It is surprising how much work is actually needed to create and distribute a podcast. If we knew this before we started, would we do this project? Of course! If we did it again, would things be better and easier? Obviously, but where is the fun in that?
This blog is going to cover the main steps in creating a five-star piece of content and the key learning points of this project. So, let’s begin.
Let me introduce eCom@One with Richard Hill, the podcast for all the eCommerce lovers out there, the CEO of eCommerce sites that want to increase their sales or the digital marketer that wants to improve their knowledge.
eCom@One is a weekly eCommerce podcast where Richard interviews some of the most passionate people in eCommerce. He hosts a whole range of guests from, CEO of eCommerce stores to industry experts.
This podcast is unfiltered, raw and damn right insightful; nothing is out of bounds on our podcast.
We have recorded episodes with our idols (cough, Greg Gifford, ey Andy), £multimillion business owners and CEOs with real stories, real challenges and real triumphs. We want to celebrate, educate and add that je ne sais quoi for our target audience.
The journey of this podcast was not plain sailing for any of us in the slightest, it was largely new territory and learning on the job was our method.
However, it was so much fun! The process was certainly not linear, but let’s take a look at some of the biggest steps that were the reason I have gone grey at 23.
Firstly, we needed a name. As Richard Hill is the host we toyed with the idea of calling it the Richard Hill show but it was felt this was a little too ‘cliche’, so after much discussion eCom@One with Richard Hill was a perfect fit.
What followed next was a few months of going around in circles. We experimented with a range of podcasting platforms to find the one that suits us. Podcast.co was the winner due to its ability to one-click distribution. Working in an SME means you are busy, you have a lot of hats, and this technology allows you to reduce the time needed to distribute your podcast to the main players.
However, we didn’t think the look of the podcast.co on our website was good enough for what we were trying to achieve. So, we opted for an additional podcast host called Fusebox, that displays the podcast on our website much more professionally and is pleasing to the eye.
Next was the fun bit, design. We needed a logo and it needed to be good. We used our design partners to create a logo that incorporates our brand with the nature of the podcast. Dare I say it myself, it is perfect. As Richard is the host, it is only natural for him to be shown on the logo for his personal and professional branding.
What followed next was the process of getting the web page up to scratch, utilising the copy on the website to entice people to listen to our latest project.
Take a look at the main podcast page here.
We had to decide what content we wanted to include on our website. We chose the main page, an episode page and an individual guest page. This increases the longevity of a podcast episode, making sure it does not get lost in the noise. Once we have a certain number of episodes, we are going to add a search feature to the episode page, so people can search for a certain guest to improve the user experience.
Of course, we had to get our fabulous design partners, United Agency, to design our promotional materials. Our brief got sent off to the team, and they created our vision, a graphic that incorporates our brand throughout.
Take a look at our Lead Technical Engineers below:
Equipment is one of the most important aspects of a podcast, it has to be high quality, otherwise, the whole process is a waste of time. We use ROAD for our microphones and the quality is incredible! Lockdown has provided us with a few challenges in regards to the quality of our episodes. The quality of the audio created through ZOOM, isn’t as good as quality of the audio using our equipment in the office, but that can’t be helped.
What comes next has to be the most exciting, yet frustrating part of the whole process. Getting the right guests. We conduct thorough research to find people that fit our criteria.
We choose our guests based on these two objectives:
- To increase awareness
- To add value and educate our audience
Our guests need to be experts in their field and have a passion for eCommerce.
I remember the day when Richard went, Carrianne, I want you to get Jeff Bezos on my podcast. So Jeff, if you are reading this, contact Richard directly for your time to shine.
I’m not going to lie, we set our sights high and I love that, but it has led to some ignored emails and messages. This is frustrating for us as we want to educate our audience with the best but understand how busy these masterminds are!
We adapt our questions to suit every guest’s career experience and interest, conducting thorough research before we choose the questions.
Richard often does a mantra before each episode, psyching himself up and getting his energy levels where they need to be to perform his best. Then it’s editing time.
Our expert editor, Brandon Foster, does his magic. Editing the recordings on Audacity, adding music and snipping sections out. We keep the podcasts as authentic as possible but making sure they live up to the quality we expect.
We love listening to the episodes, as not only does it provide expertise for our listeners but we learn insane amounts too. This allows us to constantly improve our services to our clients and that is our aim.
After our episode is ready, we upload it to our publishing software on a schedule. Monday morning comes around and it goes out. We create Audiograms using Headliner, promote on all social media platforms and create Facebook Ads. We are starting to investigate the use of Twitter Ads, so keep your eyes peeled.
There are more steps that are included in the process of releasing an episode, such as the transcript and uploading the guest page but that isn’t as interesting as the ones above. I have personally learned so much throughout this project, so check out my learning points below.
Checklists
In my last job, I managed my own workload, so I knew exactly what was going on. I communicated directly with my manager so we were on the same page. But, when more than two people join the team, the dynamic changes and systems need to be in place.
This project had a surprising number of steps involved, so a checklist keeps me and the team organised. We use spreadsheets, Trello and slack to make sure we are on the same page and ultimately, things are getting done.
Communication
Leadership and communication go hand in hand in my opinion. As a team, we all hold a very important role in delivering a final piece. If someone doesn’t complete one step, the podcast does not deliver on its promise.
We all communicate regularly, with repeated meetings, a dedicated channel and communication in the office. It is imperative that tasks are fully understood and expectations are set in place to get things done on time and to a high standard.
Finally, two-way communication is a must. Leading this project without the support and understanding of the team is not an option. We work together with a very growth mindset approach, collaboratively.
G̵i̵n̵ oh Wait, Deadlines
There is nothing like a deadline to get you moving, right? Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines are a must for any project. If you don’t have deadlines in place you can find yourself taking a long time to get anything done.
If your deadlines aren’t realistic, make them achievable. Nothing reduces the quality or experience of a project, then an unrealistic deadline.
Reflection and Experimentation
Success with marketing comes down to three things. Understanding your target audience, experimenting to find out what works well and analysing and reflecting to find out what achieves your desired results.
We constantly reflect, experiment and analyse with this project. After all, what’s the point if no-one is hearing about it?
So, this is the quick version of how we created a five-star podcast, and I hope you enjoyed this rollercoaster journey with us.
If this gets you excited and you want to listen to eCom@One with Richard Hill, you can listen on Apple here, Spotify here, Stitcher here or on our website here.
If you want to find out more information on how you can create your show-stopping podcast, feel free to drop me an email on carrianne@ecomone.com or hello@ecomone.com.
