Starting Your Very First Podcast

Have you caught the podcast bug and don't know where to start? Well, look no further!

Looking to create a new podcast? Then you've come to the right place! RedCircle is the perfect platform for creators to easily create a show and share it with the world.

While creating a podcast is easy, hosting a podcast requires committed time and effort to nurture its growth. That’s not to say that it’s impossible to do! Rather, it just means that most people underestimate the work that goes into creating a truly great show. We’re here to guide you through creating an absolutely magnificent podcast! :)

Plan, Plan, Plan
Preparing for Launch
Practice Makes Perfect
Putting It Out There
Pursuing the Future

Plan, Plan, Plan

Many a creator will say that planning is one of the most important steps in producing great content. Our podcasters have shared with us all the ways they prepared for their show; from writing scripts, to developing the artwork, to even stressing over the perfect name.

It’s always a good idea to make a plan for your podcast, even if it’s a small one!

What’s the podcast even about?

The first, and best, place to start planning is deciding what your show is even going to be about. You want to consider these questions:

What topic(s) do I want to cover?
What topic(s) would be interesting to my listeners?
Who are my listeners? How do they identify? What’s their age range? What sort of things do they like? (Decide their demographics)
How long do I want the episodes to be? How long is enough to cover my topic(s)?
How often do I want to post? Once a week? Twice a month? (Consistency is key to nurturing any creative endeavor.)
Should there be intro and/or outro music?

What about the name?

It’s important that your podcast sticks out from the sea of others. One of the ways to do this is by picking a unique and descriptive name. There’s no shortcut to coming up with a great name, but we do have some advice to help you out:

Be Descriptive: You want potential listeners to quickly comprehend the content of your show by just looking at the title. “The History of Airplanes” is a better title than “Joe’s Podcast”.
Be Unique: Make sure your show is the only one with your selected title. You want it to be easy for listeners to find your show (and you don’t want to send them to another one!)
Be Creative: A show title like “The Football Podcast” or “The Music Podcast” can easily be lost among the thousands of other similar shows. You want to choose a memorable name, one that sticks with the listener.

Do I need branded artwork?

Short answer, absolutely. Bright, visual pieces are a great eye-catching asset. Plus, podcast artwork allows you to provide even more information about your show at a quick glance. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Don’t forget to add the name of your podcast!

Like your name, try to create (or select) an image that describes your podcast. Make it memorable, make it unique, make it you.

Your image must be at least 1400x1400 pixels, and less than 3000x3000 pixels.

Need some help creating stellar art? No problem, check out these third-party websites:

Canva: A free and simple-to-use web-based graphic design service. Someone with little artistic experience can create beautiful images.
99 Designs: If you’re willing to pay, then check out this web service. You can hire excellent designers for a few hundred dollars.

Once you’ve figured out the look, feel, and meat of your podcast, the next step is to find the right tools to bring it to life.

Preparing for Launch

Now that you have the plan for your podcast, the next thing to focus on is selecting the right gear to create your podcast. You only need three things to get started; a microphone, an audio editing software, and a podcast hosting platform.

We have a couple of Help articles that might help you make a decision on the perfect tools:

As for the hosting platform, we hope you’ll choose us to join you on your podcasting journey! You can read more about RedCircle here:

Of course, feel free to drop us a note if you’ve got any questions!

Practice Makes Perfect

You should now have everything you need to start your podcast! It’s time to start recording your first episode.

As mentioned earlier, many podcasters write a script for their episodes instead of talking off the cuff. You can absolutely sit and riff with your co-host if that’s what works for you, but be careful not to devolve the conversation into a long ramble. Scripts help keep your content neat and tidy!

You don’t need to write out what you’re going to say word-for-word, but a bulleted list is an extremely useful asset. It can help you keep yourself on topic and ensure you don’t leave out anything important!

Having segments in your show helps to break up the content and can help keep listeners engaged. Think about how you want to structure episodes to tell a cohesive story.

Do a couple of practice runs to make sure you’re happy with the content, your cadence, and the overall sound of the podcast. (And practice runs can help you feel more comfortable speaking into a mic!)

See this Help article for even more tips on creating an engaging podcast!

Putting It Out There

Pause for a moment and pat yourself on the back. Congrats on recording and editing your first episode! The hardest part is now behind you. Now it’s time to share your podcast with the world!

If you haven’t yet, we recommend setting up distribution to each of the major listening platforms. You can find instructions for those platforms and more in the Distribution section of our Help Center. Distributing your podcast to these platforms guarantees that you’ll reach a wider audience, so don’t skip this step!

What else can you do to spread the word? Take to social media! Share links to your podcast on your various social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) Encourage your friends and family to share your podcast with their network, too.

Don’t discount the power of friends and family! Ask them to rate and review your show on Apple Podcasts, to mention your show to their friends and family who love podcasts, to help spread the word in any way they can! The best way to grow your audience is to talk about your show and encourage others to share it around their social circles.

Another way to generate interest is to invite guests onto your show. They’ll share the episode, and your show, with their audience, and possibly bring new listeners into your audience.

RedCircle also offers a fantastic tool that allows you to place an ad for your podcast on another podcaster’s show. Check out our Cross-Promotions article for more details.

Pursuing the Future

Once your podcast has been rolling for some time, you might start thinking about transitioning to working on your show full time. RedCircle can absolutely help you move from a part-time podcaster to the real deal.

You can monetize your show in a multitude of ways, including:

Check out the “Earning Money” section of our Help Center for even more resources.