I want to start a podcast

[christopher85]

I really want to start a podcast of my own. What does it take if I already have the idea and the equipment which is a very basic us- 122 mkII interface and condeser mic that I found at a pawn shop? Do I need a radio background or a quirky/ witty personality? Has anyone tried to do their own podcast? All the podcasts that I listen too seem to have a host that has some sort of radio background or was already in the industry i.e. Chris Hardwick from the Nerdist, Marc Maron, etc. I'm not sure yet if I want to podcast for fun or for making a bit of money. I keep hearing that the market for podcasting is very big and that podcasts in general are trying to still finding its nitch in the mainstream so I would love to jump on it now since it's still so very new. I wasn't sure if this would be the right place to post this since there is a podcast forum but it seems to pertain to the Racketboy Podcast. Please help and if you have any tips, pointers, recommendations, or motivational speeches please send them my way.

[TSTR]

Anybody can make a podcast. If you've got the equipment, then here's the only thing you need to figure out to get started:

What are you going to talk about, and why would anybody want to listen to you talk about it?

[fastbilly1]

Like TSTR said, there are two parts here. There is the technical part and there is the content part. For the technical part you have everything you need but a popfilter and maybe a stand (if you dont already have one). Your Tascam US-122MKII is a very nice piece of kit. You can use Audacity to record if you do not already have another program like Audition.

The content part is the the hard part. Why should I listen to your podcast? What will you offer me that is not already out there a dozen times already? What genre is your podcast going to be in? Once you have that figured out, how are you going to market it? Do not rely on word of mouth, your show will most likely not be the next Welcome to Nightvale, The Dice Tower, or Racketboy podcast.

A good personality will carry alot of weight especially in your early episodes. But without knowing what genre you are going for it is hard to give many suggestions.

[Metal Jesus]

I am part of the http://www.AllGenGamers.com podcast and we just released our 164 episode after 4 years of doing it. The toughest part will be the content, but then there is the weekly promotion and then maintaining your energy and momentum. Already there are hundreds of gaming podcasts, so what can you say that is new? For us, we have 4 regular hosts plus the occasional guest on the podcast. Each of the hosts have very specific viewpoints (I am a big MSDOS collector and iOS gamer, Gamester81 has every console known to Mankind, Pete Dorr is a mega collector of Japanese RPGs and trinkets and Jason Heine is a big Steam PC gamer with FPS and Racing Games). Together we cover most of the stuff people care about.

And finally, really think about how you are going to promote the new episodes. Do you have a big Twitter and Facebook following?

Hopefully that helps.