50 Unknown Podcast Tips in 22 Minutes

The podcasting world has completely

changed since my last 50 tips video from

three years ago. There's new tools, new

strategies, and new opportunities, and a

lot of old advice that could actually

hurt you this year. Which is why I'm

updating you with a more current list of

50 tips for you if you're a podcaster.

Why is this important? Because it could

save you years of mistakes and save you

a lot of time. Also, this time I've

organized these tips into little groups

like getting started, the equipment and

technical stuff, content and

interviewing, the business part of it,

and so forth. So, hopefully this will

help you even more. So, let's start with

tip number one. Start with something

that you're passionate about and you

have some sort of expertise in or at

least are very curious about. You want a

podcast about something that you could

talk about for hours without getting

bored. The riches are in the niches.

Number two, plan your first 10 episodes

before you record even the first one.

This prevents the content hamster wheel

and gives you some momentum from day

one. Three, your podcast artwork. It is

crucial. It's the thing people see

before they even listen to a moment of

your show. So, make sure it's readable,

even at a small size for mobile devices

and things like that. Number four,

choose the right length of your podcast

episodes. So, the question is, well, how

long should they be? They need to be

exactly as long as they need to be to

deliver the value that you want to

deliver. Meaning, don't pat it with

fluff and other things that aren't going

to actually add value. and don't cut it

short artificially. Number five,

consistency beats perfection. Pick a

schedule that you can maintain. Maybe

weekly is ideal when you're starting

out. And stick to it religiously. You're

going to get better over time, and your

production is going to get faster.

Number six, invest in a highquality USB

microphone. Now, this doesn't mean it's

expensive. You can use something like

the Samson Q2U or the Audio Technica

ATR2100X.

Great USB mics that don't require a

bunch of boxes and other things that are

extra to have you sounding like a pro.

Next, use a shock mount and also a boom

arm to lift that mic off of your desk

and reduce any vibrations and sounds

going into your audio. And you want to

also position your mic at the perfect

distance from your mouth, which is about

a fist away. Number eight, record in an

acoustically treated space. Now, this

doesn't mean you need to spend a ton of

money on soundproofing items. However,

we do have a video to show you different

levels of soundproofing that you can do

in your studio, but just make sure that

there's not too much echo. Record a

couple tries first, listen to it, see

how it sounds, and you might need to

offer some padding. And honestly,

there's a reason why a lot of people

record their podcast in the closet. It's

the best audio because there's nothing

bouncing around. Number nine, always do

a sound check to confirm you're actually

recording. Like, please do that. I've

made this mistake even as a pro. After a

decade, I've forgotten to test and I

find out that I'm recording on the

built-in mic on my Mac versus my actual

good mic and I have to start over or ask

the person I interview to try again. Not

good. Number 10, and this is a great

one, not just for staying consistent,

but also reducing the overload on you.

And that is batch record your episodes.

That means record more than one episode

at a time if you can. You can schedule

some time to get maybe one, two, or

three episodes done. And if you can get

ahead, great. because the next week when

you're just not feeling it, you have

something to go back to that's already

recorded or you can get ahead and take

that long vacation and still have your

show come out consistently. All right,

now let's get into some more recording

and technical tips. Number 11, in

addition to speaking about a fist length

from your microphone, make sure you stay

there. Can be very common and easy kind

of move your head around and just

changes the sound quality. Practice

staying in one place. You don't have to

stay like statuesque, if you will, but

like remember your mouth and the

microphone has a relationship. Should we

keep that in? We'll keep it in. I think

they know what I mean. Number 12, use

headphones and ideally wired headphones

so you can avoid latency or battery

failures or things like that. Now, why

use headphones? You can use headphones

obviously to make sure that you and your

guest are sounding properly that the

levels are okay. Yes, you can adjust it

in post edit, but it's best if you

capture that audio in the best form as

it comes in. Now, if you're going solo,

just at least make sure that you have

your headphones on for the beginning

during your tests. You can remove them

if they're uncomfortable and just go

from there, but again, it's always best

to have those headphones on. Number 13,

remote interviews are golden. Recording

a guest who's not in the same room with

you, but still having it be great audio

quality is an amazing opportunity for

you to get their information and just

schedule a time to get together, not uh

rent out a studio and do anything

complicated like that. I wouldn't

recommend using Zoom's compressed audio.

It's not going to be the best audio

quality for you. You want to use more

professional tools that are designed

specifically for guest podcasting, like

tip number 14 here, Riverside, the gold

standard for remote podcast recording.

It records in 4K for video as well, so

you can capture that and use that. We'll

talk about video podcasting later. And

uh even if your internet drops during

the call, it still is able to capture

some things because of the way it

records. It records locally on both

sides. And it's great. Plus all the

additional tools that are there as well,

like tip number 15, you get editing

tools within it. Magic clips for social

media. So you can after you're done

recording, just hit a couple buttons,

boom, you got clips for social media.

and AI powered features like automatic

transcription and show notes. I even use

the AI tools inside of Riverside to help

me with my hook when I record my podcast

intros later after a guest has come on.

It's amazing. And so if you want to

check out Riverside, hit up

smartpassiveincome.com/riverside.

That is our affiliate link. Again,

smartpassiveincome.com/riverside.

The best tool for remote podcast

recording. Now number 16. When recording

video podcast, lighting matters just as

much as audio. So, position yourself

maybe facing a window to get some more

natural light or invest in some basic

LED panels to give you a nice soft wash

on your face. But again, it's up to you.

You can make it more dramatic. And

there's a lot of other things out there

that can help you change the sort of

visual style of your videos. So, we're

not going to get into that now, but just

know that lighting is key. Number 17. If

you are doing remote video podcasting

interviews, make sure you're looking at

the lens of the camera and not down at

your just like I'm doing now at my

computer, which is very easy to do,

especially cuz that's normally where the

face of the person is that you're

interviewing. You want to learn how to

treat the lens as if it is a person's

eyes and that way you're looking at the

eyes of your viewers and that's going to

be best. So, just keep that in mind.

Number 18, for your video podcast, if

you are going to be publishing it, make

sure your background looks good. You can

keep it minimal. You can integrate some

stuff about your personality in there

like I do in the back with a lot of Star

Wars and Pokemon related stuff. Um, just

be thoughtful about it and not just have

like a blank white wall and make sure

your camera is at eye level, too. Number

19 from Riverside, for example, you can

export both audio and video to make sure

that you have those available to

distribute them across as many platforms

as possible. Yes, you got the audio

podcast, but you have the video on

YouTube. You have then Tik Tok reels,

shorts, all those things can be used

from just one episode. So, that's a

really cool part about repurposing this

podcasting stuff and what most people

who are successful with it are doing

today. Number 20, something to think

about is using something like a

teleprompter or at least having notes,

detailed notes about where you want to

go, especially for your solo episodes or

maybe questions that you have written

down ahead of time for your guest. That

way, you can kind of just quickly

reference uh those and look up and uh

keep your eyes on that lens like I said

earlier. All right, some content and

interviewing tips for the next batch

here. Number 21, start episodes with a

strong hook. This is probably more

important than ever. The listener should

know exactly why they need to stick

around right in the beginning of those

episodes. Number 22, tell more stories.

Stories are amazing, especially for

podcasts, both video and audio, for

engagement, for keeping people on the

edge of their seat, for teaching, but

wrapping that teaching around something

that's unique and personal to you or the

person you're telling a story about.

This is how you create connection today.

It's through those emotions that happen

through story, not by just sharing the

same old information that people can get

elsewhere. Number 23, you want to make

sure that your guest, if you are doing

remote recording, uh, or of course in

studio, is comfortable. So before you

start, let them know that you haven't

hit record yet. Just kind of get them

comfortable. Ask them a few questions.

One thing I like to say is, um, you

know, just pretend like we're at a

coffee shop having a conversation. And

if you're ready to go, I'm going to hit

record. Boom. Works like magic every

time. You can literally see their

shoulders sort of relax when you uh,

phrase it like that. Number 24. Here is

a magic phrase you can use to collect a

story from a guest and that is this.

Tell me about a time when blank. Again,

getting your guest to tell you the story

is the best thing that you can do. And

then you have to sit back and just

listen and let them go and kind of you

can intervene when you need to to bring

it to where you want to go. But that is

the magic phrase right there. Tell me

about a time when blank. Tell me about a

time when you forgot to hit record on

your podcast.

I have a lot of those stories. Don't do

that. Number 25. We are halfway there.

So stick with me here. And this one's a

big one. Go deeper with why. Right? Kids

are curious and this is how they learn.

They ask why. Yet for whatever reason,

we adults stop asking why because we

feel it's rude like a kid continually

asking why. But as an interviewer, this

is your job. The gold lies levels deep.

So ask why. Follow up. That is where the

best information and the best stories

exist. Number 26, research your guests

and ask great questions. And this

happens from a little bit of research.

If you don't have to know everything

there is to know about a guest and you

don't have to read every single word of

every single book that they might have

published. However, when a person hears

questions that they haven't been asked

before, they are more likely to feel

comfortable to have fun by answering

those questions. If you've ever seen Hot

Ones with Shawn Evans, you can see just

how comfortable the guests are because

he's digging deep and he's asking

questions that they probably had never

got out gotten asked before. And in all

likelihood, your guest has probably been

asked the same questions many, many

times. And you can use those questions,

too. but try to find some unique ones

that'll make them feel comfortable and

have fun. For solo episodes that you're

recording, which I would still recommend

doing in addition to guest podcasting is

um you want to make sure you understand

the transformation you're going to take

your audience through and then reverse

engineer that. That's how you create

those great episodes. What do you want a

person to walk away with after watching

and or listening to that episode? Then

come up with those stories, those points

you want to make. I love solo shows

because they kind of prove yourself more

as an authority instead of just a person

who asks great questions. Yes, you can

build authority through guest podcasting

as well, but solo episodes are great.

Teach, tell story. Build that authority.

Number 28, and this is one that I know

way too well, is to not script your

entire episodes for your solo shows,

which I used to do because I was so

afraid of getting it wrong. I wanted it

to be perfect, and as a result, it just

sounded robotic. So, have a detailed

script with the stories that you want to

tell or bullet points of the points you

want to make, but trust yourself to just

talk about those things as if you were

talking to a friend across the table.

And yeah, it's going to be scrappy at

first, but it'll get better. I promise.

Number 29. When discussing visual

materials, if you know that you're also

uh recording an audio podcast, make sure

that you describe that or at least

direct people to where they can go see

that visual. This is a big mistake

people make when they do a video

podcast, rip that audio out and publish

it as an audio only show elsewhere is

they start talking as if they can see

something and the audio listener on that

run or on that drive is kind of left

hanging. So, don't do that. or make sure

again that you describe what it is that

you're talking about so that even if a

person were listening in audio only

format they'd get it. Number 30, keep

link mentions, so outside links to just

one or two and make them easy to

remember. Complicated URLs will always

be forgotten and if there's a link that

you continually mention or want to

mention over and over again that does

require sort of a long URL, you can

either uh kind of find a link shortener

or even get a domain just for that and

have it forward through into that link.

And this is great for affiliate

marketing. This is great for uh other

resources, lead magnets, things like

that. So, keep that in mind. Long URLs

don't get remembered. And one or two max

per episode. All right. Now, a few tips

about video podcasting, which we've

offered a few tips already, but here are

a few more. Video podcasts perform best

on YouTube. And I think that's a given.

There are other places where video

exists, like Spotify, but because this

works well on YouTube, be sure to nail

the title and thumbnail. That is the

most important thing you can learn about

success on YouTube, title and thumbnail.

So, make sure that's great for your

podcast episodes. Don't just take a

frame from your podcast episode where

you have two people side by side.

Actually spend some time on it. It'll be

worth the time. I promise. Number 32,

create vertical clips from your longer

form shows for Tik Tok, for Instagram,

for reals, and for YouTube shorts. This

will expand your reach. And try to find

those compelling moments where in the

first two seconds, whatever clip you

pull out in the first two seconds, it's

curious. It's exciting. It's something

that makes people want to stick around

to the end, right? And a sort of fun tip

on top of that, this is a bonus tip, if

you wanted to, you can include questions

in your interviews or certain moments of

your solo shows that you know you would

pull out and you can have sort of hooks

built into those things ahead of time.

Oh, and by the way, I mentioned

Riverside, the sponsor of this video

earlier. You can do that right inside

the tool, too. So, check them out.

Number 33, again, we're on video

podcast, and because it's video, we want

other visual things included. So, make

sure that uh if possible, you have maybe

multiple camera angles or you're screen

recording something that you're talking

about and showing as an example. Even

other B-roll can be added in to add some

flavor and some engagement to your

videos as well. Next, 34. For video

podcasts, video podcasts that do well on

YouTube especially have almost like a

trailer in the beginning of those

episodes. It's a teaser, if you will. If

you've ever watched Diary of a CEO,

you'll notice that the first 60 seconds

are really driving what is about to be

spoken about and it leaves you hanging

actually. So, you don't need to go to

that level. And of course, remember he

has a team doing that forum, but

something in the beginning that is

recorded or even edited separately from

the main episode to drive people in so

that they could sit down and watch and

or listen. 35. And last thing I'll say

about specifically video podcasting is

video podcasting actually obviously

requires video. So, the video equipment

that you use is important. Now, there's

a huge range of different video cameras

and things like that that you could

choose from. Anything from your kind of

cheap webcam from Teimu all the way up

to, you know, multi-10,000, $20,000

cameras. Start with what you have

already and you can upgrade over time.

In fact, your smartphone might be able

to do the job for you. So, that plus

your audio will be great to start out

with and you can always improve over

time, but just start with what you have.

All right, these next few are growth and

marketing tips. something that is often

overlooked when it comes to podcasting

because it's not necessarily a just

record it and they will come situation.

You got to do a little bit of work to

market and get your show out there. So

tip 36, the best way to grow your

podcast is to be a guest on another

podcast. 100% of that audience you know

already listens to podcast. They're

likely already on the app where they can

just find you and you're getting

endorsed by a host that has already

spent the time to earn that trust with

that audience. Huge, huge, huge

advantage. So build those relationships

now and try to be a guest on another

person's show. Number 37, sort of a

small little hack here, but mentioning

other podcasts,

uh, especially if you have a guest on

your show, obviously, but even if you

don't, mentioning other podcasts that

people can download and listen to is

great. Why? Well, that's just a fun

thing to do. But secondly, you will also

be seen on their podcast under the

related podcast section if your

audiences start to overlap each other,

which is kind of a fun way to have more

people come find and discover your show.

38. build an email list from your

podcast listeners. It is your direct

line to your audience. And so, if you

want to learn how to build your email

list very quickly here at the start, and

you haven't done it before, go to

100s.com. It's a little 3-day email

sequence to help you get from zero to

100 emails very quickly. And we have

some other resources for building your

email list, too, uh, and other tools and

and things like that. So, we're not

going to go deep into that now, but just

know that your podcast with all that

engagement that you have is a perfect

place to grow your email list, nurture

that list even more, and potentially

build a business out of it. 39. Create a

community around your podcast where

listeners can connect with each other.

You know, it's one thing to just be a

solo listener of your show. It's another

thing to see that there's other people

out there who listen to the same show,

who could talk about it, who could

discuss things and connect with one

another. Building community is a huge,

huge, huge advantage that many people

are taking today, especially with tools

like Circle. So, doesn't have to be on

Circle. You can start easy. You can

start on social media, maybe a Facebook

group or LinkedIn group, and you can

build out into something like a Circle

community that's more private from

there. 40. Repurpose your podcast

content into other things. Now, we

talked about this already with short

form video, but there's more. There's

blog posts, there's social media

content, uh newsletter content, emails,

right? You can maximize one piece of

content into so many things and create a

plan for that. Create a standard

operating procedure so it's the same

every time. you can get better and

faster and maybe even start handing

those things off to other team or

contractors that can do that for you.

41. Pay attention to your analytics. You

don't know what you don't know when it

comes to the growth of your show. So,

what do you know? Well, you'll know

which episodes perform better than

others. You can actually look to see

where in those episodes people drop off

and stop doing that or where people

stick around the most and continue to do

that. You can see which topics are more

interesting than others. And then you

can lean into those things that are

working and lean out of the things that

are not. 42. And this is something I

absolutely love about podcasting is even

if there were no listeners of the

episodes, you still have value in it in

the way that it allows you to connect

with other industry leaders and

authorities in your niche. It's such an

amazing way to collaborate. Inviting a

person onto your show, you have this now

connection. You have uh 30 minutes, an

hour with them to chat, build a

relationship. A lot of my best friends

now are a result of first connecting on

a podcast together. So use a podcast to

connect. Number 43. Do not compare your

download numbers to other people's.

You're leave you're leading different

timelines. You have different

experiences. You have different

audiences perhaps. You need to compare

yourself to yourself last week and how

that episode did in comparison and last

month and last year. And over time that

will exponentially grow into some

incredible growth. 44.

Engage with your audience on social

media in this interesting way. Ask who

has recently listened to uh an episode

and then reach out to them and

personally thank them. That's a fun way

to engage with your audience. And yes,

it's not scalable, but here's what you

can do. You can even follow up after

they thank you back and ask for a review

on on Apple. Uh which is an amazing tip

because more reviews are going to come

from the one-on-one individual

conversations versus just these blanket

statements you make on your podcast. Hey

everybody, please review the show. know

when you make a connection and then drop

that ask when you can tell that this

person is a fan of your show. You not

only know that you're going to get a

review back, but it's probably going to

be a good one. Number 45. If you are

looking for different kinds of content

to create, a listicle is a great option.

Sort of like an episode like this where

we have these 50 tips. People love

lists, number lists, and they perform

very well. And people often stick around

to the end, especially if you leave your

best tips at the end, just like I did.

All right, moving on to business and

monetization tips. Again, really

important because your podcast can turn

into something amazing that can support

the life that you want. Your best

customers are your existing customers.

So, use your podcast to showcase client

transformations rather than pitching

products. The best way to promote your

product is to show people who have

gotten value from your product on your

show. Invite them on as a guest. I've

done this a number of times and people

have even said, "Hey Pat, you should

thank the guests on your show because

that's why I joined your community or

that's why I bought your course." So,

use your podcast to show off the success

stories that you are creating. Number

47. Affiliate marketing is a great way

to generate revenue on a podcast. That

is recommending other people or other

companies products. However, they always

work best when you naturally integrate

them into your podcast episodes. Not

just like, "Hey, by the way, there's

this product I've used and you should go

check it out here." or rather maybe it's

about the topic of the episode and it's

a tool that you're using similar to how

we recommended Riverside earlier in this

episode because it naturally fits into

the idea of podcasting. So integrate

naturally and you're naturally going to

get more people to take you up on those

offers. By the way, plus one tip here,

bonus tip is to invite if you're an

affiliate for a product, invite their

founder or somebody at their at their

company on the show. Not just to talk

about how awesome that product is and

how you use it, but even to get the

background story, the origin story of

why that product exists. We did this for

Kit back when Nathan Barry came on the

podcast, and that episode did so much

for building a relationship between that

company and my audience, and it led to a

lot of revenue as a result. Number 48,

sponsorships are not just available for

people with larger audiences on their

podcast. They actually work with smaller

audiences if you have a highly engaged

specific niche that brands want to

reach. We had a success story in our uh

community. Um Wjek was his name. He has

a podcast called the Fire Science Show.

500 to 600 downloads per episode. Not

very much in the grand scheme of things,

but guess what? Number one, that's a

large percentage of people who listen

and actually care about fire science.

And number two, he knows exactly the

value of a connection to people in his

space. And so therefore, he was actually

able to command a contract that made him

more as a podcaster with a small

audience than he did at his day job,

which was absolutely incredible. So well

done to Wick from the Fire Science Show

and uh just shows you you don't need a

large audience to generate some

significant revenue if you know what

you're doing. Number 49. Remember, you

can use your podcast as a lead genen

tool. We talked about using it for

email, but remember this is a perfect

platform for selling things like

coaching or high-end uh services, uh

premium courses, things like that,

because people are getting to really

know you and the style. If you're doing

coaching, for example, maybe one of the

episodes you do is a live kind of look

at your coaching session to see what

it's actually like to work with you.

People will see you working with

somebody else. You get them results and

they go, I want that result, too. And of

course, they're going to go back to you.

So keep that in mind for the power of

what a podcast can do to build a

relationship and to generate leads and

sales. Number 50, remember podcasting

should be fun. It is really fun. And

trust me, if you are enjoying the

process, so will your audience. They'll

love it. If you're not enjoying it, if

it starts to feel like a job, if it

starts to feel like something that you

loathe and hate, then guess what? Your

audience will be able to feel that

through the audio and videos that you're

creating, too. So find joy somewhere in

what it is that you're doing here as a

podcaster. And I promise you that over

time, as you share this valuable

content, the business results will

follow. Remember, these tips work best

when you implement them over time. Pick

two or three that really resonate with

you, lean into those, and then once you

master those, move on to a few others.

And thank you again to Riverside for

sponsoring this video. Head over to

smartpassiveincome.com/riverside

to go and check out the best platform

for remote interviews for your show. And

best of luck.