Beginning a podcast can be daunting, so today are diving into a few things you should consider before jumping into the world of podcasting. Then I’m sharing three ways you can test the waters and try out podcasting before fully diving in. Make sure to listen to Episode 080 with Magan Ward which prompted the idea for today’s topic.
Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative, a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. Learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com, plus you’ll also find resources, show notes, and more for the Clocking In Podcast.
Mic Check Society
Today’s episode is brought to you by Mic Check Society, a community for podcasters. Each month, I’m dropping an exclusive training, hosting a monthly hot-seat call and coworking sessions, plus you’ll get access to our Facebook group to connect with and network with other podcasters!
So, you’re considering podcasting. Or, maybe you already are a podcaster and you’re not feeling it as much as you were when you started. So often, I see podcasters get started in podcasting and after a few episodes or months, they begin to feel that podcasting isn’t for them. This could come from the overwhelming task that a podcast can be or maybe they don’t enjoy talking as much as they thought they would. Whatever the case may be, there are definitely ways to approach podcasting in order to eliminate those fears and holdups.
So today, we are talking through some of those approaches and also a few ways you can test our podcasting before fully jumping into the podcasting world.
Considerations Before You Get Started
1. Budget
I have dived further into what a podcast budget looks like realistically, and you can check that out here. but, withing that I want you to think about sound. It may feel daunting to look into equipment, but we have resources to help you through that process. Technology can definitely be intimidating. But, you make more affordable options work. Think about the quality of sound you are looking for, and go from there.
2. Comfort in your Topics
It is so easy to just start talking in circles about topics or mumbling your way though an episode. I have definitely found myself doing this! When you are comfortable in your topics of conversation, it comes so much more naturally. The flow is so much better.
3. Time Commitment
Can you commit any time to a podcast? If you feel constantly overwhelmed with how much you have to do, podcasting may not be the best fit for you. I encourage you to test out this process. Look into how long it will take you to record an episode, how much prep you need, and then where you go after you record. Who is running the production and marketing? Do you have the time to invest? All of these things are massive considerations before you start.
These are just three simple things to begin considering when thinking about podcasting.
Three Ways to Test Out Podcasting
1. Be a Guest on other Podcasts
Pitch yourself to other podcasters! Being a guest is a great way to see if this is the right format for you. Get comfortable behind the mic and talk through your topics. There is a huge difference between a casual conversation and knowing that you are being recorded for other people to listen to. You want to be sure that you’re comfortable in that situation.
2. Go Live
Go live on Facebook or Instagram! This is a great way to get more comfortable in front of a camera. And, you can practice going off a loose scripted outline to streamline the recording process.
3. Pop-Up Podcasting
Episode 080 With Magan Ward is the source of inspiration for this whole episode. Magan encourages the idea of creating a pop-up podcast. You are allowed to begin a podcast without a massive plan. You don’t have to narrow down the minor details and you get a small taste of podcasting.
Now, if you are a podcaster and are looking to improve your podcasting. We’d love to have you join us in Mic Check Society.
Mic Check Society
Today’s episode is brought to you by Mic Check Society, a community for podcasters. Each month, I’m dropping an exclusive training, hosting a monthly hot-seat call and coworking sessions, plus you’ll get access to our Facebook group to connect with and network with other podcasters!
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Mic Check Society
Episode 080 With Magan Ward
Episode 007: How Much Does it Cost to Make a Podcast
Pop-Up Podcasting Blog with Magan Ward
Podcast Launch Kit
Work with Gaffin Creative
Catch The Show Notes:
Considerations Before You Get Started (3:40)
1. Budget (3:45)
2. Comfort in your Topics (5:00)
3. Time Commitment (5:40)
Three Ways to Test Out Podcasting (7:00)
1. Be a Guest on other Podcasts (7:15)
2. Go Live (7:45)
3. Pop-Up Podcasting (9:40)
Mic Check Society (11:00)
Review the Transcript:
Hey y’all welcome back. I’m really excited that you’re here today and listening. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you go check out Meghan Ward’s podcast episode. It came out two weeks ago, it was episode 80. And she talks about pop up podcasts. It’s a concept she came up with. But that conversation prompted an idea for this week’s episode, which is all about testing out the waters and if podcasting is actually right for you. So we’re going to talk about a few things you should consider before starting a podcast and then also three ways to kind of test out the waters to see if podcasting is right for you. Before we jump too far into today’s episode, I wanted to let you know that it is brought to you by MIC CHECK society, mic check society is a community for podcasters where we share educational content have monthly hotseat calls and silent co working calls. And then we also offer a community a private community inside of the Facebook group for you to connect with other podcasters come join us today, mike check society.com and we’ll link it in today’s show notes.
Hey, y’all, welcome to the clocking in Podcast, the podcast for entrepreneurs and professionals making their way in the working world. I’m your host Haylee Gaffin. This podcast is produced and brought to you by Gaffin. Creative, a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. Learn more about our services at Gaffin creative.com. Plus, you’ll also find resources, show notes and more for the clocking in podcast. So let’s clock in and get to work. Hey, y’all, so you’re listening to this episode, because you’re considering podcasting. Or maybe you’re already a podcaster and you’re not feeling it. Or you’re just curious about this episode, or just popped into your queue of episodes you haven’t listened to and you’re subscribed. Thank you, first of all, for subscribing to the podcast. If you don’t already, I would love if you’d hit that subscribe button. But let’s talk about podcasting. Because I see so often and so commonly for podcasters.
To get started in podcasting, launched their show, and then a few episodes in or a few months in, they just realized podcasting isn’t for them. And maybe it’s just the overwhelmingness of podcasts or maybe they don’t enjoy talking as much as they thought they would, whatever the case may be. I feel like there are ways to approach podcasting in order to eliminate those fears or eliminate those holdups in the podcasting experience. So today, I do want to talk through some of those, and then also talk through a few ways that you can test out podcasting. Now, I have shared about the idea of podcasting. Obviously a ton on this podcast. That is what our business does. Gaffin creative is a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. But I don’t want to steer anyone into starting a podcast that either doesn’t want to or isn’t passionate about it, or it just doesn’t serve their business. So that is one of the reasons this episode came up. But then also the conversation that I had in Episode 80 with Megan Ward, one of the questions I asked Megan was about pop up podcasting. And if she thinks that it’s a good opportunity for people to test out podcasting, which we will get into today, but she said it was and I agree with her. So we’re gonna go through a few things to consider before you give podcasting a go. And then three ways to test out podcasting. The considerations before you actually give podcasting a go. I want you to consider your budget. And I do have an episode that talks all about podcast budgeting. And we’ll link to that in the show notes. But with that budget, I want you to think about your sound, the sound that you’re going to put out there because while it may feel daunting to look into microphones and stuff, we have guides, there are plenty of blog posts. As long as you’re looking at an XLR microphone, you should be good. I know how intimidating microphone and technology can be. And as a Podcast Producer, there it’s really hard to go wrong in buying a microphone unless you’re buying a cheap $30 microphone. And my recommendation is moreso to stay away from the USB version microphones but that is definitely the Podcast Producer and me talking if that’s what you have, and you’ve already invested in it. It’s perfectly fine.
You can absolutely use it. So think about your quality sound will link to that episode that has the podcast budget. It also mentioned a couple of options for your microphone. And so you can get a head start into looking into it. Now the next thing I want you to consider jitter is the comfort you have in the topics of conversation that you will be talking about. Because it is so easy to just start mumbling and talking in circles about topics I have found myself doing it after even after being a podcast host for over a year and a half. But when you are comfortable in the topics of conversation, or the or you’re an expert in what you’re talking about, it comes so much more naturally. And the conversation just flows, whether it’s a solo episode or an actual interview. Now, the third thing I want you to consider before you get into podcasting, is your time commitment. Can you commit any time to a podcast? If you’re someone who feels constantly overwhelmed with how much you have to do, podcasting may not be the best fit for you. Especially if you’re going to do it all yourself, what I want to encourage you to do is test out this process of okay, I have to sit down and I have to record an episode. How long is that going to take me? If I need to record a 15 minute episode? I know I need at least 15 minutes to sit down and do that. But how much prep work do I want to put in? Do I want to have an outline? Do I want to script it? And then once you’ve actually recorded your episode, what are you going to do with it then? Are you going to have someone edit it? Or are you going to do that yourself? And then how are you going to upload it and create graphics and social media marketing and shownotes?
All of these things that go into it? How much time do you have to invest into it versus outsource to someone else? But at the end of the day? Do you have time to think through a strategy? Do you have time to think through what you’re actually going to talk about all of those things are what you’re going to need to consider before you start actually podcasting. Now those are just three simple things you need to consider. Now I want to talk about three ways to test out podcasting. And this is where the inspiration from this episode came from Megan’s conversation in Episode 80. Okay, the first one is be a guest on other podcasts, pitch yourself. If you know someone with a podcast, be a guest on their podcast, get comfortable being behind the microphone, get comfortable talking through your topics, because there’s a huge difference in having a conversation with a friend. And then knowing you’re being recorded, and other people are going to hear your conversation, I want to make sure that you’re comfortable in that scenario in that situation, so that you can be comfortable recording your own episodes. The next thing I want to encourage you to do is to go live on Facebook or Instagram or somewhere, I’m actually trying this a little bit more inside of my check society, I’m going live weekly. And it’s more so for me to get comfortable in front of a camera, too.
So I record all of my solo episodes, by myself, obviously, usually, I’m going off of a script. And here recently, I’ve been avoiding that. And I’ve been switching things up and just going off of an outline, to streamline my process. Now, I personally love the script version. But I can get so much more done. When I’m not scripting ahead of time. That doesn’t mean that I liked this. This way better. Obviously, I can stumble over words. But what does end up happening is there are a lot of pauses as I think through what I say next. And obviously that’s got to be cleaned up. So my editor Victoria handles that. But what I want to do is get out of that habit so that I’m not creating more work for her. So in order to do this, I’m going live on Facebook inside of my Czech society in our Facebook group. And I am talking through different topics, different ways you can improve your podcast every single week. So this is just something I’m currently testing out. I want to see how I do live. But it’s a way for me to get better at public speaking at being essentially live in front of people. I’m doing it in a community where I’m comfortable. I’m not doing it live publicly yet. But that is something I do recommend doing. Because I have seen just in the few times I’ve done it I’ve seen such an improvement and how I come across and how I’m planning my own content and talking through my own content on my own podcast.
Now the third way that you can test out podcasting is to do exactly what Magan recommended in Episode 80. And that’s try out pop up podcasting, because what it allows you to do is you don’t have to do this whole plan of like I want to launch a podcast that has all these different components you have to go into and plan like For my own clients, we have a full VIP day. It’s dedicated to planning and launching their podcast. That’s at least eight hours of to people working all day. But with a pop up podcast, you don’t have to go through and figure out like, Oh, what do I want to the description to be who’s my ideal audience, like, your client base will be your ideal audience for this pop up podcast. And I just love this concept. Make sure if you have not heard of pop up podcasts before head to last week’s episode, we’ll also link a blog post that Megan worked on our team with and it’ll allow you to learn a little bit more about pop up podcasts before you go and invest in Megan’s course. Because I just love this idea as a way to test out podcasting, but it can also help your business it’s a great opportunity for launches, which is what our blog post is all about. And then it’s just an awesome way for you to try out podcasting. Now, if you are a podcaster, and you sat through this episode, and you’re like, okay, yeah, I can see like how these few things can help improve the way I’m podcasting. I would love to have you come join us inside of my check society.
Every single month you will get access to a training you’ll get access to our monthly hotseat calls and silent co working sessions. And then inside of our Facebook group, we are always having conversation. I am loving my check society so far for podcasters is just an awesome opportunity to build connections and network with other podcasters guest swaps. So many things are happening inside of my check society. But if you’re not a podcaster yet, and you’re thinking about launching one, I will say MIC CHECK society does have a few podcasters who have not launched their podcast yet. But if you’re ready to launch your own podcast at Gaffin creative we do offer both a DIY course called podcast Launch Kit. And we’ll link to that in the show notes. But then we also offer a one on one VIP launch service and that both of those are offered year round. So if you’re ready to invest in your podcast, or you’re ready to just learn more about podcasting in general, head to Gaffin creative.com. In today’s show notes, we will link everything that we mentioned. And I’m just so glad that you’re here and you’re thinking about podcasting, testing out the podcast waters. If you happen to do any of these things, make sure to send me a message over on Instagram. I’m at Haylee Gaffin a HAYLEEGAFFIN. And I will see you in two weeks for a new episode with another guest who I can’t wait to talk about because we are talking all about pitching. And yes, I’m just so excited. Anyway, we will see you in two weeks on clocking in podcast. I will talk to you soon. This has been another episode of The clocking in podcast. You can find the show notes for this episode and more at Gaffin creative.com. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. If you love this episode, I’d be so honored if you leave me a review in the Apple podcast app. Until next time, I’m your host Haylee Gaffin clocking out.
