How to launch your first podcast for less than $15 per month

Avoid breaking the bank with my best tips for helping you launch your podcast for less; It’s today’s mission! 🚀 Because yes, podcasting is accessible to everyone. Successfully create and broadcast your podcast on a budget of $15 per month (or less!). Here we go, the challenge is on! 💪

How to create and record your podcast on a tight budget

1st step: equipment 🎙️

Help! I don’t have the budget to buy a professional microphone (like a Blue Yeti)! 😱

Recording equipment is literally the lifeblood of podcasting. While conducting your research, you’ll come across many podcasters and content creators promoting this or that recording microphone. Indeed, there are dozens of them out there. So it’s easy to get lost when you’re looking to get started, especially when (like me at the time) you’re not a technical expert! 😉

Especially since, if you’re independent, you may not want to invest a large amount of money in your project for various reasons: “I’m not sure I’ll continue with my project in the long run”, “I’m a student so I’m on a tight budget”, “I move around a lot. I can’t walk around everywhere with a big microphone”, etc.

Let’s take a deep breath and get back to basics. No, you don’t need a professional recording studio to create a good quality podcast. 😀

Introducing the el famoso magic combo phone + headphones! 📱 🎧

What if I told you that many of the most popular podcasts are recorded with a phone and headphones? If you’re just starting out, you don’t need anything other than your phone and some good podcast headphones to record yourself. In this particular case, it’s all about about the recording conditions when it comes to maximizing sound quality. 👌

For example, Aline from TheBboost has already recorded several episodes (including this one) with her headphones, and the sound is very clean!

Basically:

• We know that we’re going to record with the “dictaphone” function of our phone and our headphones.
• And we didn’t spend anything.
• Remaining budget: $15.

2nd step: recording conditions

Recording conditions are rarely mentioned as a defining element of good sound quality. Nevertheless, it’s something you should never overlook while recording. Unfortunately, some errors are not able to be fixed, or very few, (such as an echo) in editing.

Again, no need to invest in podcast accessories (such as foam, pop filters, acoustic foam, etc.), especially at first. Let’s get inventive! 🤓

One of a podcaster’s worst enemies? The echo! 💀 To avoid it, here are some podcaster-friendly recording spots: a walk-in closet, a small closet, on/opposite a sofa and on/opposite a bed. The goal here? Surround yourself with as many textiles as possible to absorb the echo of your voice. 🛋️ 🛏️

My little tip if you’re recording at a desk and facing a wall: wedge a pillow facing you between your computer and the wall to mitigate any echos. It’s a tested and proven tip which I still use today! 😉

To avoid “pops” when you speak, you can, for example, move the headphone mic a few centimeters from your mouth. Speaking clearly is also a good thing to master.

Also, avoid recording near a window to eliminate unwanted street noise (workers/cars, etc.). This may seem obvious, but it makes a big difference when editing. 👷

So…

• We’ve found our equipment and our perfect recording spot.
• And we didn’t spend anything.
• Remaining budget: $15.

Third step: editing

The infamous enemy of all beginner podcasters… If you’ve never edited before, I can only recommend Audacity. It’s a free software that’s available for PC, MAC and Linux, and it’s easily understandable for all levels. If you use a Mac, you can also use Garage Band, which is also free. 💪

To sum it up:

• Hardware: check, Recording spot: check, Editing software: check
• And we didn’t spend anything.
• Remaining budget: $15.

How to broadcast your podcast everywhere with a budget of $15 per month

That’s it, our episodes are edited and ready to be broadcast. Just one question: how to do it and where?

In choosing a good host, several important criteria must be taken into account. Among these, we can ask ourselves:

• 💸 What’s my monthly budget? → We know that our budget for our project is $15 per month.

• ⏰ Do I have time to devote to broadcasting? → We will, of course, want a platform that allows us to schedule our episodes in advance, in addition to automatic distribution of our episodes to as many listening platforms as possible.

• 🌎 Do I want my podcast to be broadcast in every country? → Attention: You should be aware that some hosts do not allow broadcasting everywhere in the world (even less with some free packages).

• 📈 Is access to my stats important to me? → Few podcasters will say no to this question. Having access to reliable listening stats should not be neglected.

• 💻 Do I want to have a web page for my podcast? → A good point to put on our side regarding the SEO referencing of a podcast is accessibility on search engines.

• 💌 Do I want to have a newsletter associated with my podcast? → It’s not required, but it’s still a great way to promote your episodes.

There are many questions to ask yourself before choosing a web host. For myself, a podcaster since 2018 and a coach, I chose Ausha to host my podcast because the platform checked all the boxes and with a subscription starting at $13 per month! So we’re staying within our budget!

As my experience as a podcaster grew, I realized how important it was to have a quality host. 🚀 To learn more about the packages Ausha offers, it’s all right here.

And there you have it! You have now faced the challenge of launching your project for $15 per month! Congratulations and good luck to you! 🤟

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This article was written by Constance Chenot, podcast creation coach and independent producer since 2018. Find all her tips in her “Pourquoi Pas Toi? podcast, available on all listening platforms via Ausha, her host! 💜