What’s podcast branding all about and how can you get started?
Welcome to Soul Podcasting where I help you to share your message and make an impact in your community through the power of podcasting. This podcast is sponsored by Faith Media and Impact Podcast Coach, a service that supports women podcasters to boldly share their voices and their powerful messages through the medium of podcasting. Find out more about our podcast coaching services and courses.
In this episode, I share the importance of podcast branding. Podcasting is a key player in connecting with audiences and as CEOs, we can recognize the significance of content in business endeavors, especially in the virtual online business landscape. In this episode, I want to encourage you to position yourself in the world of podcasting, and in this show I offer my VIP podcaster Power Launch Program to assist entrepreneurs in planning, producing, launching, and growing podcasts.
Why I’m passionate about podcasting
I talk about podcasting with so much passion and with experience because I have experienced what podcasting means for me personally and also for my business at Her Business Elevated and my ministry at Christian homeschool moms. Podcasting has opened up all kinds of opportunities for my family, for speaking engagements, for being a representative, being a brand ambassador, as well as being able to go to conferences and conventions. It’s also paid me through sponsorships, books sales, and product and service launches. Depending on what niche I was in, that’s where I was able to make a mark on that particular audience and industry.
I love talking about podcasting because I think it’s going to be very helpful for you if you should decide to incorporate a podcast into your business. So on this episode, we’re going to be talking about podcast branding, and how to go about doing that exactly. Here are the main points we’ll discuss:
When building a brand, it’s important to consider not only the product and service but also the content associated with it. I view a podcast as a major staple for many businesses and highlight its potential to attract niche audiences. The podcast can be a significant part of the overall brand.
When we’re building a podcast brand, typically we’re thinking about our product and service, and sometimes we fail to remember that when we’re building our content (and our business), our content is going to play a significant part in our business endeavors, especially virtually. So as we’re building out, we have to think about how we want to represent our business online. And when you have a huge piece of content, such as a podcast, a podcast is a major staple for many businesses.
You want to look at a podcast as a huge staple in your business.
Podcasting statistics
The number of people actively tuning into podcasts is expected to reach 103.6 million in 2023 in the United States alone and there are 464.7 million podcast listeners globally as of January 2023. That is a 5.4% annual increase and represents one-third of the US population!
Podcasting is not getting any smaller and it’s been around for ages, but it’s just now starting to really get another launch and lift off. These statistics highlight the growing popularity of podcasts and the potential audience reach for podcasters.
What is the purpose of your show?
Let’s talk about purpose. What is the purpose of your show? Why are you starting your show? This is going to give you the momentum and the foundation first of all, and then the momentum to keep going with building out your podcast. You have to be very aware of your main intent. When you know who you’re serving, when you know why you’re doing it, it’s going to affect the way you brand your podcast, and it’s also going to affect the momentum that you have afterward.
Figure out your main intent. (This is what I love to call “soul podcasting“). Is your main goal to:
entertain
encourage
teach
Who is your niche market?
These are all the buzzwords that we’re using, but you want to know who you’re talking to. So you kind of have to have a picture of the ideal person that you want to be talking to on your show each week.
What did they look like?
What did they do for a living?
What did they think?
What are their problems?
What are their pain points?
Sit down with a coach and grab my workbook that takes you through the concepts of thinking through your podast branding. Grab it below…
Download your Podcasting Checklist
Recently, I’ve been reading a book by Christy Wright called Business Boutique and she takes her readers through that very process. Reading a business book to help you figure out what your niche market is so that you’re very clear on what your branding is supposed to be and who you’re trying to reach with your brand.
Develop your competitor analysis
Rather than comparing ourselves to other businesses within our niche, I’m referring to a competitor analysis from a business perspective. You should want to see how you stand out from the crowd.
In order to do this, you’ll need to analyze your talents, gifts and abilities, and put it on the table and see what it is you’re offering and ask yourself how that stands out from someone else who may be offering the same thing. Get very clear on why you’re different from all the other podcasts out there and speak to that audience.
Create beautiful brand visuals
Your brand visuals will make a huge difference in the type of people that you attract to your podcast because you want to make sure that if you want to attract a certain audience that you create branding that speaks to that particular audience.
This means that you’ll be looking at your color palette, your graphics, your podcast cover art, and your fonts. Before you build out your content, get your branding in place and find designers (I use Fiverr frequently), or you can just simply do it yourself on Canva. Canva is free, through there’s a pro version, but you can basically get everything done that you need to with the free account. (There are already templates available for album art for your podcast cover. So you could just use one of those and plug in your colors and remove images you don’t want and add your image.)
I hope this helps you in feeling motivated to employ podcat branding and to really take this seriously if you’re planning to do it. Do your best, bring your best to the table, give it your all, and you’ll be pleased in the years to come with what you put out here in the universe and for the world to listen to, and when you see that you have helped so many people with your content.
So thank you for watching and listening, and have a wonderful, wonderful rest of your week, and until next time, happy podcasting.
If you are looking around the web for podcasting equipment for beginners, you’re likely to find a myriad of articles and advice on this topic. On this episode, I aim to share with you some tools that have helped me get started in podcasting for about 17 years and are your basic foundations for finding the right equipment and tools for you and your fabulous show!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a_kGEKsOM8
Start With What You Have
This is my first piece of advice. If you have Audacity or Garageband and a condenser mic already on hand, then use it. Please don’t feel compelled to go out and buy a brand-new microphone or expensive editing software (unless, of course, you don’t have these tools on hand and need to get started right away). Even then, I suggest taking it easy on the front end when it comes to spending.
Upgrade To Pro When You Can
As I mentioned earlier, if you already have a few tools on hand, see if these can be useful for your podcast. If you find that your recording and editing arsenal are severely lacking, then upgrading to pro tools can help save the day (as well as help you to podcast confidently). Below are some tools that I like and recommend when selecting podcasting equipment for beginners.
Podcasting Equipment for Beginners (Tools I Like)
Here are some microphones and equipment I’ve either used or currently use.
Recently I created a video and blog post called “What is a podcast?” But assuming you are well aware of podcasting (and probably have a few of your own favorite subscriptions), you might be wondering about the phrase “soul podcasting”.
I coined this term because it was the closest thing to what I could think of that would explain what I think it means to share your heart-aligned message with your unique audience…from your soul. Here are 5 basic tenets of what I believe soul podcasting consists of.
Podcasting with purpose
When you start a podcast, you start with a purpose. Questions to ask yourself are “What is my mission?” and “What do I seek to accomplish with my podcast?” To receive the best return on your podcasting investment, this is the first and main question to ask yourself.
Sharing your truth
Whenever you start a podcast, you have the unique ability to share your truth to many listeners worldwide. This is probably the most exciting part of podcasting, at least for me. Sharing my message authentically and with personal flavor and flair frees me to be myself. Whenever you’re “soul podcasting”, you free yourself to be yourself!
Delivering your message
What is the core message of your assignment? Your podcast and all of its many episodes should have an underlying core message. Whether this is how you want your audience to feel, or the takeaways you want them to walk away from your podcast with.
Podcasting with Passion
Learn to love what you talk about, what you do, and what you bring to the table. Embracing your position as a podcast host means you are passionate about your topic, your mission, and your message.
Sharing until the mission is complete and is over
Lastly, remember to be consistent, bring value, show up, and don’t backtrack. Podcasting is all about continuing to share your message until the time you no longer feel you have anything additional to say. When all has been said, then your mission is complete. In which case, you can either hang up your podcasting mic, or start a new one!
Thanks for listening, friends, and I’ll be back next week with more tips for you on my podcast about podcasting!
(This podcast is sponsored by Faith Media and Impact Podcast Coach, a service that supports women podcasters to boldly share their voices and their powerful messages through the medium of podcasting. Find out more about our podcast coaching services and courses, and download your free Launch Confidently Podcasting Checklist below.)
Download your Launch Confidently Podcasting Checklist
Hey friends, on this week’s show, we are talking about what it means to begin building a tribe for your podcast.
1. Become the leader your listeners are looking for.
Now that you have begun your podcast, you obviously have content that you want to share and that you feel that you have some expertise in, and your listeners are looking to you for those particular answers. This is why they’re subscribed to your podcast. It’s why they look forward to your episodes when you release them.
So just becoming that leader is really as simple as you taking that step to create your podcast. So what you’re doing as a leader is offering answers. You are essentially:
creating solutions for your listeners
offering hope
You want to give your listeners the idea that they too can do whatever it is you’re encouraging them to do, and that there is hope that you can help them in some way, either through the podcast or in addition to the podcast. This is how you begin building your tribe, through gaining trust.
2. Guide your listeners through their journey to their next steps.
As their leader, it’s your job to lead your listeners through the series of steps that they’ll need to take in order to come to the final destination that you want them to arrive at. Help your listeners to get through their journey, taking all those necessary steps and leading them along the way.
They need a guide and you are that guide. So this what your podcast provides. Your podcast is available to give valuable information (although not necessarily free). Make sure that you are solving their problems in some capacity.
3. Create social community.
Keep in mind that building community is how you’re going to actually build your tribe. You can make good use of social media (like Instagram or Facebook). Just be sure to find your community of people where your listeners are likely going to be hanging out and spend time there so that you can cultivate relationships with people and hopefully get them interested in what you’re doing with your podcast.
Another way to create community is to build a membership site. So one thing that I’m working on right now is making a decision between whether or not I want to begin a membership site or if I wanted to simply create a Patreon page. (I eventually settled on a BuyMeACoffee page.) A Patreon page is really just going to give your listener an opportunity to support you financially with a small investment. You’re likely to feel some sense of community and support through your Patreon.
Although I haven’t created a membership site up to this point (but will very likely in the near future), I like to recommend to others. If that’s where you are in your business or in your organization, then creating a membership site outside of using socials like Facebook groups and such, you’re very likely going to be able to keep in touch with your listeners more frequently and have more of an ability to manage what that membership site feels like and the things that you actually want to accomplish within that group.
So those are some ways that you can build out a tribe for your podcast because you want to make sure that as you’re podcasting, you don’t feel like you’re left out here on your own to just come up with content yet not ever hear any feedback or support.
Creators deserve to receive some support for the work that we put out. So as we’re creating these resources and putting out content, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for support from our listeners, and so I encourage you to do that.
One of my bigger podcasts, which was my Christian Homeschool Moms Podcast, is where I was able to build the most community over the years. That particular niche gave me an audience that was a lot more receptive to wanting to communicate, collaborate, and get together and have meetups. Within that community, there tends to be a lot of summits and collaborative events online. As we homeschool moms were getting together to encourage each other in what we’re doing as teachers and as moms, that community led to a very vibrant type of networking and collaboration. So building a community there was a little bit easier for me, I would say, than some of the other projects I’ve worked on.
It’s just something to think about. As you build out your podcast, how are you going to engage your listeners? How are you going to create community and how are you going to set up your podcast in such a way that you feel that you are honored for the work that you’re doing? How are you going to give your audience an opportunity to support you in some fashion?
That said, as I’ve been thinking about creating this Patreon page, I’ve also been thinking about items that I could drop ship, that I could create so that my listeners would have an opportunity to support me in a variety of ways. Purchasing mugs and t-shirts would be helpful to them and help them to remember what it is that I’m doing for them and vice versa, so we can all feel more connected with each other
I would love to hear about some of the things that you’re planning to do to create community and build your tribe.
Will you be creating a crowdfunding page like on Patreon? Will you create products on Etsy or Shopify?
I hope that this show is encouraging you somehow to keep going with the podcast that you’re working on now and not to give up because you are encouraging your listeners with your project.
So keep on keeping on, and until next time, happy podcasting.
🌟Pick up your FREE copy of your Business Clarity Guide before you start your podcast, plus download your Launch Confidently Podcasting Checklist: https://impactpodcastcoach.com/
So, you’ve decided to start a podcast. That’s exciting! Podcasting is one of the most powerful ways to share your message, build authority, and connect with your audience on a deeper level. But before you hit record, there’s something crucial you need to do—plan your podcast.
Too many aspiring podcasters dive in without a solid strategy, leading to inconsistency, lack of focus, and eventually, podfade (where podcasts fizzle out after just a few episodes). But that won’t be your story! With the right plan in place, you’ll be set up for long-term success.
Let’s walk through the essential steps of planning your podcast so you can launch with confidence and clarity.
Step 1: Define Your Podcast’s Purpose
Before you get into the technical side of things, ask yourself: Why am I starting this podcast?
Are you building your personal brand?
Do you want to attract clients or customers?
Are you passionate about a subject and want to share it with others?
Do you want to educate, entertain, or inspire?
Your purpose will drive everything else—from your content to your marketing strategy. It also keeps you motivated when challenges arise. Write down your purpose and keep it front and center.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
A successful podcast speaks directly to a specific audience. Who are you creating this for?
What are their interests, struggles, and pain points?
What questions are they asking that you can answer?
What kind of content do they enjoy consuming?
The clearer you are about your audience, the easier it is to create content that resonates. You’re not just speaking into a mic—you’re speaking to real people who need what you have to offer.
Step 3: Choose Your Podcast Format
Podcasts come in different styles. Choose the format that best fits your strengths and goals:
Solo episodes (great for personal branding and thought leadership)
Interviews (excellent for networking and leveraging guests’ audiences)
Co-hosted shows (engaging conversations with a partner)
Narrative/storytelling (ideal for educational or documentary-style content)
There’s no right or wrong choice—just what works best for your audience and your content style.
Step 4: Develop Your Podcast Structure
To keep your show organized and professional, establish a structure:
Episode length – Will your episodes be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour?
Release schedule – Will you publish weekly, biweekly, or monthly?
Episode segments – Consider intro music, main content, ads, Q&A, and outro.
Consistency is key to building an engaged audience. Whatever schedule you choose, stick to it.
Step 5: Name Your Podcast and Create Branding
Your podcast’s name should be clear, memorable, and relevant to your niche. Avoid overly complicated names—make it easy for listeners to find and remember you.
Once you have a name, create branding elements:
Cover art – Eye-catching visuals that reflect your podcast’s theme
Intro and outro music – Sets the tone for your show
A compelling podcast description – Tells potential listeners what to expect
Step 6: Plan Your First 10 Episodes
Before launching, map out your first 10 episodes. This ensures you have enough content to stay consistent and prevents you from scrambling for ideas later.
Create an episode outline for each, including:
Topic
Key points
Possible guest (if applicable)
Call to action (what you want listeners to do next)
Batch-recording episodes in advance can help you stay ahead and avoid burnout.
Step 7: Invest in Quality Equipment
You don’t need an expensive setup, but quality audio is crucial. Here’s what you need:
Microphone – A USB or XLR mic like the Audio-Technica ATR2100x or Shure SM7B
Headphones – Helps with sound clarity and editing
Recording software – Audacity (free) or Adobe Audition (paid)
Hosting platform – Libsyn, Buzzsprout, or Anchor
Good sound quality keeps listeners engaged, so test your setup before launching.
Step 8: Record and Edit Your Episodes
Find a quiet space and record your first episodes. Speak clearly, stay on topic, and keep your energy high.
Editing is where the magic happens. Remove background noise, add music, and tighten up the conversation. If you’re not tech-savvy, consider hiring an editor to polish your episodes.
Step 9: Set Up Your Podcast Hosting and Distribution
A podcast host stores your audio files and distributes them to platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Popular hosting platforms include:
Libsyn
Podbean
Buzzsprout
Anchor
Once your episodes are uploaded, submit your RSS feed to major directories so people can easily find and subscribe to your show.
Step 10: Market Your Podcast for Maximum Reach
A great podcast deserves an audience! Use these strategies to promote your show:
SEO-optimized show notes – Helps new listeners discover your episodes
Social media marketing – Share snippets, quotes, and behind-the-scenes content
Email marketing – Send new episodes to your list
Guest appearances – Get featured on other podcasts to expand your reach
Repurpose content – Turn episodes into blog posts, videos, and social media posts
Consistency and engagement will help you grow your audience over time.
Step 11: Track Your Podcast’s Performance
After launching, keep an eye on your podcast’s metrics:
Downloads and listens
Audience retention
Listener feedback and reviews
Social media engagement
Use this data to refine your content and improve your show based on what resonates most with your audience.
Final Thoughts About Planning Your Podcast: Plan Now, Succeed Later
Planning your podcast might seem like a lot of work upfront, but trust me, it’s worth it. A well-planned podcast not only helps you stay consistent but also positions you as an authority in your niche.
If you’re serious about making an impact through podcasting, take the time to map out your strategy. Your future listeners (and your future self) will thank you!
Resources mentioned on the show
Download your Launch Confidently Podcasting Checklist
You don’t have to be perfect at doing all the “podcasting things”. You really just need to be very passionate and have some tools and know-how in your back pocket. The best way to launch a podcast with confidence is to be yourself and be authentic to who you are, all while continuing to grow and expand your mind. You will feel so much more capable of doing the work of podcasting if you do the following things.
Take an assessment of your skills and be confident in what you know
Be confident in what you know. Remember that the reason you are starting a podcast is because you are passionate about sharing your knowledge. Again, you don’t. have to know it all, and you don’t have to be an “expert”, but the knowledge that you do have is valuable enough that you want to share it with your audience.
Don’t be afraid to explore what you don’t know and expand your skills
Expanding your skillsets as an entrepreneur is possibly one of the most important things you do for self-development. The more you learn about your craft, the more comfortable you will become talking about it on your podcasts. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to know everything there is to know right off the bat. As your podcast grows, you will naturally become more comfortable with your topic. Don’t be afraid to explore and keep learning.
Choose the recording and hosting tools you’re comfortable with
Nothing will discourage you more in podcasting than to work with tools you don’t like. Get comfortabe with your podcasting tools and begin to develop processes that are streamlined just for your work. If you like your tools, you will like the podcasting process. If you want to feel like continuing your podcasting adventure each week, you’ll need tools that you actually like working with. If your tools are cumbersome or difficult, you won’t podcast. Good tools are essential and foundational for a successful podcast. Check out some of my favorite podcasting tools here on my article about how to start a podcast.
Know how you will market your message once it’s released
What marketing tactics will you use to spread the word of your podcast? Personally, I appreciate Instagram and Facebook, and I’m always developing SEO-rich content on my blogs and sharing on Pinterest as well.
So, will you share with your email list? Will you ask your audience to share, and how? When you launch a podcast, remember that each episode deserves to be shared, so go ahead and place that part in your marketing routines: the sharing part. Don’t forget to share.
Launch a podcast with passion
When you began podcasting you had a special message to share with your audience. Whether you encourage them to eat healthier, manage their finances more wisely, or built more meaningful relationships, you should always remind yourself of why you began the show. What was your drive to create your show? Tap into this zeal once in a while when you feel that the going is getting tough.
I truly hope you find the process of finding your podcast purpose enjoyable! I want to help you along that journey with my free Business Clarity Guide (grab the download below)…
I would love to help you jump right on it! Check out my podcast coaching services here, and let’s see how I can be of help to you.
Thanks for listening, friends, and I’ll be back next week with more tips for you on my podcast about podcasting!
