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The How To Podcast Series - Podcast Co-Hosts, Practical Podcast Tips, and Podcast Community
E574 - The Call to Create - The Podcaster’s Path, 24 Steps from Beginner to Pro
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Okay, we're rolling. Hey, this is Dave from the how to podcast series. I'm glad you're here with me. We are embarking on something amazing, a lot of fun, a little bit nervous. At the same time, we're doing what we are calling our, I guess, marathon of podcasts. We're going to be doing 24 episodes in a row starting now, going all the way through until tomorrow. This is February 13th, leading into the 14th, 20, 26. So I'm going to be doing 24 episodes in a row, staying up as long as possible. You can hear probably over the next 24 episodes, my voice changing a little bit as we do this many episodes in a row. I don't know a lot of people who've done this before, but you're going to be hearing this maybe in the future, and this is not even going to be relevant. I'm just telling you off the bat, this is what we're doing. And this is the first episode of 24. What I'm getting from listeners of the how to podcast series as they come to the show and they're like, Dave, there's like 705, 600 episodes of the show. They're like, how, where do I even start? Because it's overwhelming. There's so much content here. But I just want like a beginner's guide that walks me from I have an idea to I have a podcast. Can you create something for us? So that's what this is meant to be. It's going to live on YouTube in the playlist in addition to being on all the audio players and as a 24 episode series around the podcaster's path. 24 steps from beginner to pro. And we're going to start today. This is the first episode of the 24. And this is just the call to create. This is the desire to start a show and why people feel called to create a podcast. So I'm glad you're here. Let's get into the conversation. Should be fun. When I talk to podcasters who are thinking about starting a show, they reach out to me with an idea, a passion, a desire. Maybe they saw or heard another podcast and they're like, oh my gosh, I want a podcast. I want to do what these people are doing. I really look up to them. They bring so much value. They're a great companion and I want to be that for my community. But I don't know where to start. And I'm looking for answers. I'm looking for a clear step by step process to go from I think I want to podcast to. To I am podcasting. How do I get there? This is the first episode in that pathway for the podcaster. And again, it's the simple call to create, and it's time to do that. Here we go. I think that the call to create hits every podcaster a little bit differently. It's not the same for everybody, but it always arrives. And it's kind of that nagging whisper that won't quiet itself. For years, I ignored the poll to start my own first show. Years and years I knew about podcasting, but I never thought I would be a podcaster or I would love it as much as I do. Life was busy. Ideas were kind of half baked when I first thought or contemplated the idea of a podcast. But I told myself that, you know, someday, someday I might have a show. Then through a series of things were happening in my life with my wife and a new business we were starting. And the global event we'll call it came in and destroyed our plans for starting a store. A podcast came to play because I wasn't able to open my store because of the closures that were happening globally. But I wanted to stay in touch with my audience. And we found that a podcast would be the first and best way for us to stay in touch with our audience. And that was the start for us. The Upcycle Canada podcast was my very first podcast with my wife Jen, recorded with zero experience. Not listening to any podcast about podcasting, just knowing that we wanted to do this. And we bumbled around, made a lot of mistakes, but we started our own show because we knew we wanted to connect with our audience. And there lies. I think the key part where I talk to podcasters is you need to want to connect with an audience. It can't all be about you. It can't be all about your book. It can't be all about your story. It can't be all about your course. It's got to be about the listener. And that's probably the first lesson I think I ever learned was if I'm going to do this right, I want to focus on the people that are going to be pressing play. You who listen to the show right now, that's my focus. So you're here, you're thinking about starting a podcast. That's exactly why this podcast exists. It's your why now. It's your, hey, this is going to get messy before it gets good. But it's right now. Starting a podcast never feels perfectly timed because it. It isn't supposed to be. You're always going to have this busier week, you're going to have this shinier thing that's going to catch your attention. You're going to be going in many different ways. As you contemplate starting a show. The truth is, a messy start compounds into mastery faster than a polished paralysis of information. I talk to far too many podcasters who have been thinking about learning about studying podcasting, yet never hitting record. They've been doing this for years. They're a subject matter expert on something they've never done. And I'm encouraging people to get past the learning curve and actually just start. And it seems kind of trite to say just start because we don't know what we're doing. But I find that you're going to learn more on the job. Training is great. When you start a show, you have to do the thing. And once you've done it, once you're like, oh, I can. I can do this again. Your first episode is kind of where you start to train your voice, exposing yourself in your style to the world. And it's where you start to build momentum. When you wait to do all of this, it erodes all of that motivation. Podcasters who launch amid the chaos and hit that 10 episode mark twice as fast as the people who plan out perfectly created and curated podcast episodes. It's like that person who cuts their grass in 25 minutes and then the person who's out there with a pair of scissors that perfectly manicuring their lawn. Just get the lawnmower, get it started, move on with your day. Compared to sitting there and going blade by blade throughout your entire yard, cutting your grass, it's a different approach. But I think the active part of creating a podcast is a great way to begin. So let's bust some perfect timing myths. We've got three of them for you that we're going to bust wide open here on the Shop. Myth number one, I need my full plan before I start the reality outline a few episodes record one. Plans are going to evolve while you do the thing. If you decide to create 52 episodes before you launch, what if you get feedback from your audience after episode three that they don't like that one part of your show, that one segment, whatever. They don't like the intro music, they don't like the outro music. If the intro's too long, it's too short. I can't hear you. You're too loud. You've already created all of this content. You built up this war chest of content and podcast episodes without getting any feedback, without developing over time. And I encourage podcasters to start with at least a trailer and maybe a couple episodes to go with it, and that be your starting point. But then get feedback before you keep going too further, too far down the path because you're in your own bubble. You know what you want, you know what perfect looks like and sounds like to you. But you also need to ask people, does this sound good? Is this. Am I connecting? So the myth that I need to start with a full plan and have all my episodes done before I even start. No, you don't need to do that. Just start myth number two, the second myth that I hear from people quite often is, well, I just want to get better equipment before I start my show. I want to get all of the fancy mics that the big gurus tell me I need to buy. The secret here is you don't. You don't need to get all those mics. You don't need to have all those things, because by investing in things that you don't not know how to use and who that might not be relevant for the type of podcast you're creating, you might be wasting your time. So before you go spending a bunch of money, blowing your credit card out, buying all this gear that you don't know how to use, you need to figure out your show. If you're going to be an interview podcast and you're going to do it virtually, you need one microphone because you're going to be recording over the Internet and a webcam. That's it. If you're going to be doing in person podcasts, where you're going to be doing kind of what you see on YouTube and places like that, where people are sitting together in the same room recording, each of them has their own mic. That's a different setup and that requires extra, extra tech to get multiple mics into one computer. So that's a different setup. If you're going to be live on the street or live at a conference, you're going to be in a busy, noisy place then, like those little lavier mics that clip to your shirt with a magnet. That might be all you need. You don't know what you need until you start, so you need to start first before you go buy all this stuff. Don't wait for better equipment. Start with what you have. One of my favorite quotes you're going to hear by listening to how to Podcast series is do what you can with what you have. Where you are. Do what you can with what you have where you are. So what do you have? Do you have a phone? Do you have a desktop computer? Do you have a laptop? What do you have? Start with that before you go. Spend a lot of money. When you think about upgrading your gear to the next thing, upgrade it based on revenue. Like you're making money from your show. It's bringing new clients to your business and it's it's giving you return on your investment of time. Focus on your upgrades based on revenue, not on hopes and wishes. The third Myth that People have around Beginning Their Journey as a podcaster People think, as we talk about the third myth here, that I'm not an expert in my field yet. So I'm going to wait until I become an expert before I start my show. I love the idea of building a public. I love taking people along on the journey. The reality is listeners crave your learner's journey, not instant guru status. And authenticity is actually going to be something that overrules the polish every day of the week. You don't have to know everything to start your show. You don't have to know anything about your topic and start a show. My example I have Living the Next Chapter. It's an author podcast. Guess what? I'm not. I'm not an author. I've never written a book in my life, yet I have a podcast where I talk to authors and I have 700 plus episodes for a guy that's never written a book. Who am I to have anybody on my show to talk about authorship? Well, I don't share my insights about authorship because I don't have any. But my guests do, and I facilitate the conversation. The episodes and podcasts on Living the Next Chapter are about my guest. They're not about me. So I am actually doing this in real time. I have a show. I am a complete novice. I've never done what my guests have done and I shine the light on them. So you don't even have to know anything about your topic. You could just be somebody who's naturally curious and you want a show. And there are more people wanting to be guests on shows than there are shows. So if you're looking for a starting point, an interview podcast, even if you're not the expert, might be a perfect spot for you to start as you consider your show where it's our action step. Where do we go from here? I want to keep these episodes short to the point, something that you can just binge through all 24 episodes that we're creating this Valentine's Day weekend in 2026. I want you to grab a notebook or some kind of app on your phone and write one paragraph answering this question. Why does my voice matter in podcasting? Why does my voice matter in my community? Whatever that is. Dads, authors, podcasts, about podcasting, music, business, mental health. Why does my voice matter in this space? Be raw, no editing. And then pin this to somewhere where you're going to see it on a regular basis. Read it before. Every time you go to the mic and hit record, remind yourself, why does my voice matter in this podcast? This isn't fluff, it's your anchor. When you're. When doubt starts to creep in that maybe you're not good enough or you're not smart enough, you haven't. You don't know enough to be on the mic and talk. How dare you be the voice of these, this community. You're the one who said yes where everyone else said they could do it, but they never have. You did it. You stepped up. You. Your voice isn't ready. It's needed. I'll say that again. Your voice isn't ready for podcasts. At the starting point, this is the first step. Your voice isn't ready for podcasting. It's not, but it's needed. And without you, you're not going to be able to reach an audience. Your audience is not going to find you, or your content or your heart, your stories. Your voice isn't ready, but it's needed. It's time to start. And this is your 24 step path for podcasters from beginner to pro. This was the call to create. Can't wait to have you back for the next one. As we go through this, we're going to be talking more and more. And this next episode, we're going to be talking about common podcaster doubts and excuses is our next episode. Come back. Keep listening. Thanks for being here. If you're looking for more information about podcasting and you're looking for a community around podcasting, come check out howtopodcast ca. It's my website where everything we do around podcasting this show our community or meetup resources. There's a lot of great stuff there for you. A whole list of free tools that you can use as a podcaster to save yourself some money. That's based on my website, podcastforfree.com which just leads you back to my regular website. And if you want any more information as well, there's a calendar link on my website where you and I can meet anytime. It's always there. It's always available. Whatever you see available on your end. I'm ready to talk podcasting with anybody. I'd love to help you no matter what your questions are. We can grab a virtual coffee and we can talk through what your big idea is. Maybe some of your struggles in podcasting. Maybe some motivational things. Maybe some growth things. Things. Happy to help you over at howtopodcast ca come check out the website. Let's connect. Stick around because we have a bunch more episodes here on The Podcaster's Path. 24 episodes here in a row. That's meant to be kind of your starting point for your journey as a podcaster or if you're going to start a new show or you want to refresh your journey and catch up on maybe some of the things you might have missed. That's what this show's about. I'm glad you're here. My name is Dave. Love to help you reach out anytime. HowToPodcast CA take care. Talk soon.