✦Creative · 13 recordsStart a podcast

Podcasts die at episode four, when the buffer runs out and recording has to happen every week. This builds a backlog before launching and treats the setup as a one-off project so that the ongoing work is only recording.

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✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

Publish twelve episodes Month 6

With a buffer, so an ordinary bad week does not end it.

Set it up once Week 6

A one-off project, so the ongoing work is only recording.

  • Decide what it is about and how long an episode isDo firstDay 7
  • Get a decent microphone and a quiet roomDo firstWeek 3
  • Sort hosting and the feedWeek 6

Record ahead, then publish Month 6

Four in the bank before episode one goes out.

  • Record the first four episodesDo firstMonth 2
  • Publish episode oneMonth 2
  • Keep the buffer at three or moreMonth 5

Routines

  • Record or editweekly
  • Note an episode ideaweekly
Skills
  • Audio productionBeginner → Intermediate

    Recording and editing are the parts that actually improve over the first ten episodes. Log the hours against them.

✦ It comes with a note

Record before you launch

Podcasts die at episode four, when the buffer runs out and recording has to happen every week regardless. Three or four in the bank is the single change that most affects whether a show survives its second month.\n\nSetup is a one-off project on purpose. Left open, it becomes a hobby that competes with the thing the show actually needs, which is recording.

✦ Questions

Start a podcast, answered.

Three or four. It is the single change that most affects whether a podcast survives its second month, because it means an ordinary bad week costs you buffer rather than a missed episode.
A decent microphone and a quiet room. The setup is a one-off project here precisely so it does not become an ongoing hobby that competes with recording, which is what the show actually needs.
Whatever you can hold with the buffer intact — usually fortnightly rather than weekly at the start. Cadence matters more than frequency, and it is far easier to speed up later than to quietly slow down.
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