Podcasting is not dead, in fact it is alive and growing in 2021.

Not only are there new podcasts created daily, but more people are listening to them as part of their daily routine.

Podcasts are more popular than television or radio for the under 34 year old age group.

Some topics are very popular, including news, true crime, motivational topics, entrepreneurship, social media marketing, fitness, religion, politics, spirituality, sports, relationships, and fiction.

Then you have more eclectic subjects such as discussing video games , anime , and specific Netflix series.

There truly is a podcast for almost every topic and every taste.

Should you start your own podcast?

Do you have something you love to talk about that other people might enjoy hearing?

Do you have a knack for asking questions and would like to interview people who are experts or have interesting stories?

Do you have a business and would like to tell people about what you have to offer and do it by offering a personal connection through a podcast?

Are you passionate about your hobby, profession, politics, your faith, a good cause or anything that other people also care about it and love to discuss?

Then you should start a podcast!

Depending on how much time and money you have, there are many options.

This website offers tons of information in their free Podcast Starter Kit Guide.

The simplest way to get started is to simply download the Anchor App to your phone and start talking !

The Anchor app offers basic editing tools right on the app. You don’t even need anything else for a beginner.

Yes, you can spend a lot of money on a professional microphone and headphones and use your laptop to record on special recording software, and spend hours editing. But it’s not necessary for a beginner.

I have recorded 36 episodes so far using just my phone and the Anchor.fm website.

You can click on my link to get an idea of what Anchor is all about. It’s a simple interface that even non-tech savvy people can use.

The Anchor app offers extras like music and sounds to make your podcast sound better .

You can also listen to other podcasts on the same app .

A few tips for beginners

• Spend some time considering what you will talk about. Will it be a single topic or many topics?
• Who is your target audience ? Who do you expect to want to listen to your podcast?
• How often do you plan to put out your podcast? Daily, weekly, bi-weekly?
• You will need a quiet place to record. For some that means sitting in their car or a closet.
• Do a very short test to see how your audio sounds before you record your main episode.
• Record your episode in multiple parts in case there is a problem you won’t have redo all of it.
• Place your sponsor ad in the middle of the episode.
• What are your goals? Are you doing this for fun? Do you plan to use it to advertise your business?
• Consider who might be willing to advertise on your podcast, if that is important to you.
• Have realistic expectations. It can take time to build an audience.
• Use graphic software such as Canva.com to create a logo for your podcast.
• Each podcast should have some information in the description to tell people what to expect to hear.
• Decide if you will do short or long episodes. It’s up to you.
• Tell everyone you know about your podcast and share it everywhere.

Podcasting is a huge business, but it is not an easy path to quick riches.

Anyone can record themselves talking , but doing it well and finding an audience takes time and practice .

Getting people to actually listen to your podcast is the hard part.

One reason some people have declared that podcasting is dead is that there are so many of them.

But there are plenty of people who like podcasts and they are often looking for a new one.

Many of us are looking for something interesting to listen to while we do something else like exercise or clean house or even scroll our phones .

If making money from your podcast is your goal, you will need to do more than simply record and wait for the ch-ching.

You will need to find sponsors, people who will pay you to advertise their product or service in an ad on your podcast.

The Anchor app offers it’s own sponsorship for it’s users. But be aware that Anchor pays one cent per play.

As far as getting other sponsors through Anchor, that seems to be unlikely based on comments that I am seeing in Facebook groups.

Once you get a few episodes published, ask some related businesses if they might want to advertise on your podcast.

Advertisers are finding that placing in podcasts can be very effective at reaching their target audience and making conversions.

Or check out this article about finding sponsors .

Putting out a podcast is a also great way to advertise your products and services if you already have a business.

Affiliate Marketing with Podcasts

Another option to earn money is to use your podcast to drive traffic to your affiliate businesses.

You can promote your affiliates by making your own ad and adding to your podcast episode.

Either give your listeners a discount code to use when they visit a specific website, or place a link to your affiliate in your show description.

Link your blog to your podcast

If you are a WordPress user, Anchor has an option to link your blog and podcast.

You can either use the text-to-speech option to convert your blog to a podcast or you can record a podcast separately and then place it as a link in your related blog post.

WordPress has it’s own podcast player so that your readers can listen to the podcast while on your blog.

Or you can place a link to it and they will be sent to the Anchor page or app.

Are your ready to try it?

Podcasting is not dead by any means. So get busy and start recording!

Already have a podcast ? Feel free to drop your link in the comments!