Tips & Advice to Create a Podcast | Guest: Euan Plater (XY / Poste Media) 🍑 Ep 9
As heard on 🍑 Bitesize Bodacious Babes Podcast 🍑✨OUT NOW ✨
🎧 LISTEN HERE TO PODCAST
This Much We Know…. Creating a Podcast.
This week I’ve decided to record an episode with my good pal Euan who also has a podcast and who advised me on setting up my podcast and lent me his mic to record my first few episodes. Yes, the first male babe on the podcast, it is podcast by women but to be inclusive!
Like Hansel in Zoolander, “podcasts are so hot right now” and why not? As you may know, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials, online articles, etc. out there about setting up/starting a podcast. Despite this — it is still tricky to navigate through it all to get the information you need. In this episode, we are reflecting on our experiences and offering advice and tips which we wish someone had told us. Plus, some shout outs to bodacious podcasters!
For dinner, we were treated to Sam’ s (my boyfriends) cooking, homemade butter chicken with rice and popadoms and whiskey!
EPISODE GUEST:
✨ Euan Plater: currently CEO of his own Poste Media, which is a podcast-first media company that creates both editorial shows and branded content. He has his own show on Poste Media called XY which is a show about mental health in men.
PLUS, special guest, Euan’s dog Barnes!
WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ About what our podcats are and why and how we set them up
✨ “Content Is King”
✨ Shout outs to other podcasts!
✨ Tips/advice:
- Choose your Topic
- Research
- Where to Host Your Podcast
- Verify Your Podcast
- How To Record It
- Edit
- Launching it
- Guests
- Growing Your Audience
1st | CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC:
Firstly, think about your mission statement [listen at 7m 20s]
- Who is the podcast for?
- What is the podcast for?
- Why are you making the podcast?
2nd | RESEARCH
Check out other podcasts to gain knowledge on what they include (aka intro/outro, do they have music, do they have guests, how long are they, how do they promote their podcast, what information do they have in the episode notes available online etc. [10m]
3rd | WHERE DO YOU TO HOST YOUR PODCAST? [12m]
You need a place to host the podcast file — this is where your podcast lives and where you very important RSS feed lives.
- I chose Soundcloud — free — but only 6 hours free! So after a few episodes, I upgraded to the Pro Unlimited which is max £10 a month.
- Euan uses AudioBoom
Loads of other host sites — some paid for, some free. A special shout out from Euan to Podcast.co — a start-up based in Manchester and host podcasts. Super affordable and local!
What is an RSS Feed?
A podcast RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is what allows users to subscribe to that podcast in order to listen to it without visiting the exact website where it is located. A podcast RSS feed also updates subscribers when new episodes are uploaded, so subscribers never have to go searching for the new episodes.
N.B. If you use Soundcloud to host your episode, make sure you go into episode settings — click ‘edit’ then select ‘permissions’ and make sure you have ticked ‘Include in RSS feed’.
4th | DISTRIBUTE & VERIFY YOUR PODCAST
So, you have your podcast now hosted and you have an RSS feed and you need to now distribute it. Your listeners have the choice to listen to the podcast on whichever platform (which your RSS feed will distribute too) they prefer, aka Apple Podcasts, CastBox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, iHeart, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and TuneIn etc.
Some of these companies have a verification step before they will lin your RSS feed to them. Apple and Spotify both have this. For both, you have to set up a podcaster account and follow the steps to verify your podcast. Some people pay companies to do this aka pay a distributor but THIS IS FREE and super simple.
- iTunes (this took 6 days for me)
- Spotify (this happened in a day or two) account as they need to verify you. FYI, your Spotify account email and the email you use on your host website NEED to be the same!
To note, for Apple and Spotify you need:
- A live piece of content on your host site so you have a live RSS feed Apple and Spotify can link too and test
- The right sized image (they will advise on this) and I used Canva to create an image to the specs needed — free and easy to use!
After your accounts are verified you never have to do that process again!
ADVICE/TIPS:
- Each time you put an episode live from now on, the podcast platforms get the update automatically with your new episode (as long as you select ‘automatically update RSS feed’ on your host site).
- The best thing, I can change my audio file (if on Pro account on Soundcloud), images, episode notes copy any time I want and it will syndicate to all the podcast platforms!
- I recorded a 5 minute Trailer for my podcast so that I could:
- Make sure my podcast was verified before I launched/ marketed it. I could also see how it would look on these platforms aka decide — should I change my picture, my copy?
- Once live I used it to encourage people to subscribe to my podcast ahead of the Pilot episode going live!
5th | HOW DO YOU RECORD IT? [18m 30s]
Three options:
- USB microphone (what Euan and I use)
- Midi microphone
- Pay some to record it for you
We both use Blue Yeti microphone — plugin via USB to our computers. You can set it up to have up to 4 guests. There is an app you can install for your Mac called Sherpa.
There is the option to record remotely by using free apps like Skype. Neither of us have tried this but apparently, there are plugin options to Skype app on certain software, For example on Audacity (free, opensource, cross-platform audio software).
TIPS:
- Record your intro and outro on the same day as you record your episode with your guests as your voice sounds different day to day
- Have notes, slight structure / script / agenda for each episode [26m]
6th | EDIT [21m]
- I use GarageBand to record and edit my podcast — free software that comes with the Mac
- Euan uses Logic which is the paid software, next level up fro Garageband to record and edit my podcast
- How Long to edit? It probably takes me 3–4hours as I make notes for this mailer and my episode notes as I go!
- Do you want to have music for the podcast — NEED to license this. I have intro/outro music, and I pay Epidemic Sounds.
7th | HOW DO YOU LAUNCH AND PROMOTE
Marketing Assets: [27m]
- I wanted to have a website, make a logo, have a colour theme — not necessary just fun!
- All assets I made for socials/marketing using Canva (so simple, you do not need to pay a graphic designer)
- Colour Picker — can upload a picture of colour you want. Once you have your main colour can get the HTML code and go to ColourHex to get a palette from that main colour
- UnSplash — free image website Euan uses
Listening link: [29m]
- Bespoke link to your podcast — recommend Plink which is FREE website that creates a smart URL, sending listeners to the right place. Any device, any time.
Mailer: [32m]
- Really important to grow your own audience
- I used Mailchimp which is free — legitimised so less likely to be blocked, plus has templates and has automated marketing options aka subscribe link, etc.
8th | GUESTS (if appropriate) [34m 40s]
9th | GROWING YOUR AUDIENCE
Marketing (Euan’s advice):
- The backbone of podcast growth is word of mouth recommendations (includes guests promoting themselves)
Paid options that Euan tried:
- Twitter, Instagram and talk costs and learns — it is expensive, and you need a strong hook
- Sponsorship on another podcast show
Learns — if going to pay, be patient, not a quick fix!
What I did…:
- I contacted women’s collectives, online groups that I was already part of. For example, SheSaid So, Ladies/Music/Pub in London and posted about the upcoming podcast.
- I emailed Universities, Colleges, Student Radio Stations (none got back but planning to reach out again) and music collectives like AIM.
- For specific episodes, I reached out to specific groups. For example, Ep2 Artist Management, I emailed Music Management Forum (no reply yet but will reach out again as persistence is key)
SHOUT OUTS:
❤️ Euan’s podcast — XY
❤️ Time To Change
❤️ Podcast.co — set up in Manchester
PODCASTS WE MENTIONED:
✨ Fearne Cottons Happy Place
✨ Bodega Boys -
✨ Serial Podcast
✨ Hi Low Podcast
✨ No Such Things As A Fish
✨ StartUp + Reply All on Gimlet Media
✨ The Adam Buxton Podcast
✨ My Dad Wrote A Porno
✨ Grief Cast by Cariad Lloyd
✨ Rum and Records
✨ The ReWatchables — guys who review movies that are rewatchable
✨ The Daily — reviews current news by The New York Times
✨ Desert Island Discs — podcast on BBC Radio 4
✨ David Tennant’s Podcast — interview show with strong guests
✨ Table Manners by Jessie Ware
✨ Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
✨ George Ezra and Friends
✨ Will Young’s podcast Homo Sapiens
✨✨This Week’s ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ✨✨
This week’s spotlight artist is bodacious babe and queen Little Simz. I was at the Earth gig in London, so much love for her. GREY Area one of the albums of the year surely! Listen to one of my favourites Venom HERE
“It’s a women’s world, so to speak. Pussy, you sour. Never givin’ credit where it is due ’cause you don’t like pussy in power. Venom”
Full podcast playlist HERE
Please just hit REPLY to let me know what you think, give any feedback/advice and I’d love to hear any ideas for other guests or areas of the music industry you’d love to know more about!
Enjoy, do share any ❤️ and subscribe to the podcast!
Cheers!
Gabrielle Corbett
Website: bbbpodcast.xyz
