Should I wait to podcast later TAP154

Learn timeless ideas to help you  launch your podcast today, with some bonus tips on why you should launch before the year is over.

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1. You will kill your procrastination

I struggle a lot with putting things off until later. There are many ways you can conquer this, but it seems they all involve the same core thing: take some action now.

The longer you wait to start podcasting, the less likely you'll be to actually do it. Even if you're not ready to publish your first episode and get into iTunes right this minute, there are several actions you could take right now.

2. It's very easy and inexpensive to start

Years ago, it was common for us to say that it cost “only $250” to get into podcasting. Now, you can do it for under $50 and get just as much quality. It's simple!

  1. If you don't already have equipment, buy the ATR2100-USB microphone and a No products found..
  2. Start your podcast website, media hosting, and RSS feed for only $5 per month with LibSyn and use promo code “noodle” to get it free for the first month!
  3. Record, edit, and upload your episode.
  4. Publish your LibSyn RSS feed into iTunes and other podcast directories.

You can get much more powerful, flexible, and more robust hosting for your website, but LibSyn is open enough that you won't be locked in if you decide to leave.

3. You can improve as you go

Perfectionism will kill any podcast. Accept that your show will never be perfect and that your path of learning will never end.

As with anything, patience is a virtue, but you may miss many opportunities by waiting for everything to be perfect.

If you're waiting for enough saved money to buy an Electro Voice RE320, just buy the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB for about one-sixth of the cost.

If you're struggling with communicating clearly, starting your podcast will give you great practice and opportunities to grow!

4. You can start building your audience today

Even if it takes you a week or more to actually launch your podcast, you can start building your audience today with anticipation, a welcome video, an email list, teasers in social networks, scheduling guests, polling for content, and more.

When I launched The Audacity to Podcast, I was searching Twitter for who needed podcasting and Audacity help. I would help them and then let them know about my podcast I was about to launch. I believe this helped my show be featured in iTunes and grew my launch audience even more.

5. You could be the first podcaster in your niche

You can play with sayings, “the early bird gets the worm,” and “the second mouse gets the cheese,” all you want. But you must recognize that you're not the only person interested in your niche.

Being first has advantages and disadvantages. But being second, third, or much later will mean a hard road to build your audience when someone else already has gained your audience for their show.

If you're the first in your field, then growing your audience may be a lot more automatic.

Bonus time-sensitive tips

These above tips are timeless and will work no matter what time of year you try launching your podcast. I am publishing this episode just before Christmas and the new year, so there are some extra benefits if you can launch your podcast now.

A. You may qualify for award nominations

The annual podcast awards are a lot of fun, and simply being nominated is a huge honor that can help you grow your audience. An often ignored eligibility rule is that the podcast must have had a published episode before the current awards year. So if you think your content will be popular enough that you have a chance at the nominations (be realistic here), then launch your podcast before the current year is over!

B. New mobile-device owners means more potential subscribers

With Christmas so close, many people will receive podcast-capable mobile devices like iPhones, iPods, tablets, and more. This means a new wave of potential podcast-consumers.

If you launch your podcast now and especially can get featured, you have the opportunity of being the first podcast these new consumers will get.

C. You can use your vacation time to do the launch work

As with anything worthwhile, podcasting will take more work to setup and launch than it will to maintain. If you're taking vacation time for the holidays, this is a great time to spend a few hours on your launch. You may even get your domain, website, and first episodes online in a single focused day!

D. You may receive a podcasting gift

Don't go shaking your presents! It's possible that you're about to receive a gift that will help you podcast. It would be better to have everything prepared and missing only that piece instead of waiting until you have all the pieces and then putting them together.

What's holding you back from podcasting? Or if you already stated, what did it take for you to launch and what obstacles did you have to overcome? Please share your stories in the comments below!

What has your podcast accomplished in 2013?

I will be hosting The Audacity to Podcast #156 live at New Media Expo. I would love to hear from you what your podcast did for you in 2013, and one of your plans for 2014. Send in your feedback or meet me at the Podcast Pavilion at New Media Expo in 2014! (Schedule pending.)

Announcements

  • Podcasters Roundtable #22 with John Lee Dumas
  • New Media Expo
  • Podcast Master Class
  • The Audacity to Podcast will return on December 30, after a one-week Christmas break

Need personalized podcasting help?

I no longer offer one-on-one consulting outside of Podcasters' Society, but request a consultant here and I'll connect you with someone I trust to help you launch or improve your podcast.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

  • Comment on the shownotes
  • Leave a voicemail at (903) 231-2221
  • Email feedback@TheAudacitytoPodcast.com (audio files welcome)

Connect with me

Disclosure

This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship and may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.

About the Author
As an award-winning podcaster, Daniel J. Lewis gives you the guts and teaches you the tools to launch and improve your own podcasts for sharing your passions and finding success. Daniel creates resources for podcasters, such as the SEO for Podcasters and Zoom H6 for Podcasters courses, the Social Subscribe & Follow Icons plugin for WordPress, the My Podcast Reviews global-review aggregator, and the Podcasters' Society membership for podcasters. As a recognized authority and influencer in the podcasting industry, Daniel speaks on podcasting and hosts his own podcast about how to podcast. Daniel's other podcasts, a clean-comedy podcast, and the #1 unofficial podcast for ABC's hit drama Once Upon a Time, have also been nominated for multiple awards. Daniel and his son live near Cincinnati.
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ohbeep
ohbeep
10 years ago

Our podcast, The Oh Beep! Geocaching Podcast, gave us a new perspective on our family past hobby of Geocaching. On a personal level it has helped the children (who co-host) with their school work (about a month after starting the podcast, my son was set homework of writing a podcast script). It is also helping their confidence. It has also enabled me to indulge my inner geek.

For 2014 the goal is to settle on a structure (we’re only 8 episodes in) that works for us and then to increase the role of the children from hosts to producers (they don’t realise that this is also a way of teaching them skills they may find useful).

ohbeep
ohbeep
10 years ago

Its spooky how your show coincided with me making plans for the our show. On the simplifying front the plan is to have a 4 week cycle:

Weeks 1: Tips on geocaching (I like the numbered format you use)

Week 2: Interview

Week 3: General discussion on random geocaching topics – I’ve found a random, short discussion, can bring ideas for future episodes.

Week 4: Debate (the kids love to pick a subject and debate it)

Keeping to this allows us to get ahead – I put this together yesterday and found that planning ahead became much easier. In an hour I arranged an interview for this week, outlined next weeks general discussion and came up with a list of tips for that weeks show. Leaving just the debate show to plan.

Frank
Frank
10 years ago

Daniel,

This is a great episode! Thanks to your sound advice (pun semi-intended) we decided to get our own podcast started a few short months ago.

Not long ago we submitted our feed to iTunes and thanks to your advice on how to set up the feed and tags, etc., we had no issues with getting listed. We did however wait until we had 6-8 shows already before submitting our feed: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wids-anime-podcast/id745295945

Here are a couple tips I hope will be of value to your readers:

1. Stop putting things off and just do it. If you wait for all the stars to be aligned perfectly you will only lose time better used in building your audience.

2. I highly recommend the ATR2100 mic you mention here. Not being happy with what I was using, but not knowing what to get, I was lucky to see your excellent video on this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XBBSfPnKa8 and picked up a couple. This is a super deal on an excellent mic especially when it comes with both cables! Also works great using Windows 7 via USB without having to install any additional drivers.

Note: Hopefully Santa will bring me another floor stand next week. You can see me using my “hand stand” while filming this segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKGnEjnJzb0

Thanks again for all your excellent advice,

Frank

http://widsanime.com

LIz Fulcher
LIz Fulcher
10 years ago

Hi Daniel! I’m loving your podcast and totally inspired to begin my own podcast in 2014. I did what you recommended, stopped the podcast, ran to my computer to take one action to keep me from procrastinaton – and started to sign up with Libsyn. I got stuck on the slug name. My school is AromaticWisdomInstitute.com, therefore I thought to name my show AromaticWisdomPodcast.com. So is THAT what I put in the slug? I’m trying to move forward quickly here (at your suggestion!), so I hope to hear back soon. Thanks Daniel! Liz

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