Starting or creating ease around a podcast feels like a lot. It’s something new to you so it’s hard to know exactly what you need…and don’t need.
Before you spend a ton of money on all the audio equipment, listen in to this episode. I’m sharing what you actually need, without the big price tag.
Producing a quality podcast isn’t free, but it doesn’t have to cost big bucks either!
Mentioned In This Episode:
- They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan
- VIP session
- Maono Plug & Play microphone (newer version)
- Acoustic Panels
- FeltRight
- Sephia Earbuds
- Libsyn
- Zoom
- Zencastr
- Squadcast
- Audacity
- Pat Flynn Audacity tutorial
- Acuity Scheduling
- Airtable
Transcript:
Abby Herman 0:10
Hey there, and welcome to episode 193 of the content experiment podcast, a podcast for podcasters that supports the idea that content and marketing are ever moving targets in any business. And it’s okay if you don’t feel like you’re doing it. All right all of the time. This is the third episode of a 10 plus episode series all around bringing more ease into your podcast. podcast can be really time consuming, and it can feel challenging, especially if you’re DIY in most or all of it. I had some help when I started this podcast, and that allowed me to launch with some confidence. But it was the weeks and months early on, shortly after launch, where I really started to struggle. I didn’t feel like I had a go to resource to help navigate some of the early challenges. Thankfully, I have a background in content marketing. So I was able to work through a lot of those challenges with ease. But I know that not everyone is in the same situation. So I wanted to bring you this series to help leading up to the three year anniversary of the podcast and the 200th episode. But there is only so much that I can cover on a single podcast episode. And I know that your business and your podcasts are unique.
Abby Herman 1:29
You might have more questions after listening. So I’m inviting you to my weekly podcast EASE q&a sessions. We got started on July 28. But it’s not too late to join us because we’re going to continue through late September. We get on a zoom call each Thursday morning, and you can ask me any questions that you have about podcasting. For the next hour. All calls are held at 8am Pacific, and they will be recorded if you can’t make the call live or if you want to go back and re listen or you in want to make your podcast feel a little easier. Join me for only $99 for the entire 10 week series at thecontentexperiment.com/ease. And if you are just now signing up, yes, you will get access to the recordings of previous sessions as well. This week in the third episode of the series, we’re gonna focus on the tools that you need to start or grow a podcast. If you’re new to podcasting, it can feel like a lot like you need a lot of stuff. Or maybe you’ve been in it for a bit and are trying to find ways to step it up, step it up a notch and make it a little easier for yourself and your guests. In the show notes.
Abby Herman 2:46
This week, I have links to all of the resources that I’m going to talk about. And if you download the podcast hosting guide, I have added this list for you there. Also, if you’re already on my email list, the latest and greatest version is already in your inbox. If you’re not on the list yet, grab your copy at thecontentexperiment.com/guide Now in Episode 191 of the podcast, I talked all about what you need to know in order to get started with podcasting. Things like your podcast format, your goals, your audience, and so on. Today is all about the things that you need to get started the tangible tools, the things so the first thing is a plan. You need to have a plan for your podcast, a content strategy, you need to know what episodes you’re going to publish what you’re going to talk about and so on. Now, you can do that with me if you go to thecontentexperiment.com/vip You and I can work one on one together to develop a content strategy.
Abby Herman 3:53
But if you are DIY buying it I highly recommend the book they ask you answer by Marcus Sheridan. It will walk you through what kind of content to create and most of the book actually focuses on written content but there is video as well. And of course you can take everything that you learned there and apply it to your podcast. It is a must read for any business owner in my opinion. The next thing you need to think about is your sound, microphone acoustics headphones, things like that. I use the Miano plug and play microphone and I have linked to the version that I have and a newer version in the show notes. You do not need a $500 microphone shoot you don’t even need a $100 microphone. My microphone is $50 and I think it works just fine. Acoustics is something else that you need to think of.
Abby Herman 4:55
Now, right now I am recording in the dining room I have my place. And it does not have the best acoustics. It is a temporary situation where I am recording from I sometimes record from a office that I have outside of the house. And in that office, I have these acoustic panels from a company called felt write F E L T ri ght. I’m linking to that in the show notes. I’m actually in the process of building out a new home a home office again, and I’m going to be paneling the walls with these felt right panels. They work great to absorb sound, they work great to make sure that there’s not outside sound coming in. And you can actually pick and choose from, I don’t know how many different colors. The colors that I selected are very close to my brand colors close enough that it works for me. But you can design mountains and flowers and Chevron patterns and all of that it’s pretty cool. So if that isn’t in your budget, though, you can go to Amazon and get some acoustic panels, I’m linking in the show notes to a version, it’s $40 for a set of 12. If you put them up around you, and maybe you know, put some blankets or something on the floor, if you have hard floors in your house, or you’re in a very large room or a room with really high ceilings, find ways to make sure that you don’t have a lot of echoing.
Abby Herman 6:33
Speaking of echoes, if you are interviewing guests, headphones really help. And here is the thing, I see people with the big headphones that fit over your ears. And if that’s what you’d like for comfort sake, then go for it. But you really don’t need those, you need some really inexpensive, I’ll say it cheap earbuds that plug into your computer, I use a brand called Sephia earbuds that are literally $14 on Amazon. That’s what I use on my office space, I have another set at home. That is a different brand. I actually can’t tell what brand they are, it doesn’t say on the earbuds. But neither one of these actually has a microphone, you want to use an external a separate microphone, then your earbuds, I also do not recommend using air pods or anything that is hooked up through Bluetooth. So make sure that whatever you’re using is plugged in. Okay, so you have a plan, you’ve got the sound under control, under control. Now you get to choose your music.
Abby Herman 7:41
So if you choose to have Intro Music outro music, the music that comes at the beginning and end of your podcast episode, or maybe even music that helps to separate any ads or transitions in your podcast, I use Premium Beat. And you just want to make sure that you choose royalty free music Premium Beat will help you with that you can do a subscription or I just did a one off purchase. It was I think $50 To purchase the music, and then I had my editor, edit it down to exactly the way I wanted it. So this is something that could potentially take you quite a bit of time to go through and do just you know, remember, progress over perfection Done is better than perfect. Just choose the music. And you can actually probably go down through quite a few rabbit holes, trying to choose your music, choose something that fits your style. The next thing to think about is your recording software, what are you going to use to record your episodes.
Abby Herman 8:46
So I record my solo episodes, episodes on Audacity, and I’ll talk about that a little bit. But then to record my guest episodes, I use Zoom Much to my podcast editors dismay. I’m still using the zoom. You can also use Zen caster or squad cast, that is what he recommends. But make sure that you use something that is comfortable for you. And that is easy for your guests to log into and use should they need to log into anything. And then you’re going to want to think about your editing software, or a really great editor to help you with this. So I again, I record my solo episodes on Audacity and I edit as I go. So if I mess up, I just hit stop, I delete the piece that I messed up on and then I just start over again. It makes the whole recording process and editing process super easy for my solo episodes. And at the end it’s really easy for me to just drop my intro and outro music in and then export the file. It’s super easy azim. If you choose to go with something like Audacity, then I recommend a which is free.
Abby Herman 10:07
By the way, I recommend the Pat Flynn tutorial, I’m linking to that in the show notes, it will teach you exactly what you need to know, in probably 15 minutes or less, so that you can edit your own episodes. Once your episodes are edited, you need a place to host that audio. What host Are you going to use to push your content out to all the different podcast players, I use Libsyn for myself, and for most of my clients, I highly recommend it, it is not expensive, you do need to pay for it. However, I believe that you get what you pay for. So if you are using a free host, I recommend checking out a paid host because there’s a lot more features a lot more analytics that go along with the paid hosts, I have a link to Libsyn in the show notes. And of course, if you are hosting guests on your podcast, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to sign up for a interview time. So there is very little that’s worse or less efficient than having to go back and forth via email to figure out a time for your guest to come record your podcast episode. That is probably one of my biggest pet peeves I hate in efficiencies, just give me a link. And let me find a time that works for me.
Abby Herman 11:40
So I use acuity as my scheduling software, I use the $10 a month plan because it allows me to do a few automations such as I can connect it to zoom and zoom will generate a unique link for each of the podcast interviews. It also allows me to send reminders and links to things like the last thing on my list, which is a guest intake form. So having a guest intake form saves so much time for both you and for your guest. So when they are signing up for the interview, they sign up for the interview, they automatically get a thank you email with a link to the guest intake form. I use air table for that. And it allows them to share their social media links, their headshot their bios so that when it comes time to do the show notes, I already have that information and I don’t need to go hunt it down. Because we’re all busy. And they’ve already recorded their interview, the last thing that they want to do is go back and have to provide more information. So again, if you have the podcast hosting guide, I have a link to a template that I use and you can customize it to any way you want.
Abby Herman 12:53
Again, I use air table, the free version, I don’t recommend, you know upgrading to the paid version, the free version is more than enough. If you go to thecontentexperiment.com/guide You can get that guide. So I would like to know from you what did I miss? If you’re a podcaster and you have some tools that you use that I didn’t mention here, shoot me an email Abby at the content experiment.com And let me know what I’ve missed. Let me know if there’s something else that you use that you love for your podcast. And if you found value in what you learned here today, there is no better thank you then a rating and review on your favorite podcast player.
Abby Herman 13:36
You can also share this episode on social media by taking a screenshot of your the episode on your phone and tagging me at the content experiment. The more you share, the more that we can get this podcast into the hands and earbuds of more business owners just like you who need to hear the message that they are not alone. Until next time. Take care.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
