Do Not Skip This Step Before You Start Your Podcast

So you’re finally starting your podcast. You’ve been told for years that you should have one, and you’re finally doing it. You book the studio. You have a great name for your show, you have your vibe nailed down, you scheduled your first guests. You can really see it taking shape in your head - the clips, the content, the aesthetic - the whole thing.

But then you sit down to record… and it just doesn’t hit the way you thought it would.

It feels a little scattered. A little off. The next guest you book feels a little disjointed from the first. You push through it but things start to feel misaligned. 

This is super common and usually happens because you skipped the most important step when starting a podcast. (And arguably the most obvious) 

Before you do anything else, you need to answer one question: Why are you doing this?

Genuinely ask yourself - why are you doing this? Not the version you’d say on Instagram or in your show’s description for Spotify. What is the real reason? 

If your reason is super clear and it feels palatable to share publicly - write it down and share it with your producers, your audience, your guests - bake it into the description of the show and basically put it everywhere.  

Here are some examples of show purposes that are “palatable”:

You want more people to know your brand.
You want more clients.
You want visibility for a specific cause, a passion project, or you want to tell a story.

Love all of those reasons - you should share that purpose boldly so the direction of your podcast is very clear to the outside world, particularly your production team, your studio, your editor and your guests.  It will give everyone total clarity on what the goal is and your podcast will feel 10/10 going forward. 

Now here is where this gets really tricky: For many podcasters, the true reason for starting a podcast can actually be way more personal; so personal that you wouldn’t dream of speaking it out loud. For example: 

You want to start a podcast because you just love talking to people and are good at it.
Or you want your story out there so your legacy exists in the ether.
Or you’re wanting something bigger in your career.
Or you want to build a name for yourself.
Or you want to monetize your content so you can quit your day job.
Or you have something to say and you’re done holding it in.
Or you want to show your father-in-law that you are worthy. 

All of that is real. We see it all the time. It’s vulnerable, raw and real. Here’s the thing - the people who actually stick with podcasting all do this one thing early: They have the capacity to acknowledge to themselves why they’re actually doing this and are brave enough to share that real reason with their team behind the scenes. They even write it down. “I want to be famous.” – if that’s what you want, write that down, sister. One sentence. Just for yourself.

That sentence will become how you make decisions.

If your goal is to drive business, everything will start to align around that. Your guests, your topics, your brand, your messaging - it all connects back to what you offer.

If you’re doing it because you love it, then your setup needs to feel easy. You should want to show up and record. It should feel like something you’re excited about, not something you’re forcing.

If you’re focused on sharing something specific - knowledge, a message, a perspective - then your episodes need to be thoughtful. People need a reason to come back and stay engaged.

At PodPlus Studios, we see every version of this. People building brands. People starting fresh. People finally doing the thing they’ve been thinking about forever. The difference is always the same - the ones who keep going know exactly why they started.

Before you record anything, take a minute and be honest with yourself.

Why are you doing this?Write it down. And if you’re brave, keep it somewhere you’ll see every time you go to record your podcast. If you’re using Podcast Brilliance for example, you can add it to your dashboard. 

If you now why you’re doing this recording a podcast thing - and truly, truly know what your motivation is - your show will take off.