Hey savvies! Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. In today’s episode, we’re diving into what you really need to succeed as a podcaster (and it may be a lot different than you think).
Technical Things:
Microphone – One obvious thing that all podcasters need is a microphone. You definitely don’t need to splurge on a microphone when you’re first starting out. I got the Samson Q2U bundle back in 2020 from Amazon and it was under $100. I still use it almost daily between podcast interviews, guesting on other podcasts, and recording content for my memberships and courses. I don’t recommend the Yeti mic (as pretty as it is) because it picks up all kinds of background noise and echoes which is no fun.
Headphones – Headphones help eliminate the echo and are a must to pair with your microphone. Even if you choose not to get a mic (which I hope you don’t), you need headphones as a bare minimum.
Podcast Host – You need a podcast host to syndicate your podcast episodes to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google among all the other podcast players. I recommend checking out Buzzsprout which is $12/month and a really easy-to-use platform.
I used to recommend Libsyn and a lot of my clients still do use it but lately, I have been setting new launch clients up on Buzzsprout and have really grown to live it.
In terms of technical aspects, that is pretty much all you need to succeed to be a podcaster, but podcasting is so much more than your equipment.
Positive Mindset – When first starting your podcast, you need to have a positive mindset. I want you to know that podcasting is a long game so unless you already have a bigger audience, you need to be realistic with your growth goals. If you’re consistent with publishing and putting out high-quality content, your show will grow without a doubt but you need to be patient and not throw in the towel a month after launching because you don’t have thousands of downloads and thousands of new leads in your universe.
Consistency – In my last point about having a positive mindset, I also mentioned consistency. Consistency is huge when it comes to growth because to build an audience of raving fans, we need to be consistently putting episodes out there. I would say no less than 2 episodes per month is the frequency you should be releasing new episodes but weekly is preferred.
Impactful content – While consistency is important, having really amazing content is even more important. People won’t listen to your weekly episodes if they are full of fluff and no action.
Strategy – Another thing you absolutely should have when launching a podcast is a strategy…and not just the initial launch plan strategy. A strategy that encompasses the bigger picture of why you’re doing this. Do you want to use it to attract new people to your world? Do you want to use it to nurture people to make a purchase? You need to consider your end-game goal for starting a podcast so that you’re not just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.
Willingness to learn or budget to outsource – When you start a podcast, you either need to have the willingness to learn or the budget to outsource.
If you’re not planning to outsource any part of your podcast, you need to learn how to edit audio in addition to keeping yourself up to date on podcasting best practices so that your show can thrive. If you’re not willing to learn how to do that and don’t have the budget to outsource, you may want to rethink starting a podcast because you don’t want to put all this time and effort into launching a podcast and then let it just fade into oblivion.
I’d love to know, if you’re planning on launching a podcast soon, do you have all of these things? If not, are you planning on adding them? I’d love to hear from you over on Instagram. My handle is podcastingforentrepreneurs.