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How to Run Multiple Businesses

This post is about How I have ended up in a situation where I am running a couple of businesses. It is not a step-by-step guide; it is more a post about how I ended up here and how I manage everything. And it is based on my personal experiences. And after going through much trial-and-error, I believe I can share a few bits of knowledge on how to run multiple businesses.

The reason for the above preface, or pre clarification if you will, is because personally, I don’t feel like I run multiple businesses. It was never in my intention to run all these businesses for profit. Rather, my approach was more of looking to solve a problem and selling my ability to solve that.

So, if you think about it, my businesses are “productized” solutions to a problem or group of problems that I had at one point. Eventually, it kind of became a business because people saw me solve the problem and wanted me to solve it for them. I talk about this in the “How I accidentally started a Podcast Management Agency” article.

WHY NOT JUST ONE BUSINESS TO RULE THEM ALL?

If you know me, you know I LOVE learning and experimenting. And it just so happened that because of all these skills that I’ve required through the years that I couldn’t keep them all in one business entity. I wanted to do so many things that it became difficult to sell these things under one package.

Technically I run 4 small businesses:

FB ads agency
Podcast management agency
Virtual Talent Recruitment agency
My personal consultation business

The first 3 individual businesses above all came about from me wanting to solve a problem:

Ads agency – because I struggle to talk about myself and what I do, I have an aversion to doing anything organically (which is slowly changing as you’re reading a blog post about this right now). I needed to find a way to get my name out there and this was done through paid traffic which I had to learn on my own. I then helped other friends who needed help in this aspect as well.
Podcast management agency – if you haven’t read my other blog post on this, I was trying to solve the problem of doing all the work by myself through outsourcing. After what felt like years of trial and error, I happened upon a system and for me to move forward with that, I made an offer to a friend to split the person’s pay and that person (who had his own podcast) said yes. The person we outsourced then helped in starting the business.
Recruitment agency – I got tagged on a couple of posts on Social Media from people who needed help with their business. This is how I slowly grew my agency and one thing led to another. The agency currently helps freelancers or solopreneurs who want to scale what they’re doing.

Because I eventually wanted my businesses to run without me, I decided to keep them all independent from myself. This is when I learned the beauty of outsourcing.

SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES TO RUN THE BUSINESSES

Now that you know what I do, let’s talk about the systems and processes on how to run multiple businesses.

Since I was managing more than one brand, I realized the importance of having systems and processes in place to keep me sane. Systematizing and process docs allows the team to produce output at a level I would do myself and sometimes what they create is better because it is their focus.

You need to create systems for every part of managing the business. This includes payments, notifications, updates for the clients, and workflow management. Next step is to establish processes so that everything that needs to be done for all the parts of your business is broken down in such a way that it’s easy to read and implement.

The easiest service for me to systematize was the podcast management agency. When it comes to producing a podcast, it is easy to break everything down and know EXACTLY what to do in each step of the process.

We also wanted to identify how we can make this agency so that our clients are as hands off from the podcast as possible. Which is where we came up with the idea of uploading the podcast to the podcast host, uploading on the website, embedding the podcast player on the website, and so on.

Doing it this way, means that the whole process is output driven and distractions are removed, because team members or you will be guided through the entire process and know what to do moving forward. It will also make it easier identify what tools you need for you and assign responsibility to the right member(s) of the team.

THE TOOLS WE USE

To create systems and processes and make sure everything is followed through, you need to use the right tools.

These are all the core tools I’ve been using to manage the businesses:

Google Docs – to house the documentation of the processes
Teamwork – project management for task checklists (for example we use task templates for everything that needs to be done for every podcast management client)
Slack – for communication with the team
Zapier – to send notifications in Slack whenever something is added to Teamwork

There is a wide array of tools you can choose from out there, but so far these are the ones that have worked for me and my team.

HOW WE SELL AND GET CLIENTS?

In terms of how the services are sold, I’m still working on this as I’m writing this article. The reason for this is because I have an aversion to talking about myself (I know I’ve said this twice now, in case it didn’t sink in for you the first time). I also did write an article about “How to market as an Introvert.

Yes, these businesses can stand on their own, but there are certain elements of each business that can feed into each other.

For example, when it comes to the recruitment and podcast management agency, something I’ve done before is help my clients setup their podcast, put my system in place, and train their team (who I helped recruit). This isn’t something that I’m doing currently but I’ve done it before.

So, on the surface, it looks like I can only sell one thing, however because of the level of systemizing we have done, it creates an opportunity to cross sell the different services. There is the example of the podcast scenario above.

Another example could be Selling advertising services of the ads agency, but as we work together, the client could conclude that they want to start a podcast but not manage it themselves…and create the opportunity for me to provide the podcast creation/management services of my podcast management agency

This goes to show that it is possible to cross-sell and is something I will definitely do in the long run.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO POSSESS?

In my opinion, the skills you need to manage multiple businesses are the following:

The skill for the service that you’re selling – You don’t have to be an expert, but at least intermediate level so that you can communicate to properly delegate tasks to the person who will do the work for you. On the flip side, you also need to know how to communicate what needs to be done to your clients as well so that it is easily understandable.

You need to be a people manager – Because I have a team backing me up for everything, I had to learn how to manage them. This means that you need to learn how to properly work with and communicate to other people. If you don’t do this, you will be stuck having to do all the work yourself.

It takes patience and effort to be able to handle the balancing act of running multiple businesses. One doesn’t become a master overnight and it certainly took me YEARS to come up with all these systems and processes.

And that’s how I am currently managing all my businesses. Again, I never really thought about these entities as businesses but more of a way for me to help more people. If you focus on that, everything becomes easier to manage.

How to Market as an Introvert

I am an introvert. Not only that, I’m introvert in the balancing act of managing a couple of businesses, running a podcast, and slowly growing my personal brand. You can say that through the years, I’ve learned how to market as an introvert.

If you’re not new to business, you’re aware of the fact that businesses don’t promote themselves. And for me, that means that promoting myself and my brand is up to ME…an introvert (along with my amazing team, of course, but you get the gist).

I’ve had my fair share of hosting livestreams, managing Facebook groups, and interacting one-on-one with potential clients for all my businesses. I especially had to let myself out there when I ran a 5-day Ads to Leads Challenge.

It may seem that I have it all together and that learning how to market as an introvert all came naturally to me.

But as an introvert, sometimes my introversion gets in the way and more often than not, I get uncomfortable when the time comes that I have to talk about myself and what I do.

Slowly, I am getting out of that shell and becoming friends with the inner gremlin in my head reminding me every now and then that I am an introvert. Yes, I am an introvert, but that isn’t a bad thing at all…

BATTLING MY INNER GREMLIN

As introverts, most of us have learned to adapt and appear to be extroverts. Most people believe that introverts are always shy, but that isn’t the case. I can easily strike up a conversation with a stranger and make it seem like I am the most talkative person in the world.

I can act like an extrovert, but sometimes, my inner gremlin gets the best of me in certain situations.

Situations like when I just started playing American Football and people thought I was a pushover. Or when I get a new client and I feel the pressure of making sure I don’t mess up because I get paid for my services.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate myself or regret being an introvert. The gremlin in my head isn’t always the bad guy and I have slowly learned to channel my introversion to become the best version of myself when it comes to self-promotion.

CAN INTROVERTS PROMOTE THEMSELVES EFFECTIVELY?

So, why don’t I like talking about myself?

Well…I just DON’T. There’s no grand design or grand why behind why.

As an introvert, I am uncomfortable with being in the limelight and would rather listen than talk about myself. However, that doesn’t mean that I/we can’t promote ourselves or our businesses.

In a world full of extroverted marketers, we feel like we need to live up to their standards and appear to be flashy and flamboyant. We’ve been taught that in order to promote ourselves, we need to be extroverted and talkative.

But remember that both introverts and extroverts have their own strengths and weaknesses.

As an introvert, I have learned to harness my natural curiosity in order to have interesting conversations with other people. Because of this, I can carry great conversations while seeming like an extrovert (when in fact, most of the time, I’m just nodding my head).

To answer your question whether introverts can promote themselves, the answer to that is 100% YES.

It may take a few step backs and a bit of learning from our end, but ANYONE can be a marketer. Anyone can market his/her brand and be authentic about themselves without having the need to appear extroverted.

So how as an introvert, do you promote yourself?

Here are some of the lessons I have learned as an introvert marketing himself in a world full of extroverts.

USE YOUR INTROVERSION TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Think Like a Scientist

You may have noticed cartoon Tega appear every now and then in my articles or my social media posts. Most of the time, cartoon Tega dresses up as a scientist, because I like to consider myself a scientist conducting experiments in business.

This mindset means that every business, every piece of content, and every endeavor I get myself into I look at as an experiment.

Rather than focusing on success and getting results, treating things like a scientist means that I’m more inclined to satisfying my curiosity rather than achieving XYZ. I get so focused on the actual “experiment” that I tend to forget about what people are thinking about it.

In experiments, whether you win or lose, it’s all still a win at the end. Losing means that you’ve learned valuable lessons and winning means that you know what to continue doing moving forward.

As introverts, we like to live inside our head. So, let’s make the most out of this and think like a scientist rather than a marketer that’s so focused on impressing our audience.

Act More, Talk Less

I find it much easier to talk about my experiences (aka experiments) rather than about myself. And because I feel like talking about myself isn’t really something, I’m keen on, I’d rather spend my time being productive and doing the thing. This thing can vary from my experiments or spending time with myself learning something new.

Once I’ve done something related to the thing, it becomes much easier for me to start talking about it. If you think about it, it doesn’t seem so difficult to be talking about my experiments because it isn’t necessarily about MYSELF per se.

That way, what I share is useful to other people because I get to talk about my learnings and takeaways. This makes things far more interesting than having small talk (which most of us introverts avoid as well).

Going back to the earlier point, channel your inner scientist, and talk about that and because you are so focused on the actual doing of the thing, you disregard what everyone else thinks(At least, that works for me).

Don’t Focus on Making an Impression

This tip applies for both introverts and extroverts alike. And this goes not just for self-promotion but life in general. If you are constantly worried about what other people think, you will be in this endless cycle of always trying to please everyone.

I realize that not everybody thinks the way I think about things. We all have our own unique likes and dislikes. This is especially reflected on Social Media. The ads I am attracted to can be something utterly useless for someone else.

So, when I reflected on this, I concluded that I cannot please everyone with my content. Some people will enjoy it, and others will not. For those that don’t care about your content?

Don’t care that they don’t care!

Everyone is so busy worrying about their own issues, challenges, triumphs & perceived failures rather than your stuff and when you promote yourself, you do not have to be self-conscious at all. Simply focus on your ideas and being the curious introvert that you are.

Utilize the Power of Words

Promoting yourself does not always have to be about creating entertaining videos or hosting impromptu livestreams to get attention.

There are so many ways to promote ourselves and as introverts, we need time to think about what we put out there. We know there is power in choosing the right words to say, and it’s not something that we can come up with on the spot.

This means that we are more inclined to content that allows us to sit down and reflect before saying what we want to say.

Written content is much more attractive for most introverts because what we say is carefully curated. Thankfully, because of the internet, we introverts have a myriad of avenues to choose from in order to put our words out there.

Personally, being “talkative” on Social Media, this website, and to my email lists is something that I have grown accustomed to. I have nurtured most of my business relationships and built my brand through these platforms because I found that I am most comfortable with them.

Choosing which platforms work best for you will need you think like a scientist again. Each person is comfortable and uncomfortable with different things so if something doesn’t feel right to you, you can always experiment with something else.

Focus on Helping Over Promoting

The final tip that I want to share is that whenever I create new content or start a new business, the number one goal for me is to help other people. That’s the main reason why I started all my agencies and created a personal podcast.

Promoting myself and garnering fame was the LAST thing on my mind.

Even this article was written with the sole purposes of helping fellow introverts out there get over their shyness or hesitations so that they too can grow their businesses and in return, help more people.

So, if the inner gremlin in your head stops you in your tracks while composing that next social media post, tell yourself “If I’m not going to help other people, who else will?”

INTROVERTS UNITE!

Just because I’ve shared these tips with you doesn’t mean that I’ve mastered them all myself. As I’m slowly growing my brand and getting more clients, I still struggle at times with my introversion.

Sometimes, my inner gremlin can be my best friend or my worst enemy. But hey, that’s life and we must accept all its ups and downs. I am slowly learning to become a better marketer (or should I say, scientist), and I know that getting out of my shell will take time and experience.

I hope that all these tips made you realize that you as an introvert also have the potential to create wonderful things and be proud to share it with the world.

How to Start and Launch a Podcast to Build Your Brand

Podcasts are HOT right now. At the time of writing this, Joe Rogan has recently signed an exclusive deal with Spotify. The deal is rumoured to be worth over $100 million. I suspect there is an air of opportunity around podcasts because as a medium, they (Podcasts) are still under-utilized.

The reason for this I am not fully aware of, but I found myself in a position where I accidentally started Podcast management Agency. If you are an entrepreneur and have a brand that you want to grow, you may have questions “how to launch and grow a podcast?”

You may have even searched for “How to start and launch a Podcast” in good ol’ Google…

I was thinking the same thing, and I consulted Google to find an answer. To my surprise, there were very few in-depth articles that break down the process from start to finish, so I thought I should right write about my experience in starting my own podcast and helping other people both start AND manage their podcast.

My podcast has allowed me to strengthen my credibility as a content creator. Not only that, I have also been invited to talk in other podcasts like Life Passion and Business by Paul Harvey and The Fitness Business Authority Podcast, as well give training sessions in different entrepreneur communities and groups on Facebook.

I was able to grow my audience, and better yet, I’m able to help more people!

Once you see how simple and effective it is to start your own podcast, you will be saying to yourself “aha! Why did not I do this sooner?”

Do you want to experience the same results for your brand but do not know how to get started in the first place? Read on because I am about to show you...

ARE PODCASTS REALLY BECOMING A THING IN CONTENT MARKETING?

Just like the rise in popularity of blogs a few years back, podcasts are slowly gaining traction across multiple industries.

According to Buzzsprout, there are at least 600 million blogs, 23 million YouTube channels, but only 800,000 podcasts in Apple Podcasts! To put things into perspective, there are 750 blogs and 28 YouTube channels for every podcast.

So many thought leaders are flocking to start their own podcasts because there is still so much uncharted space.

In the US, there is a steady growth in the number of podcast listeners. According to The Infinite Dial, the number of monthly listeners grew from 32% (out of 104 million) in 2019 to 37% in 2020.

If the big players in the industry are taking advantage of this opportunity, I suggest you should too.

HOW CAN PODCASTS BUILD YOUR BRAND?

If you want to grow in your profession or even promote your business, podcasts are becoming the newest trend in content marketing.

Need a foot-in-the-door strategy to make yourself known in your industry? Start a podcast.

Is there a celebrity in your niche that you want to do business with? Invite him or her to your podcast.

Want to create multi-purpose content that you can post on various platforms? Record a video to post on YouTube, strip out the audio and...

Turn it into a podcast.

You can see where I am getting at.

It is no surprise that podcasts continue to grow in popularity. As they continue to grow, you see people selling different courses such as “how to start your podcast in 28 days” or “how to start your podcast and grow your brand.”

I am by no means disputing that any of these things can happen, but in my opinion, what it does is it builds a sense of false hope for people who believe in that product or service. They have this vague idea of what a podcast is, but do not have a clear idea of what exactly comprises a great podcast is and what it entails to run a podcast.

Which is why I am writing this blog post. If you do not know where to start or how to promote podcasts, fear not. It really is not that difficult if you simply know what to do.

Follow along as I show you step-by-step how SIMPLE it is to start a podcast and thrive during the grueling first few months of running and managing a podcast.

There are 4 parts to this process, and I will break everything down so all you have to do is follow along...

Part 1: How to Start a Podcast
Part 2: Plan Your Episodes
Part 3: Record and Edit
Part 4: You Have Your Podcast. Now What?

So, with the introduction out the way, let’s get into how to start a podcast.

PART 1: GETTING STARTED

The 4Ws

When it comes to starting a podcast, there are several things that you need to figure out that make up the essence of your podcast.

Do not be intimidated. I am not trying to overwhelm you here. I just want to make sure that you do not skip any of the vital details, and I will help you figure everything out.

Apart from all the usual things you need to worry about such as equipment, software, editing style, effects, artwork, and everything else in between, there is something that most people overlook.

And that is putting in some research and figuring out exactly what PURPOSE your podcast is going to serve.

Before we go ahead with anything else, if your sole purpose of creating podcasts is to become rich and famous, then I am sorry to rain on your parade, but you might need to think of a more noble reason!

However, if your purpose falls under categories such as generating more awareness for you as a professional or for your business, sharing your knowledge and skills, or simply telling a story, then you are done with the first step.

I have been able to help a couple of people start a podcast, and there are a few questions I let them ask themselves.

This is what I call the 4Ws, which I have taken from Zachary Babcock:

What – what is your podcast going to be about?
Who – who are ideal listeners?
Where – where are you trying to guide them?
Why – why should they listen to your podcast?

If you take the time to figure these out before doing anything else, you set yourself up for success with your podcast. Remember to always go back to your answer on those 4Ws whenever you feel lost.

As an example, when I started my podcast, I got a little bit lost in figuring out what I wanted to talk about.

(Not that this is a plug for my podcast, but my podcast is called The Intent Podcast)

Whenever I lost direction, I always got back to the WHAT of my podcast, which is having conversations with interesting people, primarily entrepreneurs. The purpose of this was to get a little bit more of a behind-the-scenes perspective of what the essence of a human is.

Who are they outside of work? What are their interests? Hobbies? Likes? Dislikes?

This always helped bring me back to what I wanted to share with my listeners.

My experience shows why the 4Ws is so crucial in giving clarity and purpose to your podcast. Once you have figured out your 4Ws, you can then work on with your podcast name and theme...

Your Podcast Name and Theme

When you think of a theme for your podcast, avoid relying solely on what is trendy or popular now. Instead, go for something that you are comfortable with, knowledgeable and passionate about.

Your podcasts must be about a certain topic or niche, but not too narrowed-down that you will not be able to create several episodes about it. When conceptualizing your theme, try to produce around 10-15 episodes outlining what you are going to share relating to the topic to see if there is enough to talk about.

Once you have decided what it is you want to share with your audience, it is time to conduct some market research.

Go through different directories (or podcatchers) like Apple Podcasts or Spotify and see if there are already existing podcasts in the genre you have chosen. Have a look at their popularity and demand as well. You can also get some ideas here to give yourself a head start.

Also ask yourself, “What can I do that these current podcast creators aren’t doing?”

That way, you can differentiate yourself from everyone else.

After you decide on the theme, start working on what you want to name your podcast. It must be catchy, but not too broad.

You may need to include keywords in the title for SEO purposes but try to avoid being too wordy that it ends up being too lengthy and unattractive.

If you have an extremely specific and unique topic, one of the most popular formats for podcast names is one or two words about your theme to be followed by a brief description to help improve search results for your podcast.

One example that I have found is “Get sleepy (two words about your theme): Sleep meditation and stories (brief description of the podcast).”

Do not worry if you feel like the title of your podcast does not give your readers a full grasp of what your podcast is about. This is where the podcast description comes in. Be compelling with your podcast description, especially the first sentence. If listeners find it interesting, they will read the rest of the description and most importantly, listen to your podcast.

Remember also that some directories like Apple Podcasts are just like any other search engine -- the more relevant keywords you insert into your description, the more likely that you will rank higher in the search.

And as much as you want to rank higher and higher by adding more keywords, be sure to not sound too forced.

The most important thing is that you speak and connect to your listeners.

Who is Your Audience?

Some people who start a podcast already have an audience from their current businesses and connections. But do not fret if you are just like everyone else and do not have a current “fanbase.”

You just need to know who you are speaking to and ask questions such as:

What are their needs? Their pain points?
Why should they listen to your podcast?
How can you address their problems?

From a marketing standpoint, the main reason you want to identify your audience is so that you can work on how you should portray yourself and your message. This includes everything from the language you will be using to the artwork to the background music, and everything in between.

The good news is, as per Podcast Discovery Survey, many listeners do not care whether you are popular or not to begin with! Just create great content and gain your audience from there.

Lastly, before worrying about gaining popularity, let us work on the rest of the elements first.

PART 2: PLAN YOUR EPISODES

Figuring Out Your Show

What I mean when I say “figuring out the show” is what type of format do you want your podcasts to be? There is no one correct format for a specific topic or genre when it comes to podcasts. You have the freedom to host the show on your own or co-host it with one or several other people.

You can also go for a “mixed bag” approach and have different formats depending on the mood you want to set per episode. Here are the types of formats that you can go for:

Solo - hosted by you and you alone
Co-Hosted - hosted by you and a co-host
Roundtable - hosted by you and several other guests to talk about and discuss a specific topic

Interview - this involves you interviewing an individual from a specific industry
Other more scripted formats are news recap, educational, and fictional/nonfictional podcasts

With regards to the first four formats, it is best to avoid creating verbatim scripts while conducting your show. An outline would help but relying too much on a script will make your podcast seem more of a sermon than a conversation.

If you do decide to run a show wherein you interview guests, one good skill you should hone is knowing how to outreach to the right people.

You can take steps as early as now to research on other podcasts in a similar niche to you and plan on how you will invite them to your show.

Going back to the 4W’s I have mentioned earlier, defining these and figuring out your show are the vital foundations in starting your podcast. Once you have these planned out, you will know how to go about the rest of the elements of your podcast. Recording your podcasts will also be done more efficiently and effectively.

A good friend of mine, Ryan Lee, for a little while did a podcast where he released an episode daily. It does sound a little too labor-intensive, but from how he tells it, he would record an episode every day, go to a coffee shop, pull out his phone, hook up his hands-free kit and then record. These would then get lightly edited before it’s all good to go.

Talk about getting things done quickly!

Now these 4W’s have played an important part there because since he understood the answer to those questions, it became much easier for him to record and edit with whatever tool was at his disposal.

Whether it was simply recording on his iPhone and even uploading directly from there if he had no access to his desktop, he would be much more confident with the type of content he created.

Recordings free of edit but full of valuable content: Real. Raw. Relevant.

Now that you have the format figured out, you may now be thinking more about the nitty gritty like how long and how often you should post...

Frequency and Length of Your Podcasts

Here is the good news. There is no one-size-fits-all standard for how long your podcasts should be and how frequent you should post them. Some podcasts go for 5 minutes, others 20 minutes and others even at least an hour long.

Additionally, you also do not have to pressure yourself into posting your podcasts daily or weekly if this will compromise the quality of your work.

There are even some podcasts that are posted only once a year! The freedom is completely yours. The important thing is that you stay consistent. You yourself know what is the best length and frequency that is relevant to the theme of your podcast.

It would not make sense to sacrifice important topics by cropping your podcast to 5 minutes, when in fact you can discuss and cover everything better in 40 minutes. On the other hand, adding unnecessary points to a podcast just to increase the duration would be futile as well.

See where I’m getting at?

Just remember that if you are passionate about your topic and can communicate effectively, people will be willing to listen regardless of the length of your podcast.

So, you now have your 4W’s, you know what to talk about, you know who to talk to and you know the structure.

What is next, Tegs?

Now it is time to buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for the actual work.

PART 3: RECORD AND EDIT

Choose the Right Hardware and Software for You

As I have mentioned earlier, the 4W’s will also help you determine the type of equipment and software you need to record and edit your podcasts.

Remember that your content is much more important than the quality of your recordings but choosing the right equipment will improve how you relay your message to your audience.

For your recording equipment, there are many decent quality USB microphones out there that you can simply plugin to your computer and start your recording. Some of the most recommended microphones by other podcast creators are the Samson Q2U and Audio-Technica ATR2100x.

If you are co-hosting with someone else, it is best to get 2 microphones so that you have one each.

Apart from hardware, you will need to download software as well to help with your recording and editing. These do not have to be pricey and some are free-of-charge. With just a little effort, you can learn how to edit your podcasts on your own. Some great software includes Alitu, Adobe Audition, GarageBand (for Mac), and Adobe Audition.

Lastly, you can use applications like Skype (least quality), Zoom, and Squadcast (best quality) to record any long-distance interviews.

Once you are happy with your recording, a few simple edits to the audio will go a long way.

Edit Your Recording

When you record, you do not always have to hit the pause button if you make mistakes or stutter. You can always just record everything in one go and just remove the unnecessary parts during the editing process.

This is also where your 4W’s will come in handy once again. It will determine whether you need to do editing or not, and how much editing needs to be done.

Just like starting any creative process, begin with the end in mind.

To avoid staring blankly at a screen when you start to edit your recording, first think about what you want your audience to get out of this podcast episode. That way you will know which points to highlight and which are unnecessary in the original recording.

Now how do you edit your show without getting lost in the detail?

In my opinion, you must figure out what a minimum viable edit (MVE) for your show is. In other words, what is the least amount of effects and tinkering that you will have to do to get the show to a decent enough quality that you are happy with.

Here are some MVE tips for you that you can apply to your podcast editing process:

Remove most "ahs", "ums", and prolonged periods of silence. They do not all need to be removed. Just clean it up a bit and use your discretion. We have always done very minimal editing on this stuff.
Add audio effects in Adobe audition. Typically, we only add these two effects:
1. Adaptive Noise Reduction on each track to remove any bleed between microphones or any low-decibel background noise.
2. Hard Limiter - Set to -3 db - on each spoken track - This levels-out the volumes a bit so that each person is the same volume. It also cuts any clipping that may occur.
Amplify the volume to make it louder and normalize the audio.
Render out the audio file:
1. Sample rate: 48000 hz
2. Bit rate: 192 kbps
Add all necessary ID3 tags to the audio file (use whatever tool you like)
1. Title: Name of episode + Guest name. It should look like this
  "How to Build A Movie Star Brand for Yourself - Marshall Wayne"
2. Author: Matt Wolfe & Joe Fier
3. Podcast: The Hustle & Flowchart Podcast
4. Album Artist: Matt Wolfe & Joe Fier
5. Genre: Podcast
6. Artwork: Use main podcast image
7. Media Kind: Podcast

Another tip when editing your podcasts is to be sure that there are smooth transitions between cuts if ever you crop your recording. Quick fade ins and outs help avoid any unwanted noises.

Edit your recording one step at a time and try not to be overwhelmed by taking down notes for any noise issues or distractions you want to fix during the process. Don’t pressure yourself into making all the edits in one go.

On a final note, if you are not comfortable with editing your podcasts on your own, you can always outsource this task to a freelancer. There are many great podcast editors out there in Fiverr and Upwork.

When editing your podcast, you should also consider how you want to structure your show.

Structure Your Show

The structure of your episodes includes elements like intros, outros, and advertisements.

If you explore other podcasts, you may notice that some of them do have intros and outros while others simply fade in and fade out. In the entrepreneurial space, these are some common types of structures from these podcasts:

Laptop Empires Podcast – typical format with intro, podcast, outro

Joe Rogan – (this is how I have observed it on his YouTube channel) when it is scheduled to start, there is a countdown “3, 2, 1" then Joe says, “and we’re live” and that is how his show starts

Tim Ferris – wherein other podcasts take 15-20-minute intervals to read any ads from their sponsors, Tim inserts the ads just around 5 minutes after the intro and before the outro. That way, the listener can listen to the entire podcast uninterrupted. Format is intro, advert, podcast, advert, outro

If you are just starting out, you may not have adverts yet (unless you happen to have an audience big enough that you can sponsor your own show, then that is something that you should give serious attention to).

There are several structures to choose from, that you may get overwhelmed in choosing which one is the right one for you. But just remind yourself that nothing is set to stone and you can always edit the styles of your podcasts whenever you believe fit.

Another factor that determines the mood of your podcast is the background music.

There are tons of free music out there. You can choose royalty-free music, but the only concern here is that you could end up having the same music as other podcast creators (though most listeners do not notice this anyway).

If you do want premium music, you can always go through Audio Jungle or Audio Blocks and pay a small price to have access to lots of tracks and sound effects.

Other Tips When Recording

There is always a first time for everything!

It is completely normal to feel awkward and nervous when you record your first podcast. As mentioned before, creating an outline will dramatically help the flow of your thoughts and avoid any mental blockage.

To further improve the quality of your podcasts, you will need a conducive area to record.

Avoid working in cramped spaces with flat surfaces, because your voice will tend to echo. It is best to record in a large room with plenty of space. If that’s not available to you, simply surround your area with materials that absorb sound like egg crates, acoustic foam, carpeting, or furniture.

Another skill that requires practice is talking to your microphone. You will want to avoid your P’s and S’s from standing out and hurting the ears of your listeners, so try to distance yourself from the mic. Find the sweet spot so that you will know the perfect distance and angle for positioning your mic in respect to you.

Now that you have your whole episode in place, it is time to prepare to share it with the world.

PART 4: YOU HAVE YOUR PODCAST. NOW WHAT?

Your Podcast Artwork

This element of your podcast is so vital because your artwork is the listener’s first impression of your podcast.

I recommend deciding your artwork once all the previous steps have been completed. Changing the artwork midway is more costly than changing other elements of your podcast, especially if you are outsourcing this particular task.

Choose artwork that visually represents the subject of your podcast and is attractive.

Here are podcast artworks from some of the clients I have worked with:

Your artwork must contain some words but not more than five, and the size of your words must be visible even to small screens. Less is always more.

Now not to sound too technical here, but let us cover the file format that your artwork should be in:

The recommended size for your artwork should be a minimum of 1400 x 1400 pixels and a maximum of 3000 x 3000 pixels.
Your file should be saved as JPEG or PNG and in the RGB colors space. Apple Podcasts also recommends compressing your image files so that they will be optimized for mobile devices.
Speaking of mobile devices, since many people listen to podcasts on smaller gadgets, try reducing your artwork to 55 x 55 px and check if all the elements, especially the wordings, are still visible.

If creating your own artwork seems too intimidating, you can always hire a professional for this or create the artwork yourself using tools like Canva or Photoshop.

After working on the creative bits of your podcast, let us move into more technical territory.

Getting Your Podcast Online

To get your podcast online, you need to have an audio hosting solution.

It is possible to upload your recording directly on your website, but this option has downsides to it such as the limited bandwidth and a lack of features that only audio hosts provide. Therefore, you need to choose the right podcast host for you.

There are several solid audio hosts on the internet.

At the time of writing this, the top 3 are Libsyn, Buzzsprout, and Spotify. These websites not only host your audio files, but also have access to huge directories like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. This makes the process much simpler because most of these hosts allow you to upload your podcast to these directories directly from your dashboard.

I recommend working with one of these to make your lives easier!

The platform I am the most familiar with is Libsyn. To help make your life easier from my end, I have listed the process on how to setup a Libsyn account below:

1. Go to Libsyn.com and create your account and enter all your personal information and payment details. This is what you will see after you click SIGN UP in the homepage

2. You will then need to choose from any of the following plans and choose which one is right for you. If you are just starting, you can go for the Libsyn Classic 50, which is their most basic plan. This plan has everything you need to get your podcast started.

3. When you login to your account, this is the dashboard that you will see

4. The first thing you will want to do is setup your show settings which can be found in Settings >> Show Settings

5. Fill all the necessary details in. In this section, you will need to go back to your 4W’s to help you structure the Show Description.

6. All the details in the Recommended Information are going to make up the metadata of your podcast, which is what allows people to search for the podcast.

7. For content rating, I have marked my episodes as EXPLICIT because I did have some guests that got carried away with their language. This is just to let your listeners know that there are a few words that they may find inappropriate.

8. Once all your show details are complete, do not forget to save all changes

9. Tip: I tend to not mess with the other settings enclosed in the red box below, because when the episodes are being uploaded, the process that I have for my team breaks it down step-by-step. That means there is no need to set anything to be templated.

10. From there, you will need to setup your RSS Feed which can be seen in DESTINATIONS >> EDIT OR VIEW EXISTING

11. Select EDIT on the Libsyn Classic Feed

12. Then select the relevant categories for your show.

13. Fill in all the other details for your episode and click SAVE.

14. From there, your RSS Feed will be generated

Once you have your Libsyn account setup, I will show you how to upload your audio files into your account:

1. Go to CONTENT >> +ADD NEW EPISODE

2. The first thing you then want to do is +ADD NEW MEDIA FILE

3. Make sure you click “Populate Form with ID3 Data” and then select the proper file destination

4. Once the file has been successfully uploaded, you will have something that looks like this

5. Add all the necessary information about the episode

6. In the iTunes Optimization section, which you can see when you scroll down, simply copy-paste the same data as above. However, since the description in the iTunes section has a character limit, you may need to make a few edits to your original description if it is too lengthy .

7. Once that is setup, I directly went to SCHEDULING since no changes were done to the Artwork. In scheduling, if you need to set a specific date for when your podcast will be published, go to BASIC RELEASE/EXPIRATION >> SET RELEASE DATE and update accordingly

8. You can then click PUBLISH once everything is good to go!

You can also manually send your podcasts to these other big directories. Each of these channels have their own steps on how to get your podcast published:

Stitcher
SoundCloud
YouTube
Google Play Store

If the media host you have chosen does not have a way for you to upload directly to these directories, you can also choose to do it manually on your own. To do this, you need to submit your RSS Feed provided by the media host to the directory and just wait for it to be approved.

Every time you upload a new podcast into your hosting platform, the feed is automatically updated on the directories that your podcasts are broadcasted on.

This is not as complicated as it may seem. Here is how to submit your RSS feed to iTunes:

1. If you do not have one yet, setup your iTunes account on https://itunespartner.apple.com/podcasts/ and login

2. This should take you right away to this page

3. Then you go back to your Libsyn account and copy the RSS feed to the URL section in iTunes Connect

4. Then select VALIDATE

5. All your podcast information will appear. Be sure to have a look and review everything

6. Once everything looks good, click SUBMIT and you will receive this message

Another podcatcher you can consider is Amazon Music, which I use for my podcast and some of my clients. Here is how you upload audio files to this platform (from Libsyn):

Access this page to submit your podcasts
Copy your RSS feed on Libsyn (or your host of choice)
Go back to the Amazon Music page and click next at the bottom-most part of the link
Fill in all the details including your RSS feed
Once all the details are complete, you will be able to submit your podcast to Amazon Music. It will take around 2-3 days before your podcast gets approved.

The steps are also similar in Spotify. You just need to go to their web address and check out more of the details there.

Submitting your podcasts to these directories are usually straightforward, so I am sure you will figure it out!

Another thing you need to be aware of is that when you send your podcasts for approval, some directories may take time in reviewing your recordings.

Therefore, make sure that you submit your podcast for approval at least a week before your official launch date in case you need to do a few more revisions during the process.

Once you have your host all setup, you need to figure out how to launch your podcast with a bang.

Launch and Promote Your Podcast

When it comes to launching your show, the standard practice is to launch with 3 introductory episodes that cover the following:

Episode 1: Introducing Yourself, WHY you are starting the show, WHO this show is for
Episode 2 and next episodes: The WHAT of your show, what is the driving force of your show.

It really pays to make your launch into an event. Do not worry if you do not have a current audience. Share the podcast everywhere, ask your friends to share it as well. Utilize your email list if you have one.

If you also have your own website or blog, you can promote your podcast there.

And speaking of websites, although it is not recommended that you create a website for your podcast in the start if you still do not have one, I recommend that you buy the domain name beforehand. That way, if your podcast blows up, you want to avoid anyone else getting that domain name from you.

Join social media groups and pages, and search for blogs online that are relevant to your topic and ask if you can promote your podcast there. You will be sure to have many new supporters if your content adds value.

Eventually, you can also contact these group admins and find ways to feature them on your podcast

Once you do have listeners, encourage them to leave reviews! Testimonials are a great and straightforward way to increase the attractiveness of your podcasts.

Generating an audience during your launch builds traction for your show and increases the chances of your show being featured in the New & Noteworthy section of Apple Podcasts.

Growing your podcast and gaining a following can lead you to so many other opportunities for you and your business, such as earning from your podcast.

Monetize Your Podcast

Remember when I told you that getting rich should not be the main reason for creating podcasts?

Well, once you have grown your audience and gained their trust, you can indeed make some money! Monetizing your podcasts is possible through several ways like affiliate marketing and promoting relevant products and services.

Finding products or brands you can advertise can be rewarding, but difficult in the beginning since these companies will want to make sure that you have the audience.

At the start, you can work on affiliate marketing by recommending some brands that you love and use such as the equipment that you have used for your podcast or anything related to your podcast theme.

Sharing affiliate links are not just a great way to earn from your podcasts, but also build credibility as well since people associate you with the brand you partnered with.

Next up, I will be sharing with you some tips to maximize your time and systemize your processes to give you a stress-free environment.

Stay Ahead of Yourself

To give some points on how to make the most out of your podcast, I recommend the following practices:

Create a system on producing your podcast so that everything is more organized, and you don’t get too overwhelmed as your podcast grows
Batch record. Depending on how many you can do in a day and how often you release your podcasts, this allows you to do a month's worth of episodes in a day or two. This frontloads the work that you must do so that when your recording is done, you can take the time to edit your podcasts. That way, you don’t have to rush around on the week of release to record, edit and launch.

These two tips will help in streamlining your podcast process.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

In the end, remember that your podcast does not have to be perfect. Everything great must start from humble beginnings. You may be nervous on getting started and getting your name out there. You may feel lost and overwhelmed when you start the process yourself.

Just keep reminding yourself that it’s only difficult in the beginning.

I had my own challenges when starting my podcast, and facing hurdles is completely part of the journey. All you need to take is the first step to grow your brand.

I hope that with this article will give you clearer vision and direction to push you forward.

If you have made it until the end of this article and followed all the steps that I have showed you, then you are more than ready to record and upload your first podcast.

Just believe in what you want to share with the world and continuously go back to your 4W’s I outlined in the beginning of this article.

And that ladies and gents is how to start a podcast, step by step.