Podcasts are everywhere. It’s an exciting time to be a content creator or entrepreneur because it’s easier than ever to start your own podcast and record it all from your house. But that also means you have to be careful not to create an underdeveloped podcast that advertisers don’t want to invest in. So let’s go through some tips for starting a podcast.

Define Your “Why”

The first thing to think about is your goals and reasons for wanting to create a podcast in the first place. Do you want to expand your entertainment or performance presence? Are you looking to use the podcast as a money-making companion to another business you own or run? Do you have a unique perspective or position in your industry, life, or creative endeavors like storytelling, voiceover work, or something similar?

Defining your motives can help you figure out the style and format that best suits your content and goals for the podcast.

Find Similar Podcasts to Gauge Your Market

Almost as important as your reason for starting a podcast, the market it will be part of is something you should spend some time thinking about before you commit to content creation.

While it’s great to have similar podcasts to things that are already out there (check out this report on leading podcast genres in the USA as of 2020), you want to make sure your podcast isn’t so similar that it infringes on existing copyrights and trademarks.

It’s also helpful to do some research on similar podcasts to see what the standard is, how you can fit into the niche, and maybe even some things you notice those other podcasts aren’t doing, so you can include that content in your own episodes.

Establish Your Podcast’s Structure

Starting a podcast goes much more smoothly when you’ve decided on the structure of that podcast before you try to start producing episodes. Is your podcast conversational? Will you be inviting guest speakers and interviewing them? Is it a news show? Fictional stories?

If you are planning on having guest speakers, make a list of ones you would like to reach out to, and ones who are already interested in collaborating with you. Are there experts you’d like to include on your show sporadically? Musical guests you’d like to feature? All of these things have to fit into the structure of your podcast as well.

And don’t forget about podcast length. The beauty of podcasts is that they don’t have to be a specific length to fill a time slot. If you want something that is more conversational than story-driven, you can aim for episodes that are around 1 hour in length. If you are doing short and snappy news pieces or stories, you can create 20- or 30-minute episodes instead. While there’s no general rule that says your podcast episodes always have to be the same length, having a general idea and keeping it consistent helps your followers know what to expect.

Find an Established Production Team

If you are new to the podcasting world, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Partnering with an established podcast network is a great way to save time and money. You don’t need to use trial-and-error, you can just reach out to the network team at any point in the process.

HarlemAmerica Digital Network is looking for driven black entrepreneurs to host podcasts on their network, whether you’re from Harlem or anywhere in the world. Check out our website to learn more about our small business membership packages.