So you want to start a podcast?
Yeah for you!! Perhaps you have heard podcasting is very expensive. You are right! It generally is unless you know a few little secrets to creating and producing content in the podcasting world for $0. Yep, you heard me. It dId not cost me any start up or recurring fees to produce a podcast. All you need is your creativity, work ethic and passion for what you do.
I was where you are right now just a few years ago. I thought podcasting was an interesting space. With one year into podcasting, I have discovered it is everything I thought it would be and more. I love, love, love having conversations. In particular, I love having deep, soul filling conversations. I am not much of a surface small talker. I want to know what makes you tick, what were your biggest lessons in life and how did you overcome obstacles. Everyone has a story.
So here's what happened. I had been talking about the podcast space for awhile. My husband was listening to me talk about trying out this space for ages even though I had no idea how to podcast. For Christmas 2016 he gave me a Yeti mic (which is a really good quality mic). I was excited, but a mic does not make a podcast. Having no idea what to do with it, I kept it in its box and put it away. I kept thinking about that mic from time to time.
I also happened to be a follower of Gary Vaynerchuk, a successful online entrepreneur, who was talking about content creation to grow your business. He talked about podcasting and how a new app was changing the face of podcasting. Podcasting can cost around $500/month to host, edit and publish. Yikes! I wasn't interested in spending that kind of money on something I wasn't even certain about yet. The app Gary talked about was called Anchor and it was free. Now he had my attention. As 2018 was coming to a close, I knew 2019 was going to be the year I started podcasting if I could do it for free. And that is just what I did.
LEARNING TO RECORD
After the New Year in 2019, I finally took the mic out of the box and plugged its USB into my computer. I looked at the mic. I did not see a record button. I had to google how to record using a Yeti mic. I discovered I needed a recording software. I googled, "Does Microsoft have a recording software?" I discovered my computer had a basic recording software called VOICE RECORDER. I opened Voice Recorder with my Yeti mic plugged in. I saw the giant record button. Ooooh I was in business. I recorded Testing 1-2-3 then I couldn't figure out how to listen to the recording. So, I googled I cannot hear my recording on Voice Recorder. Turns out I have to unplug my Yeti mic to hear the recording.
Do see how basic my recording skills were? I was very challenged in this area. I just kept googling to figure it all out. You can do this too and you do not need a fancy mic to start!
SETTING YOUR PODCAST ACCOUNT
1. Set up the Anchor account. I did this on my Ipad. Super easy. Download the app. You create a username and password. You simply fill in all the info it requests. You cannot publish without all the info. Anchor will let you know what is missing.
You will need to:
Create an avatar which is basically a picture or artwork that will be displayed on the various podcast platforms. It becomes part of your branding. I retrieved a picture from my photos on my iphone, applied a filter to make the picture appear more dramatic and applied some text on it using Snapseed. Ta-da...easy peasy.
Name your podcast. Choose a name that reflects what your podcast will be about.
Complete account Settings. Fill in your personal info, website and create a custom url.
Complete podcast Settings. This is where you fill in the name of your podcast and provide a description of what your podcast is about. You also choose the category you want your podcast to be listed under on the various podcast platforms. Example: business, spirituality etc...
2. Upload Your First Recording. You have the option of creating a recording directly into the Anchor app. You do not need a fancy mic. You could record directly through your phone into Anchor. All your recordings are held in the Library. However you choose to record, be conscious of the audio quality. Speak clearly, no background noise etc...
I chose to do a separate recording on my computer which then requires an extra step to upload it to the Library. You will have to this through the desktop website. I like this option better because you will always have a hard copy of your recording. If Anchor goes away suddenly, you may not have access to your content.
3. Build your Podcast. Anchor has a super easy podcast builder platform shown below. We chose to create two intros for our podcast. There is a standard recording that introduces the show generally and a second recording that specifically gives the listeners a heads up on what that particular episode will be about then I add the main recording for the podcast. Finally I add an extro that we recorded which tells people how they can get in touch with us. There are 4 individual recordings in one episode. Click save. You have build your first podcast episode.
You get to decide what you want your episode to look like. This is where your creativity will come into play. You could decide you just want your recorded conversation added to the episode. You can add music to the recordings which is all available in Anchor. Be creative. You decide.
4. Publish. Once you have recorded and built your podcast, it is time to hit the publish button. This is the exciting part! This is what you need to know, however. It will take up to a week before your podcast will be approved on the various platforms. Publish your first episode at least a week in advance to ensure there are no hiccups with it before you start marketing a launch date. In fact, I would encourage you to have a couple episodes recorded especially if you are committing to a weekly podcast.
After you hit publish, the approvals will start rolling in. Currently, there are 10 platforms that Anchor publishes to including the big ones like Google, Apple and Spotify. Note: Apple was the last to approve Soul Sister Conversations.
That is it! These are the basic steps to creating a podcast on the free platform Anchor. It is awesome to know you can create content and broadcast it out to the world for free. Take advantage of it as it is free for now. It is more important that you get your content out. Do not wait for it to be "perfect" as it will never happen, Create and produce.
Good luck with your journey. If you decide to create a podcast, I would love to hear about your experience. If I can help in anyway, reach out.
To your continued growth,
Dana Lloyd
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