How I Started My Podcast

A question I get asked pretty often revolving around my podcast is--how did you start your podcast? What got you into it?  For me personally, I've always felt aligned with podcasts. From the value it gave me and how it shifted my mindset and the overall trajectory of my life, to feeling more productive when I was on the road and was getting bored with my music.I share four specific tips and thoughts on how I started my podcast and things you should think about if you have the desire to start one yourself.1 - Have a real purpose for the podcast that aligns with your mind, soul, and a feeling that truly fulfills you The amount of times I've heard people talk about starting/doing a podcast just for the fun of it is kinda funny. There's certainly nothing wrong with doing it for fun at all, because at the end of the day, it SHOULD be fun. But--in order to drive longevity in the podcast, it needs to feel aligned to you. It needs to feel like something that fulfills your purpose. For me, I've always felt naturally drawn to helping people in things I've already done, experienced, learned, and etc. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but to be quite candid, I've experienced a lot for only being 23, and certainly a lot more than the average 23-year old female. With that in mind, I want to use those experiences and what I've learned to teach and help other young females in being able to shape their life into however they want--because I wasn't just given this life. I created the life I have today and self-fulfilled my own prophecy of what I said I would do. And I want other young females to realize that they can do it too. If I grew up in a small rural town with less than 5,000 people and made it out to Newport Beach, CA...then any other girl should be able to do the same, or whatever it is they desire.2 - Determine the value proposition of your podcast As a business thinker, I naturally treat a lot of my projects like a business. Whether it really is or not. And in order for any business to last, it needs to have value that it provides to its consumers so that the consumers continue to come back and feed the business and vice versa.So like I said in the first tip, it's fine if you want to do it for fun...but if it doesn't provide any actual value to listeners and consumers, then it definitely won't last. People want to consume their energy with something they can gain from, whether it's good gain or not.3 - Knowing the target audience and demographic One thing my mom and I always disagreed on is how to run a business in regards to who you sell to. She believes that everyone and anyone is your customer, while I believe that if you're trying to have everyone as your customer, then no one will be your customer.You have to have a target and niche group of people that actually want to listen or buy from you. For my podcast, it definitely doesn't make sense for men in their late 20s to listen to it...because the topics and guests don't really pertain to them or give them value in their life. On the other hand, young females between the ages of 17-24 would make more sense for my podcast because the topics I speak about come from experience (within those years), as well as the action steps to apply--they are ideal for young females to take.Keep this target audience in mind every time you create content for the podcast or review which guests you take on. Are they going to find that content a value-add in their life?4 - Research podcast distribution and learn from other successful podcastersWith the podcast industry growing, the "how-to's" of doing a podcast is no longer a secret. When I first started, I simply used Google to figure out how distribution worked, the prices to charge sponsors and ad spots, and etc.There are also great podcasters that are willing to help and those people usually have an episode about it. Someone I recommend listening to is The Goal Digger by Jenna Kutcher. I remember listening to her episode about how to start a podcast in mid-2018 or so.And now, all you need to is simply TAKE ACTION. If you want to actually start a podcast and feel extremely aligned to it, then just do it! What's the big difference if you wait months from now? xx