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Imagine this. You record one episode, you upload it to one place, and within hours, it appears on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and dozens of other apps all around the world, automatically without you touching a single button. My friends, this is not a dream. This is literally how podcasting works. And today, we're gonna break it down so that it makes total sense. You've been thinking about for months, maybe years. You've got ideas, you got stories to tell, expertise to share, a unique perspective that the world needs to hear. But every time that you sit down to actually start that podcast, the questions pile up. What equipment do I need? Well, how much will this cost? Where do I even begin? What if nobody listens? Hey there. I'm Will, and I created let's Start a Podcast for one reason, and that is to turn your podcast dreams into your podcast reality. Lets start a podcast. Because the best time to start was yesterday. But the second best time is right now. Welcome back to let's Start a Podcast, a show where we walk you through everything you need to know to launch and grow your own show. I'm your host, Will, and in the last episode, we went deep on the gear that you needed to get started. Well, today we're moving on to the next chapter, which is all about hosting and distribution. This is the part where your podcast actually gets out into the world. And I promise it is a lot less complicated than it sounds. Before we talk about hosting platforms, we need to talk about the thing that makes all of this magic possible. Three little letters. R, S, S. Okay, I guess that's two letters, but you repeat one twice. Three total. Anyway, RSS stands for really Simple Syndication. I know that sounds like a tech term, and your eyes want to glaze over at that, but stick with me just for a second, because this is genuinely really cool. Once it clicks, think of your RSS feed like a radio signal. When you publish a new episode, your RSS feed updates in all the podcast platforms. Spotify, Apple, Amazon, all of them. The they're constantly listening for that signal. When they detect it, they pull your new episode and display it to their users automatically. You don't have to manually upload your episode to every single app. You only have to upload it once to your podcast host and the RSS feed. Well, that does the rest. That's the magic. That's the whole game. So then, what exactly is a podcast host? Well, think of it like any other kind of hosting. Your website host stores your webpages, your email host stores your contacts. And campaigns. Well, your podcast host stores your audio files and creates and manages your RSS feeds. Without a host, your podcast doesn't really exist in any meaningful distributable way. Unless you want to go into individually to each one of the platforms and put your show up there individually. And that would take four ever. So please don't try to do that. Right. The good news is that podcast hosts are actually really affordable. Many of them even have some free tiers and they're designed to be user friendly, even if you have never done anything like this before. Now, how do you choose the right one is probably your next question. There are a bunch of options out there and the book that I wrote called let's Start a Podcast, ironically enough goes into specific details on what to look for, including a comparison of features that you actually want to make sure to pay attention to. I highly recommend you grab a copy if you want that side by side breakdown and you can find the link in the show notes for it. It's just 599 and it literally walks you through the decisions. It makes it super easy. What I will say here is that my personal recommendation, whether you're just starting out or you got some episodes under your belt, is buzzsprout. See, I started with them and they just, they've only gotten better over the years. But I want you to make an informed decision. So if you want to look at all of the options or some of the options because I couldn't cover all of them, the book's gonna give you the full picture. But Buzzsprout seems to be the one that is the most intuitive. When I first started, I didn't know any tech stuff. So buzzsprout makes it super easy for you and walks you step by step how to get listed on the podcast directories like Apple Podcasts and things like that. Last time I checked, it was like 12 or $15 a month for four hours of hosting. And so depending on how long your show is, that might be just what you need. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate. Reach out, let me know. I'm happy to walk you through it. Okay, now, once you pick your host out and you've set up your account, you get a RSS URL from your podcasting hosting company and you submit that feed to the major podcast directories. Now, this is a one time setup. After that, every episode that you publish goes out to them all automatically. The trick is, and this is why I suggested buzzsprout, the initial setting up of the directories, buzzsprout is almost all of them. Just a click of a button and you're in. Things like Apple Podcasts, you have to do a little bit more work, but they walk you through step by step. Now, the major directories that you want to be sure that you're on are Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible. Right. Amazon Music and Audible kind of go hand in hand and iheartradio. There are a bunch of others, but if you're on those, at least those are the ones that'll cover the vast majority of your listeners. Now, here's something important. Before you submit, you're gonna need to have a few things ready to go. You're gonna need your podcast name. You remember, we picked that name earlier. You're gonna need a compelling description that includes your keyword. You're also gonna need your cover art, which needs to be either 3000 by 3000 pixels or, or 1400 by 1400. Depends on your podcast host. It can be JPEG or png. You're also gonna need your category and at least one published episode, because some platforms require it before they'll approve your feed. Now, I say one, but I recommend you have a few, and we'll talk about that in future episodes, but we'll get to that if any of those specifics feel overwhelming. Again, the book has a full checklist that walks you through each one of those. That's what it's there for. Okay, now let's talk about your podcast website, because this is something a lot of new podcasters skip and then kick themselves for. Your podcast host will typically give you a bare bones basic page to display all your episodes. And that, honestly, for starting out, is just fine. However, if you want a real home for your show, something that looks professional and builds your brand and provides some search engine optimization opportunities so that you can be discovered through Google. Well, I've got one recommendation that I feel so strongly about that I want to mention here. It's called PodPage. Now, why do I find it such a strong recommendation? Well, PodPage creates an entire podcast website directly from your RSS feed. You literally connect it to your feed and it build out a clean, professional looking site for you automatically. There's no coding, there's no plugins, there's no drama. I mean, every time you publish a new episode, your website updates on its own. You don't have to do any work at all. You see, Kind of why I think PodPage might be the way to go. Our show, the Skeptic Metaphysicians uses PodPage, so you can see what that looks like if you go to skepticmaniaposition.com it's genuinely one of the best tools I found in this entire space. I'll lay in the link directly in the show notes so it's easy for you to access. Now, the other thing that podpage does is, like I mentioned, helps you with search engine optimization, which means that people can find your show through Google, not just through the podcast apps. And that, that is a big deal, trust me. Alright, one last thing before we wrap up this episode. Please, please, please, please, please, please back up your audio always. Please keep copies of your raw recordings on Google Drive or an external drive or somewhere other than just your hosting platform. Platforms don't disappear often, but God, I'd hate for that one time to be wrong. And your content is irreplaceable. I keep all my stuff on Dropbox and I can go back to my very first episode and it's all there. The RAW files, everything, everything. I keep everything. And yes, I know I'm a little bit of a pack rat when it comes to this thing, but I can't tell you the amount of times I've actually gone back to look for something in my back catalog. And I thanked the gods above that I had those files still in there somewhere. So I recommend you definitely back him up. If you want the full breakdown on choosing host, submitting to directory step by step, and setting up your podcast website the right way, it's all in the book. Let's start. A podcast is available at the link in the show notes for 5.99. That's $5.99 for a complete guide to everything we're talking about on this show, with direct links to every tool, every platform we mentioned is genuinely one of the best investments you can make at this stage of your journey. At least I think so. And at 599 it's not. I'm not trying to make money on it, I'm just putting it out there. This is an energy exchange, right? All right, next episode, we're getting into something that I think is one of the most underrated topics in podcasting. We're talking about listener pet peeves, the things that quietly drive your audience away without you even knowing it. This one could save your show. So you don't want to miss this one. Of all the shows, of all the episodes you listen to, next one is the one you want to make sure you tune in for. I'm Will Rodriguez, and until the next time. Go make something. Guys. It's no use putting it off. The best time for an underwear refresh is now. Tommy John Underwear is designed for a perfect fit that stays put all day. There's zero shave thanks to four times more stretch than competing brands and their innovative horizontal Quick Draw Fly is a game changer. With over 30 million pairs sold, there are thousands of men out there more comfortable than you. Don't settle for less. Go to tommyjohn.com today for 25% off your first order with code comfort. 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