When we are outside looking in, things always look harder than they really are. In 2005, I discovered podcasting and it seemed far beyond anything I could ever do. The tech looked far too difficult for me to ever launch a podcast.

Now, you may already have a podcast. You may have mastered the tech necessary to publish every week. If you listen closely, this episode can help you just as much as the new podcaster.

We often encounter new challenges in our lives and think those feats are far beyond our capabilities.

Think about the things you wish you could accomplish in the upcoming year. Maybe it is building a businessess around your podcast. You might have some really big names on your interview wish list. Maybe you’ve been wanting to build a sales funnel, but have no idea where to even start.

All great journeys begin with the first step. Unfortunately with my podcast launch, it took me 8 years before I took that first step. I want to see you find success much quicker.

RADIO

It was March 2005. I was sitting in my living room reading a copy of Wired magazine.

This was 2005 before everyone was reading magazines online. I was old school with the physical pages between my fingers.

Wired magazine covers the latest in science and technology. It is nowhere near my wheelhouse, and I have no idea why I was reading it. This is probably the only issue of Wired I have ever owned.

My magazines of choice have always been magazines like Inc. and Entrepreneur. I have also had a subscription to Fast Company every now and then.

At the time, I was the program director of a Top 40 radio station and had my own show. Both were very successful, but the industry was changing rapidly.

Radio was becoming homogonized in a big way. Stations were beginning to sound the same. Creativity was being sucked out by big business. The industry was losing its personality in favor of best practices. Think color-by-number.

Radio stations weren’t finding great, new artists to expose. We weren’t doing big, exciting promotions any longer. Morning shows and other on-air talent were being told to shut up and play the music. Which was the same music you were hearing everywhere else.

There had to be something more for me.

WIRED

In that March 2005 issue of Wired magazine, I discovered an article called “Adam Curry Wants To Make You An iPod Radio Star”.

Maybe this was the reason I had the magazine.

With his big 80s hair, Adam Curry was an MTV VJ from 1987 into the mid-90s. When MTV was music television that played music videos, Curry was one of the guys jocking it between the tunes.

Now we are 10 years past his MTV heyday. Adam Curry’s tech side has flourished. He was actually the first owner of MTV.com before anyone realized owning URLs was a thing.

Curry was 40 in 2005. He launched iPodder a year earlier.

Wired described the platform like this …

“A tiny application that he believes has the power to challenge commercial radio. iPodder is the bastard offspring of the blog and the Apple MP3 player. It combines the hyperactive talkiness of blogs and the hipness of iPods into something utterly new: the podcast. iPodder uses the blog syndication tool RSS to automatically download homebrew radio shows, podcasts, directly into a portable MP3 player.”

I was mesmerized. So much so that I tore that article out of the magazine and saved it. I don’t even read Wired magazine and here I am saving an article from it.

ANYONE

Curry’s studio was his Audi A8. He would record from the front seat with his interview guest in the passenger. This was crazy to me.

The article continued with, “Welcome to podcasting, the medium that promises a future where anyone can make radio, instead of just listen to it.”

Anyone. That was the magical word.

You see, I had been in radio for 15 years at this point. I wanted so badly to own a radio station. Unfortunately, stations were being gobbled up by big companies. The ownership dream was fading.

Now big haired Adam Curry comes along and says I could do it from my car. And, people would actually listen.

But I didn’t know the first thing about tech. I barely knew what an .mp3 was. We were still playing music at the radio station off of CDs. I surely didn’t know what an RSS feed was. How was I going to launch a podcast?

PERFECT

Then there was the issue of perfectionism. How could I possibly record a quality podcast from the front seat of a car when I had been working to create perfect radio audio for a decade-and-a-half?

We had perfect studios and perfect microphones. The audio software cost thousands of dollars. Scripts were fine-tuned and meticulous.

Now Adam was hanging some mics from the visors in his car and recording whatever came to mind. How could this be?

I tucked the article away and continued on my radio journey. 

DAVE

Then one day in late 2012 I received an email from Dave Jackson at the School of Podcasting.

I had been writing a blog about content creation for podcasters. Most of the content was mined from my years in radio.

My writing had been picked up by Blog World. They were looking to expand the podcast section of their website and liked what I was writing.

Dave saw the articles and reached out to see how we might help each other. That was the start of a great friendship.

It was also the start of my podcast launch process.

I told Dave what I didn’t know. He showed me how easy a podcast launch could be.

Launching a podcast takes minimal equipment. You need a USB mic and a computer to plug it into. You need some software to edit the audio. Audacity is free. Then, you need an audio host like Libsyn to store and distribute the show.

By the way, get your first month of Libsyn free using the promo code PTC at Libsyn.com.

LAUNCH WAS EASIER THAN EXPECTED

Next thing you know, my first episode was published in 2013.

It was a lot easier than I expected. And who knows when my launch would have actually happened if Dave hadn’t reached out that day.

We all have enough information. Sometimes we just need a little accountability.

What are you working on today? In the next 12 months, what do you want to accomplish?

Chances are, the answers are right in front of you. They are just disguised as complicated. You don’t know what you don’t know.

If you look under the hood and examine the real steps it takes to get there, you’ll be surprised. It usually isn’t nearly as hard as it looks. You just need to take the first step. Get started.

BACK TO ADAM

The funny thing is, I went back to revisit that Wired article.

At the end of the piece, it says …

How to make your own podcast …

1. Plug in a USB headset with earphone and microphone into your computer.
2. Install the free Audacity .mp3 recorder for Windows, Mac or Linux. Make a recording and save it as an .mp3.
3. Upload the .mp3 file to your website or blog. Follow the instruction on iPodder to create an RSS feed on your site.

Today it is very similar, but much easier. Libsyn creates that RSS feed for you.

Today, you plug in the mic and record the show. Audacity is still free, though I prefer Hindenburg Journalist for $95. Find a link at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/JV.

Export and upload the .mp3 file to Libsyn just like you would upload a video to Facebook and you are set. Your podcast is up and running.

GET STARTED WITH YOUR LAUNCH

But, like I said … we have enough information. We just need some accountability. There are times we just need someone to show us the way rather than telling us.

The information was right in front of me. It took 8 years before Dave gave me the shove I needed to get started. Now, I’m 368 episodes into this journey.

If you are ready to launch your podcast and would like some help seeing the way, I am holding a free training. It is called “How to Launch a Podcast to Attract Your Ideal Clients in 30 Days or Less“.

The training happens January 17th. During this training, you will discover …

• How to master the 6 steps to launch a podcast in 30 days that will attract your ideal clients and generate revenue
• The three podcast secrets the podcast gurus don’t teach you
• Why now is the IDEAL time to launch your show
• Why podcasting is better than any other content format

You don’t want to miss it. Get registered at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/LaunchTraining.

If you need a little push to get launched, let me show you the steps. You could have your podcast up and running by the end of February. Come join us.

Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/LaunchTraining. I’ll see you there.

If you have a podcast and need help with your strategy, apply for a complimentary strategy call HERE.