The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Podcast

Podcasting is now mainstream. And suddenly, everyone wants to start a podcast. But not everyone starts a podcast with realistic expectations.
 
Unless you’re already as popular as Gary Vaynerchuck, you’re likely not going to make it to the iTunes New and Noteworthy List overnight. 
 
Hate to break it to you, but that’s really hard to do within a short period of time unless you have a large team helping you pump out multiple episodes a week.  This week, I spoke to an expert on all things podcast related. The goal of our conversation? Addressing all the damaging myths and fears about starting a podcast.
 
If, after listening to this episode, you still want to start your own podcast, you’re likely not doing it for all the wrong reasons.
 
What this episode covers:

• The story behind Megan’s business, One Stone Creative
• What Megan loves about working with a former colleague and friend of hers
• The software that Megan and her team uses despite the fact they’re not all based in the same locations
• What Megan wishes she could have changed in the beginning: focusing exclusively on revenue generating activities, rather than creating a ton of content before she had a ton of clients.
• Megan’s advice on what makes a professional podcast “good”: making the best of the content you already created and the network you already have. And why that’s so important…
• Why…if your goal isn’t to make podcasting a hobby, you need to figure out how it integrates with every other element of your business.
• The reality of podcasting: “it’s a long-term game, not a short-term game.” And what that means in terms of how you should measure results.
• The only exception to that rule? If you already have a huge community, then yeah sure…the misleading articles online about “becoming a podcasting superstar in your first week” aren’t entirely incorrect.
• What’s required if you don’t have a big community already. Yes, you can get results from it, but there’s a bit more work required.
• Why Megan’s clients aren’t necessarily shocked when they find that building an audience is a lot of work, when you create content.
• One of the most important parts of podcasting: the content promotion stage, and ways to get results out of that.
• How to deal with one of the hardest truths about podcasting: “it’s more work than is actually fair,” if you are dealing with the reality of having a small team or no team.
• The importance of setting your expectations as a podcaster, in terms of the promotion plan, organizing and recording episodes, etc.
• Megan’s recommendation for independent small business owners with podcasts: plan to spend an hour promoting it once it’s live.
• Megan and I both admit we’re lucky: I took a course on Audacity when I was in university, and she knows someone with a radio broadcasting background. But what do you do if that’s not something you have access to?
• The importance of working through the technology aspects that are confusing you, one bit at a time.
• Why it’s so important to give yourself time for audio editing, especially if there’s only you doing it, and you don’t know how. Megan and I agree that YouTube is jam-packed with helpful resources.
• The importance of good mic positioning.
• Why you can’t get away with bad audio anymore.
• Although it sounds harsh, it is also true. If you don’t know who your audience is, don’t start a podcast!
• The importance of participating in podcasting-focused communities and checking things out.
• Our favourite podcasting online communities. Megan recommends the She Podcasts group and the Podcast Movement Group, along with the Podcast Editor’s Club. I recommended Podcast Bay.
• One Stone’s Podcast resources: the story behind it and the process that went into making it.
• The importance of investing in a good mic and the brands Megan recommends.
• Why listening to podcasts and analyzing them as you listen can really help inform the structure you choose for your show.
• Megan’s belief in the intimacy of audio.
• The most important question to ask yourself if you feel any form of anxiety about it: is podcasting where you want to be spending your time?
• Why, despite the fact that the quality of your audio can increase with time, it’s important to keep in mind that the audio will reflect on you and your business.
• Other important considerations: your confidence, before inviting your first guest.
• The products that the One Stone team is working on, such as how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest.
• The most important words that describe One Stone: empathetic, concierge, and innovative and why that’s the case.
• Why the most important quality of One Stone is caring about the success of clients. They do the interviews; One Stone takes care of everything else.

 
About Megan Dougherty:
 
Megan Dougherty is the co-founder and CEO of One Stone Creative, a multi-media content agency specializing in podcast production for businesses. She lives just outside of Ottawa, Canada with her partner, a lazy cat and hordes of belligerent houseplants. When she's not planning podcast strategies she likes to read, watch period dramas and painstakingly create from scratch items that are easily and inexpensively available in any store. 
 
Where you can find Megan Online:
 
Twitter: @MeganTwoCents
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/doughertymegan/ 
Website: OneStoneCreative.net
 
Megan also wanted me to mention a new service that she just started offering. You can learn about it via Podacsttobook.com.
 
How you can follow this podcast (and learn more about its host)
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