Are you ready to discover some new podcasts? Or are you thinking about starting your own podcast? Either way, you’re in the right place, because I’ve got some podcasting resources to share with you today!
It’s part of my week of episodes on podcasting itself. Hope you enjoy!
Without any more preamble, these are things, places, products, podcasts I have personally used and gotten value out of as both a listener and a creator of podcasts.
You’re reading the transcript of an episode of the How to Be a Better Person podcast. If you’d rather listen, click the play button below.
Listen to the Podcast Here
Ways to find new podcasts:
Earbuds Podcast Collective
This newsletter and website curates 5 podcast episodes according to a theme, curated by a different person each week. These are audio LOVERS who listen to a LOT of different things, so you will absolutely not only discover new-to-you podcasts, but you can be sure that they will be good. Maybe not all will be your cup of tea, but they will all be quality.
Good Pods
Is an app and a website (they are still building out the website) that aims to be the Goodreads of podcasting–a way for you to see what podcasts your friends are listening to and loving and a way for you to keep track of what you listen to and love. Good Pods is really devoted to giving independent podcast producers–like me–equal space with the big names, unlike Apple podcasts, for example, which tends to feature podcasts from public radio and big podcast networks and household names. Good Pods levels the playing field a bit.
Death, Sex, and Money,
A podcast about these important subjects has a great newsletter where they recommend audio they love and I have discovered some really great shows and episodes there. Also, if you love real talk about tough subjects, you will LOVE Death, Sex, and Money. Definitely sign up for their newsletter! It’s a good one.
There are any number of podcast roundup articles written every day. Go Google Best Podcasts and have fun. And, hey, if you write these articles, or you know someone who does, please! Mention How to Be a Better Person! Getting listed in a Fast Company article as the number 1 podcast to help you achieve your goals in 2020 put me and this podcast on the map.
Resources for podcasters:
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Twitter accounts:
Following Wednesday’s guest, Arielle Nissenblatt, who is cofounder of the Earbuds Podcast Collective and of the Outlier podcasting conference that happens twice a year, on Twitter is a must. A must! She shares all kinds of tips, on content, on using social media to promote your podcast. She is @arithisandthat.
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Podcasts:
- I’ve enjoyed listening to Christy Haussler’s podcast, called Podcast Monetization Secrets. Christy, the host, is a contrarian, saying you don’t need a lot of downloads or even sponsors to make your podcast a legitimate revenue stream, and her episodes always get me thinking.
- Good Morning, Podcasters, is a daily advice podcast for podcasters from Tanner Campbell, who ran a one-man podcasting studio in Portland, Maine for years until the pandemic shut that down and now he tweets, teaches podcasting via online courses, and produces a few of his own podcasts–he also has one called Practical Stoicism, about philosophy. He’s also a great follow on Twitter, where his handle is @tannerhelps.
Hosting services:
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LibSyn
Is the podcast hosting service I first used and where I continue to house most of my episodes. A podcast hosting service is just like the hosting service you need if you have your own website–it houses your content so that people can access it whenever they want. A podcast hosting service also distributes your episodes to various podcast players so that when people open up their apple podcast app and search for you, you pop up. LibSyn is super beginner friendly–it’s very intuitive and gives you a lot of great data about your listeners. If you go there and decide to sign up, use the code BETTER to get up to 2 months of the service FOR FREE. I do get a small commission if you do–just to be transparent about that. LibSyn is a great place to start.
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Equipment:
All you need, really, in terms of equipment, is a mic. I bought the one my podcast editors recommended and it’s been totally great. Fine. I’m not a gear head. I bought an Audio Technica ATR2100X with an arm that you mount to your desk so that you can’t knock it over and a pop filter so that your Ps don’t rupture anyone’s ear drums, and last I checked it was $109 on Amazon, and if you don’t want to use Amazon, check out B&H photo, a local business in New York City who typically has great prices. I plug the mic into my computer, open up Audacity, which is a free audio editing software, and start talking.
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Editing:
Someone will need to edit your episodes, most likely, and do things like adjust your levels and take out your swallows and maybe some of your ums, and take that completed file and then upload it to your podcast hosting service. I have no patience or bandwidth for audio editing so from the very beginning I worked with an editing team and if I hadn’t, I’m quite sure I would have never gotten started because I would have been futzing with levels and tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to do something. I am in love with my editors, who have now grown into a network of their own. They are Sound Advice Strategies and if you reach out to them, please tell them Kate sent you. Although they have employees, Sound Advice is run by Phyllis and Kelvin Nichols, a husband and wife team who are as sweet as they are smart.
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Recording interviews remotely:
I used Squadcast, which is a web-based platform that you pay a small monthly fee for – I am pretty sure my plan is $10 a month– and it lets you and up to three guests see each other as you have a conversation. It also records each person’s audio track separately, which improves audio quality and I believe makes it easier to edit, although truthfully I don’t really know because I don’t do my own editing. I know it’s very easy to use, and you do not have to record video (I usually turn the camera off after we’ve said hello and how are you so that we can all be in the audio zone). I don’t have a code for you for Squadcast, but their monthly fees are pretty darn affordable. You could use Zoom, and a lot of people do, but that records only one audio file so the audio isn’t quite as good.
Daily Tiny Assignment
Well that should keep you busy! Your tiny assignment is to think about the one or two resources I shared that’s calling out to you as just what you need in your podcasting journey at this moment, whether you’re a listener, a creator, or both.
And of course I love hearing your suggestions, too. DM me on Instagram where I’m @katehanleyauthor or email me at kate@katehanley.com and let me know which podcasting resources you love! I’ll add them to the blog version of this episode. And I’ve put links to all these places in the show notes.
