☄️ How to (smartly) launch a podcast from nothing ☄️
☄️ How to (smartly) launch a podcast from nothing ☄️
Part 2 + this week’s 52 Weeks of Podcast Growth
Last month, we started an ongoing series on how to (smartly) launch a podcast from nothing. This issue included a quick fill in the blank to help you get started on a podcast idea you can get behind:
My podcast is of the ____ genre, similar to shows like ____ and ____. Over a season of ____ episodes spread across ____ weeks/months, we cover the story of ____ through conversations with ____ OR a narrative centered around ____. I am creating this podcast for those who enjoy ____.
Welcome to part 2. With a little bit of sass and a lot of love, this part dives into the concept creation stage of your podcast. It’s a bit long so if you don’t have time today – bookmark this for a later time, we won’t mind.
We did want to try something new and feature this week’s 52 Weeks of Podcast Growth at the top instead of the bottom:
52 Weeks of Podcast Growth
This week’s tip is: Write a description of your podcast as though your friends/listeners were describing it.
When pitching, as in so many other things in life, perspective is key. Sometimes we get caught up in our own heads and may not be able to describe our podcast fully. Try putting yourself in a friend or a listener’s shoes and write a description from their perspective.
To sum it up, the tips so far are:
Find 10 podcasts that are similar to yours.
Connect with 10 new podcasts on social media.
Join 3 subreddits and/or discords that are relevant to the topic of your podcast.
Write a 150-word pitch for your show.
Time how long you spend on podcast creation and marketing.
Describe your podcast from a friend/listener’s perspective.
If you only have time for one thing
When calculating and budgeting for timelines at the beginning of creation, account for the following:
Scripting
Designing the covert art
Securing social media handles
Updating/creating the website
Making a trailer
Making a marketing plan
You’ll ideally need these in place before you launch so best to budget for the time now!
Concepting your podcast
🎯 Get clarity on the content
Know your format
Decide the format of your podcast: interview-style, narrative, or something entirely different. If you need inspiration, check out existing podcasts and pick what you most like and is most achievable for you.
Decide the segments
Create segments to make it easy for listeners to follow along. In case your chosen format does not allow for segments for the listeners, make some for yourself anyway. If you decide not to specifically share what these segments are, at least you can use them yourself to keep track of content.
Pick a name
Both for the podcast and for the segments, if any. If you’re drawing a blank on podcast names, head over to the Ausha Podcast Name Generator for inspiration.
Sidenote: before your heart lands on a name, be sure to make sure it hasn’t been used!
Consider the scripts
Once you’ve got clarity on the format and segments, you can think about how heavily scripted each episode should be. This will help in the upcoming stages of charting a course and planning your time. Psst…if you’re planning an interview-style podcast, we still recommend a basic outline of a script and the topics you’re going to cover.
Resource alert: The Podcast Host has an excellent guide on writing a podcast script.
📍Chart out an exact course
Pro-tip: we recommend timing each of these tasks so you know exactly how much effort went into the show. If you decide to switch some of these aspects up on an episodic or seasonal basis, you can predict how much time you’d need to dedicate to those aspects.
Get a head start
Decide how many episodes you’d like to have banked before you start releasing. This forms the basis of you charting a course of action. Some creators like to record as they go but if you have limited time and resources, we recommend batch recording your podcast.
Location, location, location
Decide where you’re going to be recording your podcast. Especially if you plan to do any field recording (aka any recording not at your desk/in a recording studio.)
Decide the exact length
That’s just it. Decide the exact length of your podcast, not including advertisements and credits.
Decide your release schedule
What will your release cadence be: weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or all-at-once? Additionally, decide if you want this to be an ongoing or seasonal podcast. If it’s seasonal, how many episodes do you plan to release in a season?
📅 Tip: upload this release schedule into your calendar.
Choose your guests
If you’ve done the homework from part 1 of this series, you should have a clear understanding of your audience. Marrying this knowledge with your clarity on the content allows you to start deciding who your guests are going to be. If you want to interview 10 guests, make a list of 20 and pick your favorites. However, hold on to the other 10 as a solid Plan B.
📅 Tip: Upload tasks for research, outreach, and interviews into your calendar.
Division of labor
If you have a team of folks working on this project, this is the time to decide who will be in charge of what exact roles.
Resource: if you’re the one deciding these roles, you’re likely the showrunner of the podcast. Check out this blog from Pacific Content on what role the showrunner plays and how that interacts with other players.
🔥Try it all out
Try all of these steps out for your podcast. To ensure your plan is strong, try to map out at least 5 episodes.
Mapping tool: if you’re a visual creature, we recommend using the free mind mapping tool Miro to chart your course.
🔭 Godspeed, friend!
With that, we conclude this month’s issue on this. In the next part (which we plan to release next month) we cover: production and editing.
🍀 From the desk of Tink
Climate Vision 2050 is a climate podcast with a happy twist from BCG, a global consulting firm committed to climate and sustainability action. Every episode, the show explores how the world radically reduced carbon emissions and saved itself from climate catastrophe in 30 years. The show offers a creative approach to talking about climate, getting into technical solutions without losing the beauty of engaging, immersive narrative. It transports you to this imagined future, but it isn’t fantasy! It’s all based on actual solutions that could make meaningful and sustainable progress against an existential threat.
✨ More Magic
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