Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / The Easiest Way to Start a Podcast in 2026: Micro Podcasting

Transcript

The Easiest Way to Start a Podcast in 2026: Micro Podcasting · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:06
  Hello and welcome back to another episode of
• 0:08
  Abby the Podcast Lady. We've been having some
• 0:10
  really great guests join us lately, but today
• 0:13
  it is just you and me hanging out for this episode
• 0:16
  because I have something really exciting I'm
• 0:19
  so pumped to tell you all about. So I just got
• 0:21
  back from PodFest 2026. It happened, I would
• 0:25
  say, in beautiful, sunny Orlando, Florida, but
• 0:28
  honestly, the weather was not that great. There
• 0:30
  was some major winter weather that hit Orlando.
• 0:33
  We went to Disney the day before PodFest. started.
• 0:35
  And I was walking around in shorts, but I'm a
• 0:38
  Minnesotan. So I thought it was really nice.
• 0:40
  But everyone there was in like mittens and winter
• 0:42
  hats. And it was like 65 degrees. It wasn't the
• 0:45
  warmest. And then it just kind of got a little
• 0:46
  bit cooler from there. Either way, the weather
• 0:48
  was not what we were there for. We were there
• 0:50
  for podcasting and learning and networking and
• 0:53
  growing. And I was even there to speak at PodFest.
• 0:56
  I talked about my remix strategy that profitable
• 0:59
  podcasters use. If you haven't checked that out
• 1:01
  on YouTube yet, you can see my speech from PodFest.
• 1:04
  Be sure. that you do that. But while I was down
• 1:06
  there, I was there with one of my clients, Liz
• 1:08
  from Rudded Agritourism. That is her podcast
• 1:11
  that I produce for her. And she was there to
• 1:13
  speak on a panel and she was pitching her product,
• 1:16
  Farmers to Florists, at a pitch fest that was
• 1:19
  happening at the conference. And we were just
• 1:21
  chit -chatting. We always seem to have our best
• 1:23
  ideas when we're at these things and in these
• 1:25
  environments where ideas are just being thrown
• 1:27
  around and things are percolating and you're
• 1:29
  seeing needs and gaps in the industry. And we
• 1:31
  were talking and I was just kind of realized.
• 1:34
  that I love helping people make podcasts, which
• 1:37
  that's not a new realization. That is something
• 1:39
  that I have been passionate about for a very
• 1:42
  long time. But what I realized is I'm not in
• 1:45
  everyone's price point. And you're going to hear
• 1:47
  that from people in business all the time. You
• 1:50
  can't appease everyone. You can't be in everyone's
• 1:52
  price range. That's not realistic. That's just
• 1:54
  not how business works. But I was trying to drum
• 1:57
  up something where I could help people get started
• 1:59
  on their podcasting journey and also be affordable
• 2:02
  for them and be... their price range, no matter
• 2:04
  what level of help that they're needing with
• 2:06
  their show. So I came up with the concept of
• 2:09
  a micro podcast. This is not what I create for
• 2:13
  myself. This is not what I create for any of
• 2:15
  my clients currently. This is something that
• 2:18
  is a little more specific to maybe more of the
• 2:22
  coaching, the author, the thought leader industry.
• 2:25
  A micro podcast, in my eyes, is a podcast that
• 2:29
  is 10 minutes or less and still provides a bunch
• 2:31
  of value and a also provides you with social
• 2:33
  media content and builds SEO for your website
• 2:36
  and just does a bunch of great stuff for you
• 2:39
  essentially for a minimal commitment and you
• 2:41
  see a huge impact from it. So I'm really excited
• 2:44
  to tell you about my new micro podcast idea.
• 2:48
  So I work with a lot of business owners and speakers
• 2:51
  and coaches and authors and creators, and they
• 2:54
  all know that they should be creating content.
• 2:55
  And I hear from other people in those industries
• 2:58
  all the time going, you know, I know I should
• 3:00
  be doing this. I know I should have a podcast.
• 3:01
  I know that that's a logical next step for me.
• 3:04
  I know I've been thinking about doing this for
• 3:06
  a long time, but I just don't know where to start,
• 3:08
  how to start. I don't know if I have the time,
• 3:10
  energy, and money to commit to doing something
• 3:12
  like this. But these people also know that consistency
• 3:15
  really matters. They know that showing up builds
• 3:18
  trust with their audience. They know that using
• 3:21
  their voice is such a powerful tool. But they're
• 3:23
  busy people. They're running businesses. They're
• 3:25
  serving clients. They're juggling family life
• 3:27
  as well on top of all of that. And the idea of
• 3:30
  committing... to a full -scale podcast with long
• 3:32
  episodes and guests and editing and planning
• 3:35
  and promotion, it just feels like way too much.
• 3:38
  And I get it. It can be very overwhelming. It
• 3:41
  took me a long time to be able to get to a point
• 3:43
  where I could even make my own podcast. I was
• 3:46
  too busy making it for other people. But here's
• 3:49
  the thing. You don't need a 60 -minute podcast
• 3:51
  to stay top of mind with your target audience.
• 3:55
  You just need clarity, you need consistency,
• 3:57
  and you need something that you can actually
• 3:59
  keep up. So this is built around a really simple
• 4:05
  idea. It's just short episodes with a clear message,
• 4:08
  and then I handle the done -for -you production
• 4:10
  elements. It's podcasting, but super simplified.
• 4:14
  Instead of asking yourself to record long episodes
• 4:17
  and schedule interviews, this is all built around
• 4:19
  short, focused episodes, answering specific questions,
• 4:23
  solving specific problems. Think under 10 minutes.
• 4:26
  It's just one main idea. It's one clear task.
• 4:29
  takeaway. It's something that you can record
• 4:31
  in one sitting, even during a busy week, and
• 4:34
  then I can take it from there. I can help you
• 4:36
  make it. And honestly, you could probably sit
• 4:38
  down and get a month's worth of shows done and...
• 4:41
  an hour, two hours most. It is designed to be
• 4:44
  so simple and so straightforward and make podcasting
• 4:47
  easy and accessible. So let me kind of explain
• 4:49
  what this actually looks like. With my micro
• 4:52
  podcasting package that I put together, you get
• 4:54
  one episode per week. So that's four episodes
• 4:57
  a month, sometimes five. We all know how the
• 4:59
  calendar plays out. And each episode is fully
• 5:01
  edited and produced. And the final show is no
• 5:04
  longer than 10 minutes. So it's just a little
• 5:06
  snippet, a little brain teaser, a little something
• 5:08
  to really super serve your audience in a really
• 5:11
  fast and efficient way. From that same episode
• 5:14
  you get every week, we're also going to create
• 5:16
  one short form vertical video. So like a reel
• 5:18
  that you can post to Instagram and TikTok and
• 5:20
  Facebook and YouTube Shorts and all those good
• 5:22
  places. And then we're going to pull a quote
• 5:24
  from the transcript, preferably one that is like
• 5:27
  super specific to your target audience and super
• 5:30
  shareable and super relatable. And then we'll
• 5:33
  turn that into a static quote graphic. We'll
• 5:35
  also make a Pinterest pin because Pinterest is
• 5:37
  huge right now for discoverability. especially
• 5:39
  for podcasting. If you are not on Pinterest,
• 5:42
  what are you doing with your show? Seriously,
• 5:44
  that is a different topic for a different day,
• 5:46
  but I digress. And then we also handle the uploading,
• 5:49
  the show notes, and the RSS speed management
• 5:51
  for you for this podcast, just like we do with
• 5:54
  all of our other clients at Abby Graves Productions,
• 5:57
  because that is just one extra step that I can
• 5:59
  easily handle and you don't need to worry about.
• 6:01
  So every week you show up, you talk for a few
• 6:04
  minutes, and then your content gets turned into
• 6:06
  a nice little content ecosystem. system that
• 6:09
  is easy for you to deliver and me to make deliverables,
• 6:13
  essentially. And this is the part that I think
• 6:15
  it's really important to really drive home. It's
• 6:17
  not about doing more. This is about finally having
• 6:20
  a simple, sustainable rhythm that you can keep
• 6:23
  up with. It keeps you accountable. Your consistency
• 6:26
  builds trust with your audience. You build authority.
• 6:29
  And then that authority builds opportunity. And
• 6:31
  this is something that I think anyone can actually
• 6:34
  stick with. When you just have to carve out a
• 6:36
  tiny little window of time and get all that content
• 6:38
  from one little chunk of you talking and answering
• 6:42
  questions and really just being the expert that
• 6:44
  you are in your industry, I can see so much room
• 6:47
  for growth in every single industry. So I want
• 6:51
  to talk about kind of who this is really for.
• 6:53
  And I think that this is something that's really
• 6:55
  important because I even had a couple of discovery
• 6:57
  calls this week with people where I told them
• 7:00
  this idea and we realized it's probably not for
• 7:02
  them. They really liked the idea of it and they
• 7:05
  thought, wow, this is great, but it's just not
• 7:06
  for me. They wanted to do longer form interview
• 7:09
  content, that sort of thing. So this just really
• 7:11
  isn't serving their ideas, their businesses.
• 7:14
  I think this is perfect if you're a business
• 7:16
  owner who wants to stay visible, but you don't
• 7:18
  want a huge production commitment. You don't
• 7:21
  want a huge time commitment. I really see this
• 7:24
  being something that's awesome for speakers and
• 7:26
  coaches, realtors, creatives, or just like community
• 7:30
  thought leaders who don't really have a whole
• 7:32
  lot of extra time, but know that they should
• 7:34
  be showing up in front of their audience more.
• 7:36
  I also think it's perfect if you've been dabbling
• 7:39
  with the idea of podcasting, but you've been
• 7:41
  too scared to dip your toe into the pool to see
• 7:43
  how warm the water is. I think this is a great
• 7:45
  way to just kind of ease into it and see if this
• 7:48
  is something you really like and if it's something
• 7:49
  you want to expand on as well. It's also really
• 7:52
  perfect if you have a podcast but you want a
• 7:54
  lighter. easier format to support your content
• 7:57
  and marketing. If you just want something extra,
• 7:59
  maybe you have a different idea of how you want
• 8:01
  to go about marketing, this would be a really
• 8:03
  fun way to kind of weave that in and do something
• 8:05
  a little different and fun. Now, I want to be
• 8:08
  super transparent with you. I am going to have
• 8:11
  to be really diligent myself in this neck of
• 8:14
  the woods. Boundaries are going to be huge when
• 8:16
  it comes to something like a micro podcast. If
• 8:18
  you're stealing my idea and you want to do this
• 8:19
  for your production agency or you want to just
• 8:22
  try this on your own, Boundaries are key for
• 8:24
  everyone. We all need to learn these things.
• 8:26
  I'm still learning about boundaries. I'm a Minnesotan.
• 8:29
  I just want to help everyone. But boundaries
• 8:31
  are key in keeping this micro podcast truly micro
• 8:35
  because that's what keeps it simple and sustainable.
• 8:37
  Once you start doing things out of the scope
• 8:39
  of work on something like this, it is no longer
• 8:42
  a micro podcast. It is now officially a full
• 8:44
  -blown real -life podcast that's going to need
• 8:47
  a heck of a lot more work than you were probably
• 8:49
  anticipating. So my idea for this is to keep
• 8:52
  the raw recordings no longer than 12 minutes.
• 8:54
  I'm trying to keep the final episodes no longer
• 8:57
  than 10 minutes, and it's going to be just one
• 9:00
  of everything. One episode, one reel, one quote,
• 9:03
  one Pinterest pin. That's it. Like just super
• 9:06
  simple, super to the point. It still can be everywhere.
• 9:09
  It can be shared multiple times a week with just
• 9:11
  these single elements, but it's just keeping
• 9:14
  it more condensed, confined, and easy for...
• 9:16
  everyone to manage. Now, this does not include
• 9:18
  things like full YouTube video versions, blogs,
• 9:22
  social media scheduling, booking guests, and
• 9:25
  anything like that. This is meant to be light,
• 9:28
  and it's meant to be focused, and it's meant
• 9:29
  to be easy for not only you, but also you. person
• 9:33
  producing your podcast, which honestly might
• 9:34
  be you. A lot of people start out DIYing it.
• 9:37
  They don't have a full -on producer. So this
• 9:39
  is all about just keeping things simple and to
• 9:41
  the point and super serving your audience and
• 9:44
  letting them know that you're there to help them
• 9:46
  along their journey. So what does something like
• 9:48
  a micro podcast cost to produce? I am pricing
• 9:51
  this for my production services at $399 a month
• 9:55
  for my founding members. I would love to have
• 9:59
  10 micro podcast founding members Under my...
• 10:03
  Abby Graves Productions umbrella for $399 a month,
• 10:07
  taking advantage of this micro podcast package.
• 10:09
  Priced this in accordance with all of my other
• 10:12
  podcast production rates, which are no secret.
• 10:14
  I don't hide anything. So if you're ever wondering
• 10:16
  like, what is Abby actually charging to make
• 10:19
  podcasts for people? It's no secret. It is on
• 10:21
  my website, abbygravesproductions .com. You can
• 10:24
  see not only all the prices, but all the deliverables
• 10:26
  that are included with all my packages as well.
• 10:28
  And I have this one priced at $399 a month. my
• 10:32
  founder's rate. I would love to get 10 people
• 10:35
  signed up. Once I get those 10 people signed
• 10:36
  up, who knows where the price will go. It might
• 10:38
  go up. We'll see. It might stay right at $3 .99
• 10:41
  because I figure out that is kind of a good rate
• 10:43
  for everything. But that includes professional
• 10:45
  editing. That includes content made for you.
• 10:48
  It includes all of the guidance that you need
• 10:50
  to get this started because I don't like to let
• 10:53
  anyone flounder out in the world. I know what
• 10:55
  it takes to start a podcast. I know what it takes
• 10:57
  to do it right. I want to be that resource for
• 10:59
  people and that's all baked into the price. as
• 11:02
  well. So if you're interested in starting a micro
• 11:05
  podcast and you're like, I want Abby to do it
• 11:07
  for me. I don't even want to attempt to DIY this.
• 11:10
  Get one of those founders rates for $399 a month
• 11:13
  because I don't know what's going to happen with
• 11:15
  the price. Like I said, that's just what I'm
• 11:16
  starting at with what I have done in the past
• 11:19
  based on my experiences, based on the equipment
• 11:22
  I use to produce these things. I pay for so many
• 11:25
  subscription services that do so many different
• 11:27
  things, but I really want to... I want to see
• 11:30
  people succeed with this micro podcasting. I
• 11:32
  feel like this is something that could be really
• 11:35
  helpful for so many people. And I go to the Chamber
• 11:38
  of Commerce meetings in my town as often as I
• 11:41
  can. And we all get to do a 10 second introduction
• 11:44
  on Friday mornings. And I always say I'm Abby
• 11:46
  with Abby Graves Productions, and I make podcasting
• 11:49
  easy and accessible for everyone. And I feel
• 11:51
  like this micro podcast package is something
• 11:54
  that is really going to help make podcasting
• 11:57
  easy and accessible for everyone. It's really
• 11:59
  going to help you serve your people and your
• 12:02
  audiences in the best way possible. So if you
• 12:05
  have been dabbling with the idea of starting
• 12:08
  a podcast in 2026, I think this is a great way
• 12:11
  to get your foot in the door. And I would love
• 12:13
  to help you create this concept. Like I said,
• 12:16
  you can check out all my podcast production packages.
• 12:19
  You can check out this new micro podcast production
• 12:21
  package. It's all waiting for you. I have links
• 12:24
  in the show notes below or you can check out
• 12:26
  abbygravesproductions .com. And as always, I
• 12:30
  am so excited that you're here and you're wanting
• 12:32
  to learn about podcasting and you're along on
• 12:34
  this journey. And I am so excited to share our
• 12:37
  guest with you next week. You're really going
• 12:38
  to love it. He has a like brilliant concept for
• 12:41
  podcasting and doing it in a really fun way.
• 12:44
  And it's all about like bringing it. to people
• 12:45
  live so stay tuned for that because I have some
• 12:48
  ideas cooking in my brain for how we can make
• 12:50
  live podcasting a thing in 2026 as well so stay
• 12:53
  tuned for that episode next week thank you for
• 12:55
  listening to this episode this week and I will
• 12:58
  catch you next time