As I ate healthy breakfast and got on my exercise bike today, I thought about resolutions.

You may have a 2022 New Year's Resolution to start - or even restart- a podcast.  Today I'll tell you how to start your podcast for under $100.

The first thing you need to do is plan.  Plan out a limited number of episodes.  If you don't have a goal in mind, you'll do a bunch, then fall off - same as going to the gym or losing weight.  Your process has to have an end point.  Whenever I bring on a new podcast client, we start with one season, then decide how many episodes that one season will have.

Next, plan out your episodes.  Doing a podcast is like driving a racecar.  Do all your work in the pit, so when the race starts, all you have to do is drive.   Knowing where you want to go will not only cut down on ums and uhs, but it will also prevent you from going on a tangent about your holiday travels.   Random tangents will get you away from your topic, and cause listeners to turn out.   The other big reason listeners will turn off your podcast is of course, bad audio.   Which leads me to the next step - buy a microphone.

Now, I can recommend some really nice $400 microphones to you, but most folks aren't working with that kind of budget.  My GO-TO first podcast microphone is going to be about $70.  You can find it on Amazon and I'll link it in the show notes.  https://amzn.to/3JNHKFk

It's the SAMSON Q2U. It comes with a mic cable if you're using a standalone recorder, and it also comes with a USB that you can plug right into your computer.  It's got its own little stand, and the Samson even has a headphone jack in the back to plug your existing headphones into.  Add a foam windscreen for a dollar, and you're in business.

If you've got other people on your podcast with you, recording remotely - look into a broadcast quality internet recording platform like Squadcast, Riverside, or Zencastr - most have free trials.  If your budget is tight, you can use something like less quality like Zoom, but have each person record themselves separately, then merge the files together.

Finally, you need a host - not a human host - but an online home for your podcast.  Much like a website, your show has to physically live somewhere on the web.  There are free hosts out there, but you get what you pay for, don't get good analytics, and there are sometimes even questions around who owns your content.   Reliable hosts include Blubrry, Libsyn, and Simplecast.  I use Simplecast myself, but compare features and see what works for you.  I've seen paid hosting for as low as $5 per month, but most plans for individual podcasters are under $20. Once you pay for the host, it's free to submit to Apple, Spotify, and more.

We've all failed at New Year's Resolutions - and I don't want cost to be what stops you from joining the ever-growing podcasting world in 2022.   Make a plan, buy a microphone, and get online with a host.  It will cost you less than that gym membership you'll stop using by February.

And if you need help with podcasts - find me at JAGinDetroit.com.

Find jag on social media @JAGinDetroit or online at JAGinDetroit.com