If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

By: Agostino Zoida

Have you been thinking about starting a podcast but you are not what they call Tech Savvy? And everywhere you look you see your peers moving forward. Moving faster and further all while you are stuck at what feels like standing still. You can not even open a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram, without seeing someone you know who appears to be further ahead than you are and you can’t help but wonder; What do they all have in common? and most importantly what do they all have that I don’t?

The answer is… A podcast. Podcasting has never been more popular, accessible and in demand as it is right now. Having a podcast is a great way to get more followers and shine just a little bit more light on your art, blog, products and services, and on you. Not only do you have the opportunity to expand your followers but along the way you are going to meet some great people who you will connect with and learn from. You will do their podcast and they will do yours, and before you know it; you are in the wonderful world of the podcast networking.

Now you might be thinking… I’m not Joe Rogan, I’m not Marc Maron, or Joey Diaz and I have probably already missed the podcast train. You might think that you should have started a podcast a long time ago when podcasts were “blowing up” like Adam Corolla did. It’s too late for you now right? WRONG! Theres another podcast train coming through town and it is coming through right now, and you better be on it. Now that the Rogans, and the Burr’s of the podcast world have paved the roads for us; so many others are jumping on to get get their piece of the pie. So far in the year 2019 alone, so many “influencers” have started their own podcast. Including Mike Tyson, Dr. Phil and more. They figure they have a large following so why can’t they cash in on this paid sponsorship? Not to mention the freedom you have to produce your own unrestricted, uncensored content which is why podcasts are and will dominate AM/FM talk radio. Now you might be asking; well how will these huge named celebrities like Tyson and Dr. Phil help me? Isn’t that just creating a bigger competition for me? Not necessarily. Unless you’ve also been the heavyweight champion of the world with 50 wins out of 58 fights , and have also starred in not only 1, but 2 Hangover movies then no… Mike Tyson is not your competition. Everyone has their own audience, and by these huge names continuing to turn to podcasting, and bringing their audience with them; it is actually helping you. Whatever it takes to bring more listeners over to the world of podcasting. People hear about podcasting and now they actually know what it is but there is still the majority of people that do not know how to listen to a podcast. Just like you are overwhelmed with starting a podcast, the consumer is also overwhelmed and quite frankly not willing to go through the hassle to learn how to listen to podcasts or to adjust their daily rituals. Just like Netflix gets subscribers by producing content from your favorite comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, or Jo Koy and Adam Sandler. A big name coming to podcasting is helping the consumer to make the switch from their morning ritual of FM talk shows and join us on the dark side. It’s also opening the door to a whole new target audience that would have never considered tuning into a podcast before. there is no shortage in audience growth, but believe it or not there is a shortage in content.

Okay… okay…

You get it. It’s time to start your podcast and all I’ve done so far is reassure you that you do need to start a podcast in order to be a serious contender, but the fact still remains that you still don’t know how. You don’t even know where to begin and it all seems so complicated so it’s just easier to continue to… well, not. Well i’m here to tell you that it is easier than it may seem and if I can do it, you can do it. things tend to seem way more doable once you have written them down step by step and that is exactly what I am going to do for you.

My rule is that you do not need all the best state of the art equipment right away in order to start your podcast. If you are waiting to save up a lump some of money so that you can invest it all in unnecessary podcast equipment, then you have already shot yourself in the foot before you even got started. It is important to start podcasting right away so that you can practice. The more episodes that you record the better you will get at the setup and your performance as a podcast host. As you grow as a podcaster so will your audience, and you can upgrade and improve your equipment as you go. In the beginning keep it simple for yourself so that you can start off with consistency and never miss an episode. We’ll talk about the importance of consistency later. The number one podcast necessity that you need to buy first is the recorder. This will be the most expensive item that you will buy, other than cameras if you decide to do a video podcast. In fact a good rule of thumb is if you find yourself buying anything that costs you more than the recorder did then something is wrong. I use the Zoom H5n and I highly recommend it. The zooms are the most common digital recorders that are used by podcasters and you can use the older h4n model but for the price difference I find the H5 a lot easier to use. If it does not already come with one then you will need to purchase an SD card and I use a 32GB which I have recorded a a 2 hour podcast on and have never run out of room. If you will be recording longer than 2 hour episodes then I would suggest getting a 64GB just to be safe, and always remember to format the SD card before recording a new episode. (Formatting is a fancy word for deleting) Delete all the files off of your SD card before each podcast, of course only after you have successfully saved the files onto your computer. Your Zoom recorder should come with the proper power cable which works as a USB so that you can drop the files into your computer as well as charge your recorder. I always leave my recorder plugged in while I am recording, even though they can operate on batteries which can come in handy for short podcasting on location but if you can, always have it plugged in so that you never have it die in the middle of recording. The next necessity is some microphones. The Zoom H5 has 2 XLR imputes so if your planing a solo podcast or if you are planing on having a guest or co-host then two should be more than enough, but if you are planning the have more than one guest on at a time then the two imputes will obvious not be enough for you. They do make a Zoom recorder with 4 XLR imputes but those can get very costly, so my inexpensive solution is to get an XLR Splitter. This splitter allows you to hook up two XLR microphone cables into it ,and if you get two of these then you are set up for up to 3 guests along with yourself all on one recorder. When it comes to microphones; in my experience when I have purchased really expensive microphones and inexpensive microphones they both last about the same amount of time. As I said earlier; it is important to keep cost down in the beginning so that you can set realistic goals ,and not allow your podcast to be delayed due to finances. In the beginning I got myself a couple of regular ol’ inexpensive microphones, similar to what you have seen a comedian holding at a comedy club. There are ways to improve the sound of those microphones, like a foam ball and the sound will be perfect for a start up podcast. You can decide if you are going to get a couple of mic stands or just hold it in your hand while you record which is how many podcasts have started out in the beginning. I currently use these microphones that come with arm clamps that are very inexpensive and not only do they sound great but they come with everything that you need, like the pop filter, the foam ball and the swinging adjustable arm that you can clamp right on to your table or desk. This setup looks clean and professional which is also important if you are planning on having guests on your podcast. I like to have my setup looking as presentable as possible so it would be great if you have an extra room or space to podcast in with no distractions or background noises, and have a desk or a table and a couple of chairs. Little things like this adds value to your production so that when you do have guests; they know you mean business. Not only do I have my own podcast, but I am often a guest on other people’s podcast and there are a couple of tells that let me know that your podcast is not in great value, and probably does not have many listeners and that would probably make me not want to do it again. I would never judge you on your inexpensive equipment especially if you are just getting started.