1. Can you do it with no listeners?

Even if you had thousands of followers, your podcast wouldn’t have millions of downloads overnight. Neither your podcast will die if you have no audience.

Cutting you some slack, you can always start your podcast without any audience.

As a beginner, you may feel exhausted by the long process of podcasting.

And if you are overthinking about starting your podcast with no listeners, then you are not alone.

60% of podcasters find it difficult to build an audience. Then, how to do it?

I’ll share my story of how I carried on my podcasting from nothing and how I built Cleanvoice from there.

2. About My Podcasting Background + Overcoming First-Timer’s Fears

I started podcasting in 2020 out of curiosity. And no followers.

My first podcast was called “Wierd AI” (along with Bohdan Andrusyak) where we talked about AI’s applications in bizarre fields. When I was recording my first episode (How AI is used in Anime & Manga), doubts were rushing into my mind.

“Should I really talk about this?”

“Am I sounding odd?”

“Who will be interested in this?”

But I kept going with my podcast without being embarrassed. Gradually, I did grow it.

And that’s when I started my second podcast called “Scrambled Founders” in 2022.

With a co-host format, I talked about how not to run a business. It did not gain as much success as Weird AI. But that’s okay.

Because it gave me insights into what “you” should not do. We will see that in a while.

3. What It Looked Like - From zero to thousand downloads

Not getting deep into my background stories and making you bored.

Back then, I was a nobody online.

P.S. I am still a nobody online. And perfectly at peace with that.

I wasn’t active on TikTok or Instagram sharing my travel tips. Neither was I selling my templates to grow your business and be a billionaire.

Was my podcast lost in almost 5 million other shows? No.

Of course, I did not go viral on TikTok or YouTube shorts, but I increased my downloads. And reached to 1000 downloads in about two months. And continued to rise from there.

Podcasting wasn’t on my list initially. I developed a soft corner for it over time. So, I found my own ways.

47% of podcasters have 3 or fewer episodes. I didn’t want to be one of them, done and dusted in a couple of episodes.

Let’s see what worked for me and what did not.

4. The Question Every Podcaster Has

“Do the podcasters with a huge following have an edge over me?”

It may help you at some point initially, but an edge? No.

I did not have any following and my podcast was doing well without it.

Having prior followers does not mean they will be your podcast listeners either.

You may have 30,000 Instagram followers. But when you start your “SaaS product pricing podcast”, not even 100 followers would listen to your first episode. And your second episode may struggle to gather even 50.

The reason? Your podcast grows when your listeners are actually interested in your niche.

Focus more on making your listeners return to your podcast, not leaving your show within the first episode. That’s the key.

Here’s a Reddit thread where podcasters have shared why they felt no need for a huge following. And still increased their audience.

5. How I Built My Audience

Strategy-1: Drive first-time listeners from podcast communities

Podcasters support podcasters.

My initial listeners came from a podcaster community, like thousands of other podcasters.

I joined such podcast groups on Reddit, Facebook, and similar platforms. And I became active on r/podcasting, podcastmovement, and other groups.

One day(when the weather was fine and everything was nice), I shared one of my episodes in a Reddit community. I got a banger response.

I continued with this strategy with my other episodes and soon within 2-3 weeks, I hit 200-300 downloads per episode.

That’s not a milestone to celebrate. But that’s a good start if you are starting from scratch. It’s more realistic.

Also find: Where is your audience hiding?

Truth be told, it’s more about who your listeners are than who you are.

Find out where your niche audience hangs out. Whether they are developers active on Reddit, SEO experts on LinkedIn, or creative writers on Quora.

I joined AI communities and shared my podcast(Wierd.ai) there. It got my podcast to a stable stage.

Summarizing it, network with your fellow podcasters in podcast communities or niche groups. Provide value and knowledge. And promote your show among them.

Here’s a list of podcast groups I joined:

• https://reddit.com/r/podcasting/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering
• https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuzzsproutCommunity/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcasteditors/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcastmovement/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/podsupportgroup/
• Podcasting Technology Resource Group on LinkedIn
• Podcast Producers
• Podcast Editors Club
• Podcast Learning Center

Strategy-2: Cross-promotion

A podcast shout out for a podcast shout out.

Promote or mention other podcaster’s show in yours and get a mention from theirs in return.

A significant chunk of listeners will turn their ears to your podcast since these recommendations will come from their beloved podcast show or host.

How to get someone for cross-promotion?

Joining a podcaster community works as a treasure trove for finding a cross-promotion opportunity.

I have seen many podcasters openly requesting and exchanging podcast promotions.

Strategy-3: Invite a podcast guest or be a guest

Guest Outreach, Collaboration, Get Featured on Podcast

Invite a guest your audience will stick around to listen to, or be a guest to turn the co-host’s listeners into your subscribers.

This one is my personal pick.

However, the biggest pain in mind (can’t curse here) for many podcasters is finding a podcast guest first.

It happens often when you are a podcasting-newbie, with fewer downloads. In most such cases, your guest will not land on your email finding you.

Hence, I never relied on inbound opportunities 90% of the time. Don’t hold your horses for that.

Then how to find a podcast guest? Or how to get on a podcast?

Based on your interest, you can find both guests and podcasts looking for guests on platforms like matchmaker.fm.

I first got booked on a podcast called Tools of the Podcast Trade through matchmaker.fm.

However, my best gig was outreaching the guests I wanted on my show or the podcasts I wanted to be a part of.

Before you outreach, research whether they use an email, DM, a form, or any other way of communication.

I got booked on a podcast via contacting the host on Twitter:

The Quit Work Podcast #015 – Life without regrets: starting a business in your twenties

I got my first podcast guest through an email.

How did I get my first podcast guest?

We still hadn’t recorded many episodes of Wierd.ai. We were skeptical of getting a guest this early. But we wanted to give it a shot anyhow.

We set our eyes on “AI in sports” as our topic and started finding related startups.

We wrote emails to a bunch of them, briefing about wierd.ai and why we wanted them on our show. Finally, Stykerlabs agreed to be our guest.

We decided on the slots afterward and shared the questions in prior, as requested.

We hopped on a call and started recording (back then apps like Riverside.fm weren’t popular or advanced).

That’s how we got our episode AI in football and sports (interview with stykerlabs).

To add more:

I also got an inbound opportunity later from Podnews:

I’m at a loss, will anyone notice the difference? Lossless audio comes to Apple, Spotify and Amazon for free.

You can also use Facebook or Reddit groups to request a collaboration.

Bonus Communities:

• You can join this subreddit for a guest exchange opportunity:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/PodcastGuestExchange/

• There’s also a LinkedIn group to get booked on a podcast as a guest:

• https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13906510/

Strategy-4: Word of Mouth

I don’t have the exact numbers right now, but I can vouch for a larger listener-base I got through word of mouth. Almost 21% Listeners get podcast recommendations from friends or family.

Word of mouth is often overlooked and underrated.

A study by the Pew Research Center states that 67% of podcast listeners in the U.S. recommend a podcast to someone. And six out of ten people listen to a podcast recommended by their friends or family.

It is not just about listening to the recommended podcast. The study says that they often discuss the content as well.

The hard part though? You cannot directly control this.

However, there are ways you can be the talk of podcasters, friends, or listeners.

Use strong CTAs

Add strong CTAs in your podcast outro. Using a clear hook in the intro works too.

Ask your listeners to share your podcast with their friends, colleagues, and family. Don’t ask for mere likes or subscription.

Podcast collaboration or joining the community

Podcast communities are the epitome of “one name, many use”.

Join podcast communities or groups of your niche, share your knowledge and podcasts.

If they like your content, many group members will suggest your show on their social handles, other groups, or with friends.

Strategy-5: Don’t ignore podcast SEO

More people find podcasts through in-app search (Apple Podcast, Spotify, etc.) than social media or paid ads. (More than 20%)

But thousands of shows are competing on your favorite podcast apps. How to get more visible?

SEO for podcasts is the way.

Like many beginners, you might be unfamiliar with this term or afraid of its technicalities.

But the good part? You don’t have to be a master of it. You only need to follow the basics.

Let’s unfold it step-by-step.

• What is Podcast SEO?

Podcast SEO (Podcast Search Engine Optimization) is a combination of ways to improve your show’s ranking and visibility on podcast apps/directories (Apple Podcast, Spotify, Overcast) and search engines(Google, Bing).

It includes several techniques like keywords in the title and description, show notes, transcriptions, and more.

It’s a vast area.

• Why is Podcast SEO important?

A good podcast SEO not only gets you on the top of a podcast app, but also wins you a snippet in the web search results.

In turn, it gets you more listeners and earns you authority in your podcast category.

• The second-layer benefit:

Your podcast may also be visible in a search result if the query is related to your podcast niche.

See the recommended podcasts along with traditional websites and videos for “what is podcast”:

• How to improve podcast SEO?

The baseline is to help a podcast directory or search engine understand what your show is about.

Is it relevant to a listener’s query? That’s all you have to think about.

5.1 Add podcast transcript

Add transcription to your episode. Your podcast app or search engine is more likely to understand what your podcast talks about in-depth.

You can create it manually or use a tool.

However, manually converting your audio to video to text takes hours and is a dreaded task. Also, you will succumb to human errors.

Instead, use AI transcription software to do it in a few minutes.

Read more about the best practices for creating your transcripts.

5.2 - Turn your transcription into blogs, repurpose it

I call podcast transcription a low-maintenance SEO technique. You only need to create it once and use it multiple times, for multiple purposes.

How should you edit your podcast transcript and what should you include?

Edit your transcript and turn it into a blog. Add relevant keywords related to your topic. (Do not stuff it though).

• While editing, make sure it’s in line with what your audience is searching for. Make it crisp if possible, and expand it if needed.

• Take out key points from your transcription and turn it into FAQs or blog-sections.

Where to post these blogs?

Create your own website or a blog page.

5.3 - Use keywords in podcast name, episode titles, and descriptions

Keywords are phrases your audience searches to find a solution or an answer.

Simply put, if you have keywords related to your topic in your titles, summaries, etc., your podcast app will know that your podcast is relevant to the niche.

Hence, it increases your visibility.

And whatever the industry says, keywords will always be relevant.

How to find keywords related to my episode topic?

You need to dive more into subtopics and find what your audience is searching for.

If you are making a podcast on AI’s real-world application, you should find keywords for AI in sports, AI in healthcare, etc.

Move on to find whether your audience is looking for certain tools, or companies, or possible results. Check related questions and long-tail keywords (too specific).

Create content around it.

5.4 - Podcast description, show notes, and chapters

Let’s take these definitions one by one.

Podcast description in simple terms is “about my podcast”.

Show notes include a brief of your episode, related links mentioned, information about your guest if you have any, podcast chapters and timestamps, and more.

And your whole episodes should be divided into small chapters for smoother transitions between topics. Giving timestamps to your chapter lets your listeners skip to their favorite part.

Such podcast content allows your audience to skim through the whole podcast and decide whether they want to give it a try or skip it.

5.5 - Podcast summary and social content

Summarizing podcast

Podcast summary provides key takeaways and a brief of your episode. Most listeners consider reading podcast summaries before hitting the download or play button.

But creating a summary of 150 words from an hour-long podcast is energy-consuming. I could not stick myself to reading pages of transcription, just to take out a few points.

Revisiting the same content(drafting, recording, transcribing, summarizing) was a torment. Hence, over time, I built a podcast summarizer feature in Cleanvoice.

It automatically creates a crisp summary of your podcast in minutes.

Social content

I do not use social media much, but most podcasters do. And they promote their upcoming or newly published episodes out there.

Creating separate content or tweaking it for every social media platform is a dull task. Who would love that?

Hence, I gradually built the social content feature as well. You only have to upload your audio or video podcast, generate transcription. And Cleanvoice will create social content using your transcript.

Whether it’s a tweet, an FB or a LinkedIn post, or a newsletter. It will create content as per the platform.

• Podcast summary example from Cleanvoice:

• Social content example:

5.6 - Category Tags

Often podcasters miss this point. Add relevant category tags in your podcast.

Go deeper into your sub-niche. Apart from your main category, also go specific about topics. Here’s an example of “Comedians interviewing comedians” category.

Here’s one more example of the self-help space.

Strategy-6: Podcast Website

What do you think is the largest source for listeners to find a podcast? It’s not podcast apps. Neither it’s paid promotion. It’s a normal web search.

Almost 39% of listeners find a podcast through an internet search. And your website will help your podcast seize the top spot in that search.

With podcast descriptions, keywords, summary of your podcast, your website fuels your podcast SEO. But there’s more to it.

Or want to integrate analytics tools for all platforms, marketing tools, and newsletters too? That’s easier than you think with your website.

Though podcast directories are more important, they also bring high competition. You can beat that with your website and drive some organic traffic to your podcast.

• What to include in your podcast website?

Your website gets you more traffic to your podcast, as well as makes you visible for a search query related to your niche.

• So, use your website to build a story around your podcast.
• Give a brief about yourself.
• Write related articles to target more niche topics and complement your episode’s content.
• Add images and videos if possible.

It builds your personal brand.

Example-Websites: What more can you do with yours?

Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast’s website has a trailer on the about page. They also have a support section to request donations from their listeners. (What a use case, I must say).

Of course, you don’t have to do everything I have stated so far. But you can always find your own scope for your website.

How to build your podcast website?

You can use WordPress or other CMS if you want to build it from scratch. You can use Wix.com as an easier alternative.

But that’s a time-sucking way. Building a website for your podcast doesn’t have to be too techy.

Nowadays, most podcast hosting platforms allow you to build a podcast website on their platform. You get ready templates or drag-and-drop options.

I followed the same with my podcasts.

7. Strategy-7: Social Media

I was never active on social media and I am still absent from the online space.

It hasn’t hurt my podcast anyhow.

However, I have seen other podcasters grow their show better with social media promotion. So, I would suggest you to add social media to your list.

How to promote your podcast on social media?

1. Find out on which social media platform your audience is active.

Aishwarya’s Founder’s Foyer’s major audience is business professionals, founders, growth leaders and they are mostly active on LinkedIn. (The girl with a unique podcast website, remember from the above section?)

She gets her guests as well as listeners from there. She also promotes her podcast on LinkedIn, shares videos, and collaborates with related LinkedIn members.

2. Promote your upcoming episode through short clips

In the times of “30-second content”, this has to be a winning strategy. Make short video clips, or a teaser, or an audiogram(a short audio clip) from your next podcast.

Share it on YouTube Shorts or Reels. Promote it in podcast communities. And create a hype.

There are several AI apps, which create short clips for you, like Veed.io, Castmagic, Kapwing, Podsqueeze, and more.

::: callout{title="The growing name in podcasting: YouTube" type="info"}

YouTube [a]is adding new podcast listeners the fastest.

:::

3. Keep building a network gradually

Interact with other podcasters or niche experts on your social handles. May it be a Facebook group or a LinkedIn community, share your insights. Ask for a direct request.

6. Why paid promotion is a no-no for beginner podcasters?

How do paid ads not guarantee your podcast growth?

The hype of advertising your show through a paid ad is bubbled. Also, quick success in podcasting is a myth.

(Chase it only if you want to see your money slipping from your hand and vanishing in a valley.)

Even if you have a decent following, it will take you around six months to a year to get tens of thousands of downloads.

Most big platforms require you to have a huge number of downloads per episode to start your podcast ad.

The fake hullabaloo of paid podcast promotion

Then what about hundreds of videos you see, proven strategies, and expert advice on how to grow your podcast quickly? You may wonder.

You will even see media houses and businesses slanting that Ads are becoming popular for building an audience.

But the truth is, only 4-7% of listeners find a podcast through ads in other audio programs.

Because more people find podcast shows by internet search or podcast apps.

Hence, I would rather bet on podcast SEO, as I mentioned above.

7. Basics of How to Start Podcasting

So far, we only agreed that you can start without any audience. But one question still remains. How to start a podcast?

Without wasting much time, I’ll brief you on the basic process I followed. And what worked for me.

Step-1: Find a podcast niche and choose a format

Start with finding a niche where you have the knowledge and an audience to target.

From my experience, it was easy for me to talk about AI as I knew about my stuff. It didn’t exhaust me as well.

Sharing another story, Matt Albers loves digging deeper into the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. And that’s why he has been able to create 340+ episodes of The Pirate History Podcast. The new episodes are still rolling.

Having your interest is not sufficient though. Podcasters often overlook whether they have a relevant audience or not.

My second podcast “Scrambled Founders” didn’t do well, unlike the first one. Very few listeners were interested in entrepreneurship at that time and maybe with the format I had.

Bonus: How to avoid getting lost in thousands of shows in your niche?

I have been listening to podcasts for years. And I am overwhelmed to see how most podcasts have similar content for a topic.

That’s what your listeners feel too.

Instead, create unique content around your niche, explore more sub-niches to discuss, and stand out in this overcrowded podcasting industry.

That’s called niche podcasting. Try it with no second thoughts.

Step-2: Outlining Your Podcast

Once you are fixated on your niche, create an outline of your episode and draft a script.

Following an outline or a script helps your content to be in flow, have control over what you speak, and have fewer filler words.

It’s subjective whether you work with a tight word-word script, or a loose outline and more improvisation.

However, in both cases, without an outline/script, your podcast will be a mess. Especially, when you are new to podcasting. (I still need a script or an outline).

Step-3: Recording

Apart from crisp content, a high-quality audio or video podcast is equally important to keep your listeners hooked.

No one would want to keep turning up and down their volume buttons and adjust to sound levels. They will hate it if your podcast has more background noise than your voice.

Recording Tools and Apps

Hence, invest in good enough recording tools. They don’t have to be extraordinary in the beginning. But at least better than using your phone mic to record your podcast.

When I started podcasting, not many apps were providing good recording quality. Zoom’s results were mediocre. But things have advanced now.

You can now use recording apps like Riverside.fm for a studio-like quality. It allows you to record your podcast locally, which gives you high-end results, especially if your guest is recording remotely.

Pro Tip: Improve your recording practices

Not only mics but focus on small things that make your audio recording better. Try to use pop filters to avoid plosives. Record in a room with a less echoing effect. Set your mic at a certain angle to avoid catching breath sounds.

However, every tool comes up with a limitation. You need to learn how to control your speech speed and what your audience will prefer.

Try to practice before recording to avoid spilling filler words after every few seconds.

P.S. If you still can’t crack the code of recording initially, no worries. I’ll give you better yet easier options for editing.

Step-4: Podcast Editing

No podcast should go unedited. At least a basic check is required.

Remove unnecessary background noise, clear fillers or long silence, reduce heavy breath or mouth sounds, and more.

To make it sound recorded from a studio, you need to reduce echoes, balance audio levels, and brighten or soften your voice. It’s trickier, right?

And God save you if you have a muddy audio or video. It will eat up your hours in editing.

You can either edit it manually with free tools like Audacity(as a beginner), or use AI podcast editors like Descript or Podcastle. But you will need to watch tutorials to use their complex features.

• How was it for me?

As an audio engineer, it was not tough for me to understand editing jargon. But it may not be the same for you.

I still used to waste more time in editing than recording or scripting. I equally ground myself in the beginning.

No free or AI tools actually saved my energy or helped me with my non-English accent.

Hence, I built Cleanvoice to be as simple as possible and accurate with multiple languages. It removes unwanted noise in minutes using AI.

And earns you peace of mind, which I wished I had when I began.

Step-5: Publishing Podcast

Publishing a podcast boils down to two main steps:

1. Creating an RSS feed on a hosting platform
2. Submitting your RSS feed to a podcast directory/podcast distributor app

Let’s see how they work.

• Step 1: Hosting Your Podcast

First, you need to find a hosting platform.

A hosting platform creates your podcast’s RSS feed, provides storage for your episodes, and gives you analytics of your podcast.

It’s a home to your podcast.

You can use popular hosting platforms like Buzzsprout, Simplecast, Podbean, and more. I hosted my podcasts on Simplecast and TransistorFM.

• Step 2: Distributing Your Podcast

After hosting your audio or video podcast, it’s time to get it out there.

Submit your podcast to major podcast directories like Apple Podcasts and Spotify to reach the widest audience.

Your audience finds you through podcast apps or directories.

Though Apple podcast and Spotify are the leaders, you should submit your podcast to other directories as well. I

More podcast directories, more audience to target.

When you upload your episode, you need metadata. Simply put, you need podcast name, podcast description, keywords, category, episode show notes etc.

(That’s where your podcast SEO knowledge will take a front seat).

Bonus: Many podcasters also publish podcasts on their website.

And that’s how your podcast will go live.

8. How I Built Cleanvoice

My first podcast didn’t sound perfect, not going to lie.

It was full of fillers, click sounds, and dull voice levels. My mic caught some breathing as well.

In short, it had everything to give me a headache while editing.

It took me 3 hours edit my first episode, which was around 20-30 mins. (I was an audio engineer, but my audio was worse than I thought).

Being a non-native English speaker, tools like Descript didn’t do justice to my audio either.

Gradually, I got control over some noise issues, but still, I despised the whole editing part.

And that’s how Cleanvoice’s idea was born to help podcasters like you and me.

With Cleanvoice AI’s podcast editor, you don’t have to spend 4 hours editing. Neither you need to own an expensive studio. (I am working on improving algorithms to enhance your audio/video levels as well).

You don’t have to listen to your podcast to create pages-long transcripts, or read the same transcripts to summarize within 150-200 words.

(I mostly yawned while creating my transcriptions.)

You can automate the transcription, podcast summary, show notes, and social content.

Save time for what you love more. Podcasting, chilling on a beach, or sleeping.

Enough of my preaching. Now let’s head to a quick recap.

9. Long Story Short - Key Takeaways

No podcast’s first episode goes viral overnight, with or without an audience. That’s the story of most podcasters.

It may take time but keep going with your podcasting. Try niche podcasting and focus more on repeating listeners.

And instead of going with shortcuts, invest more in organic ways like podcast SEO, guest outreach, and podcast groups.

Your podcast will grow eventually. The journey will be worth it.

Recommendation Notes

I have recommended tools I use and as per my knowledge. No affiliation or favored promotion.

About Adrian

Founder & CEO of Cleanvoice.

I am a Deep Learning engineer. And a podcaster by chance, but loved it anyway.

I wasted hours in editing and it was dreading. Hence, I am trying to save fellow podcasters’ time and energy with AI podcast cleaning.

I love to share my honest podcasting tips, even if that means recommending a competitor's product.

And when I am not doing any of these, I revive myself with MMA training, beatboxing, or salsa dancing.