Podcast planning and proper design can add tremendous value to a podcast. Just because podcasting is cool and effective to reach prospects and customers, and the fact that it is still new — i.e. with far less competition than other media, doesn’t mean that you can jump into producing one and get immediate results.

Perhaps, starting a podcast without planning is the biggest mistake any podcaster could make. Not only will they never get the “right” listeners, but also burn out and lose of interest, which lead to podfading.

It is particularly important as a podcaster, you define the purpose or niche well. Plan for success, know what you are aiming for. After defining the goal, you can then write a plan that could bring you to reach the goal.

According to my desktop dictionary and thesaurus program, planning means:

• An act of formulating a program for a definite course of action
• The act or process of drawing up plans or layouts for some project or enterprise
• The cognitive process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening

Planning involves not only actions you need to take, but also anticipating things before they happen, and what to take if they indeed happen.

Podcast planning and design are two-part process:

1. Before you start the very first podcast, plan for the overall show.
2. For each and every episode, plan for that very episode.

Forget what they have told you about “getting a twenty-minute podcast finished in exactly 20 minutes,” unless, of course, they don’t have an agenda to follow or they really know what they will be talking about and have no chance to forget a thing.

If you are just getting started, planning can help putting everything in its place. Starting a podcast may seem a little daunting at first, especially if you think about the technical aspects and learning curve.

Only by paring it down into smaller bits can you start taking simple step, one at a time and before you know it, you’ve finished the first episode.

This is not to say that you should not avoid any mistake and anticipate everything up front. Far from that. But don’t plan excessively. Just do what is necessary to get started. You will make mistakes, learn and improve along the way.

Also read: Podcast Tutorial.

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