The Best Things to Do to Start a Podcast in 2025

Unedited Transcript of the Episode:

Hi, I’m Andy smiley, your friendly podcast guide. I help you create and grow a podcast that is fun and fulfilling. Whether you’re just starting or a few years in, I share tips, stories from my own journey and insights from podcasters I admire today, I’m sharing the nine things I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast for a while, but you’re a bit overwhelmed with where to start.

This episode is for you. One of the beautiful things about starting a podcast is that it doesn’t take very much equipment to get started. So you don’t have to prep for months and months before putting out your first episode. But there are some things that I would recommend you do before you launch your podcast. I promise to cover all of that in this episode. And as always, I’ll do a recap at the end of the episode.

So you don’t have to take notes unless you want to. The first thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is to plan on doing video from the beginning. Video. I know it sounds so silly or interesting or weird with podcasting because podcast started as an audio only format, but with YouTube being such a big way that people find. Podcast these days, it’s really a good idea to have video from the beginning.

So you’re just used to it. And honestly, It’s not going to be the prettiest thing at the beginning. Mine definitely was not. When I started my first video that I published on YouTube. Has a blank wall behind me and I read a lot and it’s not exactly the best thing that I’ve ever put out into the world, but I knew that I just needed to do it and get it over with.

And hopefully that’s the worst one that I’ll ever be. Out,

I highly, highly, highly recommend just planning on video from the beginning. Because then your podcast, your amazing ideas and thoughts and all of the ways that you want to serve, your people can get to more people faster. If you do video. It’s just the way that it is these days. And you want to help as many people as possible, right?

You want as many people to listen to your podcast and get enjoyment out of it as possible. So,

Just do video from the beginning. I promise it’s a good idea. The second thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is used a script to edit the video that I’m planning on using. For my podcast, descript is really just the best. I have talked about it a lot and I’m talking about it again because descript. Has made editing video so much easier.

It’s just, it’s a game changer instead of having to edit the video itself. All you have to do is upload your video to descript. It does. It’s a little magical technical thing, and then it spits out a transcript. And then instead of editing the video, you’re actually editing the transcript. So. Every time that I say I’m in a video, I can delete, I can delete all of the ums if I want to.

Usually I don’t, because that makes me sound a bit like a robot. But if I wanted to, I could, or if I go on a tangent that I don’t need in the final project product. I can just delete it really quick, highlight, delete, and it’s gone. It’s the best descript has been a game changer for me, especially as a mom of three littles that does not have a bunch of extra time to be editing videos. So descript has made it possible for me to. Make a video podcast and get it on YouTube and do all of the other things that I’m trying to do with my podcast. The third thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is figure out my niche and stick to it.

This one sounds so simple and it is, but also it can get a little tricky. Because. Once I feel like we’re really good. Maybe I won’t speak for everyone. Just me. I feel like I am really good at picking a niche, but sometimes I kind of slide into a broader niche.

Like, let’s say you want to start a fitness podcast for moms

I think that would be a great podcast.

But once you put out a couple of episodes and maybe your download numbers, aren’t exactly where you wanted them. You start to slide into a wider niche of just like fitness in general. And you’re not really talking to moms anymore. You’re talking to just kind of people who like fitness. That while in your brain might feel like a good idea because you feel like you’re talking to more people. Your download numbers will probably go down instead of up because your listeners won’t feel like they’re understood quite as much.

So. Pick your niche, stick, stick to it, stick to it. Stick to it. And. I promise that. It might be hard in the beginning and you might feel small and you might feel like you’re not helping very many people, but in the long run, I promise that. You will grow so much faster. If you stick to your niche. The fourth thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is create a work flow, a podcast workflow. This doesn’t have to be super complicated, but it just kind of tells you what you should be doing on a certain day or on a certain week. However you want to set it up.

This is for. When you’ve been podcasting for a month or two, and you’re getting a little bit lost or you’re a little bit overwhelmed. This is a nice way for you to go back and say, oh yeah. Okay. On the first week I record all of my solo episodes or on the first week I write all of my. Intros and outros for my. Interview episodes.

It’s just something to fall back on. So you, you don’t have to make as many decisions when it comes to your podcast. It has really saved my bacon and helped me to. Put out episodes, even when I’m feeling a little bit like I’m in a podcast slump. It’s really a beautiful thing. And I will say when you create your podcast workflow, it is not set in stone.

It can change. It can be flexible, especially, you know, if you have sick kids for a week, then maybe you have to double up the next week because you didn’t do very much podcast stuff that literally happened to me last month because we all got sick with strep and. I just had to put it off and honestly it ended up being a good thing because

I ended up changing what my solo episodes were going to be about. And that’s why I’m creating this one is this was not the plan, but here we are. And this is actually been a better fit for what I wanted to talk about. So it all works out, but having a workflow is a great foundation, a great place to start, and then you can, it can be as flexible as it needs to be. Because life happens and.

We’re moms and we just have to be flexible. The fifth thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is. Plan on having a seasonal show, not planning on having a weekly show. For the first two. And a half years of the friendly podcast guide, I put out an episode every week and truly for a long time, it worked. Pretty well. Um, but I was getting a little bit bored and eventually I burned out, which is not what we want for you.

So having a seasonal show from the very beginning, first of all, it helps your listeners know, know what to expect. Um, they know that you take a break in the summer or they know that you don’t put out episodes in December because that’s a crazy month, whatever it is for you. However you want your seasons to look. That doesn’t really matter.

Just plan brakes, have brakes set into your podcast. Schedule so that your listeners are used to it. And so that you can do what you need to do. And. Not burnout.

Because your podcast is awesome and I don’t want it to stop. So. Plan those brakes. It’s going to make everything so much better.

The sixth thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is by a dynamic microphone. This one right here is a dynamic microphone.

All that means is that it only pulls sound from like the front part of the microphone. It doesn’t take it. Doesn’t get it from all directions. Just one. And truly this makes it so much easier to sound professional. Um, this mic, I think was 60 or $70, not very expensive. And then like, I guess as an added bonus, this is a pop filter, my T’s and P’s pop hard.

And so I had to get a pop filter along with the. Like the thing that comes with it, this thing, I think it’s called a wind sock. I don’t remember exactly, but I have to have both because. My T’s and P’s pop. Um, so get a microphone. It will help you sound professional and honestly just feel professional. And the kind of microphone you should get is a dynamic microphone.

It’s going to make you sound better and it will help you. Not get any extra sound like background noise. It will just be your voice or at least mostly just be your voice. Trust me. It’s worth it. The seventh thing I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025. Is have a months worth of content before launching your podcast. This gives you a buffer and it really helps you. With the earlier step of having a workflow, um, it sets you up for success for that workflow.

When you have a whole month worth of episodes in the bank, then. When you get sick because we all get sick. When we have little kids. It doesn’t matter. You’ll have you have a month’s buffer before you have to be putting out new episodes. It just makes it so much easier. And I do know people who do it week to week, and I don’t know how they do it. That would be so stressful for me. Um, so I highly recommend having a month’s worth of content. Like uploaded to your podcasting host before you launch.

So that.

You’ve got that buffer. Thank me later. It’s going to be so helpful to you. If you do that. The eight thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is create a trailer that drops a couple of weeks before your first episode. So a podcast trailer is a lot like a movie trailer, but it’s for your podcast, it’s usually like a minute to a minute and a half long, nothing crazy.

And just kind of. Gets people excited for your podcast. You can talk about who your podcast is for what you’re going to be talking about. Maybe some interviews or some topics that you’re going to be covering that you’re really excited about. And that’s about it. Nothing crazy, nothing too hard. Um, If you’re wondering that’s my first podcast trailer for season two. Is the one that was not very pretty, but I knew that I just had to do it and I had to get the really ugly video out of the way.

And I decided to do it with my podcast trailer. This trailer is really awesome because it builds hype. It’s something that you can. Share on social media. It’s something you can talk about a lot to get people to listen. It’s really easy for someone to listen to. A minute and a half. Podcast trailer. Um, and then they’re like, oh yeah, I need to come back and listen to another one.

Cause I love that. The podcast trailer is always a good idea and it really is not very hard to create.

So if I were doing one in 2025, I would make sure to have a podcast trailer that comes out a couple of weeks for me. I, uh, for season two, I did it two weeks before. My first episode dropped. Just to kind of start building hype, get people excited. The ninth and last thing that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025 is find a couple of podcasts, coaches to follow on social media or get their emails or both, but not a bunch like two, maybe three, but probably just two, because you don’t want to be inundated by podcasting advice.

As you’re starting, there can be, there’s a lot of advice out there. There’s a lot of different ways to do things. And honestly, none of them are wrong. But. It can be hard to be hearing multiple takes on the same idea. So. Just have one or two. Podcast coaches. And if I’m one of them that makes me really happy if I’m not that’s okay, too, but just don’t get overwhelmed by podcast coaches because. When we’re overwhelmed, we usually don’t finish whatever we’re starting.

And I want you to finish. I want you to put out your podcast, so just having one or two podcast coaches that you get advice from really helps, like limit the overwhelm that could happen.

And as a bonus tip, I would highly recommend not having a podcast. Download number goal. For the first season, at least if not like the first couple of seasons instead, have a goal of putting out a certain number of episodes or making sure that you have a podcast episode out on every Tuesday. Like there. There I am a goal.

Girly. I love a goal, but.

If you have a goal around download numbers, the likelihood of you reaching that goal. Is pretty low for the first couple of seasons, just because you’re putting your content out there. Your people are finding you so. Your download numbers might not be as high as you would like them to be. And when you have a download number goal, then you might get discouraged before your podcast even has a chance to make so many people’s lives better.

So that’s like a bonus tip. If you want some help applying these steps, these things to your podcast launch. I am currently offering a free podcast jumpstart session. So what this entails, is it 60 minutes of you and me? One-on-one talking about your podcast launch. Um, you asking all of your questions, me answering all of your questions.

It’s specifically for women who are wanting to start a podcast, but they aren’t sure where to start. Maybe you’re a little overwhelmed by the process or the tech, or you’re not sure exactly what you should talk about first for your first episode. That is, that is exactly what the session would be.

And I would, um, answer your questions, kind of brainstorm with you. Talk through whatever. Um, Concerns that you have. I have four spots available for these jumpstart sessions and they are totally free. So if you would like one comment jumpstart below, or you can send me a DM on Instagram at friendly podcast guide to claim your spot. Okay. Here’s a quick recap of the things that I would do if I was starting a podcast in 2025. And my goal is to say this in less than like a minute or a minute and a half. But I also want you to be able to understand me. Here we go. First do video from the beginning. Second use descript as your editing software, because it makes editing video so much easier and just doable as a mom. The third thing is, figure out your niche and stick to it. Even when it feels hard and it feels like it would be easier to be more general, just stick to your niche. For have a workflow for your podcast, so that on the days or the weeks when you can’t make another decision, the workflow has already made your decision and you know what you’re supposed to be doing next for your podcast. The fifth thing is, do seasons have a seasonal podcast instead of a weekly one? The sixth thing is to buy a dynamic microphone.

The seventh thing is to have a month’s worth of content before you want your podcast. The eighth thing is to create a podcast trailer and release it about two weeks before your first episode drops. The ninth thing is to find a couple of podcasts, coaches to follow on social media or get their emails, but don’t do more than two. Maybe three, but I think one or two is the best. And then as the bonus tip is, don’t have. Download number goals for the first couple of seasons of your podcast, because you don’t want to get discouraged when you’re just beginning. Getting into this. Whole 📍 new thing.

As a podcast, or I know that I get a lot of questions about starting a podcast. If this is you, would you share this with your friend? Who’s been asking you a bunch of questions about starting a podcast. This’ll help her know where to start without feeling overwhelmed.

In next week’s episode, you’ll hear a conversation I had with Catherine. The host of nothing much happens, which is my favorite sleep podcast. I use it very often. She has some great advice for podcasters who haven’t quite launched their shows yet. Catherine is a wealth of knowledge. She has one of the top sleep podcasts like in the world and she is a very, very lovely person. Thanks for being here and I’ll see you next week