How to Create a Top 10 Rated Podcast for Under $500
Tags: Babies, Science, Health, Life, Coronavirus

How to Create a Top 10 Rated Podcast for Under $500

Photo by Soundtrap on Unsplash

I launched my podcast, Entrepreneurs Can Party, on 4th March 2020. Just 6 days later, it was a U.K. top 10 ranking entrepreneurship podcast on Apple Podcasts.

This wasn’t a fluke, and it wasn’t cheap. Six months of preparation went into the launch. I’ve also spent close to $4,000 on my podcast to date. However, a lot of this was unnecessary. Even though the £400 I spent on a 30-minute conversation was useful, for example, it was mostly stuff I’d heard already.

With this in mind, I know it’s possible to launch a podcast and get it ranking in the top 10 of Apple Podcasts in less than a week. Here’s my take on where you should splash the cash, as well as how to create a podcast for next to nothing.

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Many podcasters skimp on this. They knock up a design on Canva — usually involving a picture of themselves with a mic — and think they’re good to go.

As much as I love Canva, I wouldn’t recommend it. Unless you’re a designer, it may look cheap and you don’t have to break the bank to get something that looks a hundred times better.

Take Entrepreneurs Can Party. I can’t design for toffee. However, with the help of an Indian freelancer, I got a cover that I’m proud of for £70 (roughly $90).

Screenshot by Author

There are plenty of websites for this sort of thing, including Fiverr and Upwork. Personally, I love Freelancer. Their contest feature is a great way to collate a wide range of designs from many different freelancers and you’ve got a greater chance of seeing something you like.

I received 105 entries when I posted my contest. Admittedly, about three quarters weren’t very good. Still, this left well over a dozen excellent designs to choose from.

Intro sounds: Less than $50

Many podcasts in my niche sound the same. They begin with generic backing music as the host says what their podcast is about. Then they dive into an interview. Yawn.

Now I’m not saying mine is God’s gift, but at least it’s different. At the start, there’s a one-minute jingle. This highlights what my show’s about, who it’s for, and how it can help listeners.

To put it together, I used four different sounds from Audiojungle. The idea is someone walks up to a house party, hears music, and I open the door to invite them in.

When creating intros and outros for your podcast, it’s really important to use copyright-free music. If you don’t, your podcast runs the risk of being taken down from the various podcasting platforms. I love Audiojungle because of the huge variety of sounds, and once you’ve bought the sounds, you can use them forever.

Launch competition: $100 — $150

As well as posting books to people in my network, I ran a competition. One lucky person would win 20 of my favourite books.

To enter, all people had to do was follow my Instagram and tag a booklover in the comments. The more booklovers they tagged, the more entries they’d get (and so the greater their chances of winning.)

On the day of the launch, I posted a video of me packing the books and announced who the winner was. The important thing about giveaways is to:

Make them relevant and appealing to your audience.

Make them easy to enter

Don’t ask winners to share that they’ve won on their social media. If it’s a great prize, they’ll want to talk about it!

Personalised wrapping paper (1-meter roll) & packaging: $40

In The Power of Moments, the Heath brothers tell the story of The Magic Castle Hotel.

From the outside, it looks pretty ordinary. However, according to Trip Advisor, The Magic Castle Hotel is the number two hotel in Los Angeles. Based on thousands of reviews, it’s outranking Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons.

This is because the executives at the Magic Castle have figured out what moments can do.

For example, a cherry-red phone is mounted by the poolside, and just above it is a sign that says popsicle hotline. If you’re brave enough to go over and pick up the phone, somebody answers “popsicle hotline, may I help you?” You can then order orange popsicles, delivered on a silver tray by a butler wearing white gloves, completely free of charge.

Punchline? Moments matters. That’s why for the above competition, I wanted to exceed the winner’s expectations. I personally delivered the box of books and wrapped them in personalised Entrepreneurs Can Party wrapping paper. I also left a note inside, as well as four bonus books and a handful of personalised Entrepreneurs Can Party bookmarks.

The winner was delighted!

Screenshot by author

Blue Yeti Mic: $140

I used to use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen mic. I didn’t like it. The software was complex, the sound was bad, and it left an awful crackle during recordings.

In comparison, the Blue Yeti is an absolute breeze! You simply adjust the dial, plug it in, and start recording.

One thing to note about the sound quality on podcast recordings: The recording conditions of a room are just as important as the mics.

For example, if you’re recording in a room with lots of high ceilings and/or smooth surfaces, the sound will bounce around and make your podcasts sound echoey. Same with glass windows. This is true even if you’re using a high-end microphone.

If possible, it’s best to record in a room with lots of carpeted surfaces to dampen the sound. Walk-in wardrobes work surprisingly well!

Free tools

When it comes to recording online conversations, editing audio, and hosting your podcast, these free tools do the job just as well as any paid ones.

Zencastr is Zoom on steroids. The sound quality is far better and it’s ridiculously simple to use. Simply send a link to your guest and click record. Done.

Audacity is the only audio editing tool I’ve ever used and I love it. Again, it’s easy to use, quick to learn, and although there are other platforms out there, such as Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Apple’s Logic Pro X, it’s more than enough.

As for podcast hosting, you may want to consider Anchor.fm. I personally use Buzzsprout which costs around £20 a month, but I’ve heard from other podcasters that Anchor is just as good.

Takeaways

Many podcasting services are popping up, offering this and that. Fundamentally, podcasting is simple. Record episodes, edit the files, choose a host, upload the content, and promote it to fans.

I’ve spent a lot of money to learn tactics from some of the most successful podcasters. Even then, these tactics aren’t particularly complex.

My suggestion? Launch a dummy podcast for free to test some ideas.

For example, experiment with the format of the show. Do you want guests? Is it just you? Is it going to be a documentary or interview-style podcast? You don’t have to share these episodes with anyone and it lets you see whether you like podcasting.

As Pat Flynn says, if you can’t see yourself doing a project in 3 years, the project probably isn’t worth pursuing in the first place. You’ll likely quit just as things get interesting.

And you don’t have to spend huge sums of money to get a top-ranking podcast. Never in a million years did I think I could rank with the likes of Tim Ferriss and Gary Vee! For a brief moment, though, there I was.

It’s possible.