We all get screen fatigue. You may love creating content, connecting with your friends, and doing a little mindless scrolling, but sometimes it can be a bit much. After you’ve sat on a computer all day or spent the morning knee-deep in the FYP, your eyes could use a break. Enter podcasts – and enter our first creator-written article. We worked with one of our podcast experts and business gurus to tell you how to start a podcast.
But first, let’s get to know our featured creator!
Meet Jordan
Jordan Mendoza is the CEO of Blaze Your Own Trail consulting. He teaches his clients how to better market their business on social media – a passion he discovered through LinkedIn. Though he mostly works with entrepreneurs and other business-owners, his advice is invaluable for creators no matter their passions or platforms. And, in 2020, Jordan started his own podcast. In the Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast, Jordan sits down with business-owners to get their invaluable insight into business and life – including actionable steps to blaze your own trail.
In this article, Jordan will take you through his podcasting journey. The struggles, the lessons he learned (the hard way) and everything you need to get off on the right foot. At the end, you’ll have learned how to start a podcast…and that it might not be as daunting as you think!
How to Start a Podcast
When I first started my podcast, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. In fact, the first podcast I started in May of 2019 failed. I’m probably the only one that even listened to one of the two episodes that I published.
The reason my podcast failed back in May of 2019 is because I lacked clarity.
You see, I had started consuming Gary Vee content and he said I should start a podcast. I just took that and ran with it – which is not the best idea. So in November of 2019, I started doing a little bit more research into podcasting. I got clarity around why I wanted to start my show and what I wanted to name my show. Then things really started to come together.
The biggest lesson that I can share is: the first attempt, although you may have the best intentions, may not get the best outcome. But what you learn on the first attempt will make the second attempt better.
On the second attempt I had solid clarity around:
- Why I wanted to start the show?
- What I wanted to name the show & why?
- Who I wanted to actually interview?
So, I’ll ask you the same question I asked myself.
Why Do You Want to Start a Podcast?
If you want to start a podcast because you want to instantly start making lots of money, don’t start a podcast.
If you want to start a podcast because you want to become instantly famous, don’t start a podcast.
If you want to start a podcast because it’s the thing that everyone’s doing and you just want to keep up with the Joneses, don’t start a podcast.
Now, if you want to start a podcast because you feel like you have something to talk about and you have ideas around topics that can add value to people, entertain people, motivate people, teach people, inform people or inspire people, then I would say start looking into it.
What Do You Want to Do?
First, as I explained earlier get the clarity around why you want to start your show. Some questions to help with that process:
- Do I want to help people in a certain area?
- Do I want to share my expertise with a specific audience?
- Do I want to tell stories?
- Do I want to make people laugh?
- Do I want to inspire people?
Choosing a Name
Next, start to determine the name of your show. I would suggest picking a name that is sustainable and that people can relate with. I chose Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast because I really resonated with real life trailblazers. And I grew up in Portland, Oregon which is home of the Portland Trailblazers, my favorite basketball team since the 80’s.
Pro Tip: Try to Work the “Why” Into Your Name!
For me, I wanted to interview “Trailblazers”, people from all around the world who have blazed their own trail in business and life, and find out their journey to success. Since I launched the show in January of 2020, I’ve completed 100 guest interviews averaging 42 minutes in length with highly successful athletes, business owners, authors, influencers, pastors, and leaders from all walks of life. We now have listeners in 70+ countries and the show has been featured on TikTok, Yahoo Finance, & Market Watch, to name a few.
Do You Still Want to Start a Podcast?
If you answered yes, then here are some additional practical tips to help you on your journey:
- Once you’ve named your show, do your research to make sure someone else doesn’t already have it.
- Next, start to design your cover art, which you can do in Canva for free.
- Pick a hosting platform. There are TONS of options, I went with a free one which is now Spotify for Podcasters (Formerly Anchor)
- Get a good microphone and headphones. I like this option for less than $100
- Pick a recording platform. I used Zoom at first and then switched to fm.
- Hit record and go!
- Edit (if needed). Descript is a great editing tool that can remove filler words and more.
- Upload your episode!
Congratulations! By this point you officially have a podcast!
Once your episode is uploaded the promotion work begins! You can leverage platforms like Riverside.fm, Repurpose.io or Opus to cut your long form content into short clips for social media platforms like Clapper, YouTube Shorts, IG & FB Reels, TikTok and even LinkedIn.
I hope you found this information helpful and I wish you the best if you’ve determined that podcasting is something you want to take on! I’ve built so many amazing friendships, partnerships, and relationships as a result of having my show and wish the same for you.
You can listen to my show, the Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast here. I hope you get value out of the show!
Thank you to Jordan for sharing his expertise with us! You can follow Jordan and get all his business insight on Clapper at @JordanJMendoza. He goes Live every Wednesday at 1pm EST to share his trailblazing tips. And you can listen to his own podcast wherever fine podcasts are enjoyed.