😈 Should you start a podcast? (+all the tools you need)
While self-hosted podcasts (where you record and distribute the podcast yourself) may seem more professional, accessible, and long-term, I recommend to host your first episode on social media.
This week, I participated in a meet-up where I talked about "DIY Podcasting: Why and How to Start Your Own Low-Budget Podcast."
Sometimes, it may seem like we should be writing newsletters, creating YouTube videos, recording podcasts, and maintaining a presence on all social media platforms.
While it is important to showcase your skills to others, it's not necessary to try to do everything.
If you want to try creating a podcast, I suggest testing the format by going "live" on social media platforms to see if you enjoy it.
💡Social media live is better than self-hosted podcast
My personal story began as a challenge when my friend Shu invited me to come up with 12 ideas for the upcoming 12 months and execute them. Among all the ideas I had, I decided to start hosting Twitter Spaces. So far, I have interviewed 21 guests from 11 different countries.
Why to start a podcast?
Provide value to your audience and connect with the community. It's easier to start a podcast if you have an existing audience and know that you will have listeners.
Share your expertise and ideas. Podcasts are an effective way to showcase your personality.
"Free" promotion. If people enjoy your content, they will share your podcast.
Extra content. You can repurpose the content from your podcast to create videos, write blog posts, and more.
Access opportunities. You never know who will be listening to your recording 😊
Why not to start a podcast?
If you are not ready to consistently commit to it for at least 12 months
Podcasts can be difficult to grow. Not only do you need to record and edit, but you also need to prepare beforehand and promote it afterwards. It can take a lot of time.
If you are looking for immediate results (money and fame)
Unfortunately, you may not see any results for months or even years.
How to start your own DIY podcast?
While self-hosted podcasts (where you record and distribute the podcast yourself) may seem more professional, accessible, and long-term, I recommend to host your first episode on social media.
Choose where you have the biggest following
Consider using Twitter (Twitter Spaces), LinkedIn (LinkedIn Live & LinkedIn Audio Event), Instagram (Instagram Live), or Facebook (Facebook Live).
Invite your audience to attend the event
One of the best perks of hosting live events on social media platforms is that people receive notifications about them. This is free marketing! 😊
Announce your next event or promote what you're doing.
If you decide to continue, you can turn your recordings into a podcast.
Here are some tools you might use for your podcast:
Recording:
Zoom (free/paid)
Riverside (free/paid)
Google Meets (business plan)
Spaces Down (free)
Podcast Platform:
Spotify for Podcasters (free)
Substack (podcast feature) (free)
Transistor (paid)
Buzzsprout (paid)
Podbean (free/paid)
Editing:
Audacity (free)
Podcast Adobe (free) - sound enhancement
Cleanvoice.ai (paid)
Descript (paid)
Audition (paid)
Castmagic (paid)
Podbitesai.com (beta, free)
💎 Weekly Gems
🎥 Short video on how to get guests
One of the most common questions I receive is how I get guests. To help answer this question, I recorded a short video.
🚀 Twitter Space
My next Twitter Space will be with Jack Cai, who is a 3x Rubik's Cube World Record Holder (Blindfolded) and has built a huge following on Tiktok.
If you have any questions about podcasts, let me know. I'll be happy to help! 😊
Written by Ilze Švarcbaha