How to Launch Your Podcast

A step-by-step guide to launching your podcast to make sure it goes stratospheric.

If a tree podcasts in the woods and no-one is around, does it make a sound? If your podcast doesn’t have any listeners, is it worth making it? This post will get you round that dilemma and will ensure your podcast has plenty of listeners right from the off.

Step 1: Make Yourself Known in Your Niche

Even before you record your podcast, you should be thinking about how you will get the word out about it. Find out who the people with influence are in your area - podcasters, bloggers etc - and get your name known by them. There are many ways you can do this: comment on blogs, send audio comments to podcasters, participate in forums, email people with questions and comments.

If people know you before you launch your podcast, they be much more likely to send people to your podcast once it’s launched.

Step 2: Set Up A Blog

It’s useful to give your podcast a home on the web. A place you can link to, keep people up to date and where you can promote your latest podcast.

The best way to go is to set up a self hosted Wordpress blog. But if you can’t afford this, you can get a blogger blog for free.

Step 3: Get Your Podcast Listed on iTunes

iTunes is the biggest distributor of podcasts and a great way for people to find out about your podcast. It’s absolutely essential that you get your podcast listed there so people can download it from iTunes.

It’s a very simple process. All you need to do is submit your feed here.

Step 4: Submit Your Podcast to Podcast Directories

Podcast directories list podcasts by their subject area. Getting your podcast listed in these will make it much easier for people to find you.

The biggest podcast directory is Podcast Alley - make sure you get your podcast listed there.

Step 5: Spread the Word about Your Podcast

Remember those friends you made in Step 1? Now’s the time to make sure they know about your podcast. Email bloggers and podcasters about your podcast and ask them to mention it. Add a link to your podcast in your forum signature and make a post about it. In the early days of your podcast, this is likely to be the biggest source of subscribers to your podcast and the most important step in launching your podcast.