Create a Podcast in 2024 with These 5 Simple Steps!

If you're wanting to start your own podcast from the very beginning, then you've come to the right video. Today I'm going to be breaking down how to start a podcast in 2024 in only 5 steps. We've been able to help multiple people film, produce, edit, and distribute their podcasts, which is what we do here at the Howdy Studio for other people who want to start a podcast. So step number 1 is figuring out what you actually want your podcast to be about. As well as your artwork and your title. Whenever coming up with what you want it to be about, I recommend picking something that you actually are interested in, or else it's going to be very hard for you to pick up the camera or pick up the microphone and start recording. When it comes to the artwork, don't overthink it. Make it simple. You take this example by Chris Lee, The Founder Podcast. You can see it's nothing crazy, just a picture of him and the title with his name. If you're wanting to create your own artwork, go to Canva and straight up type in podcast 'artwork templates.' There's gonna be thousands of options that you can start from. I would recommend tweaking it and making it your own, putting your own picture in there. Make sure it's high quality photo and you're set. When it comes to the title, don't overthink this either because you can always change it in the future. And make sure it at least somehow aligns with either your business or what you're trying to accomplish with the podcast, what y'all are going to be talking about. And make sure you have a target audience in mind before you even get into it. That way you're not shooting in the dark. So if you want to reach business owners, make it for business owners, curated towards business owners. If you want to talk about politics, make sure it's curated towards politics. Again, don't overthink it. You can always change it in the future. The second step that you need to do to accomplish starting a podcast is figuring out what software that you need to get it done. So there are tons of options as far as softwares that you can distribute your podcast from. The one we use in-house in studio is actually Red Circle. We're not sponsored or anything like that, but we just genuinely love their product. There are free versions and there are paid versions. If you're just a single podcaster, you can get away with the free version. I think it limits you to one podcast, but that's plenty for most people. So now that you have the distribution software picked out, you're going to next you need a recording software or somehow to record your audio. Now, same thing here as the distribution platforms. There are tons of softwares available, free and paid, that you can use to record your audio. A few of them are Riverside, Podcastle, and even StreamYard. Again, all of these platforms have free options and paid options, so kind of do some research and see which one fits your needs the best. And if you have a MacBook, don't forget about the old trusty GarageBand because it's free and very reliable. For us here in studio, we mainly use Adobe products just because it fits our workflow a little bit better and we have more control over the audio and video side of things. But for 99% of people starting podcasts, these softwares will do just fine. Are you wanting to start your own podcast, but it's been kind of intimidating to get started? Whenever you think about all of the equipment like cameras, microphones, lights, and then you get into software that you have to buy, it gets overwhelming. Our mission here at Howdy Media with the Howdy Studio that I'm currently in is to make it as easy as possible for you to get creating. So if you want to start a podcast, a YouTube channel, if you want to film some short-form content for your social media, this is the place to do it. We have everything you need from cameras to microphones to lights. Everything. And not only do we have everything you need, but we have the skills to edit, produce, and distribute it directly for you. So if this is something you would be interested in, we're going to put the link in the description below, and we can't wait to work with you. So if you know of any softwares or platforms that are easier to use, more user-friendly, leave a comment down below and let us know which ones work for you. Because we're always trying to get better and we're always trying to help our clients find the best ways possible to get done what they need to get done. All right. Now, the fun part. Once you have logins to all of the softwares that you need, now let's talk gear. Now, I know this is a part for a lot of you guys that gets very intimidating, but let me break it down for you. There's a few different options when it comes to getting the audio and video aspects. Together for the podcast. So let's break down audio first. Being a podcast, this is the most crucial part of everything that you do from here on out. It's the audio. If it doesn't sound good, people usually don't stay to listen. Your first option for a microphone can be your iPhone. Yes, your iPhone. Everyone has one. If you straight up go into voice memos, hit record, and hold your phone up to your mouth, it'll sound great. And a lot of these platforms, once you upload it in there, have AI effects you can add on to it and it'll make it sound like a $300 or $400 mic just simply by using these tools. So another microphone which is connected via USB into your computer is actually the Samson Q2U. I believe it's about $70 right now on Amazon, and I'll leave that link in the description below for you to check out. And if you want a slightly better option that looks a little bit more aesthetic on camera, you can go with the Samson Q9U. All right, so I figured I would just show you guys real quick because this is what we use in studio. Samson Q9U, it runs for about $100 on Amazon as of right now. Again, the link will be in the description. They sound great. The only thing is that you're gonna have to get a boom arm or something to hold these up. So these also have an XLR output. And a USB output. So you can connect it to your camera if you have an XLR unit, or you can run it directly into your computer into one of the softwares we mentioned before. So those are some of the best audio options when it comes to microphones. But if you're really wanting to take your podcast to the next level, I would highly suggest doing video as well. If you're already talking into the microphone, might as well double dip and get a video as well. So here are 3 options when it comes to recording your video alongside your audio. So the first option is obviously again the iPhone because everyone has it. They have great cameras. When you're starting off, you don't need anything fancy. Just start recording. Now, if you do want to get a little bit fancier, we have 2 other options, and one of them is the Sony ZV-E10. Mark II that was recently released. I love these Sony cameras because you can directly plug it into your computer via USB-C and your softwares like StreamYard or OBS will recognize it and you can automatically pair it with your audio. Technically, that camera has a 13-hour recording limit, but it does overheat. I want to say around 2 hours, so be careful that you don't melt the insides. The third option that is a little bit pricier but is a beast of a camera, and it's the camera you're seeing right now, it's the cameras we use here in the studio, is the Sony FX30. It's part of their cinema line, but don't let the cinema words scare you. It's just a great camera. You never have to worry about overheating. There are fans on the inside that keep it nice and cool, and you can record up to 13 hours at a time. But don't film a 13-hour podcast, please. At the time of this video, the FX30 is coming in around $1,600 with just the body. I would say only get the FX30 if you have a bunch of extra cash laying around. So it's all fun and games whenever you have one camera and one microphone going into the same computer, but what if you have two people? Well, in this case, if you have multiple camera setups, multiple microphones, and there's a lot going on, you're going to want to get a switcher. And the one we use here in studio is the ATEM Mini Pro ISO. This device allows you to have 4 devices going into the switcher at one time, and it allows you to record on an external device. This way you don't have to worry about SD cards and piling everything together in post. I'll be doing another video explaining exactly how that thing works and how we utilize it here in studio in a future video. So stay tuned for that. All right, now for step number 4. Now that you have all of your software and distribution and equipment figured out and set up, now we move on to the 4th step. When you're first starting your podcast, I recommend shooting at least 3 of the episodes and uploading them at the same time because it shows you have a history of episodes and gives you a little bit more credibility when people are looking at your podcast. Next thing you want to do is make sure to maintain a consistent schedule of when you're releasing your episodes. So if you release every Monday at noon, make sure to continue to release your episodes every Monday at noon. Pick a schedule that works with you and is not going to overwhelm you because it's going to be less motivating for you to actually hit record. Having guests on your show is a good way to mix it up and bring different perspectives on and encourage conversation. So once you have your first 3 episodes up, then the last step, which Step number 5 is to actually promote your show online, because if nobody knows about your show, nobody will listen, nobody will watch. So the best place to actually start is your own social media pages. Most of you already have some sort of following, so utilize it. And even if it's your friends and family, let them know that you have the show so they can share it. One of the best ways to get the content from your long-form video into short form is utilizing a software called Opus Clips. You can upload the link from your YouTube video directly into Opus and hit Get Clips, and it'll give you about 20 to 30, depending on how long the video is, 20 to 30 great clips that you can use, cut up with captions. You can put B-roll in there. Opus has literally saved me hours of editing, so make sure to utilize that. And it's great because you don't have to have any experience with any video editing software. It just does it for you. So these are a couple of ways to kind of get your podcast out there whenever you're first starting. And a lot of people ask me, how do you actually make money, or how do you make it worth your time investing in all this equipment, investing in all of these softwares? And so one of my upcoming videos is actually how to monetize your podcast through creative ways like merch, local advertisements, and using it solely as a way to get in front of a CEO or a business owner in your area that could potentially turn into a client. So quick message from Howdy Media. We've actually started a Howdy Media Insiders group on Facebook where you can join completely free. In this group, you'll have exclusive access to the Howdy Media team, education resources, behind-the-scenes footage, and conversations with people who are like-minded and a bunch of them are small business owners and creatives just like you. Hit the link in the description to join the group. If you guys are interested in any of the equipment that I mentioned or any of the equipment here in studio, I actually filmed a video a couple of weeks ago and it's going to be right here. It's a studio tour of our Howdy Studio here in downtown Abilene. All of the equipment that you heard about today and on that video that we use every single week for our podcast It's going to be in the description as well. And these links actually promote our channel and our business to continue doing what we love to do. So I just wanted to say thank you if you utilize those links. I hope this helped you guys get a small understanding of the basics of starting a podcast. And with podcasts being on a rise in 2024, it's important to hop on now. And I'm going to encourage you to keep going even whenever it feels like it's kind of hopeless. Or you feel like nobody's watching. And just a reminder, there are only about 10% of the podcasts who actually start who reach 20 episodes. So stay consistent, stay persistent, and you got this. See you guys in the next video.