481 - How to Start a Podcast and Still Be Around 12 Years Later

If you would like to learn how to start a podcast and still be around 12 years later, you will want to listen to this episode. In it, I share a powerful conversation with Laura McClellan, host of The Productive Woman podcast, who took my Podcasting A to Z course more than twelve years ago and has now published over five hundred episodes.

Laura almost never launched her show. She recorded her first episode, then let fear stop her for six months before finally deciding to publish an episode she recorded from a closet with a handheld recorder. What followed was a body of work that has touched thousands of people around the world.

This conversation is part of my Where Are They Now? series, where I sit down with students who went through my course 10 to 15 years ago to explore what it actually looks like to keep showing up with your voice over the years.

Insights from My Conversation with Laura

• Starting a podcast can begin as a personal, creative outlet long before it becomes something that serves others.
• Fear and self-doubt are often part of the beginning, even for people who later become incredibly consistent creators.
• You do not need a platform or an audience to start. You only need a willingness to speak and press publish.
• A simple weekly cadence creates momentum that compounds over time.
• Listener feedback, even from one person, can be the fuel that keeps you going.
• Podcasting builds community in ways that are difficult to predict when you first begin.
• Taking a sabbatical or stepping away can be part of a long creative life.
• It is easier for many people to speak than to write, which makes podcasting a powerful medium for sharing ideas.
• Tools and technology continue to evolve, making it easier than ever to create and distribute high-quality content.
• The true reward of podcasting is not downloads or stats, but the impact your voice has on real people.

Links and Resources

• Laura’s Podcast In Apple Podcasts
• Laura's Podcast in Spotify
• Laura McClellan’s website: TheProductiveWoman.com
• Podcasting A to Z
• What Are You Creating? podcast

Where Are They Now?

This is a special series inside my What Are You Creating? podcast that begins with Episode 27. In this series, I sit down with people who went through my Podcasting A to Z course more than a decade ago and chose to keep creating.

These are long-term podcasters who have published hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of episodes over the last ten to fifteen years. Each conversation looks back on what it was like to begin, what it took to keep going, and how their lives and work have evolved through years of using their voice. You can find the series starting at Episode 27 by clicking here.

Podcasting A to Z

Laura’s story is not special because she decided to begin and kept showing up.

If you have been thinking about starting a podcast, relaunching one that has gone quiet, or bringing new life to something you already created, my next session of Podcasting A to Z is starting soon.

This is the same program Laura went through and it is where I personally walk you through every step of creating a great-sounding audio podcast with clarity, confidence, and a proven plan.

You can find all the details at PodcastingAtoZ.com.