The Comprehensive Guide to Getting Started Podcasting
You will need a few things to get your podcast launched. Following is our comprehensive list of resources and equipment you will need. We have used and highly recommend all of the resources listed below. We don’t recommend anything that we haven’t used, tested and loved.
Artwork
You will need to have podcast album artwork created. You want your artwork to be able to stand out on iTunes. Use all of the allocated space to make your words as big as possible. Make your graphic clean and uncluttered, and remove any extra words or descriptions.
Minimum of 1400×1400 px
Maximum of 3000×3000 px
File size not greater than 500KB
72 DPI
Need help creating your podcast album artwork? Our graphic designer will do it for you for a low price of $250.
Recording Equipment
You need basic equipment to get started recording. We recommend the following high-quality items that are easy on your budget. We do not recommend starting off with more equipment than is absolutely necessary. It only adds a layer of confusion and may increase your frustration early on. Get what you need now. Upgrade later when a legitimate need presents itself. Remember, having expensive doesn’t make you a podcaster – having a successful show does!
Recommended Mic
Shure MV7 – it’s a USB mic that plugs directly into your computer. It’s durable, mobile and produces high-quality sound. Please don’t go spend $399 on a microphone to start. You won’t go wrong with this one.
In Person Interview Setup
If you will be recording interviews in person, plan on getting a mic for each guest. You won’t be able to plug multiple MICS into your computer, so you will need additional equipment. If you will only ever have a maximum of 2 people talking on a mic, get the Scarlett Focusrite 2i2. If you could have more than 2 MICS for an interview, then get the Scarlett Focusrite 18i8, which will allow you to plug in up to 4 microphones at once. Don’t forget to purchase as many MICS as you will plan on using.
Website
You will ultimately want to house your show on your own domain and website. So once you have picked out a name and purchased your url for the website, you are ready to turn it over to your web developer. You will need to purchase website hosting in order for your website to be us and running. We are Blue Host affiliates and personally use Blue Host for our websites, but unfortunately can no longer recommend them to our clients. We have been hacked 3 times in the past 2 years and each time was a nightmare all its own. Blue Host customer service has consistently gone downhill and it makes the situation that much more frustrating. So at this point, there isn’t enough money in the world for them to pay us to recommend them to our clients.
We have worked with and highly recommend WP Engine for web hosting. Basic packages start around $29/month and we have a special relationship with them to get you 20% off your first month. They have the most secure hosting around and their customer support is amazing. They make it easy to work with them.
Get 20% off your first month of WP Engine
***Team Podcast provides the website building service for your podcast website, starting at $800, which includes a premium, mobile optimized theme.
Podcast Hosting
You don’t have to understand all the technicalities of an RSS feed to have a podcast. But you will need a podcast hosting company to house your audio files (they are large files compared to text files) and create and maintain your RSS feed.
We use and love Captivate. It’s a comprehensive podcast hosting site and it’s what we use for our podcast. They have a beautiful user interface and they are constantly innovating and adding new features. Plus, they believe that podcasts should be monetized just like we do!
Just set up your account and we can handle everything else for you. Remember, we don’t want this to be a technical hurdle for you!
Intros and Outros
You probably want to jazz up your show opening and closing with a professional intro and outro. This can be comprised of some music that you feel reflects the mood of your show, and it would include a pre-recorded voice over.
Whether you choose to script and read the intro and outro yourself or use one of our professional voice actors, we can take care of mixing and mastering it to get it all ready for publication.
Team Podcast provides this service, using professional voice actors and licensed music for $150 for the intro and outro together.
Lately, many people have wanted to be the voice of their show and have decided to record their own opening and closing. If you want to give it a whirl, you have nothing to lose. Let us know if you need help scripting it.
Generally, the music would be consistent for each show and you would want the actual wording of your intro to be pretty concise so it doesn’t last more than about 30 seconds. Get in, get out and on to the show!
The outro can be a bit longer and include mentions of your website and a standard call to action that would be on each show.
Software for Recording
For Mac
To record interviews on a Mac, we recommend Squadcast. They have high-quality audio and the service is browser-based, so it’s easy to use. You can use it to record both audio and video. Monthly plans are affordable as well. This service will produce the highest quality audio call possible, based on the technology they use.
For PC:
To record interviews on a PC, we recommend Squadcast They have high-quality audio and the service is browser based, so it’s easy to use. You can use it to record both audio and video. Monthly plans are affordable as well. This service will produce the highest quality audio call possible, based on the technology they use.
Scheduling Interviews?
Don’t waste time going back and forth on email with your guests. use and online scheduler. It will make your life so much easier. You can set up your schedule and send people the link and book appointments independently of contacting you. You can also set up your interview requirements that will go out when people book a time and it just automates a part of your process that can be such a tie suck. You’ll be glad you did. We’ve used a lot of schedulers and finally settled on Acuity and could not be happier! When we tried Calendly, the time zones didn’t automatically translate for the appointment, and after 2 years of using Schedule Once, we suddenly stopped getting email notifications about appointment requests. Acuity solved all of those problems and gave us a more professional looking interface to boot! We love it!
You are all set now! It’s time to take action.
Don’t hesitate to let me know what you need. I’m always here to answer questions!