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Podcast Starter Guide

I’ve helped a number of friends start their podcasts. I continue to get questions about it from new folks, so I thought I’d create a page to explain what I’ve found works for me, but please note this might not be what works best for you.

My Equipment List

Remote Interviews:

In-person Interviews:

  • Microphones: Shure SM58-LC Cardioid Vocal Microphone (one for each person)
  • XLR Cables for Microphones: LyxPro Quad Series 6 ft XLR (Might need longer ones for a panel discussion)
  • Recording device: Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder. I opted for the premium version here because I plan to record panels and this will take up to 6 mic inputs with an adapter. You may not need this and can go with the H4 or similar style recorders.
  • SD Card for recorder: SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card
  • Microphone stands for longer interviews: Hamilton Nu-Era Tabletop Mic Stand. These are light (easy to travel) and extend height which is unusual for desktop stands but really helpful for various situations.

Here are my other setups:

  • How do you get guests: Due to the success of the podcast, I now receive pitches everyday for new guest, but in the early days I’d use tools like ContactOut to reach people on LinkedIn of other websites and find their contact info to invite them to be a part of the show.
  • Where you upload your files: Media hosting of MP3s and show notes / podcast cover art (3000 pixel x 3000 pixel artwork) and most important the RSS feed for podcast apps – Libsyn has been around a long time and I was using them until June 2019. I switched to Omny Studio and was using them until May 2023 and am now with Acast, who is helping me monetize my open ad inventory.
    • So much has changed since I began podcasting. Host have gotten better and more features are available for much cheaper now. The hosts that I’d now consider are Acast (my current host), Megaphone (owned by Spotify) and Red Circle. Acast and Red Circle are the most affordable for podcasters just starting out and not ready to advertisers or sponsors, but they are both hosts that you can grow into with more advanced offerings. Switching hosts is a real pain and I do not recommend it as someone that has had to switch twice now.
  • If you edit yourself: I used a free program call Audacity plus the MP3 Codec you will need to install.
    • I’ve used Barevalue for years. Upload my host and guest tracks, as well as, my intro recording and they send me back an edited podcast and show notes. I do provide them editing notes with each new episode.
    • I have used Share Your Genius, a great soup-to-nuts podcast production company. I’ve started partnering with them as of Feb. 2021 but that came to a close in Oct. 2022. I’m back to using Barevalue and a part-time producer, Sam!
  • Once you have a queue of episodes, it is time to list your podcast on Apple, Google Play, and Stitcher. Many other networks use Apple as their catalog source. There is a long tail of podcast networks to submit to. Most hosts now have easy submission processes on their platforms for all the major places to listen to podcasts.

These are the basics, if you want to go further…

If you want a podcast website, this is my wordpress (Siteground) hosting provider.

If you want to do the podcast to YouTube and Facebook page conversion, I was using Repurpose.io to automate the creation of videos from my podcast feed. It worked like a charm for years and then stopped working for me and could never get it going again, I then switched to using Headliner, which is not as automated, but you get a discount through OmnyStudio plans. Now with hosting at Acast, they have an automated YouTube Video creation tool that runs when a new episode drops and posts automatically. It is not as visually appealing but works and easy with automation.

If you want to improve SEO and YouTube search, you will want to do transcripts. There are a lot of companies here, but I’ve come to love the simplicity and ease of Rev.com. They automatically upload the captions to my YouTube videos which saves me a step.