Podcasting, much like vlogging, has really grown in popularity in the last couple of years and there are now many people round the world who have decided that this will be the creative medium which they use to speak to the world. I started a podcast about 5 years ago with my partner Bharat Bhise and whilst we have managed to build only a small community, they are fiercely loyal and tune in each week to hear our latest edition. In order to get what you want from this, there are some things which you need to think about first.
Niche
In the same way that a blog should be centered around a nice topic, so too should your podcast. Simply jumping on the mic and talking about life in general won’t cut through as well as you would like, so it really makes sense to pick a niche theme. The other benefit which you’ll get when you pick a niche topic is that the listeners will be much more loyal than if you pick a general subject. Try to think about what your passions are and then start a podcast based on one of those.
Sound Equipment
Bharat and I started out with just 2 mics and 2 channels, plugged in a to a laptop with some audio editing software. You can do the same as we did but honestly if you have the money then I would recommend that you invest in some high quality microphones. In our early podcasts the sound quality was really poor with a lot of white noise behind it. The result was that our podcast just didn’t sound veery professional and we saw a big difference in listeners once we had spent the money on the better equipment. You can get set up for under $300, and this will ensure that you have some professional kit.
Location
The acoustics of the location where you are going to be recording your podcast are also important, you need somewhere that is quiet and preferably somewhere which has no outside noise. The last thing people want is to hear trains passing or car horns honking from outside whilst they are trying to listen to what you have to say.
Record or Live
You could do a live podcast if you wish but I must warn you that it can be very difficult and you should only really do this if you have experience.There is absolutely nothing wrong with recording your podcast, making some edits, deleting some of the errors and long pauses, and deliver a far more polished and well thought out product.
Guests
Are you going to have guests on your show? If so which guests and how will you get them? The key here is to first set up the podcast on your own, and once it has some popularity you can start to attract higher caliber guests.
Good luck, you are going to have a great time!
