How to Launch a Podcast off to a good start?
Hello!
I am starting my first podcast with another indie hacker (@benmann) soon.
I'm looking for other experienced podcasters who have done this already to give some insights and direction into the best way to launch a new podcast.
The plan so far is to record 3 or 4 episodes before the launch (recorded one so far). Then make a nice trailer from that to then launch with. Maybe post about it in a couple different forums and on Twitter. Any other ideas or ways to build some hype around it? Would a closed beta of some sort where we try to get feedback make sense?
I appreciate your thoughts!
Great idea with banking episodes & creating a trailer.
@sland is right about having an existing audience & discoverability, but if you don't have an audience yet that's okay.
First things first, what's your show about? It should have a theme as strong as a mission statement like for a business.
Second, quality does matter. Multiple studies have found that the better a piece of media sounds the more likely people are going to believe what's said. How are you recording? What are you recording with? Do you know anything about audio mixing or editing? Production is important, luckily I can help with that if you need help :)
Third, housekeeping out of the way. It's a great idea to bank episodes. Now it's your job to stay ahead of the curve, try your best not to record next week's episode this week. Try to build a back-log but don't beat yourself up if you can't.
Fourth, discoverability in podcasts is rooted in 3 things
And #5, besides having fun have patience. Podcasting is extremely rewarding but go into it knowing it is a SLOW burn. It takes time to build up an audience from scratch & CONSISTENCY is KEY.
Hope this helps :)
Feel free to reach out if you have more questions
Hey @RecordEditPodcast! Great comment. definitely helpful.
You can see what my podcast is about here: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/e4a547dfc3
We do have fairly good mics. I have the Blue Yeti and my co-host has the Audio-Technica. I am planning on using garage band for editing. I'm not a pro but I do know how to put audio clips together and make sure our voice volumes are the same. I don't necessarily know how to do mixing. I saw https://zencastr.com has a way to automatically mix your audios after you record it. We may use that if we find we need it.
makes sense to bank episodes.
Great ones to mention here. Trailer swap is definitely a good idea. So you just have them play the trailer in one of their episodes?
So alongside consistency. Do you think this means we need to rlease at the same time every week? We haven't decided on weekly or bi-weekly. is one better over the other?
Thanks!
Cool, looking forward to listening
Condensers aren't the best choices for home studio or broadcast environments, at some point invest in "Dynamic" microphones. Here is by far the best budget mic with the most value per dollar. Takes USB or XLR, making it great for remote & local recordings
https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2100-USB-Cardioid-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B004QJOZS4
Lmk how production goes, you really shouldn't be spending more than 3hrs in post-production MAX & that's with doing detailed edits
Even top podcasts struggle with this one, try your best here!
Yes, it's called a "post-roll swap"
Weekly is the norm, very important to have consistent release times. Common network release times for podcast episodes are Mon-Wed-Fri @2am Pacific.
Pick a day, pick a time, and hell or high water release on that day & time. Podcast listening is rooted in habits, you are creating the habit with your listeners that every Wednesday morning on their way to work they listen to "The Noah Bragg Show"
When you break the habit, people begin falling off
Thanks! I appreciate the help.
Micah Hanks is an experienced podcaster who has distilled his experience into a book that may be of use.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Maverick-Podcasting-Nonconformists/dp/0692522468/ref=sr_1_39?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442335939&sr=1-39&keywords=podcasting
thanks! I'll probably have to read this one!
As said here, having a clear value proposition works well. Targeting who your audience is and getting them to listen must be pretty difficult with so many podcasts, so I'd assume having an audience through a separate channel make be key.
Yep, we don't have a hug audience elsewhere. We're just starting on our blogs and other places as well. Hopefully we can build them all up at the same time.
From my experience, unless you have an existing audience (social media etc), you'll just need to be consistent with your release schedule and create value for your audience.
Discoverabilty is super hard for podcasts, so making a podcast for an audience that doesn't have something to listen to is a good way to get those early listeners.
Ultimately, I found building hype isn't as important as the consistency.
@sland Thanks for this feedback! Its great to have the right expectations up front.