The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Podcasting

Gorgeous humans,

For a huge chunk of this podcast’s life I recorded it with my phone shoved down my bra on the school run… no dot points, no plan, not one single clue what was about to come out of my mouth… and it has now passed 250,000 DOWNLOADS, which is a quarter of a million listens for a show that started its life in my bra, and I STILL don’t edit the intros perfectly.

So Tam and I are spilling the whole behind-the-scenes bizzo… the gear (a lil bit fancy, mostly not), the editing shortcut that saves me HOURS, and the Claude prompt that writes my show notes, because I would genuinely rather not have a podcast than write show notes. They are my arch nemesis and I hate them with the fire of seven billionty suns.

For anyone who’s been sitting on a podcast idea for yearrrrs because you don’t have the right mic or the right name or some imaginary organised version of yourself who plans things.

And if you started a podcast, went quiet, and now feel weird about coming back… you don’t need an apology episode, possum. Just come back and hit publish.

In this episode:

• 🎙️ Why this show was first called “Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised”, and when a niche name helps you grow faster
• 📒 My goals workbooks have had about six names, and why renaming stuff is totally fine
• 📱 Starting with just your phone or laptop… no studio, no ring light, no fuss
• 🎤 The Rode NT-USB mic Tam’s husband talked her into, and why I copied her
• ✂️ Editing in Riverside by deleting words straight from the transcript
• 💡 Our fortnightly yap sessions, the 200-idea Google doc, and our new 30-minute experiment
• 🤖 The Claude prompt that writes my show notes, micro-content and title ideas
• 📺 Why about half our listeners WATCH us on YouTube (Chris has a theory)

Key takeaways:

• Done is better than perfect. A quarter of a million downloads and the intros still aren’t perfectly edited.
• You don’t have to be beholden to yesterday’s decisions… names, formats and schedules all get to change.
• Make it doable for YOUR brain. If “record at my desk every Tuesday” won’t happen, record on the school run.
• Stretch the budget a lil for one good mic and you won’t need another for years. Tam’s is six years old and still going.
• Edit from the transcript instead of scrubbing through audio looking for that one bit.
• Social media is short form, podcasts are long form, and long form is where people really get to know, like and trust you. One good clip a week plus a comment-for-the-link automation does the job.
• Pop the video on YouTube even if it’s just two people talking in a room. People love the company!
• Gone quiet for months? Skip the apology episode and just hit publish.

 

📺 WATCH NOW:

🎧 LISTEN NOW:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• IHeartRadio

🌱 LINKS + RESOURCES:

• Grab my podcast show notes prompt: leoniedawson.com/podprompt
• My free shit page (meditations, colouring books, zines, keynotes + more): leoniedawson.com/free
• Unicorn Biz & Life Academy, including How To Start A Podcast In A Weekend with Michelle Rohr and Grow Your Audience With Podcast Guesting with Lou Hamilton: leoniedawson.com/academy
• Take Action Club: leoniedawson.com/action
• Rode NT-USB microphone
• Riverside (recording + editing): riverside.fm
• Spotify for Creators (distribution): creators.spotify.com
• Fiverr (where we found Anne, who made our intro music): fiverr.com
• Tamara Protassow: tamaraprotassow.com

If this one gave you a kick up the bum to finally start your podcast, please leave us a five-star review! I once cried over getting an A+ instead of an A+++, so honestly, five stars or nothing, babes pleasssse.

Big love,
Leonie xoxo