How does one pull the trigger and launch a podcast? Where should that podcast be launched? What’s the best way to increase the listener base? These are the questions Podcasting Hall of Famer and School of Podcasting CEO Dave Jackson deals with daily. He addressed them, among others, in a lively session conducted live Tuesday during Streamline Publishing’s How to Make REAL MONEY Podcasting virtual conference.
Interacting with Radio Ink and Podcast Business Journal Editor Ed Ryan, Jackson had two key points to share.
First, determine who the audience is for the podcast.
Second, ask yourself the following question: Why am I doing this?
“Starting a podcast is not hard,” Jackson said. “Starting a good podcast is hard.”
This includes investing in the right equipment.
“The Samson Q2U is my go-to,” he says of the popular portable USB-based microphone, which RBR+TVBR uses for its InFOCUS Podcast series. “Spend $100 on a good mic. Spend 100 hours on finding out what makes a good podcast.”
Among the other things Jackson believes get a host closer to that goal are questions he hears from his students: How do I get guests? How do I get my guests to share my podcast? Do I need a website?
One podcast Jackson hosted was focused solely on how to be interviewed, and how to interview others.
What could Jackson say is his best advice? “You do need a website, because Google needs to find you. From there, it comes down to making great content and leaving enough time in your life to promote it.”
Jackson, who is based in Akron, Ohio, also recommends the use of a Zoom PodTrak P4 Podcast Recorder. It boasts four mic inputs, assignable sound pads, and TRRS for incoming phone calls, among other features.
Lastly, the trick to drawing an audience to a podcast is quite simple: it is about content.
And, for those that bemoan a “discovery problem,” perhaps the biggest issue Jackson hears from his students, he offers the following conclusion: “It doesn’t matter if you have promotion if your podcast isn’t delivering.”
Thus, content is king. Then, put your podcast everywhere.
Contact Dave Jackson about your podcast by e-mailing him at [email protected]. And, check out The School of Podcasting website HERE and podcast HERE.
It’s not too late to register for day two and day three of the conference. CLICK HERE.
