Podcasting, once considered to be ‘amateur hour’ by no less than Steve Jobs, has become a dominant force in media. Today, there are over two million episodes of various podcasts on a wide range of topics. So, today, if you have a passing interest in a particular subject, you can bet someone has made a podcast about it. But, what if you can’t find one about the topic that interests you? Well, maybe that’s a call to action for you to be the one that makes it.

Hi. My name is Kris Roley, and I’ve been a podcaster since 2006. I’ve produced over 1000 episodes of several different shows, and I’ve helped several people create and start their own shows. I’m not a name you immediately think of when it comes to podcasting. I’m not famous, or even ‘internet famous,’ and I’m very ok with that. Up until now, I’ve done this because of my love of podcasting and my passion for teaching people how to do something and leaving them in a better place than where I found them.

However, in the past few years, many of the people I have helped have asked me why I haven’t created something to help as many people as possible. Frankly, I’ve been torn about it. Of course, I would love to help as many people as possible start their shows, but to do that, I felt I would be joining the ranks of a group of people I don’t care for very much. I call those people the Gurus.

To their credit, the Gurus have made quite a nice living for themselves. That’s entrepreneurialism for you. The Gurus have rounded up all the information about how to start and grow a podcast, which you can find on Google, and charged people what I think is outrageous amounts of money at times. To be fair, a lot of the courses offer access to a mastermind or community during and after the fact, but I’ve always felt that it’s not necessary to ask someone to pay to learn the basics. If you want to learn how to grow a podcast, that’s one thing that marketing gurus are there to do. That’s their purpose, and they can have that. Starting a podcast is information I think should be easily accessible to all.

I still believe in the democratization of media, in which we all have the power to create a voice in our communities, no matter how niche they might be. I believe that podcasting gives people the ability to serve the underserved and provide a spokesperson for the marginalized where none existed before. In addition, I think podcasting creates an opportunity to create thought leaders in those communities, and those thought leaders become a proxy voice in the larger society. To do that, we need to ensure that those future voices can enter the space at a low cost. Yes, podcasting costs money to do it right, but it need not be exorbitant.

Imagine where we would be as a society today if there were a voice in a marginalized community 20, 30, 40 years ago that could reach people as quickly as they can today with podcasting. At the very least, there would be people who would know they weren’t alone. Sometimes, that’s enough. Sometimes, that’s just a start. But, always, it’s better.

So I’ve decided to pour what I know about starting a podcast into the following pages. I hope that you will find it helpful, and I hope you’ll take this knowledge and create something of your own. Your voice is no less important than anyone else’s. Let’s get started.