Latest / Influencer Confidential / How to Start a Podcast in 2025 Step by Step for Creators & Influencers #268

Transcript

How to Start a Podcast in 2025 Step by Step for Creators & Influencers #268 · Influencer Confidential

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Influencer Confidential by Sidewalker Daily. My name is
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Nina Zeta and I will be your host. I love
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: working with brands and influencers on all things business strategy.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Are you ready to learn what it takes to work
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in this influencer industry and see behind the curtain? Well,
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  Speaker 1: let's jump in. If you're a creator that's curious about
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: starting a podcast, or maybe you have an established following
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: somewhere else and are ready to jump into the world
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: of podcasting. Maybe you're totally new to the creator world,
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  Speaker 1: but the podcast route is the route you want to
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  Speaker 1: try first. As someone who has a podcast and has
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  Speaker 1: been doing this for a few years, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: let you know the ins and out of podcasting basics
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  Speaker 1: for creators. This channel is for creators, and I'm really
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  Speaker 1: hoping to help you guys on the business side of things. Now,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: before I jump into the how, I just want to
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  Speaker 1: mention really really quickly why podcasting excites me so much.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: It's from a brand deals perspective. Our company, by itself,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: and we don't even focus on getting brand deals, is
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: getting more and more inquiries about being featured on our podcasts.
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  Speaker 1: As a paid speaker, So brands want to pay us
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  Speaker 1: to be featured on our podcast and from an audience
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  Speaker 1: and a growth perspective, I am seeing so many more
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  Speaker 1: people say they learned about us through our podcasts. I
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  Speaker 1: host trainings and I ask people where'd you learn about us?
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  Speaker 1: And it always used to be YouTube and social, but
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  Speaker 1: throughout the last year, podcasts is getting quickly up there
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  Speaker 1: as one of the top ways people are learning about
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  Speaker 1: our company. So that is why I think if you
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  Speaker 1: are a creator and let's just say you have a
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  Speaker 1: significant following somewhere, or not even significant, just you know,
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  Speaker 1: a following, and you want to grow that following, podcasting
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  Speaker 1: is a really great way to do so one thing
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  Speaker 1: I also really just want to know for us specifically,
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  Speaker 1: podcasting started off as a repurposing tool. I would do
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  Speaker 1: these YouTube videos all the time, and let's be honest, right,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: these videos are not like highly exciting, they're not like
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  Speaker 1: travel vlogs, Like it's really just me teaching. And a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people I found out through my community, they're like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I watch your videos while I'm cooking or driving. I'm like,
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  Speaker 1: you're watching. What I really found out is that they're listening,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: and that they don't need to watch me, they need
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: to listen to me. So this is where we're like, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: let's rip the audio from our YouTube videos and just
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  Speaker 1: put that on the podcast, slap on an intro outro,
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  Speaker 1: and see how it does. And that was our strategy
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  Speaker 1: for a really long time, and it did really, really well.
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  Speaker 1: We were literally able to repurpose our YouTube content and
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  Speaker 1: take this valuable audio and distribute it on the podcasting platforms.
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  Speaker 1: People who wanted to listen to us on their commute,
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  Speaker 1: on their drive they could, or while they're doing their
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  Speaker 1: morning walks. It just became an easier way to reach
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  Speaker 1: a new audience and the type of ways that our
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: audience wanted to engage with us. You see, I may
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  Speaker 1: be making videos, but people in fact want to listen.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Give them that opportunity too. So for us, I just
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  Speaker 1: wanted to briefly share that story before I dive into
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  Speaker 1: how you can use this, Because if you're already on
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  Speaker 1: YouTube and you're already making videos and you think that
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  Speaker 1: this audio that you already make could be repurposed on
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  Speaker 1: your podcast, that would be a great place to start. Now,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you're like okay, and I don't have a YouTube
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  Speaker 1: like that doesn't make sense for me. Thanks for sharing
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: your story, but I'm starting from scratch, okay, So obviously
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the first thing you're going to want to ask yourself
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: is not even outside of the concept of the show.
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  Speaker 1: How are you going to present the show? Is it
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  Speaker 1: going to be a solo show just you? Are you
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  Speaker 1: going to have a co host? Do you plan to
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  Speaker 1: interview people? This type of formatting helps you understand your structure,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: so you're actually building out you know what type of
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  Speaker 1: show this is going to be from the beginning. Sometimes
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  Speaker 1: I'll have a lot of creators who start off as
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  Speaker 1: a solo host and then they interview people along the way.
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  Speaker 1: I personally have done that. So if you go to
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  Speaker 1: my podcast, there is a mix. There's interviews with other
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  Speaker 1: guests that I bring on the podcast, and then I
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  Speaker 1: have a lot of my solo episodes. I do not
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  Speaker 1: have a co host, but a lot of pats I
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  Speaker 1: know end up working with someone else as a co host.
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  Speaker 1: As for some people, it's a little scary to be like,
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  Speaker 1: how can I talk for so long? Now, of course
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  Speaker 1: you have to ask yourself, like, what is this show about.
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  Speaker 1: One of the biggest pieces of advice I could give
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  Speaker 1: anyone in the podcast world is really thinking about your
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  Speaker 1: episodes as bingeable Netflix episodes, can people click play and
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  Speaker 1: just keep going going through it. That may sound interesting
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  Speaker 1: to y'all, But for example, I had this girl the
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  Speaker 1: other day that was like, Oh, I want to do
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  Speaker 1: a podcast on like autoimmune diseases, and she wanted to
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  Speaker 1: do one like on Hashimotos and one on a different
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  Speaker 1: autoimmune disease, I believe, Celiac disease, And through discussing this
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  Speaker 1: with her, I was like, but would the Celiac disease
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  Speaker 1: people want to know about the Hashimotos one? And she
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  Speaker 1: was like, oh, probably not. So we realized there was
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  Speaker 1: a disconnect in between the episodes and she probably wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: create a stream of bingeability right Versus if she talks
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  Speaker 1: about like how to live life with an autoimmune disease,
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  Speaker 1: whether you have Celiac disease or hashimotos, you could benefit
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  Speaker 1: from that episode. So it was trying to get us
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  Speaker 1: to think about, you know, our themes, our niche our concepts,
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  Speaker 1: but also making it done in a way that people
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  Speaker 1: want to listen to that next episode because there is
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  Speaker 1: a central anchor to the content Sidewalker Daily, perfect example.
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  Speaker 1: Head over to our podcast, you are going to see
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  Speaker 1: they are all interconnected, whether it's growth on YouTube, brand partnership,
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  Speaker 1: affiliate income, like, it's all a web of information that
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: most of the creators in our community would benefit from. Also,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: when you're really thinking about your podcast, just ask yourself
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  Speaker 1: who is this for? Who is listening. The more you
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  Speaker 1: know who's listening on the other side of the channel,
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  Speaker 1: the better your content will be. Like, I literally can
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  Speaker 1: see my inner circle community at the end of the
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  Speaker 1: camera when I'm making my videos. I know who they are,
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  Speaker 1: I know what they want. And you may not have
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  Speaker 1: that community built out yet, but you need to almost
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  Speaker 1: get yourself in the mindset that you do, because if not,
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  Speaker 1: then you're just talking to everyone and it becomes really overwhelming.
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  Speaker 1: Don't think about it in terms of like, oh, I'm
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  Speaker 1: talking to this type of person. Think about the interests
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  Speaker 1: that that person is interested in. So in my community,
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  Speaker 1: I don't think about an age or a race or
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  Speaker 1: a gender. I think about what are these people interested in? Right, So,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: a creator who's interested in brand deals, she could be
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  Speaker 1: seventy plus or twenty years old. They have that commonality
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  Speaker 1: and they're both coming to us for that information. Almost
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  Speaker 1: think about it as like pollen to the bees. What
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: is the pollen that you're that's attracting those bees. That
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: a central tie in piece of information. Now, before we
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  Speaker 1: talk about recording and equipment, because I think that's a
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  Speaker 1: very common question, something that I did want to mention
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  Speaker 1: is ask yourself if your podcast is going to be
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  Speaker 1: audio only or video and audio. Again, i'm the repurpose queen.
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, if you're going to spend time doing it,
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  Speaker 1: do video as well, and just like pop it on YouTube.
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  Speaker 1: But for some people that is too much. They want
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  Speaker 1: to be able to move fast. They don't want to
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  Speaker 1: care about what they're looking, they don't want to set
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  Speaker 1: up the lights. They just want to go do what's
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  Speaker 1: going to make you go fast. So if audio is
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  Speaker 1: going to be what makes you go fast, build the
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  Speaker 1: muscle around audio and then implement video as you go.
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  Speaker 1: Or if you're someone that's like, well I may as
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  Speaker 1: well do video because I'm doing both, then you can
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  Speaker 1: do a video podcast as while they're super popular now
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  Speaker 1: and it's something you can embed into your current YouTube
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  Speaker 1: channel or start a new one. All right, let's talk
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  Speaker 1: about equipment because equipment is a very common question when
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  Speaker 1: you're getting started. I tell this to anyone that is
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  Speaker 1: getting started on something. Don't make it complicated. Okay, do
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  Speaker 1: not make it complicated. If you already have a major
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  Speaker 1: existing audience, then you may potentially want to invest in
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: specific equipment. But even doing things like in person renting,
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  Speaker 1: studio time and all of that. What's the expression like,
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  Speaker 1: crawl before you run? You know you could get there
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  Speaker 1: And I have done that. I have done in person podcasting,
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  Speaker 1: and I realized it's really expensive. There's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: logistics involved. I think setting up some sort of virtual
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  Speaker 1: system is really helpful in the beginning, and it allows
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  Speaker 1: you to reach out to people from all over. You're
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  Speaker 1: not just set to your location. And again, the equipment
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  Speaker 1: for doing things virtually is very different. I'm gonna go
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  Speaker 1: ahead and link some of our favorite tools below. When
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  Speaker 1: it comes to mics. If you're using like your computer
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  Speaker 1: to record or your desktop, I love the Samsung Q
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  Speaker 1: to you. I'm gonna link that below. I also have
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  Speaker 1: told people like you can literally just film with a
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  Speaker 1: really high definition webcam. Again, when you're first getting started
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  Speaker 1: on your desktop, have good audio, have your webcam, and
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  Speaker 1: just start with that. You know, you can literally just
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  Speaker 1: start with that. And I said webcam obviously if you're
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  Speaker 1: doing video, But if you're doing it at home like
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  Speaker 1: I do, I just have my microphone and I have
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  Speaker 1: my webcam, and then I have wireless headphones. And I
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  Speaker 1: don't even have fancy wireless headphones. I just have like
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  Speaker 1: really cheap Amazon ones. Again, they're all in my storefront,
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  Speaker 1: so I will link those for you guys if you
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  Speaker 1: want to see what we're currently using for when I
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  Speaker 1: do my episodes with guests, and I do them virtually,
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  Speaker 1: that's what I use for them. Now. Again, if you're
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: already doing YouTube videos, you're shooting on your DSLR, you're
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: at a studio or whatever, then that equipment is obviously
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: something you probably already have access to if you need
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: recommendations on, just like regular content creation equipment. I have
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: that in my Amazon shop too, the cameras we use,
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  Speaker 1: the lights we use when we are shooting at home
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  Speaker 1: and not in the studio. Now, if you're going to
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: be filming your podcast, you also want to ask yourself, like,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: what's the easiest way to get it up and out
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  Speaker 1: there for you? So we currently use Riverside We use
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Riverside because it just makes it really easily from an
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  Speaker 1: editing perspective, from being able to invite guests. There's echo cancelation.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: There's a ton of aif like I think, there's this
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  Speaker 1: really exciting feature it just cuts out all your ums.
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  Speaker 1: I love that because I say a lot in some
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: of my podcast episodes we use Riverside. They also are
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: able to take the long form video and have you know,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: magic clips AI features that translate it to short form videos.
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  Speaker 1: So if you want to take clips from your podcast
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  Speaker 1: and use it on short form, Riverside has that capabilities
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: as well. They actually have this feature that I have
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: not tried yet. You could basically do your podcast live
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  Speaker 1: and invite your audience to come listen to the podcast
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: while you're filming it. So it's pretty cool because it's
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: like kind of having like a live studio audience. So
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: that's an interesting element as well, and that's something that
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  Speaker 1: you want to consider if you are doing guests that
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: you are bringing on to the episode. I find Riverside
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to be really good quality production when you are going
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: to our guests. Anytime I bring guests on the podcast,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: that's what I'm using now. I believe Riverside has a
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: hosting capability and distribution. We currently right now are using Speaker.
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  Speaker 1: I'll link that below for you guys as well. And
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  Speaker 1: Speaker is how we upload it to Spotify and to
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: iHeart and to Apple Podcasts. It is basically our distributor.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: It distributes and hosts our content for us. There's also
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: really great analytics inside of Speaker where I can see
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: my monthly downloads, my daily downloads, and it gives me
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: accessibility to stats and monetization as well, because you can
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: obviously be monetizing your podcast when it hits a certain
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: number of downloads. Now, speaking of guests, I do just
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  Speaker 1: want to share our process for how we get guests
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  Speaker 1: to come on and then what we do once we
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: get them on, because I do think that's an important
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  Speaker 1: part of the podcast puzzle. You know, you're going to
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: be pitching people to come on to you and speak,
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  Speaker 1: and then once they say sure, I'd love to be
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: a part of this, then you need to have systems
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: in place to make sure that flow happens from getting
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: them to say yes to recording and executing. So we
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  Speaker 1: pitch podcast speakers just like we do brand deals. Right,
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  Speaker 1: we have a company deck that we include. It's a
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  Speaker 1: very visual deck, and this is so when people do
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  Speaker 1: get our cold pitch, they're able to see who we
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: are in a glance, and a little bit about our podcast,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the episodes we make about us as a company, and
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  Speaker 1: it really helps give that speaker confidence and wanting to
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  Speaker 1: work with us because they're not just getting like a
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: random pitch. It's almost like they're getting our media kit
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  Speaker 1: without the things that I would include in a traditional
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: media kit. Right, So, if you're a creator and you're
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: putting together your podcast deck, you can use a lot
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of the information from your media kit, but you want
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: to tweak it because this is about like podcast guests,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: so you're not talking to brand, so you're probably including
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: some verges, like we'd love to have you on the podcast.
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  Speaker 1: Here are sample episodes, get to know my audience, here's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: my stats around my community. You know, you're going to
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: want a good active pitch deck to use when you're
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: pitching your guests, and obviously some sort of email pitch
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: template that you have generated to get guests interested. Whenever
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: I pitch guests, I actually think of like what I
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: would want to talk about with them and include those
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: ideas in my pitch. So if I'm pitching like a
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  Speaker 1: Pinterest expert, I'm going to say, here's three ideas that
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  Speaker 1: I would love the episode to be on, and then
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I'll say something in my pitch like, of course these
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: ideas are flexible, but you know, here's what I'm thinking,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and it kind of lets that guest know, like, here
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: are my pitch angles, right, here are some things I
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: want to talk about. And I found that we've had
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: pretty good success once the guest sees what the episodes
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: are about and they're able to see our pitch deck. Now,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: once the person says sure, we'd love to be on
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: your podcast, then it goes over to another process. And
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: this is where we have like a really nice onboarding
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: form you can use like Google docs or type form
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: or whatever you would need to send that like survey
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: to them. And this is where you're asking them, you know,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: for their headshot, you know a little bit about their business,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: their bios, so you can introduce them like things they
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: don't want to talk about. I have that and people
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: have said, hey, don't ask me about this, this or this.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: You know what they do want to talk about anything,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: you know, links for their business for their socials, so
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: that way it's all in one place. So when we
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: are uploading the episode, we have all their links, we
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: have everything needed. You know, we have their headshot as well,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: so that we can go ahead and make flyers or
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: social media content around it. So having some sort of
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: onboarding form once your guest says yes is also very
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: important to make the process as seamless as possible. We
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: also always let our guests know once the episode is live.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: I tend to wait like at the end of the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: day to let them know, or you can let them
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: know at the beginning. I don't think it matters. But again,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: this makes it really simple for them to share because
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: we include the link. And oftentimes when we have this
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: like email drafted, it's a template and we'll be like
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: your episode and we link the episode is live, like
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: thank you so much. You know, if you want to
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: share it, this is you know, the information, make sure
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to tag us and having some sort of email already
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: set for when we send it to the guests. Now,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: regarding the length of time of the episode, I would
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: say solo episode should be around twenty minutes because the
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: idea here is you're kind of getting on and building
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: this community with you where they want to listen to
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: you talk and you have value to add. Interestingly enough,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I've seen podcasts that do like five minute episodes, but
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: they do them every day, so it's kind of like
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: quick little bites, quick little tips, and people love that,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: I think on podcasts, so you have the freedom to
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: go long it's kind of like long form on YouTube.
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  Speaker 1: You really have that freedom to take your time, to
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: not have your wings clipped, and to be able to
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: share the value you want with your audience. If you're
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: doing a interview series, I usually keep mine under an
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: hour out of respect to my guests, but I've seen
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: episodes that are like an hour and a half and
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: people will listen. But just remember that you know length
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: of time in the podcast world, you are not cut off.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: You don't need to stick to a certain number. And
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: people who listen to you for twenty minutes, thirty minutes,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: forty minutes, mark my words, they care about you way
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: more than someone that watches you for thirty seconds. And
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: that's why podcasting is so powerful for true community building.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: So if you are a creator that's trying to build community,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: build trust, build authority, podcasting could be a really good
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: space for you to learn more about. I hope you
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: and enjoy today's episode. If you did, make sure to rate, review,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: and subscribe to our show and visit Sidewalkerdaily dot com
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: for more resources on all things influencer, marketing and social media.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Until next time,