3 Tips For Starting Your Podcast in 2020

Well, yeah, this year has had some challenges. If you’ve been thinking of starting your podcast, let me share my three tips to get started today. This article can also help you if you currently have a podcast and are looking to sharpen things. Now, I host the Free Your Energy podcast – where we have published 70 episodes, to date – which you can stream here on Apple of Spotify.

Do Seasons — I’m putting this one first because this is something that I wish I would have considered at the beginning. It never dawned on me until, honestly, this season that I am currently in, HA! Seasons give you so much power, design, and authority as a creative.
When you are first starting, the process can feel overwhelming. One way to mitigate that stress is to minimize your expectations of output. ‘Expectations of output’ is as it sounds.
How many episodes do you expect to have?
How long are the clips?
What is your release schedule?
Right, those fundamental questions create the stress, so let’s avoid that with an easy solution: seasons. At least choosing to do seasons gives you some definitive demarcation of completion.
Doing a season gives you a start, middle, and finish, which will help you stay focused. You will avoid burnout this way as well. The human brain is used to the start, middle, and ending concept – that is why we love stories. Later, I will be giving you a different manual that will help you organize your show as well!
You could do a 5, 10, 15, or 20-episode season and then take a break. The break will allow you to access your structure, flow, and desire to continue. Maybe you don’t need a show that runs forever, but instead, you need a twenty-part series that details different components of your business or platform, or maybe there is a particular story you want to get out? Consider doing seasons when you start.
Get Good Equipment Or Use A Local Studio —
Audio quality is paramount in this industry. At this point, there is no excuse for trying to make an audio program that sounds poor. The technology is so good these days that if you cannot secure great audio, you’re lazy. Even entry-level devices have high-quality.
I strongly recommend you also check things in your space like fans, AC Units, and cellphones. Make sure the phones are on silent or vibrate. Little sounds like those things can significantly impact the audio experience.
If you have money, I would consider investing in a studio setup at first.
The Pros: It will be less work for you upfront, and you will have help from people who understand sound. Having an engineer and audio producer can help you, especially if you don’t know anything about that stuff yourself.
I STARTED AT A STUDIO because I wanted to learn some of the backends of producing and engineering and then transitioned to my studio as I invested in equipment.
You can expect to pay between $30-$60 USD per hour for podcast studio time.
Working from home, a coffee shop, or maybe even a local co-working place can also give you a lot of freedom to record the podcast.
The Pros: You can create any time. You can edit anytime. You can control the mood, the scenery, the design, the lighting, and the sound design. Depending on which situation you choose, you can give yourself a lot more freedom and choice. You save money by not paying the studio, and you can build a traveling podcast studio. I can record from anywhere in the world now, and my setup is simple and not expensive.
My Mobile Podcast Setup:
- MacBook Pro
- Turtle Beach Gaming Headset ( I choose this because I already owned it. It serves as a headphone and microphone for me, and yes, I use it to play Call Of Duty too. Don’t judge me, fam! 😏.)
- Lacie 2Tb External Hard Drive.
- A Website that allows me to record through their platform (there’s plenty, google it).

“Overthinking can stop you from your greatness if you allow it.”

— S.McNutt

3. Don’t Overthink It and Have Fun— I have been recording my podcast for two years, and I can tell you, it is a lot of fun. I have made new friendships through my podcast, and I’ve been able to grow my brand through it as well. As a writer, it’s beneficial to bring more value to my readers. I strongly recommend that you start your podcast this year. There is only an upside for you, for your fans, and us as creatives.

Overthinking can stop you from your greatness if you allow it. I believe most creative people will enable themselves to overthink for two main reasons. As for the first judgment we mentioned, it can come from within, or it can be the judgment that others may cast upon you. Honestly, we can’t care about negative energy like that. Some people will like it, some will love it and some won’t. Either way, life goes on. If someone doesn’t like your podcast, it’s not like you lose $30 out of your bank account. You lose nothing. Please, don’t overthink because of judgment.

The other reason people overthink their art is that they put too much pressure on what it needs to be, who it needs to sound like or to be liked by, or what the result of the product will be. If you obsess about the end of something creatively, you may suffer — your job is simple, to create and enjoy your life.

Free Yourself!

True freedom is creating from a place that feels like home, a place that feels genuine and real. True freedom is not obsessing about critiques, money, and how other’s may perceive your art. True freedom happens once you say: I need to create this. And then, once you follow that feeling with action. If you struggle with overthinking, take my course on overthinking. You’ll get value out of this mini-course called, How To Stop Overthinking. Sign up here to register. Use the code CAKE to get $57 off the program right now!

Earlier, I mentioned that I wanted to give you a gift. I want to provide you with my full manual on How To Structure Your Podcast; this manual is only available for the first 1,000 who claim it. It has specific and practical information that I use TODAY in my podcast. Go HERE to get it now!