Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. If you don’t listen to podcasts yourself, you probably know someone who does. Because of this, many businesses are harnessing the medium to create internal podcasts for their employees or branded podcasts as content for their client base.
Podcasting can seem intimidating to beginners, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve listed some of our top podcast recording tips to help you learn how to launch and grow your business podcast.
Thinking of starting a podcast for your small business? Here are seven tips for recording a podcast.
1. Make sure it’s something you want to commit to
Before we delve into the practical tips for recording a podcast, the first step is to make sure it’s something you want to do! Before you begin planning out your content, think about your resources, your time, and your budget. Starting a podcast is no small venture, so factor in all the costs when making your decision.
If you and your team are taking on too much at once, you run the risk of burnout. If podcasting is something you want to do but you don’t have the necessary knowledge or time, consider delegating duties across a larger team or outsourcing some of the work.
Podcasts are specific to a niche, so identify the purpose in the early planning stages: who is it for, and how will it help them? Is it for your employees, or will it be a branded podcast for your customers? The specifics of the content will change depending on your audience. We’ll cover podcast content in more depth a bit later.
2. Invest in quality equipment
It might be tempting to purchase cheaper equipment, especially if your business or startup has a small podcast budget. The problem is that cheap can often be expensive in the long run.
Buying quality equipment upfront will ensure your equipment lasts. Not only that, good quality gear produces good quality audio. Professional-sounding recordings will help establish the authority of your podcast. Plus, the better the equipment, the less audio editing you typically have to do to make it sound good.
Invest in a good microphone that will capture your voice and won’t cause any weird buzzing or hissing. Proper headphones will also help you catch any issues during the recording and editing stages.
3. Choose the proper recording space for set up
You may have all the right equipment, but if you don’t record in the right spot, you won’t get a quality recording to publish. Avoid high-traffic areas to limit background noise. Rooms with carpet and lots of furniture work really well to damper ambient noise.
There are several commonly overlooked podcasting recording tips and one of them is mic placement. Ensure your microphone is set up correctly. Keep your mic away from anything that could bump it or the mic stand. Rustling of the microphone or the desk will be picked up in the recording.
4. Create engaging episode content
Of all of our podcast recording tips, this is one of the most crucial. If you have nothing to say, your podcast will fall flat before it ever takes off. Earlier, we mentioned choosing your audience. Is this an internal private podcast or a branded company-cast for customers?
After you determine your audience, identify a need they have and use your content to address it. This way, your content will always provide value to your listeners.
For internal podcasts, your employee audience will need to receive information like announcements, updates, and news. Branded podcasts, on the other hand, can be informational, educational, or purely entertaining.
After you’ve addressed their needs, what other things can you incorporate to keep your listeners engaged? Once you know what you want to talk about theme-wise, branch out your content from here. Podcasts are an intimate medium in many ways, so incorporate bits of your personality. Podcast listeners typically love stories – find a way to integrate a story into each podcast episode.
5. Structure, structure, structure!
Structure is essential for podcasting. One of our key tips for recording a podcast is choosing the right posting schedule and episode format. We’re creatures of habit; structuring your individual episodes and posting schedule will help create consistency for you and your listeners.
Determine your structure ahead of time (during the planning stages), so you can communicate it to your audience when you launch your show. It’s okay to alter and tweak your structures later on if you notice that certain days, times or episode formats work better, but it’s good to have a starting point. Let’s look at these a little more closely.
Episode structure
Determine the format of your individual episodes. This will help your listeners get into the flow of your episodes, and it will also help you remember everything you want to include. A huge bonus to having a set format is that it makes writing scripts for future episodes a lot easier.
Depending on the purpose of the podcast, the structure may vary. If you don’t know what format works, listen to some podcasts within your niche and see how they structure them.
Posting schedule
Depending on your target audience and their daily schedules, certain days may work better than others, so do some research on your audience to see how to maximize high-traffic times. Factor in the time it takes to record and edit the podcast episodes and work backward.
Pro tip: Many podcasters post in the early morning before 6 am. This way, subscribers receive post notifications as they are getting ready for work or school.
6. Stay ahead with content calendars and content batching
If you’ve never used content calendars or content batching–you’re missing out. Content calendars help you plan out and execute your posting schedule for your podcast content and any other social media content. With a calendar, you can know what’s done and what still needs your attention.
Content batching is the best way to maximize your time and increase the efficiency of your recording sessions. Many content creators record several different episodes in one session instead of having to restart the process for each episode every week.
It’s always good to have more episodes than you need. That way, you’re never at a loss for content. If you’re recording a video podcast, bring a change of clothes to make it look like it’s a different day. If your podcasts are audio-only, you don’t have to worry! Just drink water and take breaks in between to avoid vocal strain.
7. Join a podcast network
If you’re hoping to grow your small business podcast, try joining a podcast network like Podbean. Networks made expanding your audience easier: your show will be exposed to more listeners within your niche.
You can even use your podcast as an additional income stream. Podbean Ads Marketplace will connect you to the right sponsors, so you don’t have to pitch to sponsors yourself.
Use Podbean’s free ad revenue calculator to see how much you could earn.
Conclusion
Kickstarting a business podcast doesn’t have to be complicated. With these tips, you can help your small business succeed. Podbean makes podcasting easy.
Sign up for your free trial today.
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