Ep21 Transcript: Tools to Start a Podcast – Quick Fix Friday

Andrea Vahl: Hello Dreamers. I’m your host, Andrea Vahl. And in today’s Quick Fix Friday, we’re going to talk about the top tools you need to start a podcast.

Intro: Hello Dreamers. Welcome to the Late Starters Club, giving you the inspiration mindset and tools you need to start something midlife and beyond. Remember, it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Sponsor Message: And now a word from our sponsor. Me!

Would you like to get more inbound leads and sales from Facebook, Instagram, and Google? For most people the answer is yes, but learning these ad platforms is time-consuming and complicated, and oftentimes business owners set up their campaigns wrong and waste a ton of mone in today’s Quick Fix Friday, we’re going to talk about the top tools you need to start a podcast.y. Let us do the work for you.

I’m Andrea Vahl. I’ve been running ad campaigns for clients for 11 years, and I have generated over $4 million in trackable sales from Facebook, Instagram, and Google for my clients, in the last two years. Some of the things I’ve done for my clients include things like:

• 3000 targeted new email subscribers to a list
• Sold 54 tickets to a brand new two day event directly from Facebook
• 8x return on ads to a brand new digital course
• 3,845 webinar attendees with over 300 member sales

So if you’re looking for results like these and don’t want to run your ad campaigns yourself, go to my website, andreavahl.com and select the Facebook ad services to learn more. I’d love to have a conversation with you about how I can help you get more inbound leads in sales.

Andrea Vahl: In episode 19, we talked to Bernie Borges about his podcast, Midlife Fulfilled. And part of my fulfillment in my midlife has been starting this podcast, so I wanted to talk about the top tools I gathered when starting this podcast.

The first thing I did was get a website. Now you may have a website currently that you want to have the podcast as more of a tab on that website. But I wanted the website to be a standalone website with my podcast and other resources for people to use. So I would recommend getting a website, and that would include hosting, design, all that kind of thing. It is kind of a lot, but I think you’ll be happy if you do it that way.

Step number two is deciding on a podcast hosting site. Now, what is hosting?

Hosting, I’m the hostess with the mostest.

You’re going to need a place where all your audio files will live. Your audio files are pretty large and it’s not a good idea to keep those on your website. Plus, when you use a podcast hosting site, they are automatically distributed to places like Spotify, Apple, Google all the major podcast outlets. There are a number of podcasting hosting sites. I use Libsyn. I really like it. It’s easy to use. I found it easy to get started. There are also others like Podbean and Buzz Sprout and rss.com. Some of these will also allow a website incorporated with your podcast so you don’t have to worry about getting a website and a podcast hosting, but it just depends on what you want to do and how ingrained you want to be into that hosting site with your website.

Step number three is getting the right equipment. Basically, that’s pretty easy. All you need is a microphone. I use Audio Technica, and it’s a good idea to have some sort of device to keep that microphone close to your face. I use a boom that attaches to my desk. Some people have a stand that they like better, but my microphone’s Audio Technica and it plugs into my USB for really good sound. There are also other microphones around like Blue Yeti, for example.

Step number four is to decide how you’re going to record your podcast. I use audio and video, so I use StreamYard to record my podcasts. Plus I have an interview-style podcast, so I do want to be able to have two people on a screen at one time. There’s all different types of recording software. If you are just going with audio files such as Audacity, Garage Band, Riverside FM has both audio and video. So it’s a dependent on what kind of podcast you want to have.

And then step number five is to get some editing software. I use Camtasia because I’m editing audio and video, but some of the recording tools I mentioned in step number four. Also do editing. Or you could use a tool like Descript, which I think is very handy as well. We use that to create some of our reels and to do a little bit more light editing when needed.

So there’s lots more that goes into creating a podcast. Things like deciding on cover art and how frequently to publish and what kind of content you’re having in general and how long. So there’s a lot of other things, but this is a great start for you as far as tools.

One thing that I will really recommend if you are thinking about starting a podcast is to get a little bit of training, and I recommend Podcasters Paradise with John Lee Dumas and Kate Dumas. I found it to be super helpful, great community, lots of great teachings and templates in there, and you get a year of access. So really great way to get started.

And I can highly recommend starting a podcast as something fun, enjoyable, and great to do in midlife or any age.

Outro: Hope that was helpful, and make sure you grab the free guide Top Tools for Late Starters on the website at latestartersclub.com and let’s turn dreaming into doing.