How to Start a Podcast for Free in 2020 (Complete Guide)

Last updated on December 10, 2019 by Inu Etc

Do you want to start a podcast for free in 2020?

The demand for the podcast is increasing, and now you have a great opportunity to start your own podcast, build a rich audience, and make money podcasting.

People start a podcast to share their knowledge, to make money, to influence people, and to market their business.

The best part is,

Now it’s possible to start a podcast for free.

In this step by step guide, I’m going to show you the best and the easiest way to start a podcast for free in 2020.

Let’s dive right in.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is a series of downloadable and streamable recorded audio content.

Isn’t it the simplest definition of the podcast?

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog in 2020

Can you really start a podcast for free?

Obviously, you can start a podcast for free. If you have a smartphone, laptop, and an internet connection, you can start now!

This post contains affiliate links (I don’t recommend anything that I don’t believe in), meaning at no extra cost to you, I might receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.

What you need to start a podcast?

The only thing you really need to start a podcast is something to talk about. And we already talked about the equipment required to start a podcast.

You can start a podcast for free. But if you want to spend some money, then invest your money on a good microphone.

Because when it comes to podcast, it’s all about audio. So, don’t compromise with the audio quality of your podcast.

One of the most popular podcasting microphones is the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB.

Otherwise, you can use your earphones. They are good enough to start a podcast for free!

Starting a podcast: define your niche.

So, what’s the topic you want to talk about?

Do you want to start a business podcast or an entertainment podcast?

Are you going to start a solo podcast or an interview podcast?

It’s up to you.

I suggest you talk about the topic which you are passionate about and which you have some knowledge about.

Choose a name for your podcast.

The ‘Your Name’ Show is the most common podcast naming style. But you can add your brand name or some keyword to optimize your podcast to rank on iTunes.

Look at Tim Ferriss podcast name:

‘The Tim Ferriss Show‘

Look at Pat Flynn’s Podcast name:

‘The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast‘

Pat Flynn optimized his podcast using keywords like Online Business and Blogging Podcast.’

Write an amazing description of your podcast.

After your podcast name and cover art, the next thing potential listeners look at is your podcast description.

In iTunes, you can have up to 4,000 characters to describe your show. Your podcast description should be engaging, descriptive, and straightforward.

You should write about the benefits your listener will get after listening to your podcast. Also, don’t forget to add some keywords to SEO optimize your podcast and to rank well on iTunes.

Design your podcast cover art.

Your podcast cover art is the first impression your potential listener will see as they browse through their favorite podcast streaming app.

So, it’s obvious that you need a beautiful podcast cover art to impress and grab your potential listener.

Here are some tips for creating the best podcast cover art.

Your podcast cover art must be 3000 x 3000 pixel (Minimum size is 1400 x 1400 pixels)
This image should be in .jpg or .png file format and the RGB colorspace.
Use high-quality images. Get royalty-free images from these amazing photo downloading sites for free.
Don’t use so much text. Some podcast player automatically shrinks the podcast cover art to fit smaller containers. So it will be nearly impossible to read more than three or four words.

You can easily create an awesome podcast cover art using Canva or Snappa for free.

If you have a little bit of a budget, I recommend Fiverr (Or you can contact me, I’m a designer too:) to create your podcast cover art. Also, if you have more money, you can check out 99design to create a professional podcast cover art.

Record your first podcast episode.

If you are a solo podcaster, you can start recording your first podcast episode on Audacity, or you can directly record your podcast on Anchor, a free podcast hosting service.

On the other hand, if you want to record remote interviews, you can use Skype, but Skype audio quality isn’t good enough, and you need a call recorder to record Skype calls.

So, I suggest you use Zencastr or Anchor (A free podcast hosting and recording service ) to record hassle-free remote interviews.

Zencastr free plan allows you to record up to 8 hours per month (Which is enough) for up to 2 guests in MP3 format.

Anchor’s remote Interview recording feature is currently only available in the iPhone and Android version of Anchor.

Read more: 7 Best Podcasts for Aspiring Entrepreneurs – Learn and Get Inspired

Edit your first podcast episode.

Audacity is a great free audio recording and editing software. After recording your first podcast episode you can remove background noise from your audio, you can add intro and outro and lots of other things you can do in Audacity to increase the audio quality of your podcast.

To export an mp3 file from Audacity, you’ll need to download and install the Lame MP3 encoder for Windows or Mac.

If you recorded your podcast on Anchor and didn’t want to edit your podcast there, you can easily export and download your recorded audio file from the web version of Anchor to edit it in Audacity.

Want to add some royalty-free music to your podcast episode?

Free Music Archive and Musopen are two great websites where you can get royalty-free music for free.

How to distribute a podcast for free?

Once you are ready to publish your podcast, you’ll need to upload it to a podcast hosting service and make it available for your listeners.

Anchor is the all in one solution for hosting and distributing your podcast for free.

Anchor will help you distribute your podcast to the following platforms:

Apple Podcasts
iTunes
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher
Breaker
Castbox
Overcast
Pocket Casts
RadioPublic

If you want to publish your podcast on additional platforms not included in this list (This list is enough man!), you can just grab your RSS feed URL from your Anchor account settings and distribute it yourself!

Read more: 13 Reasons Why You Should Start an Online Business When You’re Young

How to make money podcasting?

There are many ways to monetize a podcast. Some work for established podcasters, and some work well for a new podcaster.

Here are some ways to monetize your podcast:

Sponsorship and Advertising – Many podcast hosting companies have their own ad network. Now Anchor’s monetization service is only available for US Podcaster. But if you have a big audience, you can directly get sponsored by companies.
Affiliate Marketing – If you have a small targeted audience, you can make money through affiliate marketing make money through affiliate marketing.
Online Courses – You can sell online courses on Teachable, Udemy, etc.
Sell Services – If you are an expert, you can promote and sell your services too. For example, Neil Patel uses his podcast ‘Marketing School’ to promote his digital marketing service.
Crowdfunding and Donations – Ask your listeners for donations to support you and your podcast. A common platform for accepting donations is Patreon.