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How to Start Podcasting on Anchor.fm

Podcasts are one of the fastest growing content mediums, and expanding at a consistent year over year growth. In case you don’t know what a podcast is..

A podcast is a piece of audio that can be a story, documentary, commentary, as well as any audio you see fit to put in an episode.

Why should you start a podcast?

There are many reasons why one should consider making a podcast.

  1. It’s easy to start a podcast. It might seem to be difficult to start a podcast but in reality, it’s not. All you need is a minimal investment and sufficient research to keep the podcast going.
  2. Where short-form content like social media posts are catchy and grab the attention of almost everyone for a moment, podcasts are long-form content that will allow you to build a deeper relationship with your audience.
  3. They’re a perfect medium for personal branding, as they enable you to connect, interact and build relationships with your audience.
  4. You can support your peers by inviting them as a guest on your show. In a way, you are giving them access to your audience and increasing their reach. If they promote the same episode on their social media, you can also benefit from their audience the same way. Where there are many platforms available for podcasting, Anchor is one of the easiest podcasting services, and best of all it’s free!

Getting started with Anchor:

Anchor is one of the easiest services for anyone who wants to get started with podcasting. One of the main reasons behind this is the simplicity of the platform and the ease of operation.

Getting started with Anchor is very easy. You just need to sign up by entering your name and password. The good part here is that you can also import your preexisting podcast from a platform you were previously using.

Once you’re done with the process of signing up, Anchor displays a chart of the next steps you’ll have to take in order to proceed further. Surprisingly, the first step on this chart is “Make Your First Episode”. To some people, this step doesn’t seem to be an ideal first step. But there’s a reason behind displaying this step.

As soon as you tap on “Let’s do it!” you’ll be taken to the episode creation page. Here, you’ll see four options:

  • Record: the best part here is that you won’t have to worry about having separate software for recording. You can directly record a podcast on Anchor.
  • Messages: This option allows you to add a voice message your listener has left for you.
  • Library: This option allows you to insert previously recorded or uploaded audios into an episode at any point.
  • Transitions: This option gives you access to music and sound effects that you can use as background audio.

Recording your first podcast on Anchor: 

When you submit to the podcast directories via Anchor, you’ll need to have some episodes recorded already. Anchor’s “make your first episode” option will help you out there.  You can even import already recorded audio from other podcasting platforms or upload one from your phone/computer. As soon as you save it, you’re ready to go!

How to set up your podcast?

If you have already recorded an episode, you can save it as a draft. You can publish it later on and populate your feed. Go to the podcast setup option and enter all the details of the show there.

Enter your Podcast name, its description, category of the podcast, and language in which it will be recorded. Make sure you avoid keyword stuffing here and be careful about the category of the podcast because this information will show up on podcast directories.

Once you’re finished with this part, you’ll be asked to upload a podcast art. Anchor has a placeholder generator that you can use temporarily. It is advisable to use this placeholder for submission purposes only. You can also use a photo from Unsplash, or upload your own.

After you click on “Update Cover Art”, you can make your podcast go live!

Interacting with people on your podcast: 

Conversations, interviews, and collaborations are some of the best formats to make a podcast interesting, and Anchor makes it super easy for you to connect with people. You can have a co host or a guest on your show by using the Record with Friends feature of Anchor. This feature allows you to connect with 10 people at the same time while recording the conversation at the same time. You can use this feature and connect with anyone across the globe, record a podcast together, for free! You can even find a new co host for your podcast on Anchor. All you have to do is, select a topic in Anchor co hosts.

You’ll be automatically paired with someone who is already talking or is interested in talking about the same topic. At the end of the recording, all the Co hosts can add it to their profile as a new podcast episode.

Distributing your podcast using an anchor:

Your podcast will be automatically available on Anchor as soon as you add an episode. But if you want to publish it on other platforms, like iTunes, Overcast, Spotify, Google Play Music, Pocket Casts, and more, all you need to do is click on “Distribute my podcast everywhere.” Your podcast will be automatically submitted to all the selected podcasting platforms. You’ll be notified when it becomes available in these places. The entire process takes about 24-48 hours.

If you’d like to make your podcast available on additional platforms that are not listed as the ones they automatically distribute to, you can use the RSS option in the settings to do so. After you distribute it once, your settings will be saved and you’ll be able to sync the streaming of future episodes easily.

Growing your audience: 

As soon as you set up your podcast, start telling your friends and family about it. Furthermore, you can promote your podcast in the following ways:

  1. Share your anchor profile: If you have an Anchor profile, you’ll also be provided with a URL for your podcast. As you share this with people, anyone who clicks on the URL will be led to your podcast. The best thing about anchor is that your profile has links to all the podcasting platforms where your podcast is being streamed. so you won’t have to think much about what link to share. One link has it all!
  2. Link your podcast to your blog: If you already have a website or even a blog, you can always make use of it and promote your podcast by embedding it there. You can get your embed code from your Anchor profile.
  3. Transcribe your podcast to text: Anchor can automatically transcribe audio files shorter than 3 minutes. You can make use of it and share the transcribed video on social channels.

You can use Maestra to automatically transcribe your podcasts that are longer than 3 minutes. Maestra is a transcription tool that can automatically transcribe your audio files to text:

Audio transcripts contain keywords which provide a gist of your content. Posting these transcripts in different places allows search engines to index & rank your content. You can also reach a global audience by adding multilingual subtitles provided by tools like Maestra.

Wrap Up

Anchor can be a good option for beginners to start making a podcast. It’s simple and easy to use features provide a solid solution for all your podcasting needs!

Happy Podcasting!

Author Bio

Aaron Johnson is head of business development and content creation at Maestra, an automatic cloud-based editing software that can transcribe, caption, and voiceover video & audio files to 50+ languages in just minutes, enabling content creators to reach a wider audience all over the world. 

Website – https://maestrasuite.com/

About the author

Editorial Staff

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