners and ask for feedback to help improve your podcast. Having reviews and subscribers on your podcast is important. When someone sees that your show has a lot of positive reviews, they're more likely to give it a chance. Reviews can also help you improve your podcast and give you a hint of what's working and what's not.
Repurposing is a smart way to maximize the time and effort you put into the podcast. One way to do this is by transcribing it. This will give you a written record of your audio content. You can either do this yourself or use a transcription tool such as Descript since it doesn’t have to be perfect. Tim Ferris has a whole section dedicated to his podcast and one of them is all about transcriptions. In the comment section, you can see how people find this resource really helpful.
Once you have your transcript, you can create blog posts that summarize or dive deeper into the topics discussed in each episode. Take key quotes or sections from the transcript and turn them into bite-sized social media posts, such as quote cards or highlight clips.
Repurposing your content into different formats, such as videos or infographics, is also a great way to reach a broader audience.
With the right tools and strategies, creating and producing a podcast can be an endeavor that can yield significant benefits for your business. By following the tips and advice outlined in this article, entrepreneurs can confidently launch their own podcasts and leverage this powerful medium to achieve their business goals. So, if you're an entrepreneur looking to expand your reach and enhance your personal brand, there's no better time than now to start a podcast.
Magma has a full-service podcast production unit that has produced 100s of episodes for many podcasts. Reach out to our team and we’ll help you build the podcast that will meet your needs.
