The Independent Creator's Playbook

This question came from a listener named Brandon. He asked, “What is the best way to ask a friend to leave a podcast and still remain friends?”

This is a great question, although a really hard one. What should you do when your co-host just isn't working out? How should you handle it?

Interviews! There are so many things related to interviews that I could talk about.

I was working on the outline for this episode and I had all these topics and tips written out, but then I asked myself: What are the 3 most common mistakes you see new podcasters make when doing interviews?

So instead of trying to cover a bunch of different topics related to interviewing people, I'm going to focus on a couple and give you some practical advice to help you avoid the common mistakes that many podcasters make when doing interviews.

Man. Interviews! There are so many things related to interviews that I could talk about. I was working on the outline and I had all these topics and tips written out (so many tips).

But I was thinking, and I said to myself, “Aaron. What are the 3-5 most common mistakes you see less-experienced podcasters make when doing interviews?”

So instead of trying to cover a bunch of different topics related to interviewing people, I'm going to focus on a couple and give you some solid, practical advice to help you avoid the common mistakes that many podcasters make when doing interviews.

Q: Is it ok to start a podcast just for fun?

Yes, of course. It’s ok to do anything for fun. What’s important is knowing why you’re doing something and what you hope to get out of it.

I suspect that many people who say they want to start a podcast "just for fun" are just using "fun" as an excuse to avoid doing the parts of podcast that they consider work, like preparation, editing, episode notes, and so on.

Those things aren't necessarily fun, but they are essential if you're interested in growing an audience. If you want more people to listen to your podcast, you have to prepare. You have to have good sound quality and you have to write show notes so that new people will find your show through Google and subscribe.

Do you want to grow an audience? Do you care about getting new listeners? If the answer to these questions is no, you don’t need to listen to the rest of this episode. Go make your podcast. Have fun! Do whatever you want, have a good time with it.

If the answer to the question is yes, then keep listening.

I’ve had a few people ask me about how they can podcast about things that are strictly visual; think hand lettering, or programming, or gaming. That’s a great question, so I want to talk about it in today’s episode.

When I started thinking about this, my first reaction was "Well, there are just some things you can't do with a podcast." Then I started thinking about why I love podcasts so much, and what makes them more appealing to me than videos or screencasts.

My key points for this episode are:

1. Podcasts are great, but you can't do everything with them

2. Different people learn best in different mediums, so if you want to reach the most people most effectively, you need to learn how to create different kinds of content (audio, video, screencasts, writing, courses)

My special guest this week is friend of the show Garrett Mickley. Garrett started a podcast called Learn to Learn with Garrett Mickley, and he's passionate about helping other people optimize the way they learn.

He joins me for this episode to talk about the different ways people learn best, and why podcasting isn't the right medium for learning for everyone, and why podcasters need to create content in other mediums to supplement their podcasts.

Today I'm joined by my good friend Ben Toalson to talk about making time for podcasting. In this episode, Ben shares his tips for managing time, why he makes time for podcasting, how podcasting is playing a huge role in his long term success, why you need to plan your time carefully if you want to make a great show every week, and more.

2021 update: Here's an updated, complete list of the gear I recommend for podcasting: https://kit.co/thepodcastdude/best-gear-for-podcasting

My second episode was a guide to gear for podcasting, but I’ve learned a lot in the past months, so I wanted to make an updated guide. I said back then that if you couldn’t afford good gear, you should wait and save up money. I was wrong about that. I still believe that great gear will give you better sound quality which will help your show be more successful, but I don’t believe you should wait to get started. There’s so much you need to learn when you’re first starting out: Great gear isn’t going to magically make the process easier. It’s best to get started with what you have, or buy what you can afford and then upgrade later.

So let’s talk about podcasting on a budget. I’m going to cover gear for those of you who have little-to-no money to spend, and also share what I think is the best podcasting gear so that you’ll know what to get in the future when you have money to upgrade.

Cool Stuff to Check Out:

My second episode was a guide to gear for podcasting, but I’ve learned a lot in the past months, so I wanted to make an updated guide.

I said back then that if you couldn’t afford good gear, you should wait and save up money. I was wrong about that.

I still believe that great gear will give you better sound quality which will help your show be more successful, but I don’t believe you should wait to get started. There’s so much you need to learn when you’re first starting out; great gear isn’t going to magically make the process easier. It’s best to get started with what you have, or buy what you can afford and then upgrade later.

So let’s talk about podcasting on a budget. I’m going to cover gear for those of you who have little-to-no money to spend, and also share what I think is the best podcasting gear so that you’ll know what to get in the future when you have money to upgrade.

Maybe you've been thinking about starting a podcast for awhile. Maybe you've even bought some gear and recorded a few test episodes. But for some reason, you haven't pulled the trigger and published anything yet.

You're listening to this because you want me to convince you to start a podcast. You want me to talk you into recording and shipping your first episodes and getting them into iTunes and out into the world where people can hear them.

I'd be happy to. I love helping people start new podcasts.

Maybe you've been thinking about starting a podcast but you're intimidated by popular and well produced shows shows like Serial or 99% Invisible. You think, “I can't make a show that good. Why even bother trying?”

I want to silence that little voice in your head that tells you that you aren’t good enough to podcast. I want to talk about why Serial was such a smash hit, and what lessons you can take away from the way Serial is made and how to apply them to your podcast.