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The First 5 Decisions You Need to Make When Starting a Podcast · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:00
  you Welcome back to Abby the Podcast Lady, the
• 0:08
  show for aspiring podcasters, business owners,
• 0:10
  coaches and creative visionaries who are ready
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  to start a podcast that actually sounds good
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  and makes sense for their life and business.
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  I'm Abby Graves, a podcast producer, an audio
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  nerd, and your go -to guide for making podcasting
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  feel less overwhelming and more doable. I've
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  helped everyone from cattle ranchers in Australia
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  to nonprofit directors in Minnesota get their
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  shows out into the world. And today I'm helping
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  you. This is our monthly tip and tool episode
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  where I walk you through one core concept or
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  strategy that you need to know if you're building
• 0:37
  a podcast from scratch or maybe even starting
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  one over, but a little bit smarter this time.
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  Today, we're talking about your first five podcasting
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  decisions. These are the foundational choices
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  that will shape everything from your content,
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  your consistency and getting clarity on these
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  now is going to save you so much stress in the
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  long run. So let's dive right in. The first decision
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  that you have to make is what is your podcast?
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  purpose. This sounds like a super basic question,
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  but it's one that people tend to just gloss right
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  over. When people decide they want to start a
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  podcast, they're really excited about it and
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  they should be for good reason. Starting a podcast
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  is fun. Starting a podcast is exciting, but starting
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  it without knowing what your podcast's purpose
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  is, is going to set you up for failure in the
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  long run. Why are you starting this podcast?
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  Is it to grow your business? Is it to build trust
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  with your audience? Is it to market a product
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  that you have? Is it to establish yourself as
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  a thought leader? Are you there to have conversations
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  that you're not hearing anywhere else? What is
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  the purpose of your podcast? Get crystal clear
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  on your why, because that's not just gonna influence
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  your tone, your guess, your format, but it's
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  also gonna really impact how you market your
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  show as well. If you're not sure what your podcast's
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  purpose is, here's something you can do to figure
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  it out super easily too. I love this method.
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  What you need to do is finish this sentence.
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  My podcast exists to help blank, with blank.
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  So fill in the blanks. My podcast exists to help
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  who with what. Maybe it's my podcast exists to
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  help new business owners build confidence in
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  their brand or voice, or my podcast exists to
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  help parents feel less alone in the messiness
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  of raising kids. Personally, this podcast, Abby
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  the podcast lady, my podcast exists to help people
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  like you, business owners and thought leaders
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  create podcasts that are sustainable and make
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  an impact. That's what I'm doing here with my
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  show. What are you doing with your show? My podcast
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  exists to help blank with blank. Fill in the
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  blanks, write it down, whatever your vision is,
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  jot it down on a piece of paper, say it out loud,
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  use that as your compass going forward. The next
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  decision you have to make for your show is what
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  is the format? What type of show are you creating?
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  There are a bunch of different formats that you
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  can go with for your show, and it all depends
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  on really the bandwidth you have for the amount
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  of time and energy you can put into creating
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  the show. Personally, my podcast is a solo podcast.
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  It's just me, the microphone. I'm teaching storytelling,
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  sharing updates on things. This I think is probably
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  the easiest format of podcasts to make because
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  you're not relying on another human's schedule
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  to line up with your schedule. Another format
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  that you can go with is an interview style podcast.
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  I actually did this for a while. My first podcast
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  was the small town tourist podcast where I would
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  go around and interview people about the cool
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  things that they were doing in their small towns.
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  This is where you bring guests on to share their
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  insights, their stories, their knowledge. They
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  get to use your platform to showcase what they're
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  doing, which is really cool. And it's a great
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  way to network. I strongly recommend it, especially
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  if you're trying to network with other like minded
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  people in your industry or in your niche. or
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  even branch outside of it. I love an interview
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  podcast. I think they're fantastic. When it comes
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  to actually listening to podcasts, I consume
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  a lot of interview based podcasts. It does get
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  a little hairy though, because you are at the
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  mercy of whoever you are interviewing. Now you
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  can set some hard boundaries with setting up
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  those interviews saying, hey, we only record
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  on Tuesdays at such and such time. If you can't
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  make that work, I'm sorry. We can't have you
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  on the show. You can be that way. You can be
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  a little rigid, but just know that you are going
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  to be limited as to who can be your interviewee
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  based on their schedule. So you got to be a little
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  bit flexible there, too, if you're going to run
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  an interview based show. Just something to keep
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  in mind. Another format of show is a co -hosted
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  show. This is your recurring partner that you
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  banter with. I love a good co -hosted show. One
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  of my favorites is The Bald and the Beautiful
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  with Trixie Mattel and Katya, two famous drag
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  queens who sit down and literally spend an hour
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  a week chatting about... absolutely nothing.
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  I listen every single week. I am religious about
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  my bald and the beautiful listening. And I love
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  a good co -hosted show. You just feel like you're
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  part of this special friend group. It feels very
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  intimate if it's done right. But again, you are
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  at the mercy of making sure that your co -host
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  and you have schedules that align where you can
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  record on a regular basis. So just something
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  to chew on there. Another format of show is a
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  narrative or a scripted show. Think like true
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  crime documentary style story. storytelling where
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  you're taking the listener on a journey from
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  the start of the story to the end. You're kind
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  of walking them through it. There might be a
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  little bit of a mix of maybe some like documentary
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  in there as well. I think a great example of
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  this would be Flightless Bird. They're actually
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  more of a hybrid show, I would say. And that's
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  another kind of format too, where you kind of
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  mix and match and cherry pick some of the best
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  parts of each format and make it your own show.
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  So Flightless Bird, as an example, they do an
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  opening where it is co -hosted. It is David Ferrier
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  and his is a producer slash co -host Rob where
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  they chit chat about whatever they're deep diving
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  with. And then they get into a documentary about
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  whatever they're exploring. One of the most recent
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  ones I listened to was they did deep dive on
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  blockbuster and their history in America or the
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  subway franchises, like the story behind that.
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  And then they kind of come in and out of it with
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  banter based on feedback from the documentary.
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  So that's kind of a cool way to go about it as
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  well. Choose the format that fits your strengths.
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  your schedule and your audience's needs. Remember,
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  it can always change and evolve over time, but
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  just be mindful of what you want to start with
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  when you're launching your podcast. Know that
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  there's options out there and you can pave your
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  own path with whatever you want to do as long
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  as it's sustainable for you. That's the most
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  important part. The third decision you need to
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  make when it comes to starting your podcast is
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  frequency. Let's talk rhythm here. Are you doing
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  a weekly podcast? Are you doing a biweekly podcast?
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  Are you doing a monthly podcast? This podcast
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  you're listening to right now, this one comes
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  out on the first and third Thursdays of the month.
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  I have the bandwidth currently to make two podcasts
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  a month for myself. I'm busy making podcasts
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  for 10 other clients every single week. So I
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  don't have time to put out an episode every single
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  week right now. And that's okay. I'm doing what's
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  consistent and sustainable for me. So I do the
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  first and third Thursday of month. So far, so
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  great. It's working out well for me. Do what
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  works for you. The truth of the matter is, consistency
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  matters more than frequency. If your life only
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  allows for one episode a month, that is totally
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  okay, as long as your audience knows what to
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  expect. and you stick to it. I have a perfect
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  example of this. One of my clients, her name
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  is Megan. When we first started making her podcast,
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  it'll be, oh gosh, we're creeping up on season
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  three of that already. I'm super excited for
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  her. When we first started, she had four kids
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  at home under the age of 11, 11 or 12. And her
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  youngest was two years old. Her oldest was just
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  starting to go into the teen years. She did not
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  have time for a weekly episode. That was just
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  not... It was just not doable for her. So she
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  said, I want to try podcasting for a year, but
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  I'm only going to put out an episode every other
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  week. And I said, OK, if you can make that work
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  for you, if that's sustainable for you, I am
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  here to be your producer. I am here to make sure
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  that you get an episode out every other week.
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  And we just let the audience know that that is
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  what they can expect from you. And here's the
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  thing. We got six months into her making her
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  podcast every other week. And I was getting feedback
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  from people in person saying, I love Megan's
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  podcast. I just wish she would put it out every
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  single week. And I'm like, I know it's a great
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  show. She's got a great message to share, but
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  she just doesn't have the bandwidth to put out
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  an episode every single week right now. And that's
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  OK. And that audience was understanding of her
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  not having the bandwidth to put out an episode
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  every week. But they were appreciative of the
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  content that they were getting, and they knew
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  to listen for it every other week. Season two
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  rolled around. Megan decided that she was in
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  a place with her career and her family to be
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  able to put on an episode every single week.
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  So she switched to every single week and she
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  has just taken off like a rocket from there and
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  her numbers are looking so good. I'm so proud
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  of her. We have successfully put on an episode
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  every single week. We have not missed a beat
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  on that and I am so excited that she did what
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  she needed to do in order to be successful at
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  her craft. I think that's the most important
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  part. Set yourself up for success early. Do what
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  you can. Don't stretch yourself too thin and
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  make sure that you're communicating with your
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  audience what they can expect from you. I think
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  that is a huge part of this. Consistency matters
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  more than frequency. You'll hear me say it. 10
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  trillion times. That's not even a number, but
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  you'll hear me say it that many times because
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  I truly believe that you should just do what
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  you're capable of. The fourth decision you have
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  to make when you're starting your podcast is
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  what is your voice and your vibe? Now, those
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  are two things, but I think that they tie together
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  really well, so we're going to lump them together
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  into one decision. This is where your show starts
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  to feel like you. You put your own flavor onto
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  what you're doing. What tone are you going for?
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  Do you want your show to feel educational? Do
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  you want it to be inspiring? Is it a fun and
• 9:53
  casual show? Is it deep and reflective? Are you
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  really trying to motivate people? Is it high
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  energy? Your podcast is an extension of you,
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  and your audience is going to keep coming back
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  to it because it feels authentic if you're really
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  being yourself. If you try to be someone you're
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  not, that never works out. It doesn't matter
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  what you're doing podcasting in your job. You
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  got to be you. The most important thing is to
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  be yourself. So an exercise I would love for
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  you to do when you're making this decision is
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  I want you to get a pen and paper or your notes
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  out on your phone, just something to jot a few
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  things down. I want you to sit there and pretend
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  that you have a friend who's known you your whole
• 10:29
  life, who is introducing you to someone you have
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  never met. Let's say you're at a networking event
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  or a happy hour, something like that. You're
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  with your friend and one of their friends comes
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  up and says, Hi, my name is Bob. What's your
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  name? You introduce yourself. You have a nice
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  little chit chat. Say you sit there and you have
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  a drink and you chit chat. chat for 15, 20 minutes,
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  that person walks away. What are the five words
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  they would use to describe you? Because let's
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  face it, you're meeting someone for the first
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  time, chances are good you're trying to give
• 10:56
  them a good first impression of who you are,
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  what you do, what you're all about. They're going
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  to have that impression in their head and they
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  should be able to pull five words to describe
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  you. What are those five words? When you have
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  those, then you kind of have a benchmark of like,
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  oh, okay, I'm going to be trying to introduce
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  myself to people over and over and over because
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  you never know what podcast episode they're going
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  to be starting on. Right. So I want you to use
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  those five words as the way to set your voice
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  and your vibe. What are you going for? I always
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  try to be happy. I try to be upbeat. I try to.
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  be an expert in my field, that's something that
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  I'm very passionate about. Passion is another
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  word that I think people would use to describe
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  me. Try to get those five words down and use
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  those. You don't have to hit all five every single
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  episode or every single time, but if you can
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  hit... Two or three of them every time. I think
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  you're sitting good for setting the voice and
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  vibe of your show. And something to remember
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  is that you can always tweak and change things
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  down the road. Your first episode is probably
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  going to be a little cringy. You're probably
• 11:53
  going to hate it when you look back on it because
• 11:55
  you're still trying to find your voice and your
• 11:57
  vibe. Don't worry. You can always change things
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  down the road. You're going to get better at
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  this. I promise. And the fifth decision you have
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  to make when starting your podcast is what does
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  your tech setup look like? Now, you might have
• 12:08
  noticed a little twinkle in my eye if you're
• 12:10
  watching the video version of this. I'm not going
• 12:13
  to go super deep into gear right now because
• 12:15
  we're going to cover that in a future episode.
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  Actually, multiple future episodes. I am very
• 12:20
  passionate about audio gear. I always say that
• 12:23
  I started my business as a podcast producer,
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  so I had an excuse to buy a bunch of technology.
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  I just freaking love it. But we're going to cover
• 12:31
  that in a later episode. We'll make a few basic
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  decisions right off the bat though about your
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  tech stack that you're using to make your podcast.
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  Now, you're definitely going to want a microphone.
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  Obviously, I use a Rode PodMic USB most of the
• 12:45
  time. That's actually what I'm using to record
• 12:47
  this right now. I actually have a pretty simple
• 12:49
  setup for the video I'm making today. It's just
• 12:52
  my laptop and my pair of headphones and my Rode
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  PodMic USB. Riverside Studio subscription affiliate
• 12:59
  link down in the show notes below. Shameless
• 13:02
  plug, but you know what? I love it. A simple
• 13:05
  USB mic is going to take you a long way. And
• 13:08
  I'm a huge fan of the Rode PodMic USB because
• 13:11
  it's not only a USB mic, but it's also an XLR
• 13:14
  mic as well. So it can grow with you as your
• 13:16
  tech setup changes. Now, another thing you're
• 13:18
  going to need to record is recording software.
• 13:21
  Like I mentioned, I am using Riverside. I'm a
• 13:23
  big fan of the Riverside platform. I think it's
• 13:25
  a great way for people to record and edit their
• 13:27
  content. They do a great job of generating show
• 13:30
  notes and making clips and all that sort of stuff.
• 13:32
  And I think it's user friendly. as well. I'm
• 13:33
  a huge fan of Riverside. You can also use things
• 13:36
  like Zoom or Squadcast. Another thing you can
• 13:39
  do is a simple USB mic into your cell phone.
• 13:42
  Chalker, I know, you could just use your cell
• 13:44
  phone and record it like a normal video. Weird,
• 13:48
  right? Or the voice memos app if you're not doing
• 13:50
  a video version. There is some really low barriers
• 13:53
  to entry when it comes to podcasting, and there's
• 13:56
  plenty of options out there. And I'm sure we'll
• 13:58
  go in depth in a future episode on that. But
• 14:00
  a microphone and recording software is a great
• 14:04
  place to start. Some other things that you can
• 14:06
  think about right now are editing tools. You
• 14:08
  can use free services like GarageBand or Audacity.
• 14:12
  I also use Descript for editing. I think that's
• 14:15
  a great one. There's a little bit more. of a
• 14:17
  learning curve with that one versus Riverside
• 14:19
  or another thing you can do, outsource it entirely,
• 14:23
  hire a podcast producer. That's what I do for
• 14:25
  a living. That's what I do for. All of my clients,
• 14:28
  none of them want to learn how to edit or use
• 14:30
  editing tools. They hire me to take care of that
• 14:33
  for them. There's plenty of people out there
• 14:34
  that are willing to edit your podcast and at
• 14:37
  pretty fair prices, too. Another thing you're
• 14:39
  going to need to get your podcast out into the
• 14:41
  world is a hosting platform. I am going to go
• 14:44
  way in depth with this in a. future episode because
• 14:48
  I feel very passionately about hosting platforms,
• 14:51
  which is like the most nerdy thing to say, but
• 14:54
  it's so true. I personally am a big fan of RSS
• 14:58
  .com. It is a RSS feed and it is great for analytics.
• 15:03
  It is great for distribution. They make it so
• 15:05
  easy. You can get your podcast to places like
• 15:07
  Spotify, Apple, Amazon music, all those places
• 15:10
  with a simple click of the button. They make
• 15:12
  it so incredibly easy. I do have clients who
• 15:15
  are also hosting. through Buzzsprout, Spotify
• 15:18
  for podcasters, or no, they switched it to Spotify
• 15:20
  for creators now. There's a bunch of different
• 15:23
  hosting platforms, but I am a huge fan of RSS
• 15:26
  .com. I think they got great customer service
• 15:29
  as well. So if you're just getting into this,
• 15:31
  I would strongly recommend looking into RSS .com.
• 15:35
  I have links down in the show notes to check
• 15:36
  out RSS and my affiliate there as well. Now,
• 15:38
  if all of these words are sounding like absolute
• 15:41
  gibberish to you, that is okay. You are learning.
• 15:44
  You are starting. You got to start somewhere.
• 15:46
  And I would be happy to elaborate on anything
• 15:49
  that you would like some more clarity on when
• 15:50
  it comes to the tech setup decisions that you
• 15:53
  have to make. Drop your comments down in the
• 15:55
  comments below or shoot me an email. Get in contact
• 15:58
  with me through my website. I'd be happy to answer
• 15:59
  any questions that you have, because I really
• 16:02
  want to be a resource for you. I want to make
• 16:04
  sure that you are able to start your podcast
• 16:06
  and feel confident doing so. So do not hesitate
• 16:09
  to reach out to me with anything that you might
• 16:11
  be curious about, because I like help. That's
• 16:13
  why I do what I do. So let's wrap this up here.
• 16:16
  Let's go over those five decisions you need to
• 16:18
  make in order to get your podcast started. Why
• 16:21
  does your podcast exist? What's your format?
• 16:23
  What's your frequency? What's the vibe you're
• 16:26
  going for? And what do you need to get your tech
• 16:29
  squared away in order for you to hit record as
• 16:32
  soon as possible? I want you to take 20 minutes
• 16:34
  after this episode, jot down the answers to those
• 16:37
  questions that I just asked you. And let's make
• 16:40
  sure that you are ready to start your podcast
• 16:42
  with confidence and be able to keep doing it
• 16:44
  consistently, because that is the most important
• 16:46
  part. You're no longer just dreaming about having
• 16:49
  a podcast. You're actually building it. And answering
• 16:52
  those five questions is going to be a great foundation
• 16:55
  to build upon. I want to thank Thank you so much
• 16:57
  for listening to this episode of Abby the Podcast
• 16:59
  Lady. If this episode helped you feel more confident
• 17:01
  or clearer, I'd love for you to hit that follow
• 17:03
  button or subscribe button, depending on whatever
• 17:05
  listening platform you're listening on. Leave
• 17:08
  a five star rating in review and share this episode
• 17:10
  with someone else who's dreaming about launching
• 17:12
  a podcast as well. And if you're ready to make
• 17:14
  your show a real deal, full -blown production,
• 17:17
  I am taking new podcast production clients as
• 17:20
  well. You can find out more about working with
• 17:21
  me at abbygravesproductions .com. I will catch
• 17:25
  you next time.