Making a podcast can be one of the most rewarding and exciting achievements. If you are looking to create a podcast and get your ideas out into the world, here are easy steps I followed in creating my Podcast for free!
- Decide on a topic: Find a topic that you are passionate about. You will have to make lots of episodes on this topic, so finding something you know a lot about or is consistently updating can make it easier. People are drawn to topics that will help them or improve their lives. Try to capture topics that will help your targeted community.
- Create a Podcast Name: I recommend brainstorming a few names. Do some research to see if there is a podcast already using that name. I also suggest looking at federal trademarks to make sure you don’t use a registered name. Here is the link to the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
- Create a Logo or Cover Art: Making a logo or cover art can help give your podcast name some life. You can create your own using websites like Canva, hire someone to create it for you on websites like Fiverr.
- Brainstorm Episode Ideas: Brainstorming a good strategy to get all your ideas down is. Write out your episode topic ideas. I often will write them out as I work on things, or even throughout my day. I recommend using a word document or spreadsheet that you can go back to constantly and build off of. Google docs are also great if you are collaborating with others.
- Find music: Finding music or sound can really help bring your podcast to life and cause familiarity. You can find free music online or purchase rights. Stay away from popular songs because of copyright laws.
- Purchase a Microphone (optional): You don’t have to purchase a microphone as long as you have headphones with a microphone that you can plug into your laptop, however, putting some money into one can help the sound quality of your podcast. There are so many microphones, depending on your budget. I started out with something simple on amazon, and eventually invested into a higher tier microphone. I can write a whole article on just this alone, but do some solid research depending on your budget. Here is the type of headset microphone I started with: $30 – USB Headset with Microphone . This is my current AMAZING microphone for $249 – Shure MV7 USB Podcast Microphone for Podcasting . This sound quality is unmatched. It is way cheaper than buying an entire system because it is supported with USB & USB-C and requires no other equipment.
- Record an Intro: Once you have a nice sound picked out, you are ready to record your introduction. Creating a general introduction is a good way to have consistency in your podcast episodes. In this you can have a description of your podcast and the type of information one can learn from you. Keep this under 1 minute if you can. I use the audacity program to create this audio track. Garage band is also another free application available on Mac computers. Save this track as an .mp4 and you will upload this to the beginning of every episode.
- Draft Your First Episode Script: Having a script will help you stay on track with talking points and have a solid beginning, middle and end. For my episodes, we stick to 3 parts: introduction, information/examples, conclusions and takeaways. It’s always good to summarize what the listener can expect to hear in the episode to keep them interested. Personally, I use google documents because I can send this anywhere in the world and my guests can access this live. You don’t have to have every word written out but it should help guide you through the conversation.
- Record First Episode: Now you are ready to record! There are a few options, depending on how many people are recording with whether they are in the same place you are. If you are by yourself, you can record directly into Audacity or Garageband (or any program you will be editing your tracks in). If you are geographically separated, there are great websites like Zencaster, that are 100% free! The website will generate a link and the other person can join the conversation. This is great because it creates multiple tracks (one for each person logging in) and allows more customized editing. If people were talking over each other, you can mute one side of that conversation. This also helps if you are getting different background noise from each other’s location. Another great free option is Zoom. There are a few downsides, which is that the free version has a limit to a 45 minute meeting and you will only have one audio track, meaning you cannot mute one person in post production.
- Download & Edit: Once you have finalized your recording sessions. You are not ready for post production. I personally use Audacity because it is free and user friendly. Whatever program you use, it’s all the same. Remember to first add your Introduction to your episode. Once editing is complete, download this audio file an .mp4
- Create a RedCircle Account: There are a few different hosting platforms you can use for hosting your podcast. I personally recommend RedCirle.com because it’s free, easy to use and you can post to all major podcast platforms, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. You can create an account in about 15 minutes and launch an episode within a few hours.
- Upload and Post: Once you have an account created, you can create a new episode. Here is where you will upload your episode and include show notes. I have a template I used for my episodes to keep it consistent. I also create a standard naming convention for each episode. You can pick any time to post your podcast episode. I like to post them consistently at 3am on a specified day. Planning out when you will post them helps keep a consistent flow.
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