This podcast recently won the Best Podcast Award in the business category at the Independent Podcast Awards, which was a real honour. Over the years I’ve had lots of people ask me for tips on starting a podcast. While I'm not an expert, I have been hosting this podcast since March 2020, and now have nearly 200 episodes released,  so I have learned a few things. 

I thought I would share some behind-the-scenes information on how I run my podcast, in case it's helpful for anyone thinking of starting their own someday, perhaps as a goal for 2024. I’ll talk you through the process of planning the episodes, recording, editing and releasing them. I’ll also share what you need to buy tech wise (not much!). 

• An introduction to the episode and why I am recording this (01:23)
• Who my podcast is for (03:45)
• Why I like to have guests on my podcast (04:39)
• The process of booking in guests, and scheduling ahead (06:41)
• Why I batch record episodes (09:14)
• Recording the introductions to conversations with guests (10:47)
• Editing (11:29)
• Outsourcing the rest of the process including transcription and show notes (12:06)
• My podcast hosting platform, Captivate (12:51)
• Releasing the episode, and accompanying social media, emails etc (13:24)
• Five things that make a great podcast (14:16)
• What do you need to buy (22:58)

The Bring Your Product Idea to Life Podcast  - Best Business Podcast Award, Independent Podcast Awards 2023

USEFUL RESOURCES:

My VA: Jennifer Cooper Timesaver

My Podcast Hosting Platform: Captivate

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Buy My Book: Bring Your Product Idea To Life

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

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if you loved this episode please consider sending me a one-off tip. It helps me to keep bringing this podcast to you, for free. If you'd like to support this podcast, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Getting Started on Amazon Checklist

If you’re planning to start selling on Amazon, this free checklist covers the key things you need in place before you list your products. It’s a simple way to make sure you haven’t missed anything important. Download it here: https://mailchi.mp/72c24952cf50/amazon_checklist

Get your free Amazon set up checklist

Welcome to the bring your product idea to life podcast.

2

This is the podcast for you if

you're getting started selling

3

products or if you'd like to

create your own product to sell.

4

I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product

creation coach and Amazon expert.

5

Every week I share friendly practical

advice as well as inspirational

6

stories from small businesses.

7

Let's get started.

8

Hi, so today I want to record a

bit of a different episode for you.

9

So you may know if you're a regular

listener to the podcast, or if you

10

follow me on social media, that just a

few weeks ago, this podcast won the Best

11

Podcast Award business podcast category

at the Independent Podcast Awards.

12

Um, I was super surprised and delighted

and honoured to win the award.

13

I was completely not expecting it.

14

In fact, um, I went to the award ceremony

and I wasn't even super dressed up

15

because it was a rainy day and I was

thinking, oh I've got to get the train

16

and it's cold and I might get wet.

17

So I wasn't even really dressed for

awards because I just did not think for a

18

moment I would be getting up on the stage.

19

Um, but I did and I'm so happy

about it and truly, truly grateful

20

to every guest I've had on the

podcast because this podcast would

21

not be anything without you all.

22

So to all previous and future

guests, thank you so much because

23

yeah, I need you to make this

show, it's definitely not about me.

24

So I wanted to record a different

episode on the back of that because since

25

winning the award, and in fact, even

beforehand, I have had people approach

26

me and say, I'm thinking of starting

a podcast and can you either help me

27

with recommendations for technology or

can you tell me, give me some tips or

28

let me know what it is I need to do.

29

And I have to say, I am definitely

not a podcasting expert.

30

Definitely, definitely not.

31

However, I have been doing

this for a while now.

32

I started this podcast in March 2020.

33

So it was just a few weeks, maybe a

one week into the pandemic and the

34

lockdown that we had back in 2020.

35

Fortunately, I'd recorded a few

episodes before that because things

36

got really tricky when suddenly I

was trying to keep up a podcast from

37

home with two children, not very much

time and nowhere quiet to record.

38

And we can talk a bit about, later

about why it's really important

39

to have somewhere quiet to record.

40

Um, and today I've released

nearly 200 episodes.

41

So I am definitely not a podcasting

expert, nor will you hear me ever claim

42

to be one, but I just thought I would

just do this one off special episode about

43

Podcasts in in case it's interesting.

44

So maybe you're listening and you're

thinking that perhaps you'd like to

45

start a podcast of your own someday.

46

I know as we get towards the next,

the end of the year, lots of people

47

have said to me, well, I say lots, a

handful of people have told me that

48

a podcast is on their plans for 2024.

49

In fact, someone asked me

about one just yesterday.

50

Maybe you would like to be a guest on

this podcast one day, and you'd like

51

to know a little bit more about what

that involves, or maybe you would

52

just like to get some behind the

scenes information on how things work.

53

I don't know about you.

54

I love knowing how things work

and like how people do things.

55

So if you're here for any of

those reasons, or even if you

56

have other reasons, I hope you

find this really interesting.

57

As always, I'll try and keep

it fairly succinct for you.

58

Um, I won't bog you down.

59

And if you have any questions

after this episode, of course,

60

you can always contact me.

61

It's Vicki at VickiWeinberg.

62

com.

63

Or you can join my Facebook group,

which is linked in the show notes.

64

It's facebook.

65

com forward slash groups forward

slash product creators club.

66

And as a little aside, I will say

the podcast, the Facebook group is

67

one of the great things that's come

out of the podcast is full of podcast

68

guests, podcast listeners, and it's

just a great place to be connected

69

with other product businesses.

70

So let's start by just talking about

you know, a bit of a recap about what

71

this podcast is and you know, and

what it's about and who it's for.

72

So the podcast for me is for products

businesses to help other product

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businesses or people in the very early

stages of building a product business.

74

I guess my goal was to share real

relatable stories, advice, um, and for

75

listeners to be entertained and inspired.

76

And I guess I really want to, you know,

at the end of each episode for you to

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either feel like you've learned something

or there's something you can go away

78

and do, or you've just found the story

and the content really interesting.

79

Because as I say, I think the stories

of how people run their businesses,

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why they sell the products they do,

what inspired them to create them,

81

the challenges they went through, all

of that I find really fascinating.

82

And if you're listening to this

podcast, hopefully, um, you'll do to.

83

And as I said earlier, what I think

makes my podcast really great, if

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I say so myself, is the guests.

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So quite often the guests I have on

this podcast are doing their very

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first podcast interview, which I'm

always incredibly flattered by.

87

And hopefully I do always create like

a friendly enough tone and atmosphere.

88

I always say to my guests, I don't ask

you any nasty or awkward questions.

89

So hopefully it makes it a really nice

podcast to come on as your first one.

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So if you're listening to this and you've

never been on a podcast before, and you'd

91

like to go come on one why not try mine.

92

But what's great about speaking with

people that are doing their first

93

interview is often you won't have

heard their story anywhere else.

94

And I think that's really nice

because there's nothing wrong

95

with hearing from people that do

the rounds of business podcasts.

96

And there are, you know, some of

the bigger podcasts out there.

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Sometimes, you know, you can tell

someone's maybe got something new to sell

98

because they're doing a lot of podcasts

and it's still really interesting to hear

99

their story, but I love the fact that I

get to talk to people that you might never

100

have heard or you might never have heard

about them or their products or maybe you

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have and you know you're interested in

finding out more about them but either way

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I think that's super you know unique to

this podcast and also, the guests I have

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on, as you will have heard, especially

if you've been listening a long time,

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have such a wide range of businesses,

a wide range of backgrounds, they sell

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all kinds of different products, and I

really enjoy finding out about them, why

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they started their business, um, yeah.

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I just find it fascinating, and that's

one thing I've really found as I've

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recorded lots of these is that you can

talk to two people whose businesses

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seem really similar on paper so maybe

they both sell beauty products or

110

maybe they both sell shoes for example.

111

I've had two guests on here selling

shoes and their stories and their

112

businesses are completely different

and I just think that hopefully that's

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A really nice message for all of us is

like not to compare yourself because

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your business is about so much more than

what you sell, it's about you as well.

115

And those are just some of the

things that I think makes my

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podcast unique and really good.

117

So let's talk a little bit about

the actual process of the podcast.

118

So the first thing I do, and because

as I've said, it all comes back

119

to the guest, it's the first thing

I do is get my guests booked up.

120

And if you've ever been on the

podcast, particularly recently,

121

you'll know that I like to book guests

for episodes quite far in advance.

122

So just to give you an idea, I'm recording

123

And I have guests on my

schedule whose episodes won't

124

be released until March, 2024.

125

Um, and most of them, I have to

say I'm not actually recording with

126

until the new year, but I don't think

so far I'm recording past January.

127

Um, so there generally is like six

to eight weeks between recording an

128

episode with me and it going live.

129

And I do this for a couple of reasons.

130

One, because I've committed to putting

out a podcast every single week.

131

And I definitely don't want the ideas,

the ideas and the content drying up.

132

I never want to get to the position where

I'm like, oh, what should I do next week?

133

I've got nothing on the schedule.

134

That's like not how I like to operate.

135

It's also so that myself and the small

team I have to support me with the

136

podcast, I'll talk a bit about later,

can take time off for Christmas,

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holidays, if we get ill and you know, the

podcast still carries on uninterrupted.

138

I, again, I think that's really

important because we've committed

139

to an episode every week and

I want to make sure I do that.

140

And then I guess also, um, and

it certainly wasn't intention,

141

but I think the longer I've been

podcasting and the more people that

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are happy to join me as guests.

143

Um, the schedule does get booked

up because it's easier to book

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guests almost three years on

than it was in the beginning.

145

And I guess the main reason for mentioning

that is if you are looking to start a

146

podcast and you have started and you're

finding getting guests difficult.

147

Um, just to reassure you, I definitely

found it a bit harder in the beginning,

148

not impossible, but harder because, you

know, the podcast was new and people

149

are taking a bit more of a chance, but

I found the longer I've been podcasting

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and people can see that I'm creating good

content and I'm doing it consistently.

151

I've got to the point now where actually

I have guests or potential guests approach

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me to ask if they can come on the podcast.

153

Um, not everyone is a good fit and I'll

talk a bit more about that a bit later.

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But it's really, really flattering

that people approach me and want to

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come on and also when I ask someone

if they'd like to join me on the

156

podcast, I would say I've got, I

don't know, 80 percent success rate.

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Most people do.

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So yeah, sometimes people are a

bit nervous, particularly if they

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haven't been a podcast before, but

most people do want to come on now.

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So that's really good.

161

So that's the first thing

I do is get the guests.

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Then I need to record the episodes.

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And this is probably a good

time to talk about batching.

164

So what I mean by batching is, is

sort of doing things all at once,

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um, because when I first started

this podcast, I would record podcast

166

episodes, I think any day of the week.

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I've always used a calendar link for

guests to book a slot and I still do

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that now, but I'm pretty sure at the

beginning it was open, you know, you

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can book, I don't know what nine to

five Monday to Friday probably wasn't

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that, but you know what I mean now I

only record episodes on a Tuesday and

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I try and make Tuesdays my podcast day.

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I'm actually recording this on a Tuesday.

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So whether it's recording solo

episodes, whether it's having

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interviews with guests, whether it's

recording introductions after I've

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spoken to a guest, um, sending files

over to the editor, uploading them

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to the trans transcription service,

we use all of those sorts of tasks.

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If I can, I try and set aside time

to do on a Tuesday because for me,

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I find I'm much more productive

if I can do everything in one day.

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Of course if that doesn't work for a

guest and they say to me, oh, actually,

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I can't do Tuesdays, maybe I work on

Tuesdays or have other commitments, I

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will always record on a different day.

182

So, um, it's not that I, It's not

like I will only have you on the

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podcast if you're free on a Tuesday,

that's definitely not the case.

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Um, I try and record on Tuesdays because

it works for me, but I am super flexible.

185

If a guest says, oh actually can we

do a Friday morning or something, or

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any other time, as long as my diary's

clear, of course I will do that.

187

But I find that helps massively.

188

So as I mentioned, I'm recording episodes

a bit in advance, and then what I tend

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to do is wait until I've got a couple

of episodes that have been recorded,

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and then I record introductions.

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So I record an introduction to the

episode after I've recorded the episode.

192

I used to do it the other way

around, but the reason I do it

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this way is, well, two things.

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One is that if I mess up a little bit,

you know, when I'm reading out the guest's

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name or their bio, I can just stop and

re record and I'm not doing it in front

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of the guests which would be awkward

and also a bit of a waste of their time.

197

And then also it means I can reference

things we spoke about in the conversation

198

in the introduction to give you an idea

of the kind of things that I'm going to

199

be talking about and hopefully you find

that useful when you listen to those.

200

Um, once I've recorded the episode

and the introduction, um, or a solo

201

episode like this, if I'm just, if

it's just me recording on my own, I

202

then send the files over to an editor

who makes them sound better for me.

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I used to do my own editing in the

beginning and I think it's definitely

204

possible to do your own editing.

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Um, I've outsourced it for two reasons.

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One is time.

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It did take me a bit of time to do it.

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And the other thing is I didn't enjoy it.

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And I just got to the point where I

thought actually I think it makes more

210

sense to pay someone else to do this.

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This is a job that I don't

have to be doing for myself.

212

Um, and speaking of which, all of the next

part of the process, I also outsource.

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So I have a lovely VA, Jenny and

her, Jenny and her team actually

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do everything else from getting

the file back from the editor.

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So I upload it into a transcription

software that we use because I don't

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know if you're aware, but there's

actually a transcript for every

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single episode of this podcast.

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I've even had all of the old

episodes transcribed, um, because

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that's really important to me that

if you're unable to listen and for

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any reason you can still read the

transcript and follow the conversation.

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Um, so those are all available on the

main website for this podcast, which

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of course is linked in the show notes.

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And depending what podcast player you're

listening in, you might be able to get the

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transcript directly from there as well.

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So we have some software

that I upload that into.

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And from there it syncs through to

Captivate who is the platform that I host

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the podcast on and if you're interested

in finding out more about captivate

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I'm going to have a link to them in the

show notes if you're thinking of using

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them for your own podcast, for example.

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I've been with them ever since I

launched I think they're great.

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They're reliable.

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They're easy to use and um So then

Jenny or someone in her team will

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then make sure all the information

for the episode goes into Captivate.

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So the episode title, and the

SEO information, and the show

235

notes, and any links that we've

spoken about, and the artwork.

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And then you just schedule the episode

as you would a social media post.

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And then every Friday morning

at 6am, the episode is released

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on all of the podcast channels.

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And um, speaking of scheduling, um, she

also schedules all of the social media

240

posts for the episode as well, as well

as contacting the guest and providing

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them with the link and the artwork and

everything that's needed for them to share

242

the episode, because guest sharing out

the episode is really, really helpful.

243

And if you are a guest on the

podcast, please do share the episode

244

because it really, really helps.

245

Um, and if you are thinking of starting

your own podcast, I definitely recommend

246

asking guests to help you out by

sharing it because it's actually.

247

Podcasts can be a hard thing,

I've found, to promote and share.

248

Um, and so the more people you've

got helping with that, the better.

249

So that's the process of how the

podcast comes to life, as it were.

250

And so, the next thing I was going to

talk about is, I recently was asked,

251

um, to do an interview about five

things that make a great podcast.

252

Um, you may have seen that.

253

Um, my social somewhere.

254

You might have read the article already,

but in case you haven't, I thought it

255

might be interesting for you if I just

run through the five things that I

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think makes for a really good podcast.

257

So in no particular order, here they are.

258

Um, I first bit of advice is to pick

something you enjoy speaking about and

259

enjoy learning about, because if you

are planning on starting a podcast,

260

presumably you're in it for the long

term and what you really don't want

261

is to start a podcast on a subject and

realize that actually you don't have

262

enough content to talk about it um, for

the foreseeable future, or you actually

263

don't have the enthusiasm about it and you

don't enjoy recording episodes about it.

264

I think that listeners will be able to

tell if you're losing passion for it.

265

So do choose your subject carefully.

266

Um, and of course, remember that while

I'm saying this, the subject of your

267

podcast can, of course, change over time.

268

So you're not choosing a subject to talk

about forever, but you do need to pick

269

a topic that you think, okay, you can at

least do a certain number of episodes on.

270

Um, and I guess another way you could

look at this is some podcasts have series.

271

So you could do a series of one series

on one topic and then maybe have

272

a break and do a series on another

topic if that's what you wanted to do.

273

But I would just think really carefully

about what your podcast is about.

274

Um, also think about

who your podcast is for.

275

So who's going to listen to it.

276

And what kind of content

they might be interested in.

277

I think having that at the back

of your mind really, really helps.

278

And then leading on from that, if

you're planning to have a podcast

279

where you're having guests on, then

obviously get some great guests.

280

Because I think that if you're a

podcaster who speaks to other people,

281

I think the quality of the guests,

um, really makes a massive difference.

282

I've been so, so lucky with the

guests I've had on this podcast.

283

And I think part of that is

I'm really clear on who would

284

and wouldn't make a good guest.

285

So in the beginning, I definitely

had a few people on here who

286

perhaps weren't the best fit.

287

And by the way, this is nothing personal.

288

This is nothing to do with individuals

on who came onto the podcast.

289

It was more that I feel like, um,

their businesses and the stories

290

they had to share perhaps wouldn't

have resonated as well with you as

291

some of the other ones that I did.

292

So, um, now when I get approached by

people who want to be a guest on the

293

podcast, I always really politely decline

if I think they don't meet the criteria.

294

So what I'm looking for, and I guess

this is probably helpful for you to

295

listen to if you would like to be a

guest, is I'm mainly looking for UK

296

based businesses because my podcast is

based in the UK, I'm based in the UK.

297

That's not to say that I won't have

businesses from other countries.

298

So I recently interviewed

somebody based in Singapore.

299

Um, but I think the thing to consider

if you're based somewhere other than the

300

UK is that I do record on a UK schedule.

301

Unfortunately, like with a young family,

I don't have the flexibility to record

302

like late in the night or early um,

early mornings or anything like that,

303

so I do record during core hours, so

um, sometimes that's a reason for me

304

not featuring guests from other places

when, um, perhaps they're not willing

305

to adjust their schedules to come on

the podcast, so I have to say, well,

306

I'm really sorry, but that's a hard line

for me, I only record during certain

307

hours, as I said, I can be flexible in

the day, but not so much on recording

308

hours, so that's a reason not to join.

309

And I'm interested in speaking to either

products businesses of any size and it

310

doesn't matter how long that you've been

in business as long as you have, you

311

know, the willingness to talk about your

product and to talk about your business.

312

And I never ask anything that

I think would be considered

313

confidential or anything like that.

314

So just people who are willing to talk

really openly about what they've learned,

315

um, with the view of sharing some of

their experiences and learnings with you.

316

And then the other guests I have

on the podcast are people that

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can help products businesses.

318

So people with an area of

expertise, whatever that might be.

319

So I've had people on here talking

about branding, social media, marketing,

320

using email lists, accounting for

small businesses, all kinds of things.

321

So if you feel that you can talk

about a topic that would benefit the

322

audience, which is mainly, um, small

business owners, then, um, that's the

323

kind of guest I'd like to have as well.

324

So, my third thing for having a great

podcast is to stick to a schedule,

325

because I don't know about you, but as a

podcast listener, I find it so frustrating

326

when podcasts are inconsistent, and

that is probably the biggest reason

327

that I stop listening to a podcast.

328

If, you know, I subscribe to one

and one week I get an episode and

329

I don't get anything for two or

three weeks, and then I get another

330

episode, I just, I just give up.

331

I think that if producing an episode

every day or every week is a bit much,

332

then pick a frequency that works.

333

One of my favorite podcasts is

fortnightly, um, and that works for me,

334

and I assume it works for them as well.

335

Or maybe consider seasons, where

you could record a set number of

336

episodes all at one go and get you

know, as we're talking about batching

337

early, you could do your recording,

your editing, everything in one go.

338

Release them on maybe a weekly basis,

over six weeks, eight weeks, however

339

long your season's going to be.

340

Take a break, and then come back

with a season two, and carry on.

341

Um, if you are going to podcast

regularly, I would think about

342

the schedule that works for you.

343

And I also would say that that does

also come down to the day of the week

344

you release an episode because again if

podcasts become part of your routine I

345

know for me there are certain podcasts

I like to listen to when I go for a

346

run, when I walk the dog and I get

really frustrated like this morning.

347

I've got a podcast I'm recording on a

Tuesday as I said and there's a podcast

348

I usually listen to on a Tuesday morning

when I go for my run, but for whatever

349

reason the episode wasn't available when

I left at my normal time and I was a bit

350

annoyed because I was like, oh, I always

look forward to that one on my run.

351

Um, of course things happen.

352

It's unavoidable, but I would

try your best to stick to the

353

same day and time every week.

354

So my fourth piece of advice is

to ask good questions if you're

355

having guests on your podcast.

356

Now, as I've said before.

357

I am not an expert podcaster.

358

I'm also not an expert interviewer.

359

However, I do think I ask

pretty good questions.

360

I've been told I ask good questions

to help my guests share their stories.

361

Um, and I guess my tip on how,

well, how I do this, certainly, and

362

it might not work for everyone, is

I do some research on my guests.

363

Find out a bit about them

and their business, but I

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don't go too much research.

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If they've been on a podcast already,

I'll make a point of not listening, for

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example, and in case you're thinking that

it sounds maybe counterintuitive, is that

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if I know too much about them, I might not

ask the question that you would want me

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to ask because I already know the answer.

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Um, I do try and check myself

on this quite a lot, so quite

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often I will ask questions that I

definitely do know the answer to.

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Because, um, I think it would

be really interesting for the

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guest to share it with you.

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Um, but for that reason, I

don't do too much research.

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It's always really nice if I

hear something in a podcast and

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I think, oh, I didn't know that

about you or about your products.

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And then I can, you know, ask the

real questions that hopefully you

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are thinking about at home as well.

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So I hope that's useful advice for

anyone looking to have a guest.

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And then my final piece of advice, and

I have touched on this already, is that

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it just is really good to know who your

podcast is for right at the beginning

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because it makes it so much easier to

pick guests to pick topics to talk about

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if you know who your podcast is for, um,

and by knowing who it's for when you get.

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So, for example, when you've got ideas for

episodes, that's also much more helpful.

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So this episode came about because

just yesterday, somebody asked me

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about my podcast and how I did it and

what I use and all that kind of thing.

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And I just thought, you know,

you're the fifth person who's

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asked me that this week.

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I'm going to turn that

into a podcast episode.

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Um.

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And that maybe that's not the best

example, actually, because maybe

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because this is obviously a bit

outside the topic I usually talk

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about, but I hope you'll forgive me

for this slightly different episode.

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But in general, so if I see a question

asked in my Facebook group, for

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example, or a client contacts me with

a question, I make a note of it because

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those people are the people that

are listening to my podcast as well.

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And I'm sure that for most questions, they

will not be the only people thinking that.

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So I kind of, I see what people are asking

and thinking about when I'm thinking

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about what content I'm going to talk about

on each episode, if that makes sense.

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And then the final thing I want to talk

about, because this is something I always

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get asked, is what do you need to buy?

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And I would say, not a lot.

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I think the main thing that you

need to have isn't something you

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need to buy, and that's like a

suitable environment to record in.

404

So, that just means a quiet space in your

home, in your office, whatever it is.

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You don't need, like, necessarily

need a soundproof room.

406

In fact, I recorded in a room a

little while ago that was meant to

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be soundproofed, but it actually

wasn't, and I think it actually,

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the quality was worse than recording

where I usually record at home.

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I do try and record in the same room,

I have a little home office and I do

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try to always record in this office.

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Reason being is I think that the sound

here will always be fairly consistent.

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I mean I've had to move a few

times if there's been like

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roadworks outside or something.

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But I do try and record in the same

room because I think that helps the

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editor that at least on my side the

background noise is always about the same.

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I've now learnt to throw the dog

out of the room before I record,

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because he's generally really quiet.

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And quite often I would start an

interview, not realizing he was here

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because he'd be fast asleep, and then

someone would come to the door and

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he'd start barking, which isn't great.

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So, do try and get any, you know,

remove any distractions you can.

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I always turn off emails on my

computer, anything that might ping.

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Um, I have my phone set to do not

disturb, so hopefully nothing will

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disturb me while I'm recording.

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So that's the first

thing, is the environment.

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I record my episodes on Zoom,

um, directly on my laptop.

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The only two pieces of equipment

I have that I've bought,

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well actually there's three.

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One is a microphone, and it's not a

particularly expensive microphone.

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I'm still using the same one

I used when I started out.

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Um, I will upgrade at some point.

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I always thought I would upgrade,

but actually, three years

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in, it's still working fine.

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Um, and it's a microphone

I just plug into my laptop.

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And I also brought a separate filter,

which is meant to block out a little

436

bit of noise, and that's something you

can sort of click on onto the stand.

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And the filter I want to say

was under £5 from Amazon.

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I've also got a really good pair of

over the ear headphones that plug into

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my laptop, and the reason I have ones

that plug in, and this might just be

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unique to me, is that I found that

when I was using wireless headphones,

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which I have tried, sometimes they

would cut out and that wasn't great.

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I think headphones are essential

as well as a microphone.

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Um, two reasons really, one is it blocks

out a little bit of, well mine do anyway,

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I have noise cancelling headphones, they

block out a bit of the external noise

445

for me, which is kind of good, as I

say, from a distraction point of view.

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And the other thing is if you're

not wearing headphones and you're

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talking to a guest, and then their

sound comes through on your computer

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speakers and then it might get picked

up by your microphone and then you

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get a little bit of feedback or echo.

450

So I also always encourage my guests

to have headphones on as well.

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Yes, don't need to have a microphone.

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Uh, if they do, then that's a bonus, but

I do like all guests to wear headphones

453

just to try and mitigate some of that,

because that can be quite frustrating.

454

And that is literally it, when I recorded

in a different room, I used to put some

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soft cushions and stuff around to soften

the sound a little bit, I don't even do

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that now in the room I record in, but as

I say I now do have an editor working on

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the sound, so I guess that probably makes

a bit of a difference in that I don't have

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to think about it as much as I used to.

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But I would say in total, I've spent

probably less than 200, much less

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actually, on equipment for this podcast.

461

Um, and then the only other things

you need to think about are paying

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for somewhere to host your podcast.

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As I mentioned, I used Captivate

and I will put a link to

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Captivate in the show notes.

465

You can go and find out some more.

466

And I do pay for certain aspects to

be outsourced, but it is definitely

467

possible in the beginning to do all

of the things I've mentioned yourself.

468

I did for a really long time.

469

Um, and to start a podcast

and grow a podcast without

470

spending very much money at all.

471

So I hope that's reassuring.

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So I hope as always that this

episode has been interesting.

473

Um, I've noticed I have recorded

for a bit longer than I meant to.

474

I always try and keep these mini

ones on to under 20 minutes, but

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I don't seem to have done that.

476

But I hope it was useful.

477

If you have any more questions, as I

say, definitely not a podcast expert,

478

but I'm always happy to tell you

what I know and what I can share.

479

If you found this podcast useful,

please share it with your friends.

480

Please rate, review, subscribe,

all of the usual things.

481

Thank you so much and I'll be back

next week with another episode.

482

Thank you so much for listening

right to the end of this episode.

483

Do remember that you can get the

full back catalogue and lots of free

484

resources on my website vickiweinberg.

485

com.

486

Please do remember to rate and review

this episode if you've enjoyed it

487

and also share it with a friend

who you think might find it useful.

488

Thank you again and see you next week.