Starting a podcast is exciting! You have a podcast topic you feel great about, you know who your avatar is, and your podcast launch is just a couple weeks away. So should you be worried about things like editing your own podcast?
As you’re quickly finding out, creating a podcast is a good amount of work. Your podcast setup is looking great, but getting your interviews lined up is taking some time.
Great news is, you’ve recorded your first 3 episodes already, and now it’s time to edit, tag, and upload your mp3 files.
As an aside, Libsyn is our podcast host of choice, and you can get the rest of this month AND next month free using our affiliate promo code FIRE!
Your podcast setup
Whether you’re brand new to podcasting or have been podcasting for years, the above scenario is familiar to you.
You’ve done all the legwork to get yourself to launch, and now it’s time to share your message and mission with the world!
But perhaps you didn’t expect, that beyond your podcast setup, there’d be quite a bit of ongoing work involved in producing your podcast.
Finding great guests, getting a recording schedule down, and learning how to edit your episodes consumes a lot of time. And this is typically when many podcasters look to delegate certain aspects of their podcast workflow.
Maybe it’s the upfront work that’s holding you back: researching and getting great guests, or setting up your episode outlines.
Or maybe it’s the post-production: writing your podcast show notes and editing your episodes might be what’s taking you away from actually having time to promote your podcast.
So here’s my straightforward answer to the question “should you be editing your own podcast?”
Yes. At least in the beginning…
How editing your own podcast will help you grow
There are several reasons why editing your own podcast can help you grow. I want to talk about 3 of those ways.
1. You learn how to improve by uncovering your weaknesses
The first 100 episodes of my podcast weren’t the best… and I continue to get better every single time I hit record – even 400 episodes later.
How did I become better?
Well, I definitely improved over time just by practicing – literally by getting on the mic again and again, and becoming more comfortable with recording off outlines and going off-script versus reading every word off a page.
But my biggest -and fastest – improvements came from the editing process.
The editing process not only forced me to listen to myself, but it also showed me in the truest possible way what types of things I didn’t want in my podcast.
There’s no faster way to correct “um’s”, “ah’s”, and repetitive phrases and over-used excitement (like “awesome!” and “amazing!”) than having to sit there and edit dozens of them out of a 10-minute podcast episode.
After spending a half hour editing a 15-minute episode, you better believe the next time I got on the mic I was hyperaware of the things I wanted to improve.
Now editing a 15-minute episode takes me less than 5 minutes, and what I’ve learned from the process is well worth the time investment.
2. Delegating what you don’t know can be tough
I’m a big believer in delegating tasks you understand, and this is coming from someone who lives and breathes systems and efficiency.
If you’re going to go out and hire a professional podcast editor who is seasoned and has been doing this for years, then that’s one thing. Also, plan to pay hundreds of dollars per episode for that type of work.
But if you’re going on Fiverr or hiring a virtual assistant who likely isn’t well-versed in podcast editing – let alone the software required to do it – then how do you expect to get back quality work done the way YOU want it if you can’t even do it yourself?
Learn how to edit, and put in the reps to understand how you want your podcast to be edited. Then if and when you do decide to delegate, I can assure you this will make the process, and your hire’s ability to get it done right, that much easier.
3. “Editing takes a lot of time” is an excuse
Of course this depends on what type of production you’re running, but if you’re recording a simple solo episode – or even an interview – then your time spent editing shouldn’t exceed half of the length of the episode.
For example, if you record a 30 minute podcast episode, your time spent editing that episode shouldn’t exceed 15 minutes – and that’s being generous.
In fact, once you become seasoned at editing and take the time to learn how to do it right (which we teach you in-depth in our paid podcasting course, Podcasters’ Paradise), you should be able to edit a 30-minute episode in 5-7 minutes.
Is editing your own podcast a “forever thing”?
That’s up to you to decide, but if it helps your decision any, we edit every one of our podcast episodes to this day – and we always have. That’s over 3,000 podcast episodes between myself and John – and we’ve never delegated it once.
So if you want to delegate your editing, go for it! I’m not here to stand in your way of doing what you think is best for you and your podcast.
In fact, we highly recommend companies that offer this service, like PodcastPress.io. And yes, that extension means this is our affiliate link, and we will earn a commission if you sign up with them ;)
But hopefully this content has at least given you another perspective: that editing your own podcast episodes can be a huge benefit for your growth, and it doesn’t have to be time consuming task once you learn how to do it.
Ready to create and launch your own podcast the right way? Join John Lee Dumas in our Free Podcast Course today!
