Podcast Launch Pad

Launching a podcast is fun and rewarding. But there are new skills to learn and sometimes it saves you time to seek help elsewhere. 

Most podcasters are naturally gifted with the talking bit! Otherwise, they wouldn't have started one. 

But the technical aspects of editing, mixing and mastering audio can be time-consuming and possibly not as much fun as interviewing your peers. 

So, consider outsourcing that. You can also seek professional help in the marketing of your podcast. It's really all about saving time while making the maxium impact. 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

In this super short episode, Serena implores podcasters to focus on getting straight down to the content of their production. 

There's nothing worse than listening to the podcast host or hosts rattle on about how their week was, or about insignificant stuff that has nothing to do with the podcast theme. 

This is especially true for business podcasters because people are making the time to listen to you to learn something. 

Generally, they are not interested in people's mundane lives unless they are really well-known in which case, they seem sadly to be completely fascinated. 

But most of us are not famous!

Listen for a useful tip on how you can combine a little bit of the personal with a whole lot of useful input. 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

We used to think we had to record our podcasts in sound-proofed booths. Maybe we thought about hiring a sound engineer too to make sure everything ran smoothly.

But the pandemic changed everything,  as this podcast episode makes clear.

Listeners are now more accepting of the kind of noises you might expect to hear at the end of any telephone line. Like dogs barking or children playing.

This podcast episode discusses what that might mean for podcasters, old and new and what measures you still need to maintain to ensure respectable audio quality.
 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

In this episode, I bring you news of  exciting new trends apparent from entries in the first round of the British Podcast Awards which I helped judge in April 2022.

Exciting new trends, yes, but also evidence that some podcasters are still making basic errors which I also report on.

It was a huge privilege to be involved in the British Podcast Awards and I loved to see how podcasters are becoming more inventive, experimental and imaginative in their productions.

There were some amazing entries from the LGBTQ+ communities which really stretched the podcasting envelope. Equally impressive  were the podcasts which gave voice to those fleeing barbarism in all its forms.

There was some awesome interviewing skills on show this year which left me full of admiration.

And sound design is becoming much more of "a thing" in podcasts in 2022 with some excellent work on show.

On the negative side, there are still too many podcasts out there with semi-celebs and poorly prepared hosts. And it was a pity to find the odd podcast that reinforced stereotypes or whose hosts never got the "sound energised" memo. There was even the odd painful technical issue.

It will be fascinating to see who wins this year - there are some great contenders.

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

More than a rant - this episode makes it crystal clear how to leave a podcast review on Apple for your favourite podcasts. 

Go on - have a quick listen and then do as Serena suggests! Follow the easy steps she outlines and leave a nice review for the podcasts you love to listen to. 

You really will be doing the podcast teams behind the productions a huge favour. 

Up to now you may have found it tricky to work out how to leave reviews. This is because it is easy to confuse the podcast landing page (where there's space to leave reviews) with the individual episode pages (where there's no space to leave reviews). 

As you'll hear in the very short rant section - this is a problem that Apple could  easily resolve and it's a mystery to Serena as to why they haven't. 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

There are important decisions that have to be made when you first launch a website. And one of them is where to host information about your podcast. 

Hosting a podcast on your existing website will take up too much band width. That's what podcast hosts like Buzzsprout are for. 

But you do want to host links to each new episode as well as information about the podcast and its producers in addition to news about your services and special offers. 

So this episode supplies a handy solution to the problem - which is how to host a dedicated podcast tab on your existing website. 

You can also easily create a podcast website through your podcast host. They make designing it super easy and although the end product is relatively limited, it might be just what you need at the start of your podcast journey. 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

Are there enough podcast-savvy older listeners to make it worth launching a targeted podcast?

You bet.

A bunch of reliable statistics from established market researcher such as Edison Research show that older listeners are huge audio fans - and they're fast catching up with the number of younger podcast listeners.

As ever, it's all down to nailing your ideal podcast listener and catering exactly for their needs.

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

There are good and bad ways to introduce a podcast guest - but, in my experience, the podcasts that pull in listeners bother to do it right.

In this episode, Serena literally spells out - word for word - an introduction lasting about 45 seconds that achieves the following:

1. pronounces the name of the guest correctly (disastrous when you can't even get that right!)
2. chooses a few relevant details to highlight your guest's impressive background and relevance to your ideal listener
3. helps establish a rapport and eases your guest into the first question

This sort of introduction doesn't take half a day to write and research but it does require a little effort from the podcast host. Honestly, it's worth it - both for the sake of your show and the impression it leaves with your guest (who you'll want to help promote the show when it's published).

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

Sounding confident is something that concerns many would-be business podcasters - especially older ones.

They worry that podcasting is either for professionals or the young and brazen!

But this couldn't be further from the truth - especially for niche business podcasters whose ideal listeners are more interested in first class content than in slick celebs or youth for youth's sake.

This episode tackles that mindset and - hopefully - puts it to rest once and for all.

It's business expertise, great content and warmth of delivery that wins listeners, not youthful sounding vocal chords.

Listen in for useful tips on how to banish your concerns and strengthen your self-belief in the way your sound.

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!   

You can literally hear the birds tweeting as I use my smartphone to record this episode outside on a glorious sunny spring day.

As long as you use the right microphone, it is definitely possible to use your smartphone in the recording process.

But beware of using the smartphone's inbuilt mic. I carry out a little comparison to show you the difference between using a good external mic, the phone's inbuilt mic and the sound I normally produce in my recording booth.

My much-loved Rode's SC6-L Mobile Recording Kit for use with an iPhone has now been discontinued but replaced with something that you can use with any phone, laptop or computer. The AI Micro costs around £70 and is the interface through which you link your mics to record you and your guest to your recording device. You have to buy lavalier mics separately (those are the ones that you attach to your lapel).

You don't need to buy the AI Micro if you just intend to record your voice -  you could purchase Rode's smartLav+ lavalier mic. There are plenty of other makes on the market too.

Rode also supplies a free app called RodeReporter that you can use to record into. Alternatively, you could try the  Hokusai Audio Editor for this purpose.

Recording into your smartphone is one thing - editing your material on it is quite another and not recommended by me to grown up businesspeople who might struggle with the intricacies of working on a tiny screen. Listen in for how I manage it. 

About me
Hello, I'm Serena Gay, a BBC-trained journalist and a former international satellite TV presenter.

I have many years of news and audio production experience which I now use to great effect as CEO of a podcast making company called "Made4U Podcasts".

I've  also helped run family businesses in the UK and Germany in the tourism and wine education fields.

So I understand the pressures on businesspeople to perform, promote and reach new and profitable streams of clients.

That's why these podcasts are short, pithy and full of information - not blather!

Contact...

Facebook: @Made4uPodcasts
Website: www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Why not download my guide to business podcasting  too - you'll find it a treasure trove of information as you start your podcasting journey

P.S. I use and recommend podcast host Buzzsprout to new podcasters who want to  get their shows listed on every major podcast platform. You can use this link to sign up. If you choose a paid plan  you’ll get a $20 or a £15 Amazon gift card. This will also help support my show - so thank you!