The Truth About Launching a Podcast (And How to Do It Right) | #269

Thinking about launching a podcast—but not sure if it’s worth the time?
Before you even buy a microphone, let’s make sure podcasting fits your goals, your time, and your business.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What to do before you ever record a word
• How long it really takes to produce an episode
• What software (and how much money) you actually need
• How to choose between solo, interview, or hybrid formats
• The #1 question to ask before launching your show

Podcasting isn’t saturated—it’s just misunderstood. With the right system, you can launch (or relaunch) a podcast that builds trust, connects with your audience, and grows your business. If you're ready to turn your message into a binge-worthy show, this is your starting point.

Plus: I share a behind the scenes look at my workflow so you can see how you can do it, too.

Want more support?
We’re live this week inside the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp
 Join us live or register to get access to all the replays.

2025 is the year of PODCASTING WINS with explosive growth + booming sales! 📲Book a call with me - but only if you want to leverage podcasting to grow your influence, impact, + income.

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Be anxious for nothing; b...

Transcript

Simplify Podcasting
 Jen Rogers | Creator of the 30/60/90-Day Sprint | Certified Coach | Keynote Speaker

I teach experienced Christian entrepreneurs how to leverage podcasting so they can grow their impact, influence + income.

If you’re a successful business owner and you haven’t launched a show, it’s time to talk about how to put your voice and proven offers to work for you!

📲Book a call with me when you're serious about monetizing podcasting.

2025 is the year of PODCASTING WINS with explosive growth + booming sales! www.coachjenrogers.com/VIPCoach

The Truth About Launching a Podcast (And How to Do It Right) | #269

Jen Rogers: [00:00:00] When we're wrestling with the idea of starting our own podcast, we've got tons of questions . Let's face it, there are so many things we couldn't possibly intuitively know. That doesn't mean we can't know them. In fact, I believe learning how to launch a show is 100 percent knowable.

It's not complicated when you have a systematic approach to creating and launching your show. On today's episode, I'll share key things you must know and do before you record your first message into your microphone. In fact, before you even buy a microphone, let's make sure that podcasting is a good fit for you.

When you learn how simple it is to prepare to launch your show, that it won't take you 20 hours a week, for example, you make room in your mind to ask yourself, Better questions. Before we get to the really good stuff, like how do we reach audiences organically with the power of SEO to monetize podcasting, [00:01:00] we've got to answer all those nagging, Nelly questions like these.

How much time does it really take, Jen Rogers, to do the prep work before you launch? 

How long should my episodes be? 

How the heck do we get this thing on everybody's phones? 

What software do I need to create my own show? 

Do I have to edit it too? What about all that production stuff? How do I do that, Jen Rogers? Do I have to do that, Jen Rogers?

What about how often I release episodes? Is it every day? Is it every week? Is it once a month? What's a good fit for me? 

Am I supposed to do a solo show, or is it better to go all in on interviews? What about a mix? Can I have a hybrid of solo and interviews? Yowza, I've been podcasting years. And listing all those things out is enoughto make anyone want to run in the opposite direction. Knowing what I know now, I'm running towards it, not away from it, because podcasting is one of the [00:02:00] most powerful mediums available. 

lest you think podcasting is saturated. According to the latest report from podmatch. com on podcasting industry totals, of the about 3 million podcasts that are out there, only 14 percent of them are active. 

 You did not become a successful entrepreneur by quitting and successful podcasters don't quit either. 

You'll stick around to the end of this episode so you can make an informed decision. Because if you don't, and you launch your show, you're likely to

 be part of that 93. 58 percent that quit before reaching key milestones. And about half of that 93. 58 percent who quit, quit after the eighth episode.

The mission of Simplify Podcasting is to not only blow those [00:03:00] stats out of the water, or flip them upside down, we'll also shush Negative Nelly's voice.

 And replace her with the voice of experience. 

That's where I come. In each week. I'm on a mission to bring you edutainment about all things podcasting for your business. Did you catch that? When you put a show together, part of the work requires that you adopt two key elements. Educating and entertaining your audience. It won't shock you to hear that storytelling plays a key role in your podcast episodes.

And you already use stories to engage your audience on socials and in your email marketing campaigns. You use the same stories in podcasting. It's just like talking to a friend in a coffee shop. You create meaningful connection through the power of your story in a conversation with someone. Hey there, I'm Jen Rogers Rogers, your hostess with the mostest.

I believe podcasting is your secret weapon to deepen engagement [00:04:00] with your audience. I also believe it's a beautiful opportunity for you to get close to your ideal listeners heart and into their head as you close that trust gap and share how you are the best solution to their current need. That's my prayer for this show, that we get close and build powerful collaborations as co podcasters.

Jen Rogers Rogers I'll light the path for you so you can launch your podcast in as few as 30 days. The speed of launching depends on the structure and the nature of your business and your podcasting goals. If you've launched and it's gone south, 

I can help you. We can talk about how we can relaunch your show and 

 turn that podcast into a revenue generating asset. If hosting isn't for you and you want to work the other side of the microphone, there is also a strategy involved in getting on the right shows and sharing [00:05:00] your message so you can become known as the authority in your field.

Jen Rogers:  You'll learn how easy and fun podcasting can be when you stick to proven formulas that ease the burden of content creation and speak to your audience in a way only podcasting offers. How did I get here? To edutain about all things podcasting in your business?

The hard way, friend. I launched my show without a solid idea of my business purpose. I was clueless about growth, didn't have any idea about monetization, and all those other negative Nelly questions we shared above. Fun fact, all those negative Nelly questions, I didn't even ask them. 

 I just sat my sweet tush down in the seat, hit record, and rolled with it. A clueless, planless wonder. It's not a strategy I would recommend. The way I see it is you've got two choices. One, mimic the clueless, planless strategy.[00:06:00] 

Don't do that! Or two, learn how easy it is to create evergreen content, grow your business organically, create meaningful partnerships and collaborations and save a ton of time posting and hoping that socials will close the trust gap. You can launch a podcast in 90 days when you invest in learning how to do it the right way.

Are you ready to create your personalized podcasting sprint? I invite you to head on over to coach Jen Rogers rogers.com/vip coach to learn more.Now, this is the part where I let you know, we're about to dive into today's episode sidebar. The great thing about podcasting is before we dive in, if you want to refill your popcorn bucket, you can do that while keeping me in your earbuds and your listeners can do the same. In fact, 

Most likely they will. They'll be [00:07:00] driving. They'll be doing house chores. They'll be doing all of these other things in conjunction with listening to your show. That's why it's important when you start out with your show, you have a hook at the very beginning. you know, one other interesting fact about podcasting is where as the attention deficit that we're all experiencing by being bombarded by everything 

We know that in podcasting, you have about three minutes, those first three minutes when your listeners are continuing to listen to you for three minutes, they'll stay listening. So it's way longer than that three seconds, and this goes to the point I shared with you at the beginning of the episode.

You must edutain. You must hook them in. You must tell them what it is that you're going to tell them, and then you've got to tell them what you promised to tell them, and you need to have fun and be engaging and invite them into your episode in the process. 

Let's dive in [00:08:00] to this episode, episode number 269. I'm getting close to 300! I think maybe it's time to start planning for episode number 300. I'd love to hear your thoughts. What could we do to celebrate? 

Before we dive in, I wanna share a couple of things with you. One, the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp is going on right now. It is live this week. So if you are catching this near the release date of May 15th, join us inside the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp. You can register@coachJen Rogersrogers.com slash podcast bootcamp.

You can join us live, or you must register so you can gain access. To the replays and that bootcamp plus a guest interview I did is what had me digging in the archives to remake Episode number 238 I originally released in November. What makes [00:09:00] this important? Well, one, I wanna give you a heads up that you may have heard elements of this before, and two, it's really a roadmap for you what you need to consider when it comes to your podcast.

The information in here is as relevant now as it was when I originally released this in November. Take a listen, and if this is a refresher for you, I still highly recommend a notepad.

Alright, let's get to it.

 The very first question I want to get tolet's start with the show stopper or should I say podcast stopper question. Time. I believe podcasting can be simplified when you know how much time it's going to take to put together an episode. Let me give you a behind the scenes view of what it looks like for me.

The first step, Align topics with questions from my audience. I bet you do this already too. [00:10:00] The next step, have a content management plan, which you've already got for your business. Then I research the topic. Next up is using my proprietary framework to create an engaging intro to hook my listener and share what they'll learn on this episode.

If I have a guest, I'll share about my guest and a bit about myself and my mission, the what and the why that has me sharing this message with you. Next up, I'll share a light call to action. If you were to go back to about the six minute mark and 43 second mark, you'll hear my CTA. 

Next up is recording what I've written in that framework. I use Descript. Absolutely love Descript. If you're not using it yet to create content, I'll put a link in the show notes and affiliate link of course that you can use. I highly recommend Descript. I edit as I go. 

if [00:11:00] something doesn't come out quite right, I'll go back and say it again. Recording and editing in Descript. as you go is as easy as editing a Word document. For me, this framework gives me great clarity on how I'm showing up for the episode. So once that's recorded, I am in a rhythm and I'm feeling really good about what I'm going to talk about next.

Typically, I'll identify three key points that I want to share with you. Then I dive into recording the episode because I know my content because I've done the research. So all of this is not written out. Key points that I want to share with you are written down so that I stay on task and remember them.

As I'm recording, I keep an eye on the clock because I want to ensure that my episode stays around 20 minutes. And as I'm recording this portion into Descript, I will edit as I go. And then, I'll issue a [00:12:00] final CTA at the end. 

So that's the recording process. It's pretty simple. So what do you do after you have this great episode recorded? Well You upload the audio into your podcasting home. For me, I use Buzzsprout. I'll put that link in the show notes for you as well.

It's a home that ensures my podcast gets released on all the podcasting platforms. That's how it gets on my phone. I don't do that. Buzzsprout takes care of that for me. I utilize AI to help me craft the title and the show notes. Let's be real here, AI, you know, sometimes there are some things it produces that are head scratchers and it's not necessarily done in my voice either.

So it's just an idea to help me create show notes that will be meaningful. So I never copy and paste AI. I never do that.

Next up is using AI to generate the transcript, which I also upload into Buzzsprout. And that's [00:13:00] it. I've got the release date set, and Buzzsprout does that automatically. I release on Thursdays at 5 a. m. Eastern. And there's some research that goes into that. There's a reason why I release on Thursdays at 5 a.

m. Eastern. So once all that work is done, you have this great content that's created that's aligned with how you show up and serve your clients. It's following your content plan and it's incorporating feedback that you're getting along the way from your audience. So if you're asking on social, Hey, how can I help you with this?

thing that you do really well, or what questions do you have about this subject, you'll get direct questions from your clients. And those are what you answer on your show. So people, you know, that they're valid, that that question is valuable, that it's a valid thing that your ideal client is concerned about right now.

Jen Rogers Rogers If you are a solopreneur, it will take you longer than if you have a team [00:14:00] or if you choose to delegate the production and the uploading process. So for me, the shortest amount of time that I work on an episode from start to finish is two hours and 58 minutes. That's the whole research and recording and editing and uploading.

All of those key pieces when you have a podcast. So as a solopreneur, when you first start out, it's gonna take you a little bit longer, but as you get the hang of it, you can get it done in significantly less time. And then you have all of that content to use in a myriad of other ways.

If you are not a solopreneur and you have a team, or you are delegating out the production and dissemination piece, you can do this in an hour or less a week. You sit down, you record your episodes, you know the content, you know [00:15:00] already your area of expertise, so one hour or less 

for you to sit down and create a powerful evergreen asset. Do you have one hour a week to create an evergreen asset that converts, that builds trust between you and your clients? I'm confident that you do. Absolutely. We all do.

The best way to get there is to hire a coach. Avoid doing this on your own. Hire a coach to guide you along the way so you can avoid the common pitfalls when it comes to leveraging podcasting.

Jen Rogers: I mean, let's face it when you close that 18 inch gap from the earbud to the heart. That is a sacred place to be. And that is where trust is built. Those thoughts they're hearing from you, work their way down into the heart. And that's what builds connection. That's what [00:16:00] closes the trust gap.

 Okay. Time. 

That is handling the biggest objection. I know that I know that I know that you have Time. 

to create compelling content.

Jen Rogers Rogers I mentioned at the beginning this episode is a remake of an earlier episode. The really great thing about what you're going to hear next is the very person who asked the question that I will answer at the end of today's episode is now inside the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp. If you're not inside there yet, it's not too late to join us and catch the replays. As you're listening to this, it is day three of the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp.

You can still catch us today. If you catch this before noon Eastern, you can join us live. Head on over to coach Jen Rogers rogers.com/podcast bootcamp so you can get answers to the burning questions that you have about leveraging podcasting [00:17:00] for your business. 

Jen Rogers: Okay, let me answer a few other things and at the very end, I will respond to Andrea's how much time do I need practicing my podcasting voice before I can nuzzle up to a microphone? Okay, here's another question. How long should my episodes be? Well, it depends. It depends on who your audience is and how they listen to podcasts.

I recommend you start out with shorter episodes and because of the attention span that we have now and the time that we have in between things, I believe shorter is better. And I'll tell you as a podcast listener, well, let me ask you this! As a podcast listener, when you go to a podcast app and you see a show that's One hour and 58 minutes, one that's 24 minutes, one that's 58 minutes, one that's 15 minutes.

Which one are you going to choose? You're likely going to choose [00:18:00] one that is shorter and it requires cultivating your audience to create longer shows that they'll stick around for. We're not trying to be Joe Rogan or Huberman Lab here. This is not what we're trying to do. We don't need a million gazillion followers.

We can create a show that reaches a thousand loyal listeners and create great impact. Okay, so how long should my episodes be? Shorter is better.

Jen Rogers Rogers That's something we can work on together as we plan the best strategy 

to meet your business goals and leverage podcasting on either side of the microphone.

Jen Rogers: Okay, how the heck do we get this thing on everybody's phones?

I answered that above. That's part of the upload to your podcasting home. What software do I need to create my own show? You don't need a bunch of software. However, Descript is the [00:19:00] bomb in my opinion. So I highly recommend Descript. So Descript, you can get Descript, well, now this is the timing of the show, November 7th, 2024 release date.

But for a few hundred dollars a year, you can have 30 hours a month of recording inside of Descript. And Descript, D E S C R I P T, allows you to do audio and video and clips and all kinds of amazing things. The other software is wherever your podcasting home is.

And Buzzsprout, anywhere from eight to twenty dollars a month. It's, it's dirt cheap. the software and your microphone, those are the least expensive things when it comes to podcasting. The most expensive thing is your time.

this is why weighing the amount of time that you have each week to create valuable content, that's for you to decide. How do you want to create content? Okay. Let's [00:20:00] see. Uh, another question. Do I have to edit it too? What about all that production stuff? How do I do that? And do I have to do that?

Well, you must edit. I firmly believe you must edit. I know there are a lot of riffers out there for podcasting. They want to riff. I believe you must edit your show and you do that for your listener. It is for the benefit of your listener that you edit your show. 

As far as do you have to do all the production stuff when I work with clients one on one, I walk them through the entire process so they understand the editing process, because when you're hiring someone to edit and produce your show, it's better to have an understanding of the work that you are asking them to do.

This is why we do it together So I won't leave you hanging, I promise. Okay, uh, how often do I release episodes? Every day? Every week? Once a month? What's a good fit for me? Well, what is a good fit for you? There are all different types of shows that have all different release [00:21:00] schedules.

I release one a week, and when I want to do more than one a week, I'll drop a couple of bonus episodes. You could also go into, although we're not going to go in there today, how you could have some private podcasts or some private podcast episodes that you could use as a lead magnet. Okay, so once a week, four hours a week if you're doing the whole thing from start to finish or two hours if you're pushing the production out.

If you decide to do more than one show a week, then it's basic multiplication. The number of shows that you're doing times the number of hours you're investing, either that two hours or that four hours to create that stellar influential content that is repurposed over and over again because it is evergreen.

Jen Rogers: All right. One more question before we get to the voice training that you need before you launch your show. 

 do I do a solo show, Jen Rogers, or do I go all in on interviews? Or do I mix it [00:22:00] up? Can I have a hybrid of solo and interviews? Well, yes, yes to any of those. You decide what's going to work best for you. when you interview people for your show, there's a bit more of administrivia there.

That's the booking the slot. That's recording together. So it comes down to time management. that time you spend interviewing, then the research, the amount of time that you spend researching will shift because the content is coming from the person that you're interviewing.

So it's important to have a good interview process in place so you can screen out those people that you know are not a good fit for your show. Okay. All right. The whole question that kicked off episode number 238, how much voice training do you need? The answer? I believe about five minutes, maybe 10.

Okay, maybe 10 minutes max. [00:23:00] And what, I know, I know, it sounds like that doesn't even seem possible. Yet, you've been talking your whole life. You have experience using your voice to make a point. So the 5 to 10 minutes that you might need, for voice training is to practice using the microphone.

each microphone is a little bit different. and you have to learn where you place the microphone in relation to your mouth. So I'm going to go up on my microphone real quick here. One second. Okay, I'm up on my microphone. My lips are actually touching the microphone.

That's probably not good. I'm at the normal position now of where I speak into the microphone when I record episodes. Now I'm going to back away. Okay, I'm back here and I'm talking at the same volume. Could you notice a difference between the sound?

And that right there, sweet friend, proves my point. That exercise took me [00:24:00] one minute, technically a little bit less than one minute. 

 As you process what it's going to take to launch your own podcast, the real question is, how do you want to generate content? And I suspect that when you choose podcasting, You'll find you'll save time creating content because one podcast episode gives you so much content to slice and dice and share.

the great thing about podcasting is you draw from all of that work that you've already done. All of those client interactions that you have, all of those All of the trainings that you've done, you are the powerhouse of knowledge.

So it's not as though you're creating something that's completely foreign to you. In fact, if you're in business, you're probably doing what you love most. Doing so you get to talk about what you love doing and you get to help people move from where they are To where they [00:25:00] long to be by the power of your voice 

 Now, I want to let you in on a little secret. I violated something in preparing this podcast episode for you. So the things that I shared with you, the recommendations that I made with you, every once in a while, you know, we've got to be flexible and we've got to shake some things up.

If you know the one thing I violated in my recommendations, find me on the socials and let me know. I'd love to hear from you. Or you can send me an email at Jen Rogers at coachJen Rogersrodgers. com. 

 And that, my friend, is a wrap. That'll do it for episode number 238 of Time to Simplify. I'm your host and podcast coach, Jen Rogers Rogers. If you are interested in learning more about your own private 90 day sprint, I'd love to hear from you.

And this is my final call to action. Head on over to

coach Jen Rogers rogers.com/vip [00:26:00] coach to 

 learn how you can launch your influential binge worthy show

 without all the tech headache, without wondering about all the things that you are supposed to do. Instead, you will follow a roadmap to success. So you can move to creating amazing content

Jen Rogers Rogers in a very short amount of time each week. One hour a week, if you've got a team and you hire out all of the production process or up to four hours a week if you are flying solo. And of course we're gonna land somewhere in between those numbers because we all navigate these waters a little differently.

It's really a short amount of time considering other marketing strategies. This strategy is a trust building, client engaging, evergreen strategy. I don't know of anything else where you could get as much mileage as you can out of one podcast [00:27:00] episode.

Jen Rogers: in as little as two hours a week.

God bless you. And I will catch you in the next episode.

PS as of the release date, May 15th of this episode. We are live inside the Profitable Podcast Bootcamp. If you are not there yet and you wanna catch us live in the replays, head on over to coach Jen Rogers rogers.com/. Podcast bootcamp. You can learn what you need to get started. Stat. Alright, for reals, this is the end of this episode.

Thanks so much for joining me and I will indeed catch you in the next one.