How I Make Podcasts (Hosting, Equipment, Marketing, etc.)

Here’s the back end of how I run my podcast: Finance Guys In Tech.

The short version - just go scrappy and publish. You don’t need sophisticated equipment. The biggest hurdle to putting out a podcast is not equipment. It’s getting over our internal excuses to actually record something and put it out!

1. Recording.

   I record all episodes using the iPhone Native Voice Memo App.

   Mics. I plug in these cheap lavalier mics (the ones that clip onto your shirt) that I found on Amazon (these).

   I bought 2 sets, so I have 4 mics total. I use a couple of Y-adapters (that come with the ‘kit’) so I can put all 4 into 1 output node to plug into my iPhone. (you’ll need to get one of those ‘tail’ looking adapter things separately so you can plug it into your iPhone, which takes the lightning style adapter).

   I recorded the intro and outros to the podcast by just talking straight into my iPhone using the voice memo app, with no mics.

   Downside - this creates one audio file for your podcast, so you can’t adjust mic levels separately. But the upside is huge - its very easy. Just makes sure everybody clips them the same distance away from their mouth. We do a quick sound check before each episode and listen back to see if everyone’s level is the same.

2. Editing / Mixing

   1. Simple Version. At first I used this free site to combine three mp3 files I made on the voice memo app: the intro, the show, and the outro: https://audio-joiner.com/ You can do it right from the web interface, no additional software required.

      This turned them into one audio file that I could upload to Buzzsprout (my hosting platform, more on that in #3)

      2. LogicPro. I now use LogicPro on my Macbook (~$300 to purchase software) to clean up the audio files a little and layer in some music in the intro and outro.

      The only reason I use Logic (instead of Garageband, which is native/free on iOS) is because I do more advanced stuff recording music with my band that my wife and I have (goodbaby.band/).

   2. *A Note on editing - I will always edit anything my guests want to cut out but save for that I don’t do any editing whatsoever other than adding the standard intro and outro. Anytime that can be saved on the backend reduces the friction of getting episodes out. Preparation for the show is the best way to edit - it’s live editing as you record.

3.  Hosting. I use Buzzsprout as the hosting platform. I’m currently using it now. I like it so far, it’s very easy and you can publish from there to all the major directories (Apple, Spotify, etc.): https://www.buzzsprout.com

   I’m on the $12 per month plan which lets me post up to 4 hours/month.

   If you use their free option you can post up to 2 hours/month but the episodes will delete after 90 days. It could be a good way to test.

4. Website. First off, you don’t need a website to start a podcast. You can just use buzzsprout (or another host) as your platform/home and get started.

   That said, I use Squarespace for my website: https://www.squarespace.com/ and use it as a ‘home’ for all my ‘stuff’, (blog, projects, etc.) including the podcast.. I make a blog post for each episode and put ‘podcast’ as a category so I can make a summary on a dedicated page: https://www.charleskunken.com/podcast

   1. (side rant about websites: if you do want a website, Squarespace is my personal choice. I’ve had websites on Wordpress before and Squarespace has been so much easier for me. It just does everything you need and gives you a sweet design. I ended up making my Wordpress sites really slow and clunky trying to get them to look like the way I wanted. Squarespace gives you all the tools you need out of the box and I haven’t had to rat hole on code. All I have to worry about is content creation and layout (drag and drop), which is what I wanted to be spending my time on.

5. Video Recording. This is also not a requirement either to make a podcast BUT I figured since I’m already putting everything in place to make the show why not just flick on a camera and get a free video out of it as well. This helps a great deal with the marketing.

   I simply set up my iPad on a tripod, I literally stack it on an empty cardboard box on a table and wa-la. After much trial and error and research I’ve found that the best definition is to shoot everything at 1080 (you can adjust in the camera ‘settings’).

   I use FinalCut Pro to make some credit screens and fancy looking transitions and now have a YouTube channel as well to go along with the podcast, with only a little more investment in production. I got started on it by making music videos for Good Baby and then parlayed that into making (much simpler) podcast videos. iMovie (native & free) probably works just as good for this purpose. You can figure it out, I’m confident.

6. Marketing. 49% of the total effort on anything you create is the creation part. Most people think it’s 100%, it’s not. 51% of the job is letting people know it exists. Here's a list of things I do to get the word out:

   1. Publish to Buzzsprout - this will notify subscribers

   2. Publish to Youtube - this will notify subscribers.

   3. Trailer videos. I invest an extra 1-2 hours for each episode making an easily digestible 1 minute teaser trailer that lets people engage quickly and seamlessly with the content. They make for way better social media posts than an audio file or a static image.

      (Here are some examples on the Trailer playlist on my YouTube channel).

      I post these to:

      1. LinkedIn - by far the best organic reach right now

      2. Personal Instagram Feed & Stories: https://www.instagram.com/cbkunk/

      3. Personal Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cbkunk/

      4. Finance Guys Podcast Instragram feed: https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/

         1. *Building followers is hard but one of the benefits of having a dedicated IG account is that it serves as sort of a landing page you can link to in your own personal bio on IG, making it a little easier for curious people to check it out. So even if you don’t have many followers it still serves a purpose.

   4. Email

      1. I include an update in my weekly newsletter that goes out to my personal email list:

         https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe

      2. I started an interest group email list at work, since the Finance Guys show is work related content.

      3. I forward this email to relevant ‘already-made’ groups at work. If someone is appearing as guest on the show I forward it to their team.

   5. *A note on having guests - one of the great benefits of having guests is it provides a ready-made reason to share the show with a completely new audience you might not have had reason to reach out to otherwise.

7. Listening.

   I’ve been most successful in making content (of any type - written, audio, video, posts, etc) when I’ve been familiar with the medium from the perspective of a consumer and have developed my own tastes and preferences of how I like it.

   I love consuming podcasts and listen to tons of episodes while I’m doing other stuff (working out, yoga, feeding Lila), sometimes up to a few hours a day. It’s one way I love to consume stuff.

   Here’s a list of podcasts I’ve spent a lot of time listening too:

   https://www.charleskunken.com/blog/podcasts-i-listen-to

So, those are the deets. As always, feel free to drop a comment or hit me up if have any questions: charlie@charleskunken.com

And let me know if you make a podcast! Rock on.

:)

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Here’s some other stuff I’ve researched and other tools I’ve come across but haven’t implemented yet.

Other resources to try:

1. Podcast Background Info. I started by gathering a bunch of the tactics from Pat Flynn’s website. I just checked out his free content and it helped get the ball rolling.

   https://patflynn.lpages.co/how-to-start-a-podcast/

2. Recording a Phone Call. I haven’t done this yet but was recommended to check out the call recorder app, ‘Rev’. I have no idea how well this works yet but am planning to try.

3. Recording a Skype Call. I haven’t dabbled too much yet in recording podcasts remotely, but want to do this.

4. Alternative Hosting App - Anchor. There is another interesting podcasting app out there called anchor.fm. They have a sweet iPhone app where you can basically do everything I’ve laid out above (recording, phone calls, mixing, & distributing to directories) all from your phone. I messed around with the functionality and tested with posting a solo episode and one with my brother where he called me via the app. Both came out great and published seamlessly to Apple podcasts and to Spotify. NOTE My hesitation with using it was that I don’t know enough about the ownership and control you have over your show, since the app and hosting is free. I don’t know if they would place commercials over it or at the end. The benefit is that it was SO easy to get started. So the trade offs could be worth it, depending on your goals. Do the research and see. I went with Buzzsprout because I didn’t want to do the research and liked the idea of knowing that I was a customer.