Hi, and welcome to this special bonus episode of One Minute Podcast Tips. If you take a look online, whether that's Twitter, Facebook groups, Reddit, etc., you frequently come across questions about starting a podcast. From there, you'll see a lot of answers about sharing equipment to buy, which hosting companies to use and more. All well, all good, but what you don't often see is what you shouldn't do and why. Based on
personal experience and lessons learned. So while this is in no way an exhaustive list of do's and don'ts, here are three lessons that will shine on When I started podcasting seriously back in 2016. Number one, I would have had a plan If you discount my first foray into podcasting, a single episode on Blogtalk Radio way back in two thousand and nine my first real podcast was
an old hobby podcast called Life Through a Dram. It basically consisted of me talking about a topic that caught my eye that week and ruminating on it while savoring a dram of single malt whisky. While it was fun for a while and let me indulge in one of my favorite pastimes. It soon run out of steam as I began to struggle on what I should talk about. Should I recount news stories? And if so, how serious should they be? Should I talk about my personal life? Should I have friends on? And would it
matter if it was infrequent? All these questions and more came about because I didn't have a plan when I started out. Instead, I saw some people podcasting and thought, How hard can it be? I also expected that tons of people would want to listen to my missives - how wrong I was on that one. So needless to say, because of this and because of all the questions I was now asking myself, I soon fell out of like with the show and it
tapered off. Today, whenever I start a podcast, I have a plan already in place with the questions I want to answer before I even start in a show format. Goals, Marketing Plan, Community outreach. If I meet my goals, then what? And how do I pivot if needed Do I? These are just some of the notes I go over with each new podcast and plan out a framework of what everything looks like when it comes to answering each point. Without that, I won't launch a podcast because I know I'll
probably run out of steam with that one down the road. Now, this is different from a podcast reaching its natural end, just to highlight that difference. So plan ahead and know what you want from the show. And if you're in that boat at the minute at Captivate, where I'm Head of Podcaster Support and Experience, we've got an awesome free launch course, no strings attached, no email required, to help you get started properly, and I'll leave a link to that in the show notes.
Number two, I wouldn't sweat the numbers. This is probably one that all podcasters could nod along to: that obsessive pull to check your analytics every minute. That was me. Seriously, every damn minute New episode dropped. Check the stats. New share on social media. Check the stats. I haven't checked the stats in a minute. Yep. You got it. Check the stats. I guess it's a natural thing for a new podcaster. You're excited that you've launched and you want to see how many others
share that excitement. After all, you've told your friends, your family, your connections, and you just know they're all going to listen right? Right. So I checked the stats and checked and checked once more, just for good luck. And of course, the difference was minimal and that was deflating. Even though that first podcast was a hobby one and one that I didn't plan for, it still felt discouraging to be doing something that few people
want to hear. But then why would they? I didn't have a marketing plan in place. I didn't have an email list. I didn't network with other podcasters. Most importantly, I didn't give anyone a reason to listen. I just simply recorded, uploaded, published, and that was it. Maybe I was expecting my Field of Dreams moment, but like the listeners, it didn't come. Building a podcast takes time. Even with a kickass marketing
plan and a growth strategy. There's so much that goes into it that it's almost impossible to hit the ground running with great analytics to show for it. So, don't sweat the numbers because you're not getting the thousands of downloads all the gurus tell you you should be getting from day one. Instead, look at the data that you can use to optimize your show. Listen to growth recommendations from listeners and other podcasters. Churn rate and stickiness of episodes and where
listeners are dropping off. Most effective referral channels. Analytics are great because they inform us on where we're succeeding and where we either need to put more effort or cut our losses and run, but use them. Don't be chained to them. For some really insightful thoughts around this, there's a great thread over on Twitter from Mark Asquith, which includes this gem.
A podcast episode must be constructed in such a way that it benefits the listener, not us. Rather than creating a simple, repeatable format for the show we should be focused on creating a simple, repeatable formula that results in a depth of content. It's a really good thread on growth and analytics. And again, I'll leave the link to that in the show notes so you can check it out And number three. I would have learned how to edit. I
cannot state this one enough. When I first started, I really wish I'd learned editing and the importance even the slightest tweaks can make. Instead, Life Through a was recorded and uploaded raw. And man, when I listened back to it, it's
long gaps in the audio, coughing, rambling sentences that go nowhere, and lots of echo and background noise. Now, some of that was always going to happen. I was in a large room with lots of hard bare surfaces with either the AC or the heater running. Our windows open and lots of outside noise coming
through. But knowing what I do now, through hours and hours of watching YouTube videos, asking other podcasters and just getting to know more about the production process in general, there really was no excuse for not learning at least some basic editing processes. I think the problem back then was twofold. A I was ignorant as to why sound mattered. I know that sounds silly though. And b, I was just too lazy. Editing was something professional podcasters did. It cost a lot of money and it took
a lot of time. Why would I be bothered about that? But then maybe that's one of the reasons my show wasn't growing. Maybe the audience took a listen and thought, If he doesn't care about our experience, why should I care about him? Think about it. You go to see a new movie. You've been looking forward to it and you spent a small fortune to get a seat in one of the VIP lounges with the Dolby Atmos sound. You're all set for an
experience. And then the movie starts. There's hissing in the audio, and there's no editing, and the visuals just sharp cuts when the cameras stopped rolling, etc.. It would seriously dampen your enjoyment of the movie if you stayed around to watch it, that is. Podcasting is the same. Create the experience for your listener that they deserve. So learn about audio levels and normalization. Learn about LUFS, what it is and why it matters.
Learn about filler content and unwanted noise Learn mic technique and learn about the importance of a good recording environment. This last one is probably one of the most overlooked yet one of the easiest to fix. If you're in a room with bare, hard surfaces, it's going to echo. Yes, you can get close to your mic, but then that can cause new issues like plosives, for example. So add softness to the room. Cushions,
pillows, a rug, curtains, a soft chair. All of these dampen your voice bouncing off the hard surfaces in the room, which makes it a lot easier to edit afterwards. Now there are some podcasters who say they never edit and don't need to. And that's fine. If it works for you, great. But for everyone else, I highly recommend learning the basics of editing and different audio production tricks and techniques. Trust me, it's worth it. There are some great options for editing to depend on, on
your budget, hardware and learning curve. So for example, there's GarageBand for Mac and Audacity for Mac and PC, and they're both free. There's Hindenburg Pro, which I use. Reaper, Logic Pro, and Adobe Audition just to name a few. So these are three things I'd do differently if I was starting a podcast today There are more, like not giving transcripts the respect they deserve, for example. But these three are probably the ones I could easily have avoided right from the
start. I hope you've enjoyed this bonus episode and it might give you some pointers if you're looking to start a new podcast soon. Until the next time, happy podcasting.