How to Start a Podcast Guide with The Room Podcast

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How to Start a Podcast Guide with The Room Podcast

Benefits to Starting a Podcast

There are a myriad of reason to start a podcast. And over the past few years, there has been a explosion of podcasts. As of March 2021, Apple Podcasts hosts 47 million episodes on their platform from a

total of 1.96 million podcasts⁠

, up from 550,000 podcasts just three years ago.

With

62%⁠

of Americans, or 177 million, listening to podcasts, this has grown from 2021 where it was just 57%. Another fun stat, 50% of podcast listeners are between the ages of 12 -34. Podcast listeners are engaged, a part of the next generation, and curious. In this guide, we will dive deep into the reasons you, your business, or your community should consider taking the plunge. The success we’ve had with

The Room Podcast⁠

(TRP) will be the guiding factor for our advice. But, we’ve crowd-sourced a number of recommendations for our favorite podcasters such as the Lenny Rachitsky’s “

Lenny’s Podcast⁠

”, Noami Shah,

meet cute⁠

founder, and more! Check those out below in our experts section.

⁠

The most important place to start when beginning a podcasting journey is your goals. For TRP, we had a primary and secondary goal from day one. Our primary goal was to open the door to the technology ecosystem through equitable story telling. Today, 87% of our guests identify as women and people of color. Access begins with information; and our conversations cover tactical tips for founders and funders so they are armed with tangible tales of entrepreneurs journey. Our secondary goal was to further Claudia and mine’s respective platforms of Prive and defy. The outcomes?

Claudia has found an investor, customers, and advisors all through TRP.

Madison has met countless entrepreneurs, key hires for portfolio companies, and founder role models.

You might be starting a podcast to broaden your network, create lead-generation for your business, or have fun pop-culture discussions with your friends. Be clear about what your primary and secondary goals are before embarking on the format or cadence of your podcasts.

For example, have you thought about your name? We learned quickly that search-engine optimization (or SEO) matters. Look for a name that is unique and clear. Transparently, there are a lot of titles that start with “The Room”. It was a hard learning for us early in our launch process. The more unique the better the name of your podcast. How might you structure your podcast? Interview? Conversational? Short? Long? Go back to your primary and secondary goals to guide the structure and format of your conversations if you go the interview route.

Podcasts are better when people listen to then, so audience matters. Be clear with your branding, tone, questions, and marketing from day one to to reach the right audience. This will help you market to the right communities. (More on this

later⁠

) And finally, think about your cadence. Consistency is key. We published more content in 2022 than 89% of other technology podcasts. We know this contributed to being one of the top 5% most shared podcasts globally. We encourage you to keep as close of a weekly cadence as possible when establishing your brand and base.

Think about these questions and more as you and your team do this design thinking challenge.

[Template] Design Thinking Challenge: Why should I start a podcast?⁠

Lenny’s Podcast

⁠

What is one podcast tech product you can’t live without?

Riverside, for sure, since it makes recording high-quality conversations so easy.

How did you think about unlocking distribution for your podcast listener base?

For me, my growth came from my existing newsletter. I spent years building a newsletter audience, so when I launched the podcast, I was able to jumpstart it immediately.

How does the podcast content differ from your newsletter?

I try to maintain what makes the newsletter work—a focus on actionable, concrete advice—but instead of me sharing my insights, I get to extract insights from other (much smarter) people :)

What’s your one piece of advice for aspiring podcasters?

Talk less, and ask better questions.

Lenny’s Podcast: Catch a Listen

Here⁠

Okay Sis Podcast

⁠

What are three things you wish you knew before starting your podcaster?

Don't let what people say about "oversaturation in the podcast space" stop you from starting. Your voice deserves to be heard, and your unique perspective on the world is valuable. Just start and refine along the way.

Your goal with starting a podcast shouldn't be to make money. Unless you're Alex Cooper, monetization is probably not going to happen for several years down the line. Shift your metric of success to the degree of connection you're gaining, the growth of your network, and the power of long-form conversations. You'll be waaaay more fulfilled by the results.

Be consistent AF. If you can't commit to weekly episodes, then podcasting might not be the medium for you. Consistency and showing up will maintain that trust with your listeners. They will start to yearn for your episode drops week after week.

If you don't know where to even begin, feel free to listen to

this episode⁠

of my podcast, Okay Sis, where we break down the exact steps to starting your own podcast. So excited to hear you one day in my AirPods!

- Mady Maio, Co-Host of Okay Sis Podcast

MeetCute Podcast

⁠

How does the podcast content differ from your newsletter?

Our podcast content is immersive and meant to capture both new and returning listeners by pulling them into a scripted story right off the bat. On the other hand, our newsletter is meant for rom-com superfans that want to stay up to date with new news and hot takes from our team on the world of rom-coms, including in-depth interviews. The difference is that you have less time to capture someone in audio without the visual component and convince them to spend time with you.

Noami Shah, Founder and CEO of

MeetCute⁠

⁠

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