Available on Substack, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
Notes
In this episode, I’ll guide you through planning and launching your solo podcast using tools you already have as a content creator. From pre-launch to post-launch, I’ll cover setting goals, identifying your ideal audience, choosing a format, and structuring your podcast.
I’ll also go over selecting evergreen topics, promoting your content, and using tools like Notion, Descript, and Substack to manage and distribute your episodes efficiently. Listen for actionable tips to help you skip the trial and error and start solo podcasting today.
Mentioned
[Timestamps]
0:00 what to expect
0:16 plan – goals, research, brainstorm
7:37 publish – why substack, tutorial
13:13 promote – repurposing content
15:46 post-launch – streamline, monetize
Transcript
Today, I’m helping you plan and launch your solo podcast in less than a week using the tools you already have if you’re a content creator.
I’ll guide you through the process from pre-launch to launch to post-launch so you can go from “I don’t know what I’m doing..” to “Oh, that was easy!”
You’ll also learn how to set up your podcast on Substack for free so you can finally get out of research mode and skip the trial and error because I already did all that for you.
Prelaunch / Plan
To get started, here are some things to think about when starting your podcast:
Goals and purpose
If you already have a YouTube channel or blog, then you know the usual. You have your goals, which can be:
- To generate leads, traffic, or subscribers
- Promote your products and services
- Connect and engage with listeners
- Repurpose your old content and grow your audience on multiple platforms
- or monetize your content for your creator business
Target audience
For your audience, think about:
- Who’s your ideal audience?
- What are their needs, problems, struggles, or pain points?
- Why should they listen to you?
- And how do you help them be great?
Format
For the format, will it be solo, interview, or conversational with a cohost?
For now, you can start small as a solo show and then level up to cohost or interview.
Structure
What about the structure of your podcast?
Is it long-form or short?
Will you have an intro and outro?
Will the intro and outro be pre-recorded?
Or are you skipping that and getting straight to the point?
Are there sections for ads or segments like Q&As?
Release schedule
When will you publish episodes? Bi-weekly, weekly, monthly?
Since it’s low low-effort podcast, keep it simple with short-form content and start with bi-weekly episodes.
Then, if you want to, move up to weekly later on.
Topics and pillars
Pick 3-4 evergreen topics—something that you care about and want to be known for. Something you can talk about a year from now.
The pillars can be educational, inspirational, entertaining, and personal.
For promotional content, remember to include your products and services – either in the episode or passively in the show notes.
Make it easy for your audience to buy or book with you.
Research
What are some podcasts you listen to now? What do you like about them?
How can you recreate it or remix it for your own show?
For podcasts in your niche, what’s missing in that space?
How can you fill in the gaps? What sets you apart from the rest?
When you answer these questions, think of it as your elevator pitch, which you can use for the About section of your podcast show page.
Also, take a look at the podcast names and the cover art used. Read their about section and description on their podcast show page.
Check out websites like podcastcharts.bySpotify.com or goodpods.com for inspiration.
Brainstorm
After your research, brainstorm some names.
Make sure your name is unique and short so they’ll fit on graphics.
Search podcast platforms and Google.
If you plan on creating a website or social media profile, see if the name is available on namechk.com.
If you already have a newsletter, make it easy on yourself and do what I did and use that name.
For the tagline, come up with a short phrase as a one-liner.
For example, “A podcast for digital creators” or “Business tips for creative writers”
For the About section, this is one of the first things we see on the podcast show page.
Some podcast platforms have a character limit, so under 600 characters should be okay. And you can always change this later on.
An example script you can use for your show:
(Name of podcast) is a (frequency) podcast for (audience), hosted by (your name). Every other (day of week), I’ll share actionable tips about (topic). Each episode will go over topics like (themes). Listen on (podcast platforms). For more info about me and (podcast name), head over to (link to website).
If you can’t think of a name or tagline, plug all of your info into ChatGPT, so, your topics, audience, release schedule, and format to come up with ideas.
You can mix and match your favorite ones to create your unique name.
Tools
If you have YouTube content already, then you can use the tools you have now.
You’ll need a tool like Notion to manage your content.
For recording and editing audio, use Descript, Riverside, or CapCut.
They all have transcript/text-based editing so you can easily remove pauses, uhs, umms, and repeats just like you’re editing a Google Doc.
If you have videos and you want to turn them into audio files, you can use those same tools to extract audio.
The hosting platform we’re using is Substack, which generates the RSS feed. You’ll use that RSS link on your podcast platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Once you publish a podcast episode on Substack, it will automatically distribute it for you – so post once there, and you’re good to go.
I’ll go over that in the next section.
If you only want to use YouTube instead of Substack, you can launch your podcast under YT Studio just like you’re uploading a video.
Another tool you can use is Milanote, which I’m using in this video (link). It has templates for researching, planning, scripting, and launching podcasts and episodes.
I have 3 videos here that I’ll link below to help you with the content creation process.
- content management with Notion: This is a walkthrough of a Notion template and where you’ll manage all your content for YT if that’s your primary platform. Plus, manage your content for your newsletter and social media.
- content plan: This video uses a simple YouTube marketing strategy called the 3H framework – that’s help, hub, and hero content. Use this with the 12-Week Year plan to stay consistent.
- scripting: This one has a 90-minute video script template. To use it, you just have to brain dump your ideas and notes in Notion or Google Docs and follow the workflow to create a structured outline. You can customize this script for your audio scripts.
Branding
Once you have a name and tagline, use Canva to design your graphics.
You’ll need a square podcast cover, so 1400×1400, and another one if you plan on using a different one for each episode.
Don’t just look through podcast covers, look through the album and playlist covers for inspiration.
This is optional, but you can add a logo with the initials or a symbol. You can add this in the corner of your cover art or upload it to Substack, for example.
If you haven’t already, sign up for a Canva Pro trial for more design options.
Plan episodes
Now it’s time to start planning your episodes. The first thing, though, is when you want to launch? Set a launch date so you’ll have a deadline.
You have your launch date, topics, and name, so it’s time to start planning your first 3 episodes.
Start by outlining your podcast trailer. This will be 5-10 minutes of you sharing with your audience the name, what the podcast is about, who it’s for, who you are, why you created this, where they can listen and find you, and when you’ll publish episodes. You can use that elevator pitch here, too, just expand on it.
You then record and edit the trailer to upload it in the next section.
After that, pick a topic or theme and start outlining your next episodes.
Remember, you don’t have to start from scratch.
If you already have YT videos in stock, you can fill up your YouTube podcast playlist with those and use them as starter episodes while you work on the others.
Use those tools earlier to extract the audio from the video.
If you have old popular blog posts, ask ChatGPt to turn the post into a short podcast episode or outline.
Show notes and description
For the show notes and description, make sure you have the right keywords so you can show up in search.
Add timestamps with key takeaways, resources you mentioned, and a link to the call-to-action—your services page or resources page, for example—and where they can connect with you on social media to keep the conversation going.
If you use Riverside, the show notes are created for you when you record or upload an episode.
Launch / Publish
Why Substack?
Something to think about if you don’t use social media is how you will interact with your listeners after publishing a new episode.
This is why Substack is a perfect space for your podcast. You can publish your episodes there, and folks can leave comments, chat with you, answer polls and Q&As, and send email updates.
Substack tutorial
When you’re ready to launch, start by uploading your trailer.
Create your account on Substack if you haven’t already
Fill out the basics.
In the branding section, make sure this here is set to everyone, so you can receive emails from podcast platforms when you need to verify or claim your account.
In the website section, create a new tag called podcast.
Then in the podcast section, create yours here.
Add the title, description, RSS email, then choose subscriber settings.
From podcast settings, fill in the info – title/name, description – about (this will show up on the podcast platforms, keep under 600 characters), and your name.
The RSS feed – you would copy this and add it to the following (scroll platforms) after you create an account on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
Follow the directions when you set up your account, and make sure to pick “I already have a podcast” so you can sync/claim the one created here.
https://podcasters.spotify.com
https://podcastsconnect.apple.com
https://podcasters.apple.com/support/827-create-an-account
Copy the links and add them here.
For Pocket Casts and Overcast, no account is needed; just copy the RSS link and paste it on the page.
For Overcast, Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts add yours to Overcast for you, so you can skip this.
Choose a category – business (marketing, entrepreneurship), education (how-to), technology, music, or news.
Check this to add a tab on the homepage. Add the cover art here, then save. Whenever you make changes here, it’ll be updated on other platforms, except the podcast image on Apple.
Publish
From your Dashboard, under Posts tab – click new post, then audio or video.
Drop your trailer episode here up top. Add the title, but keep it under 60 characters so it doesn’t cut off. Add the subtitle, show notes, and description.
Under settings, send to everyone, free or paid subs, turn comments on or off, add tags – podcast tag you created earlier, edit episode notes, see how it looks on social, edit SEO options, then schedule post.
Then after you upload it, open Settings and here’s where you’ll find the transcript.
In the next section, I’ll show you how to repurpose your transcript for your blog, email, and social media.
After you hit publish, you’re all set, and your podcast has officially launched.
It may take some time to see it on other podcast platforms, so check back the next day.
Your stats are under the Podcast tab on your dashboard. You can also check analytics in Apple, Spotify, and YT Studio for information on listens/views or downloads.
Customize
To customize your Substack, go back to settings, and in the basics section – under site design, click customize.
Homepage – post layout – groups, podcast tag
Sections – podcast – style the header and body for the podcast page, and hit save.
Your podcast will now have a section here with your episodes.
Video podcasts
Substack lets you create video podcasts and upload them to YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.
All you do is upload a video file, add your show notes, and then add audio to the RSS feed.
You can also add video podcasts to Spotify. Go to your Spotify account and under episodes, click the 3 dots to upload the video. It’s not immediate so expect at least 5 hours before you can see it on the app.
Postlaunch / Promote
A survey from the Podcast Host showed that 47.7% of podcasters struggle with promoting their podcasts.
I know for me, I struggled with promoting content and thought that I had to create new material for every platform, which led to burnout, no videos or posts.
I didn’t think about repurposing videos, so for this part, I’ll show you how to do that by turning 1 episode (or transcript) into at least 5 pieces of content so you can promote your show and maximize reach.
Starting with the show notes – if you’re using Riverside, then copy and edit the show notes. While you’re there, extract the clips from your episode and use them for short-form videos.
Note: Update: Show notes is a paid feature in Riverside so use ChatGPT for this. Magic Clips is free for now, but Substack has AI-generated clips when you upload a video. Learn more about clips here.
With the newsletter, you can add value by expanding on the topic, summarizing highlights, sharing the behind-the-scenes, giving a preview or early access to the next episode, and providing links to where they can listen to the episode.
For the call-to-action, have your listeners leave a review and give feedback.
Use ChatGPT to turn the transcript into a 500-word email newsletter.
Website
Create a landing page for your podcast and add an email form to sign up for updates, info about the show and you, and a podcast player with all your episodes. This can be a plugin if you use WordPress or copy the embed link for Apple or Spotify.
Improve your SEO by publishing each episode just like a blog post, using the transcript, or asking ChatGPT to turn your transcript into an SEO-optimized blog post. Add headers and images to break up the text.
Remember to add the video version if you’re on YT or the audio player from Spotify or Apple in the post. Your listeners now have the option to read, listen, or watch your episode all in 1 spot.
YouTube
Publish the video version on YouTube. If you’re off-camera, convert the audio file into video by adding the podcast cover, animation, b-roll or stock videos, slides, infographics, or audiogram. Use the snippets from Riverside for YT Shorts.
Create pins for Pinterest and link them to your episode post on your website, the YouTube video, or the podcast episode on Apple or Spotify. Pin them to your boards and related group boards you’re in.
Social media
Turn your episodes into social media posts using these prompts:
- Create an Instagram reel summarizing the transcript (or a short-form video you can use for YT Shorts or TikTok.
- Convert into an Instagram carousel post
- Or turn this into a post/thread promoting this episode
Post-launch Tips
Streamline
Once you have your process and workflow down, remember to create templates for visuals in Canva. Have a template you can reuse for each episode, the show notes, email, and blog post. You’ll only have to copy the template draft, fill it in, copy and paste it, then publish it.
Batch outline episodes in advance so that when it’s time to record, your script is ready to go.
Automate
Schedule your social media posts with Buffer or within the platform.
Schedule your episodes in Substack in advance so they can automatically be distributed to podcast platforms.
Add your to-dos and due dates to your calendar or project management tool.
Set up recurring tasks on Notion as reminders that it’s time to work on your next episode.
Create a pre-recorded clip for things you repeat over and over, like the intro.
Review and comment
Add a CTA for your listeners to leave a review, a rating, or a voice message on Apple or Spotify, or leave a comment in the Q&A box.
Monitor
Track your performance on all your platforms, or use chartable.com to track your analytics from your hosting platform and all podcast apps.
After a few months of podcasting, this is the perfect time to make changes based on the feedback and performance, you can remove what you don’t like or add segments like tip/tool of the week, mini case study, or answer questions from those comments and messages from listeners. Maybe change the time or day you upload episodes. If your audience listens more on Spotify, add the Q+A or a poll feature for engagement.
Monetize
There are a few ways to monetize your content, starting with self-promoting your products and services on an episode to turn your listeners into clients and customers.
Join affiliate programs like Amazon Associates or impact.com. Or, if you signed up for a partner program with Asana or Notion, you can add the affiliate links to the show notes.
You can set up subscriptions on Substack, Spotify, or Apple as soon as you sign up. Unlike YouTube, where you have to get a certain number of subscribers and watch hours to get monetized, you don’t have to wait with them.
For your subscribers, you can provide exclusive content, ad-free episodes, archived episodes, or office hours.
There’s also working with advertisers and sponsors, where companies pay you for ad placement.
Outsource
And last but not least, when you’re ready to outsource your least favorite parts of the content creation process, we can work together to smooth things out.
I offer project management and content management services for content creators, plus a VIP Tech Day to help you launch your podcast, website, or set up a CRM tool. Head over to this link for more info.
Close
While you’re there, you can view the full transcript, link to this board with the checklist and the ChatGPT prompts.
If you’re interested in knowing more, subscribe or follow. Or sign up at briefgems.substack.com to get the full transcript of every episode and for updates for when the next episode drops.
About
Hi, I’m Marjy! Digital Creator and Content Manager for creatives and online service providers. If you’re enjoying this post, here are other ways you can connect with me:
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