How to Produce a Podcast: Fundamentals of Developing and Launching Your Own Successful Show

By Ray Blakney

Do you have expert knowledge in marketing, finance, or another topic that you would love to share with the world? Hosting your own podcast is a fantastic way to establish your position as a thought leader and share your expertise with a potentially large audience. Podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years and have become the preferred entertainment medium for countless consumers all over the world.

If you are ready to produce a podcast, it is important that you follow some key fundamental steps.

How to produce a podcast

1. Make sure your potential podcast topic is in demand

The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time and resources on launching a podcast that no one is interested in listening to. You must find the perfect balance between choosing a topic you want to discuss and a topic that an audience would want to tune in to.

To find the right topic, type your podcast topic in the Google search bar and see how many times people have looked up that topic. If there are not a lot of searches on Google, there is a high possibility that people are also not searching for that podcast topic on Spotify or other platforms.

On that same note, when you find a topic with a lot of interest, make sure the market is not oversaturated with a lot of shows on that topic. You don’t want your podcast to get lost among many others that are too similar, as you will be competing for the same target audience.

If your proposed podcast topic passes all these tests, then you may have found a successful topic and should proceed with planning the program.

2. Focus on professional production for your podcast

No one wants to listen to a podcast that is sloppily put together. You want your podcast’s audio quality to be pristine, so purchase a high-quality microphone instead of just using your laptop’s microphone to record episodes. If your podcast also has a video component, buy a high-quality camera to film your episodes. This will ensure much clearer videos than you would achieve with your laptop’s camera.

If you are looking for tools to edit your podcast and you have a very limited budget, definitely check out Audacity, a free audio-editing tool that will take care of 90% of your needs. Also, while it's important to focus on high-quality audio recording, don't get caught up in trying to make every single episode perfect—occasional mistakes in the dialogue make your show more authentic. Nobody expects an NPR level of quality.

3. Book great guests by starting with your network

You will want to interview guests who can provide engaging discussions for your podcast listeners. First, consider people who would make great guests from your own network of business associates, friends, and family. Then ask those people for recommendations for other potential guests, since you never know whom they may be connected to. Keep doing this and you can slowly move up the ladder of guests and start booking real heavy hitters for your show.

4. Increase listenership by becoming a podcast guest yourself

Every podcast host wants their show to get big. One surefire way to boost your listenership and grow your show is by appearing as a guest on other people’s podcasts. Every time you are a podcast guest, you have an opportunity to plug your show to a whole new audience.

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5. Encourage listener engagement

Great podcasts engage their listeners. One way to encourage engagement is to ask listeners to submit questions for upcoming episode topics, and then give them a shout-out in the episode in which their question is answered. Also, if you plan to interview a popular figure on your show, ask your social media followers to send in questions ahead of time for your guest. Besides creating engagement, it's also a great way to help you prepare questions for the interview.

6. Stick to your broadcasting schedule by batching

It is important to maintain a regular podcasting schedule so your listeners can look forward to episodes airing on certain days. Producing a podcast, however, takes a lot of time and effort, so it can be difficult to stay on schedule. One way to stick to a regular airing schedule is by batching. Plan a day or several days where you record and edit a number of episodes. You can then schedule the episodes however you see fit.

7. Monetize your podcast

If your podcast goes viral and starts getting a ton of views per episode, you can charge companies for a featured ad spot. However, there is an even better way to profit from your podcast: use it to promote your business offerings. For example, say you got 100,000 downloads for an episode in which you promoted a $100 product. If you ended up selling your product to just 2% of your audience, you would make $200,000.

Are you ready to produce a podcast?

Podcasting is a wonderful way to share your expertise and solidify your position as a thought leader in your niche. Follow our tips—from production essentials to ways to grow your listenership—to launch your own successful podcast.

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