How to Start a Podcast for Free

Today I’m going to show you the easy way to start a podcast. Then I’m going to show you how you can put it on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify – all for free.

I’ve made this so simple anyone can do it.

So no matter what kind of experience you have, even it’s absolutely none that’s fine, because by the end of this post you’re going to be able to start your own podcast and reach more people and grow a larger audience.

I’m also going to show you how you can start podcast free.

We’re not gonna do any tech stuff, there’s no software to learn and you don’t have to pay any hosting fees.

And you’ve probably already got everything you need to get started.

On top of all that I’ll show you how you can get your podcast on high traffic podcast directories.

A Look at my Podcast Stats

Before we get into it, just to prove that this stuff works and podcasting is a good idea for your business I’m going to show you some of the stats of my own podcast growth.

Now I’m not setting the world on fire and there’s nothing to write home about – it’s still early days for me.

But these stats show the process and it shows how the growth happens over time when you are consistent with your content.

I’m using a podcast host called Libsyn for this, but you don’t have to.

There’s a free alternative that you can use, and in fact it might even be better than Libsyn and I’m giving serious consideration to moving over to it.

Anyway let’s have a look at the stats.

We start with the first week of February, which got less than 20 listeners.

February peaks at 50 listeners for the second week and then it dips back down.

But the first week of March starts with 116 listeners, it peaks at 154 and then it dips down again.

Then April starts with 99 listeners for the first week, and it ends with 205.

So we can see how it’s growing from week to week.

Some weeks the numbers are up and some weeks the numbers are down, and that’s okay because over time everything is moving in the right direction.

The audience is steadily increasing over time.

Now if we take a step back and we zoom out to take a look at the bigger picture, we can see that this consistent growth every month.

Check this out.

January had 57 listeners for the entire month.

February had a total of 106 and March had 447.

And in April things start to get interesting, with almost 700 listeners for the month.

In four months we go from around 50 listeners per month almost 700 per month.

And that number is going to continue growing because this is the compounding nature of content marketing.

But let me make it really clear – this is organic growth.

Minimal Podcast Promotion

This traffic is mainly coming from podcast directories as people search for the topics that my podcast is about and problems that they need help with.

I’m not paying to advertise and I’m not even promoting the podcast to my email list.

However I do put every episode of the podcast on my website, but it has to compete with my videos and it has to compete with my blog posts too.

You see, I’m pretty lazy when it comes to promotion.

But that’s a good thing for you because means that even with a minimal amount of promotion you can do this too.

So even by doing practically no promotion at all, you can grow your audience consistently over time if you follow a few basic rules – which I’ll get into in a few minutes.

Just imagine what kind of results you could be seeing if you put in just a bit more effort than I do.

You do have to be consistent and you have to be of service to your niche those are the two main points you need to know and I’ll give you some more tips in a second.

But how do you set up a podcast for free?

How to Start a Podcast for Free

I’m going to assume that you don’t want to spend money on hosting and I’m going to assume that you’re just dipping your toe into the water and you’re not sure if podcasting is for you or not.

So I’ve got the perfect solution for you.

We’re going to use a website called Anchor – and they actually have an app too, so you can also make podcasts on your phone if you want to.

So let’s head over to and the first thing that you need to do is decide on a name for your podcast.

I would encourage you to make it something descriptive and something that says what you’re all about.

You’ll also have to give it a brief description and choose a category.

Once you’re all set up with an account you can then record your podcast directly on the app.

That means we don’t need any software or have to do any tech stuff.

If you don’t want to record your podcast directly on the app or if you’ve recorded it elsewhere, you can upload that too.

SEO Your Podcast

Next you’ll have to give your podcast episode a good title and a description.

Remember to SEO you title and SEO your description because this is how people are going to find you in the podcast directories.

So be aware of the keywords that you use, and a little bit of keyword research wouldn’t do any harm.

I’ve made a range of videos, podcasts and blog posts about niche and keyword research but I strongly recommend KWFinder because its free and easy to use. It tells you exactly what phrases your audience are using to find content like yours.

Once you’ve got your title and description sorted out, the second you hit ‘publish’ the Anchor app will then let you distribute the podcast to iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and a few other podcast directories, for free.

How awesome is that?

And that’s all there is to it, your podcast is live. See? Anyone can do this stuff.

Of course we can get fancy later on if we want to add transitions and bumpers – but the important thing is to get started.

Start Podcasting, Right Now

To help you avoid overwhelm, I don’t want to give you too much information today, so I want you to just get cracking with this and make your first podcast.

Try it out, see what happens and remember that no one’s going to hear your early podcast episodes for a while anyway, so it’s okay to make mistakes and it doesn’t have to be perfect.

The important thing is to get started because it’s gonna take you a few months to get some traction, unless you’re planning to advertise on a large-scale and you have a budget setup that allows you to do that.

So this is certainly enough to get you started today.

Now I’m going to give you some tips that I mentioned earlier.

Podcast on Something You Feel Passionate About

So first of all choose a topic that you feel passionate about.

This is really important because when you choose a topic that you feel passionate about it will resonate with your audience.

They will be able to clearly see how you feel about it, how special that topic is to you, and they’ll be able to feel your passion.

It’s authentic.

And you’ll be able to engage your audience as a result.

You’ll also really cut through all the noise of everyone else in that niche, and you’ll stand out against the ever growing horde of competitors who are only podcasting for monetary gain.

Do Research for Your Podcast Episodes

Its essential to do some research before you hit the record button.

Take the time to really cover all the different angles about your topic and take down some notes.

Your notes will also allow you have some structure, and determines how your episode will flow.

I do exactly the same thing, I always have Evernote open in front of me while I’m recording.

Using your notes as a structure allow stops you from forgetting important talking points, and it stops you from getting too far lost in your own thoughts, rambling, or losing focus.

My notes keep me focused so I don’t divert too far outside the realms of what I want to talk about.

Choose a Podcasting Schedule

Another tip; choose a schedule and stick to it.

You have to be consistent.

That means if you’re going to publish a podcast episode every week then make sure that it’s the same day every week.

If you’re going to publish every day then upload it at around the same time every day.

This is how you make it consistent and your audience will know when to expect each episode.

Let me say; the more you upload and the more content you put out, there the faster you will grow.

So if you’re uploading every week then you would generally expect a slower growth than if you are uploading every day.

Personally, for my podcast I try to upload at least three times a week.

Sometimes I hit that target and sometimes I don’t, but hopefully my audience knows to expect fresh content from me on a very frequent and regular basis.

Forget the Podcast Stats

As difficult as it might be for you, I’d encourage you to forget the stats – ignore them, at least for a little while.

I’d say; spend a couple of months just focusing on creating content and being of service to your niche – and don’t worry about what’s working and what’s not working yet.

Let’s be honest, most things online will appear like it’s not working at first.

So just focus on churning out awesome content, the kind of content that would have been of massive benefit to you if you, back when you were first starting out in your niche.

Listen, I know all too well how focusing on how many listeners are you’re getting can just make you feel lousy.

I know what it feels like because when I first started podcasting and creating YouTube videos, whenever I looked at the stats I would just I feel like giving up because so few people were interested in what I was doing.

And truthfully, I still have days where I feel like that – frequently, maybe once a week.

On the days when I feel like that, I just ignore the stats and I don’t look at them until I start to feel good about things again.

My focus becomes entirely about creating content that my audience needs.

So ignore the stats, they’ll mess with your head a little bit in the early stages.

And then when you’ve been going for a few months have a look and see what kind of content is popular with your audience, and then do more of that.

Be Yourself

The last tip I’ve got for you is to be yourself.

Just be natural.

I know it’s hard to ‘be natural’ when there’s a microphone in front of you and the record button is flashing.

So imagine that you’re talking to a really good friend.

Then the best version of you will come forward for your audience.

Now when it comes to shooting videos and recording podcast I’m always on my own.

There’s no one else in the room, and it’s just me and my audience.

That gives me the freedom to really be myself because I imagine that I’m talking to a really good friend.

And that’s how I view my audience, I view my audience as the kind of people that I would naturally be friends with.

Because we have a shared interest and a shared mission, we would naturally gravitate towards each other and be friends anyway.

So knowing that allows me to be my natural self.

When you start recording your podcast imagine that you’re sat with a friend and you’re explaining things to them about your topic.

It makes your voice warmer and welcoming, it helps make the tone of your voice upbeat and happy, and it puts you in a positive mood which comes across on air.

Final Thoughts About Podcasting

So that’s about it from me, this is a topic that I haven’t given much time to on Profit Copilot so I don’t know if it’s on interest to my specific audience.

But if you want more about podcasting then let me know and I will be happy to return to this topic and share more ideas with you.

For example I could tell you about the equipment that I use.

When it comes to equipment you don’t really need much, and you can actually start with your phone because that’s good enough to get up and running with.

The important thing is to start podcasting.

If you want more information such as step-by-step tutorials on how I create my own podcasts, how I find content, and the little tricks of the trade that I’ve picked up I’ll create another post with those.

If that’s something that would benefit then leave a comment below and I will help you to take the next step forward in your podcasting journey.

Hopefully you’ve seen that you can do this, I’ve given you a solid podcasting strategy that anyone can use to get up and running, literally within minutes.

Have fun.