EP 30. How to Start a Podcast: 10 Real Lessons from 30 Episodes

Only 10% of podcasts reach 20 episodes. Even fewer hit 30. So for this milestone episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on what it actually takes to build a podcast that sticks - the wins, the mistakes, and the things I'd do differently from day one.

Whether you're thinking about launching your own show or you're already in the trenches, in this episode, you'll get 10 lessons from my own experience of launching and running the CEO Declassified podcast. 

🔍 IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL UNCOVER:

• Why getting crystal clear on your podcast direction before you hit record changes everything
• The simple setup that works (and why you don't need a $500 mic to get started)
• The magic number of episodes to launch with (and the math that backs it up)
• Why video is still king, even if you're recording in your pajamas
• The one habit that helped me find content gold inside every transcript
• Why guest podcasting (in both directions) is one of the fastest growth levers you're probably underusing

🗂️ CASE EVIDENCE FROM THIS FILE:

• "I don't want you to keep your genius in a cage and not let other people get to know you and your expertise through a podcast."
• "Promote your podcast like it's a paid product."
• "The best way to promote your podcast is to be a guest on other people's podcasts."
• "The real work starts when you actually start posting."

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Descript (recording + editing): https://get.descript.com/znzxb70s8kr9
• Buzzsprout (podcast hosting): https://www.buzzsprout.com/
• DJI Mic: https://amzn.to/4v9x6jD
• Maono microphone (~$60): https://amzn.to/48q8NEi
• Audacity: https://www.audacityteam.org/

📌 LET’S CONNECT ON SOCIALS:

• Instagram: @jelenaostrovska
• Threads: @jelenaostrovska
• Facebook: Jelena Ostrovska
• YouTube: Jelena Ostrovska
• LinkedIn: Jelena Ostrovska

🔐 WORK WITH ME:

🗃️ [Course] The Content Confidential – Build Content That Positions, Persuades & Converts

📲 [Private Coaching] Learn more about 1:1 support (strategy sessions or ongoing consulting here)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Did you know that only about 10% of podcasts actually make it to 20 episodes? And even less make it to 30 episodes. So this is episode 30 of CEO D classified. So I'm super excited to bring you this episode because I'm going to share with you 10 major lessons that I got from running a podcast and some recommendations for you if you're looking to start your own podcast this year. And now, quick preface. I didn't start this podcast on a random Tuesday. I've actually had it on my vision board since 2016 to start a podcast, but the time just never felt right. Or I simply said to myself, I don't know how to run it, I don't know if I can handle it. I don't know if it's gonna be the right move for myself. And last year, in 2025, I decided to finally pull the trigger and start the podcast. Now, there have been a lot of lessons and reflections on the things that I learned, the things that I maybe messed up while running a podcast, and then the things that I know can be improved. So I wanted to share these lessons and reflections with you in this episode because I want you to be more prepared when you do decide to launch a podcast so you know exactly what you need to do. So let's dive into the lessons. First of all, lesson number one is I want you to get crystal clear on the direction of your podcast. Why do you want to start it? What do you want to share in there? Do you want it to be just solo episodes of yourself? Do you want it to be only with guests? Do you only want to run it seasons? Because for my podcast, it's currently an ongoing season. I don't think I'm gonna have seasons anytime soon. It's just a one big thing. But there are podcasts that are more seasonal, so they are kind of like Bridgerton, right? So they release a couple of episodes, and that's all that your audience are gonna be getting. Or if you want to run it similar to how I'm running mine, where I basically have one episode right now is solo, the next week is a guest, then the next week is me, then the next week is another guest. So that's how I structured it once I started bringing in the guests. Because initially I started it just as solo. I wanted to build the audience up a little bit before I started bringing in the guests. So once you know the direction you want to take your podcast to, then you want to build the strategy. And we're gonna talk about, you know, building out the content calendar for the episodes. But I want you to think to yourself, what is the ideal way for you to run a podcast? Do you want to have short episodes? And how do you also want to run it? Do you want to be able to record it in your pyjama? Because that's going to look very differently than the kind of setup that I have for my podcast, where I have both the video, then I have the audio. Maybe you're only going to have the audio and you only want to do short punchy episodes, like five to seven minutes, five to ten minutes, and you may even want to release several a week, and you just want to focus on quick bite-sized lessons for your community. And then one of the strategic aspects is I want you to think about the tools that you're going to use. And by tools, I mean specifically software, where you're going to be recording it, because this is something that I initially did not think too much through. I was like, oh, I'm just going to record a video and I'm going to extract the audio from it. And I think even right now my setup may not necessarily be perfect because I'm editing separately the audio because it's being recorded on this microphone that you see on my YouTube channel. And then I have the this microphone, the small DJI mic that's clips to my shirt that's connected to my camera. Now, is there a better way? There probably is, but I haven't figured out a way to connect my camera to the main microphone. And I also like the quality that DJI mic produces for my YouTube channel. That works out great. So you want to think what kind of software that you're going to be using and how you're going to be recording it, because there are voice memos on your phone, which is like the easiest thing I think there is. There is Audacity, which is where I originally started. I was also playing with like Adobe and I was playing with like all these different video editors. And I was like, I just need something simple. I don't need another headache. I want the podcast to run smoothly. And then eventually I upgraded to Descript, which is what I'm using right now when I record the guest interviews because the quality is very much crisp, a lot better than it is when you record on Zoom, in my experience. And then I'm also recording the audio versions through the script right now. So it's right there in the editor, and I don't have to take up space on my computer. My video episodes also get dropped straight into the script because I'm recording this in 4K quality. So those types of videos are taking a lot of freaking space, and my laptop physically cannot hold that. So the script really solves that issue for me. It's just hosts everything on the cloud. And then straight from the script, I can upload it into my YouTube channel. And in terms of the audio, I download everything, I organize everything through Google Drive, and then I put them up into BuzzSprout. So BuzzSprout is the podcast hosting platform that I'm using. It's very simple, easy to use. I started out on a free account and I think I ran it for about three months. And then you need to pay, I believe it's$19 a month. And it's very easy. The distribution across all the platforms is very quickly. I was approved to Apple Podcasts and like Spotify and all these other platforms fairly quickly. So my recommendation is start there. It's a really easy-to-use platform. Number two is I want you to create a setup that works for you. So, like I said earlier, if you are somebody who likes to record in pyjama and your intention for the podcast is not to bother with video content, then just set it up this way and don't back away. And also make sure it is something that you can actually stick to. Because if you overextend yourself and you decide, no, I'm going to do it on video and I'm going to post it on my YouTube and I'm going to take the short clips, repurpose them on social media, make sure it is something that you can sustain. Because if you're doing the editing yourself, it does take quite a bit of time. Although I will say the script does save a lot of the editing time. That's why I switched to that because all these AI capabilities that the script has really save you on the editing time. And even if you do have an editor, I would recommend for them to use the script and then they can use whatever fancy editing software that they want. And remember, you don't need anything complicated, you don't need any$500 or$1,000 microphone or cameras and fancy setups. I have a pretty simple setup. Now it's more advanced than what I used to have when I first started my YouTube channel, because in the beginning, you can just use your phone. Your camera is going to be just fine. Just use the cinematic mode. Use back camera to record because I will say the quality is going to be pretty much as good as my Sony ZV1 that I use. So I wouldn't really see the need to upgrade to a camera if your phone is like iPhone 15 or 16 or whatever the heck it is right now. And then make sure that you invest in a good microphone. So I have this one. So I'm showing it on my YouTube channel for those of you who are watching on video. If you're on audio, yeah, I'm just showing the DJI mic with the like fluffy little thing at the top. So I have the older version. I bought it before the new one came out. And it's good. I would get the new one. If I were you, if you're listening to this, I would get the new one because you can connect it to your phone, you can connect it to your camera if you have one. And then I have this microphone right here. I'm going to leave all the links down below to Amazon. Uh so this one is called, I believe, Maono, and it was like$50 and it has really good quality sound. Maybe not as good as road microphones and all these fancy ones, but it does get the job done. And I use it also to record my programs, anything that I do paid in terms of like my offer suite and whatnot. So I do recommend starting with something like that that can give you crisp audio. Because if you're not going to invest in anything whatsoever when it comes to your podcast, make sure you do get a decent microphone. Lesson number three, batch your podcast episodes in advance. If there's one thing that I can tell you, when you are launching your podcast, please record as many episodes as you can. When I decided to launch mine, I've actually pushed back the launch date of my podcast by, I want to say one or two months, because I just wanted to make sure that I had all the episodes ready to go. I wanted to make sure they're all edited, that I've had all the show notes and you know all the extra things that the podcast's episodes require for you to have for you to launch. And I basically ended up recording 12 or 13 episodes. Mind you, they were both audio and video. So I did those, and then essentially all I had to do was do the editing for them. But when you launch, keep in mind that you are going to be busy promoting your podcast because you still want to give each episode enough attention. And I'm going to talk about with how many episodes I recommend launching. And you're going to have a lot of content that you're going to be able to promote. You're going to have a lot of organic content for your social media. So that is the one thing that I really love podcasts and YouTube channels for, is that long form content just gives so much to your social media content because you have so many abilities to repurpose, especially if you have the video. And I want you to also factor in when you are launching a podcast and when you are batching, especially if you do video, because you want to make sure that you have your setup. Like I do not record my podcast episodes anywhere besides this spot right here. Because I have my camera, I have my lights, I have my microphone. It's convenient, right? The way I set it up, it works. And I know that I'm like at a specific length away from my camera. So that way I can turn the videos into short form videos, into you know, reels and YouTube shorts. So you want to make sure that you have a comfortable setup. If you have just an audio podcast, it does simplify your life a little bit. You can record wherever you are. But if you do decide to go for video like myself, you want to make sure that you also know what's happening after you launch your podcast. Are you traveling somewhere? Are you going somewhere? Are you gonna be away? Are you not gonna have access to your regular setup for a while? So you want to plan slightly far in advance. So just in case something happens, you have at least, in my opinion, a month's worth of episodes ready. So if it's a weekly episode, you would essentially have four episodes. So I would also batch in advance. And actually, me recording this right now, I am batching this episode for the end of March because I came to the month of March and I was like, oh, I actually have to record this week's podcast episode, right? Because I have been booking the guests, which you have been hearing on the previous episodes, and there's more common in the future episodes, that I was like, okay, I actually need to sit down and batch my solo episodes. Lesson number four is have a calendar that you're going to stick to. Consistency with podcasts is so important, just like with anything. And I don't want to be annoying and keep repeating that consistency is key, but it really is because there are so many people who start things, especially podcasts, and then things don't work out or they don't give it enough time, and then they just abandon the project altogether and then they come back to it way later, if they even do come back to that, which I'm not saying this to shame anybody, that's totally fine. I've started projects in the past that I abandoned and I decided, well, I'm either gonna get back to them whenever I feel fit or I'm never gonna get back to them. So, but if you are serious about your podcast, I highly recommend for you to have a calendar because you want to make sure that you are one ahead of the schedule so that you are on time, so you're not scrambling to edit the episodes last minute. And this is actually the mistake that I made in the very beginning. I overestimated how much I can get done in a short amount of time. And some weeks I would literally edit on the day of the publishing, and then I wouldn't have the energy or the capacity to promote because I would spend the time on writing the show notes, even though AI does help with that. And I would still spend the time on editing the videos and the audios, and then I have the client work that I have to do, and then my regular content and all the other things that I do in the business. So make sure that you do have a calendar that you stick to so you can have a look at a glance. You can look at the calendar, let's say for the month of April, and you say to yourself, okay, so I have four episodes, I'm publishing them. Let's say for me, I publish each Friday. So you know that for each Friday, you need to make sure that you have them edited by at least Wednesday. In an ideal scenario, I would also encourage you to schedule them because through a platform like Buzz Sprout, you can schedule the episodes with guests. For example, I typically aim to schedule so I can let the guests ahead of time know that hey, this episode is going live at so-and-so time. I will tag you, I will share it out on social media and things like that. Lesson number five. This is actually coming from all the podcasting strategists that I have learned from when I was first launching a podcast. Their recommendation, and I will say my recommendation as well, is launch your podcast with at least three to five episodes so you can increase the number of downloads on day one. Because when you only launch one episode, that's it. That's all you're giving people. But you want to think strategically about the topics that you really want to be known for and the topics that people will be interested in, binging, because you're essentially rolling it out like a series, which is something that you can do. You can roll out your podcast with, let's say you create a signature series and you talk about maybe like a specific topic or a specific transformation that you take people through, it could be three episodes, could be five. I personally launched with five because I am an overachiever. So I was like, I'm gonna launch with five so I can maximize the downloads. Because think about it from the math perspective. If you only launch with one episode and you get 50 downloads, that's all you're getting, which is still good. But if you're launching with five, multiply that and you're gonna get 250 downloads. If we're conservative, maybe you're gonna get like 180, 200, because not every single person who listens to episode one is gonna go ahead and listen to episode two, three, four, and five right away. So, but you're still going to triple or quadruple the amount of downloads that you're gonna get in the first couple of days of your launch. Lesson number six, I would highly recommend having some sort of video component to your podcast because video is truly king, especially in the age of AI. And I know I keep saying this actually in every single podcast episode, probably every time we talk about the content and the video, people want to see your face. And in my opinion, even if you are going to be just recording in the pajama and not bothering with the video, I would still add the promotional videos for your podcast later. Let's say if your podcast episode is 10 minutes, I would get on camera after you've recorded that episode and take one or two key points from that episode, turn them into video clips. Literally get on camera, record it, record it from scratch, and I would do it this way. If you are recording your podcast, let's say you're recording on the computer and you do have the capacity to set your, for example, tripod in front of you. So maybe like from the side, and that way you have footage of yourself talking. And I would do it this way. So you can literally record the entire thing. You don't have to post it anywhere, but you will take the long form clip and trim it down into short form clips. And that's actually another benefit of using the script because it does it for you automatically. It finds the best possible clips from your video without you having to do it manually. And no, this is not a sponsored video. I was never never paid by the script. Maybe I should be, maybe I should reach out to them. But I genuinely love the platform and it's really great for editing. And the reason why I always preach video is not just because of AI this and AI that, it's also because you can do so much more with video than you can with audio. Audios are not necessarily going to perform that good on Instagram. Even those podcast graphics that people used to post in like 2020, 2016, they don't really perform as good anymore. People just scroll past them. Lesson number seven is promote your podcast like it's a paid product. Here's what I will say. Myself included, and every single or almost every single podcast host are not promoting their podcast enough. We're not talking enough about our work and enough about our episodes. Because think to yourself, if you do have a podcast, so if you already have a show, what do you do when you're promoting it? Maybe you do have a very extensive promotional plan, and that's amazing. But if you don't, if you only share on your stories, maybe you send an email to your list, not for every episode, you're not really talking about your podcast on your feed, even your guests, you m may only promote it on your stories. Maybe you drop a little thread, maybe you talk about it in your Substack, but nothing consistent. Now, I was doing a review of my podcast, and I was like, okay, I've actually not promoted it enough to get exposed to more audiences. I've literally mostly promoted through my stories, I've promoted to my email list. I have not even promoted this as much to my Facebook community. So your chances are not promoting it enough. So I want you to also put more effort, and I'm saying this to myself as well. When you are launching an episode, let's say next Friday, right? I'm putting up a new episode. My goal will always be to take at least three to five clips from each episode, put them out there. And then what you do through your transcript as well really matters because you can find so much content through your podcast episodes. Like this episode, I literally outlined and scripted right before recording on the day because I had an idea of what I was going to talk about. I just needed to have like notes. And I have my notes on the computer, right? And then once I look through the transcript, I know I'm going to find quotes and any important moments that I included or something that I said that was like, oh wow, I should probably talk about it in my piece of content to promote that episode. Now, and something that I do with all of my transcripts, and I'm doing more and more of that as we speak, is look at the transcripts and then I typically run them through ChatGPT and tell the robot to extract any quotes, any valuable insights that I share throughout the episode that I can turn into a piece of content. Because I, even though do have a script or like a bullet point script for this episode, so I literally have it on my notes up here on my computer. But I know for a fact that sometimes I can say something that I have not planned for, and it can be a really great piece of content, and then I can promote my podcast episode this way. Lesson number eight, talk about your podcast everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean anywhere you go, networking events, any kind of personal events, parties. You never know who's going to be interested in your podcast, because I'm gonna give you an example. Okay, so I went last year to Vietnam and I went on a tour to Bonner Hills, and I ended up being on a tour with a couple of people. It was a small tour, I think it was about eight or nine of us, and I ended up talking to several people, and you know, like when you just like talk to uh other travelers, like what they're doing, what they are up to, what do they do for work, stuff like that. And then I brought up a podcast, and it's always an interesting topic, apparently. I did not know that there would be an interest in that. And yeah, so I just wanted to make sure that you do talk about your podcast everywhere you go because people are interested in information that they can listen to, because there's a lot more people who listen to podcasts than you even think about. So now I personally bring it up anywhere I can because I know a lot of people can get value from the podcast. They typically finish the podcast episodes in full versus on YouTube. People may watch 20-30% of your video podcasts. We typically play them. I even notice this from myself. It's very rare when I don't finish an episode because I typically want to listen to the entire thing. So talk about it everywhere you go. If you go to a networking event, make sure you have your podcast name handy and yeah, people will get to know your work that way. And then you never know when a listener is going to become a paid client. Lesson number nine: guest podcasting is one of the best ways to grow your podcast. And I mean both ways. Somebody said this, I believe in the Facebook group, they said the best way to promote your podcast is to be a guest on other people's podcasts. And there's also such a term called podcast swap. I've done it with a couple of people already. There have been a couple of uh guests that I've had where they have been on my podcast and then I have been on theirs, and we've cross-promoted to our communities. And when you are a guest on another person's show, first of all, you are bringing more attention to yourself, you're getting exposed to their community. And then when somebody gets on your podcast and then they share it with their community as well, then your audience also grows. So I would encourage you, even if you don't have Guests on your show, or maybe you're planning to bring them on later, still make an effort to be on other people's podcasts. And this piece of advice applies to everybody because it's a great visibility strategy. But you want to make sure that you go to aligned podcasts. And I, it's such an overused word, aligned, but you want to make sure that the community of that person, of that show, can really be the right community for you. You don't just want to go to every single podcast under the sun, but you want to find specific ones that will both benefit them and will also benefit you. And then don't just go to podcasts and show up and then leave. Make sure you still build relationships with those people. And then when you do also bring guests and go on other people's podcasts as a guest, make sure that you build relationships with those hosts. Because I've noticed in the podcasting world, people do go on a lot of shows, but then they sometimes just get on there and then they leave. You never know when any connection is gonna go, like where that connection is gonna go. So build relationships because the people who host podcasts, they're not just a podcaster, they're also a human being who might have a business, who might have something that they're working on. So you never know when that relationship is gonna go somewhere. So don't take it for granted. And lesson number 10, last but certainly not least, you will suck in the beginning and things will not probably work the way you want them to work. But it's better to start sooner rather than later. I don't want you to wait 10 years to start a podcast. I don't want you to keep your genius in a cage and not let other people get to know you and your expertise through a podcast, especially if you have felt the nudge to start it. Because I have felt the nudge to start a podcast for years, but there have been so many different factors that I just couldn't do it. So I said to myself, my speech isn't that great. My accent is too bad. Nobody's gonna understand me. I need to script my videos. And some of them were actually valid. I do believe that if I were to start my podcast in 2016, it probably wouldn't have been as good as it is today, dare I say. My speech is a lot better than how I used to speak in 2016 with my thick Russian accent. I want you to realistically look at your business where it is right now and think to yourself, does the podcast actually fit into my entire strategy? Do I have the capacity? If you're going to especially start and just edit episodes yourself, do you have the capacity to edit them? If you don't, can you allocate the budget to where you're going to hire somebody who's going to support you with the editing? And follow every single step that I shared throughout this episode because the setup really matters, how you record the episode matters, how you launch also matters, and also how you promote. Because just planning and recording an episode is one thing, but the real work starts when you actually start posting. I want to hear from you. Do you have a podcast already or are you considering starting one in the near future? DM me on Instagram and let's have a chat. If you do have a podcast and you are looking for guests, or you're looking to do a potential guest swap where you interview me on your podcast and then I interview you on my podcast. I would love to see if that would be a good fit. So I'll leave my Instagram down below into the show notes or in the description on YouTube. So I'm looking forward to speaking with you. You've been listening to CEO Declassified, where the secrets to power, presence, and profit are no longer undercover. If today's intel hit home, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, or share this with a fellow CEO. Want more behind the scenes intel? Come say hi on Instagram, Yelena Ostrowska, or check the show notes for more. Until next time, stay sharp, break the rules, and stay on the case.