Podcast Technical BG

Author

Zoltàn Erkel
February 21, 2023

Heeey there,

Every week I write about a marketing topic with tangible tips and real-life examples.

I always base these topics on my personal experiences so that you may skip a few steps and avoid costly mistakes.

Today, I’ll discuss how to set up a podcast + the secret that all of our guests compliment on.

But first » what do you do when your last-minute decision to move back to Belgium for a month leaves you without your microphone? 🙆🏻‍♂️

Given I needed one for our podcast EP, my answer was: whatever’s necessary…

And that whatever was borrowing one from a singer the night before the recording 👩‍🎤

I mean…it looks pretty professional to be fair 🤙

Now back to marketing stuff 👇

[Stick around until the end for the Secret Sauce.
Just make sure to CLICK "View entire message" 🤙]

Topic Overview:

  • Should you start Podcasting? 🤔

  • What you need for it [hardware] 🎥

  • What you need to record & edit [software] 📲

  • The Secret Recipe + Ingredient 🤫

Should you start Podcasting? 🤔
I have briefly talked about how in my opinion, not every B2B needs a podcast in an earlier newsletter depending on how expensive and hard to buy your product is.

I think podcasting is excellent and it can be a rather versatile tool for:

  • Building authority

  • Expanding one’s network

  • Creating content that may be repurposed for multiple platforms

  • Outputting creative flows in an interactive manner

  • Branding - i.e. showing your face


And definitely not least » Prospecting.

Still, I think there are many options to do some or all of these in other forms, and thus I don’t necessarily think everyone should do it.

If it’s not something that fits your brand or generic vibe, forcing it can lead to effort and resources poured down the drain.

Now.

What if it is indeed for you?

How does one get started with podcasting without falling into all the unnecessary traps?

Since this can be a 2 part series » today we’ll discuss the technical tools and the secret ingredient and next time I’ll talk about our strategy and how to implement yours.

Let’s dive in.

What you need for a Podcast [hardware] 🎥

This is where in my experience a lot of you can get a bit overwhelmed.

Seemingly when marketers/business developers talk about setting up a podcast, people imagine one of 2 scenarios:

  1. You need to start with a high-quality, studio setup with perfect lighting, audio and an amazing graphics department

  2. It’s fine to record with a laptop microphone in shitty lighting as long as the content is great


Based on our experiences, as always, the truth lies in between.

No, you don’t need to build a studio that matches the setup of your favourite podcaster.

Because they:

  1. Have likely been doing this for years

  2. Even if they’ve only started, are professionals with a lot of experience in the field of creating kick-ass content


And 2. because pro athletes are rarely born with the perfect gear (heyo!) and movements. You don’t have to start with the most sophisticated and likely expensive setup either.

But, also no:

even if your content, meaning your topics and conversation skills are amazing…

people won’t listen to you if it means they need Alan Turing to decipher what you are saying.

Meaning, precisely because your content is potentially amazing, you shouldn’t shoot yourself in the foot with crap audio and visuals.

So then, what is the middle ground here?

To start, find a well-lit room.

A space with good enough natural lighting so that people may recognize you. Preferably not as two-face (without major shadows).

(Unless of course, you set up great artificial lighting, in which case it is better to start with a completely dark room.)

Get some lights. 💡

It could be a ring light or a basic softbox/led set. If you want to be a bit fancier also get some background lighting.

The options could be weighed as follows:

  1. 1-person setup with subpar lighting conditions » Ring light/Softbox set [+ optional dim bg light]

  2. 2-person setup with ok lighting » Softbox/led set [+ optional dim bg light]

  3. Opting for the most pro look » 3-point kit


Options for lights:

  • Ring lights:

  1. Razer | $68.79

  2. Neewer | $44.50

  3. Elgato | $158.59

  • Softbox + light:

  1. Godox Softbox | $69.00

  2. Neewer Softbox | $55.99

  3. Godox Light | $139.00

  • Led light:

  1. Viltrox (2 pack) | $229.00

  2. Genaray (2 pieces) | $568.70


Options for BG lights:

  1. Godox | $89.00

  2. Ambitful | $54.99

  3. Philips (2 pack) | $99.00


Again, you can do it with just amazing natural lighting as well.

…given that you have access to it, without for e.g. your kids/roommate running in every few minutes.

Get a microphone.

The most important part is sound. People can tolerate your video quality being less, but there is nothing worse than listening to a Podcast with bad sound quality.

You could potentially do it with AirPods but from experience, the sound will be a bit (if not a lot) meh.

With microphones, you can either go for USB or XLR plugs.

There are more options for XLR and they’ll usually be lasting, but you’ll need to buy a mixer to integrate them.

Hence it might be easier to opt for a USB one in the beginning, I personally use the Blue Yeti mic, which you can find for under 100$ to get started.

Top mic recommendations & setup options from Buzzsprout


1. One-person setup ($70)


2. Two-person setup ($400)


3. Three-to-four-person setup ($960—$1,080)


At $200, the Zoom P4 is a cost-conscious replacement for the RODECaster Pro.

RECOMMENDED ACCESSORIES:


Finally, use a laptop with a high-quality built-in cam (or get a good cam, or webcam), and whose battery won’t die during the shooting (or plug it in), I personally use Logitech C922.

In case you want to get fancier with more than one shot, and have access to a phone with a great camera »

get a tripod for your phone to record a second angle, or use the phone with the ring light.

What you need to record & edit [software] 📲

I’ll link some resources at the end so may check out other options.

For now, some tools that we use or have used before:

Recording 🔴

  1. Riverside » This is what we use right now, it is:

    1. Easy to handle

    2. Gives multiple options for size, quality, screen split etc.

    3. Has limited editing capabilities » markings during the recording, only exporting specific parts

    4. Records audio/video from the source, so your crappy wifi won’t fuck up the recording

    5. Can live stream from it to social
      💵 Cost: 9$+/month

  2. Zoom » is a simple, easy option to start with:

    1. Easy to handle

    2. People use it anyway

    3. The quality is average however
      💵 Cost: Free - 15$/month

Editing ✂️

This may be a bit trickier, if you plan on using the content in multiple ways (which you should), such as:

  • Full episode to audio platforms / Youtube

  • Short bits to social media

  • Fun bits for ads


you’ll need someone who knows how to edit and add graphical elements (even if just borders) without spending too much time on it.

This will require both skills in editing and good enough hardware that can handle rendering larger bits (proper video card, at least 16 gm of RAM etc. or a virtual computer)

However, the good news is that:

  1. It is super easy to outsource editing

  2. There are some tools that are quite easy to handle even for a newbie


So first, tools that we use or have used before:

  1. Adobe Premiere Pro » This only makes sense if you know how to edit video/audio

    1. What’s great is that it can now generate pretty accurate transcripts that are easy to edit

    2. Costs 38€/month

  2. Descript » all in one, moderately difficult tool

    1. Can edit the video by editing its transcript (i.e. cut in text = cut in the video)

    2. Transcription is accurate and available in dozens of languages

    3. Costs 10$+/month


If however, you have no skills in editing the easiest option is to outsource it via freelancing platforms, like:


Now finally, let’s take a look at the one thing that we constantly hear about from our guests.

The Secret Ingredient 🧃

It is research.

Well, the 1st part is.

Yeah, I know… you were perhaps expecting a bigger secret.

As banal as it sounds, proper research on your guest is a major advantage point.

I’m sure you listen to podcasts and watch late-night shows or long-form interviews.

Think about the ones that are the most entertaining.

Sure, the hosts can make a huge difference.

But what sets a few apart is the depth of the subjects they talk about.

Whether you plan on setting up a podcast with interesting guests or one where you (and others) discuss a topic relating to your audience »

In-depth research of your subject can set you apart from similar platforms.

How We Do It 🕵️‍♂️

We approach our research with 2 goals:

  1. Info that helps us understand the professional journey of our guests

    1. How they got to where they are today,

    2. How each stage shaped their professional life

  2. Info that helps our audience relate to our guests

    1. Highly successful people often seem larger than life,

    2. Personal hobbies and stories about mistakes they’ve made keep the audience intrigued


There is a fine line between asking fun, personal questions (like taste in music) and over-the-line intimate questions (e.g. family, an illness).

With some personal questions sprinkled in with their professional journey, our guests can relax.

As a result, even when they talk about their professional journeys they’ll share it more like a story and less like a prepared, formal bulletin.

Research in itself however won’t solve everything.

You need to be able to form what you find into a comprehensive, intriguing whole.

This is where the other part comes into play:

The Secret Recipe 📜

In-depth research is good, what makes it great is the way you present it.

You’ll want to make sure that your questions/topics have an arc to them so that your audience can follow along.

Build up the topics like a story that will keep your audience interested and will make them want more.

To further add to the storytelling form of the conversation, we not only aim to relax our guests, but we also build our questions into an anecdotal form.

This way instead of years and companies »

we focus on How and Why our guests went from one stage to the next.

...all the while focusing on the overarching topic of our podcast: Connecting the Dots.

Resources

How to set up the lighting:

Softbox Vs Led lighting:

Technical advice from Buzzsprout:

LinkedIn posts worth reading this week:


1. Simplify creating carousels on Linkedin with this template

If you are looking to create more engagement and reach with your LinkedIn posts, check out this great template from Kévin Moëenne-Loccoz

2. 7 myths about Linkedin content creation

Sam Szuchan myth-busting 7 false or partly true ideas about Linkedin.

3. 5 bad hooks made powerful

Ryan Musselman showcases the difference between an eye-catching starter and a sure way to make people scroll through your post.

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