5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Podcast
It seems like everyone and their mothers are starting podcasts these days. And to that, we say, awesome! The more the merrier. A rising tide lifts all ships.
So many people reach out about starting their own podcast and often, we find they’re just starting a podcast because they see tons of their friends or colleagues starting them, and some having success through the medium.
But starting a podcast and maintaining one is A LOT of work - and the decision to start one, if you’re excited and serious about it, shouldn’t be taken lightly.
If you want to start a podcast, try asking yourself the following questions:
1. What is your vision for your podcast?
So many people just want to start a show and they don’t stop to understand their WHY.
Why do you want to host a show? What do you want to accomplish through this podcast?
ACTION TIP: Write down a vision and mission for your show.
This will give you the foundation you need to excel in the space. Not to mention, a great place to come back to when things get frustrating.
2. What do you hope people walk away from your show with?
It’s important to establish how you’re going to serve your audience members with your content from the very beginning.
What will be the top takeaways from your show? How do you want to educate, inspire, or change your audience?
ACTION TIP: Write down 3-5 things you want your listeners to get from your show.
3. Who is your target audience?
Similar to having your vision, knowing your audience (truly, deeply knowing and understanding them), will help you understand how to create the most impactful and relevant content for them on your show and beyond.
ACTION TIP: Identify key characteristics, demographics, hobbies, education levels, etc. Get granular here. You can even create personas to come back to.
4. What skills are you bringing to the table?
It’s important to know what you’re bringing to the table.
Do you have audio equipment and an understanding of how to use it? Do you know how to build an audience on social media? Do you know how to interview? Will you be editing the show yourself?
Consider what tasks you’re going to be able to do easily and what you may need to learn or eventually outsource completely.
ACTION TIP: Jot down a job description for creating your show. Check off what skills you comfortably have now. In one highlight color, note tasks you’ll need to learn. In another highlight color, note tasks you’ll want to delegate or outsource to others.
5. How much time do you have to dedicate to this project?
Now that you have a list (above) of what skills you can bring to the table, what you’ll need to learn, what you’ll need to outsource, you should have a good view of how much time this will take given your skillset.
Match that with how much time you actually have to dedicate to this project. Don’t answer this by saying the amount of time you’d like to have. Be realistic.
ACTION TIP: Time track your time for a week (or month!). (We love tools like Toggl.) Use the data you’ve collected to identify how much time you’re already spending on the podcast (if any), how much free time you have to work on it moving forward, and where you could me more efficient in other work or areas of life so you can open up more time for your show.
One of the most challenging parts of podcasting is understanding what you can really give to it. You’d rather be realistic upfront than get burnt out quickly and no longer be able to do it after a handful of episodes.
Starting a podcast is a big decision. Don’t rush it.
If you’re already like, “Nah bruh, I’m in!”, then you gotta get on our email list.
We share weekly advice and tips for FREE for current and aspiring podcasters.