How To Start A Podcast For Free: Step By Step Tutorial For Beginners
You wanna start your own podcast?
But you don't have any money to invest in expensive equipment and softwares?
Don't worry because lm going to share with you how you can start your own podcast today for free without any fancy resources.
After reading this post, you will be able to go out there and start your own podcast show using some of the tips shared in this post.
So read till the end if you want to learn more about this topic.
What You'll Learn:
Without further ado, let me jump straight into the nitty-gritty.
1. Choosing A Topic
The first step to get started with podcasting is to choose a topic.
Obvious, you don't wanna be that type of guy who tries to talk about everything since there is infinity amounts of topics out there.
So you should pick a topic right from the start so that you'll know exactly what you'll be focusing on when you launch your podcast.
This also helps in finding the right audience for your podcast show since people likes to know exactly what you talk about before following your show.
Now most people overthink about this stage since they may not be very clear about their ideal topic.
But l always recommend people to pick a topic which they are passionate about so that you wont be bored along the way.
Also, passion motivates you to keep going even when no one is listening to your podcast since you wont be driven by getting listeners, but rather sharing your message.
Another pro tip is that you should not pick a topic that is too narrow because you might run out of ideas within few months.
But at the same time, your topic should not be too broad because you might fail to attract your ideal audience.
You should find a topic that is within a sweet spot between these 2 extremes.
2. Coming Up With Your Show Title & Description
Ok, so let's assume that you have chosen your topic, its now high time to come up with a name for your podcast show.
When choosing a name, l highly recommend that you pick something which describes your podcast a little bit.
A good example is the ‘Entrepreneurs On Fire’ show by John Lee Dumas.
By reading this name, people will clearly know that this show is targeted to serve entrepreneurs.
This makes it easy for people to find you when scrolling through a large number of podcast shows on Spotify or Apple Podcast.
But l have seen some people who uses their own names as their podcast names e.g. The Tim Ferris Show.
This is also a good strategy as long as you believe that people will find your show.
Another pro tip is to utilise keywords in writing your show description so that your show is findable on platforms like Apple Podcast.
The reason being that podcast platforms are search engines in nature.
This means that if someone types in a search phrase, these platforms will present the results based on relevancy i.e. they scan for various keywords that matches the search phrase.
However, you should not do keyword staffing in order to try to game the system since this is unethical.
But if done correctly, it can also be a great strategy to boost your rankings.
3. Branding & Artwork
Now that you have chosen a name for your podcast, its now time to come up with some branding for your show.
Branding helps you to stand out of the crowd as it helps in distinguishing yourself from the crowd.
McDonalds and KFC both sells fast foods but what distinguishes these 2 is their branding i.e. logos, banners, artwork, etc.
That's the same concept that happens with podcasting.
And the beauty part is that you can use free tools like Canva to create your own artwork for branding your podcast.
What l like about Canva is that it comes with a ton of premade templates which you can customise using the simple drag and drop editor.
The key is to create an artwork which is 3000 × 3000 pixels in size since it fits perfectly on most podcast platforms.
You can also watch some free YouTube tutorials if you want to learn how to use this tool as there is a ton of free videos out there.
However, if you want something that is more appealing, you can go to places like Fiverr or Upwork and you can hire a freelancer who can design the artwork for you.
These platforms are great as there is a ton of talented graphic designers who're really good at design and they charge low prices as well.
But my favourite one is a platform called 99 Designs.
What l like about this platform is that you can run a contest in order to allow different designers across the globe to submit their samples and you'll choose the your favourable sample.
And the cool thing about 99 Designs is that you can get a refund if you're not satisfied with the products hence your money wont disappear in thin air.
Thus, l highly recommend you to check out this platform if you have some few extra bucks to spend.
But if you’re bootstrapping, you can always utilise Canva as it is also good enough to get the job done.
4. Recording
Ok, so now that you have finished some preparation work, its now high time to get started with your podcast show.
This is the phase where you hit the ‘record’ button and start sharing your message.
Most people overthink this phase since they try to wait for the ‘perfect' time.
But l tell you that there's no such thing as ‘perfect' due to a number of factors which are beyond our control.
Most people say things like ‘l don't have fancy recording equipment or l don't have money to invest in a fancy software’.
But the thing is; you should just start using the few resources that you have and you can always upgrade and get better with time.
Most people see people like Pat Flynn or John Lee Dumas and they think that those guys started with all these fancy resources that they use today.
But that's not true. Those guys were also in the same shoes as you but they took the leap of faith even if the odds were against them.
You can find some cheap microphones on Amazon for less than a hundred bucks thus you don't need to stress about having an expensive mic.
Also, you can use free softwares like Audacity and GarageBand or maybe Ferrite if you're using a smartphone.
These are all free thus you wont need to stress about having expensive gear or softwares.
You can also find countless number of YouTube tutorials on how to use these apps hence reducing your learning curve.
5. Uploading & Launching
Ok, so lets assume that you have finished recording your audio files, what's next?
Its now high time to upload and launch your podcast.
Most people are familiar with Buzzsprout since it is the most famous podcast hosting platform right now.
Although this platform is great, is does cost some money.
But l have found another great platform called Podcasts.com which is 100% free to use.
Thus, you can upload your audio files to Podcasts.com and this platform allows you to share your files on various platforms like Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, etc.
Keep in mind that this platform is not as great as Buzzsprout but still good enough to get the job done when you don't have any money to invest.
But l always recommend people to upgrade to Buzzsprout once they start to grow their podcast.
6. Promotion
Most people thinks that their job is done when they press the upload button – but that's not entirely true.
You should try by all means to promote your podcast on various social platforms so as to get some audience.
The reason being that organic traffic from Spotify, Apply Podcast, etc might take time to get.
Thus, you should come up with your own promotional strategies outside these platforms in order to reach more people.
You can also reach out some ‘influencers' in your niche so that they can shutout your show to their audiences.
Although some might ignore you, you can get some initial boost from those who might accept your proposal.
Can You Make Money With A Podcast?
Podcasting is a great way to make money online as it is witnessed by people like Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, etc who're making huge amounts.
You can monetize your podcast through affiliate marketing whereby you partner with some big companies and you recommend their products and services to your audience.
If your audience purchases those products through your links, you will earn some commissions.
This is a great way of monetizing your podcast since you wont need to stress about creating your own products or any other related headaches involved in selling your own offers.
You just focus on recommending other people's products and services which are already selling on the market and you earn some commissions.
👉You can read this article if you want to learn more about affiliate marketing.
Another great strategy for monetizing your podcast is through paid sponsorships.
In this case, you will get paid for including some little commercials during your podcast episodes.
Companies are more than willing to pay you in order to get in front of your audience as they believe that they can get some customers from your audience.
Thus, big companies can reach out to you in order to run their ad commercials on your podcast show.
Lastly, you can choose to sell your own products if you have a passion for creating your own offers.
This can be in the form of video courses, pdf files, guides, merch, etc.
This is a great way of monetizing your podcast especially if you have a loyal audience of people who are willing to buy from you so as to support your show (raving fans).
Thus, you can also earn some big bucks by selling your own products as well.
Now l have to clarify this;
You may fail to earn significant amounts in the initial stages of your podcast journey.
The reason being that the amount of money that you make has a direct relation with the size of your following (not always the case though).
You may not have a significant following during the initial days thus your earnings may be pretty low.
But once you manage to build an audience, you can earn a fortune from podcasting.
Wrapping Up
I hope that you have gained some valuable tips from this post since l tried by all means to include everything l know about this topic.
Obviously, this article would have been longer if l wrote every single aspect of podcasting.
But l tried to summarise the information in order to keep this post within the standard length so that you wont get bored reading it.
By utilising these tips, you can start your own podcast as soon as today since most of these tips and strategies can be implemented for free.
The key is to take massive action and just get started since there is no such thing as ‘perfect time'.
You should just get started using the few resources that you have and you can always get better with time.
Thus, take action, start your own podcast today and share your message with the world.
You never know, you may inspire thousands or even millions of people around the world.
Resources Mentioned
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