Our courses have helped podcasters for 10+ years
Before Your Start: The Road to Podcast Success
Getting Started in Podcasting: The Simple Path to Starting Your Podcast
You’ve got a podcast idea, but where do you start? Podcast Baby Steps is your step-by-step guide to launching with confidence—without feeling overwhelmed. This course walks you through the most common podcasting questions, giving you clear answers and practical action steps so you can turn your idea into a real show.
✔️ Clarify your podcast idea and format
✔️ Choose the right equipment (without breaking the bank)
✔️ Create a name and branding that attracts listeners
✔️ Set up your website and podcast feed
✔️ Pick the perfect intro music and get ready to record
By the end, you’ll have everything in place to hit record and launch your show—without second-guessing yourself.
🚀 Ready to start your podcast the right way? Start taking those first "baby steps."
Lessons
MOST COMMON QUESTIONS
- First Things First: Your Idea
- Solo Or Co-Host?
- How and Where Will Your Podcast
- What's In a Name? A LOT!
- Hardware
- Software Options Compared.
- The Benefits of Using the Right Web Hosting
- Baby Step 10: Artwork
- Finding LEGAL Music For Your Show
- Everyone Feels Like an Imposter: Do it Anyway
- Audio, Video, or Both
- Would This Help?
For Those Already Podcasting
- Why Isn't My Show Growing?
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Planning Your Podcast
Most podcasters jump straight into buying gear and recording — and then wonder why they burn out six months later. The real work happens before you ever touch a microphone. 🎙️
This course walks you through every question you need to answer before you hit record. You'll get crystal-clear on why you're starting a podcast, who it's actually for, and what will make it worth your listener's time. Skip these questions and you'll spend months chasing a moving target. Answer them now and everything else — your format, your content, your gear decisions — falls into place.
Whether you're starting from scratch or you've already launched and feel like something's "off," this course gives you the foundation every lasting podcast is built on.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ Exactly who your podcast is for and what problem it solves for them
→ Which format and recording setup actually fits your life
→ What your podcast needs to have (and what it doesn't) 💰
→ How much it realistically costs to get started
→ Whether YouTube makes sense for your show from day one
Content is King
Nobody shares a podcast because of the artwork. Nobody tells their friends about a show because of the host's microphone. They share it because the content made them laugh, think, or feel something they couldn't get anywhere else. 🎯
This course helps you figure out exactly what your audience wants to hear — and how to deliver it in a way that keeps them coming back and telling their friends. You'll learn how to generate episode ideas without burning out, how to hook listeners in the first 60 seconds, and how to tell stories that actually land.
Whether you're struggling to come up with topics or just feel like your episodes aren't connecting the way you hoped, this course gives you the tools to make content worth talking about.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to organize your ideas so you never stare at a blank page again
→ What your audience actually wants (and how to ask them)
→ How to hook listeners in the opening seconds of every episode
→ How to use storytelling frameworks that make content more engaging
→ How to use AI to speed up content creation without losing your voice
Podcast Equipment
The gear rabbit hole is real. Spend five minutes on any podcasting forum and you'll find people arguing about microphones that cost more than a car payment. Here's the truth — your listeners will stop listening because of bad audio, but they won't stay because you bought an expensive mic. 🎙️
This course cuts through the noise and shows you exactly what you need to sound professional without blowing your budget. You'll learn how to choose the right microphone for your voice and space, how to connect everything correctly, and how to position your mic so it actually sounds good. We also do a deep dive into the Zoom Podtrak P4 for anyone who wants a dedicated recording setup.
Good audio is mostly about technique, not gear. This course proves it.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ Which microphone actually fits your voice and recording space
→ How to plug everything in correctly the first time
→ The mic placement technique that makes the biggest difference
→ Whether the Zoom Podtrak P4 is the right hardware for your setup
→ How to record remote conversations without a technical disaster
Remote Recording
Your best guests aren't in your city. Your co-host might be across the country. And your listeners don't care — they just want it to sound good. 🎧
This course shows you how to record high-quality audio with people who aren't in the room with you. We cover two proven approaches: Squadcast/Descript for podcasters who want the best possible remote audio quality, and Zoom for those who want a familiar, flexible tool they probably already have.
You'll learn how to set everything up from the host side, what your guests will experience, and how to tweak settings so the final recording doesn't sound like a phone call from 2009.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How Squadcast records locally for studio-quality remote audio
→ What your guests see and how to prep them for a smooth session
→ How to use separate tracks so editing is clean and easy
→ How to configure Zoom specifically for podcast recording
→ How to integrate Zoom with your calendar to simplify guest scheduling
All Things Interviews
A great interview isn't just two people talking — it's a skill. And most podcasters wing it, which is why so many interview shows sound exactly the same. 🎤
This course covers the full picture of podcast interviews, from finding the right guests and landing spots on other shows, to conducting conversations that people actually want to listen to. You'll learn why chasing big-name guests is usually the wrong move, how to pitch yourself to other podcasters without sounding desperate, and the simple techniques that separate a forgettable interview from one listeners share with friends.
More planning really does mean less editing. This course shows you how.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ Where to find great guests who are actually right for your audience
→ Why "big name" guests rarely move the needle (and what does)
→ How to pitch yourself to other shows and get booked
→ The interview techniques that draw out better, more interesting answers
→ How to promote your guest appearances to grow your own audience
Learn Podpage!
Every podcast needs a home on the web — a place listeners can find your episodes, learn about your show, and connect with you. Podpage makes that stupidly easy, even if you've never built a website in your life. 🌐
This course is a complete walkthrough of everything Podpage can do. You'll go from zero to a fully functioning podcast website in about 10 minutes, then spend the rest of the course making it work harder for you — capturing emails, collecting listener voicemails, optimizing for search, selling memberships, and automating your social posts.
It's one of the most feature-packed tools in podcasting, and this course makes sure you actually use all of it.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to set up and customize your Podpage site from scratch
→ How to optimize your episodes and pages for search engines
→ How to capture emails and connect with your audience
→ How to set up memberships, donations, and sponsor pages
→ How to automate social posts and connect Podpage to your other tools
Audacity Free Audio Editing Software
Audacity is free, powerful, and used by podcasters all over the world — but it can feel overwhelming if nobody walks you through it. This course does exactly that. 🎚️
You'll start from scratch, getting Audacity installed and your microphone connected, then work through the core skills you actually need to produce a clean, professional-sounding episode. No fluff, no features you'll never use. Just the stuff that matters.
By the time you're done, you'll have a repeatable editing workflow you can use for every episode going forward.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to install Audacity and connect your microphone correctly
→ The four essential skills every podcaster needs in Audacity
→ How to use EQ to make your voice sound cleaner and fuller
→ How to remove background noise without wrecking your audio
→ How to export a finished, properly formatted MP3 every time
Hindenburg Journalist - Powerful Audio Recorder/Editor
Hindenburg was built specifically for people who work with voice — journalists, storytellers, and podcasters who care about how their audio sounds and how efficiently they can produce it. If you're ready to move beyond basic editing, this is the tool. 🎙️
This course walks you through everything Hindenburg can do, from getting your microphone connected and recording your first file, all the way through advanced editing techniques and sound shaping tools that would cost serious money in other software. You'll learn the features that save the most time, including favorites, clip grouping, and built-in transcription that splits audio by speaker.
Hindenburg makes your voice sound better almost automatically. This course makes sure you know how to let it.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to record, import, and export audio the right way in Hindenburg
→ Editing techniques that make interview shows faster and cleaner to produce
→ How to use the Voice Profiler to improve your sound with one click
→ How to remove noise and shape your audio with EQ and compression
→ How to generate transcripts split by speaker directly inside the app
Understanding Media Hosts
Your podcast doesn't live on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It lives on a media host — and choosing the right one is one of the most important decisions you'll make as a podcaster. Get it wrong and you'll be migrating your show later, which is a headache nobody needs. 😅
This course cuts through the marketing noise and explains how podcast hosting actually works, what the different business models mean for you, and how to compare your options based on what your show actually needs. You'll also get honest overviews of the major hosting platforms so you can make a confident decision without spending hours on YouTube watching review videos.
If you're about to pick a host — or you're wondering if you chose the right one — start here.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ What a media host actually does and why you can't skip it
→ How the three different hosting business models affect your wallet
→ What your stats really mean and what numbers to expect
→ How dynamic content insertion works and why it matters
→ Which hosting platform is the best fit for your specific situation
Publish Your Podcast With Libsyn
Libsyn has been around since the early days of podcasting — they've seen it all, supported it all, and built one of the most feature-rich hosting platforms in the industry. If you're hosting with Libsyn or thinking about it, this course is your complete guide to getting the most out of it. 📡
You'll start with the dashboard basics and work through everything you actually need to run a professional show — uploading and scheduling episodes, submitting to directories, reading your stats, setting up embeddable players, and configuring advertising. There's even a full section on Libsyn Connect for recording remote guests directly through the platform.
Whether you're brand new to Libsyn or you've been using it for years and suspect you're missing features, this course covers it all.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to set up your account and navigate the Libsyn dashboard
→ How to create, upload, schedule, and distribute your episodes
→ How to read and interpret your Libsyn stats correctly
→ How to configure players, snippets, and social destinations
→ How to move your show to or from Libsyn without losing your feed
Publishing Your Podcast With Captivate
Captivate is one of the most powerful podcast hosting platforms available, and that power comes with a lot of features to learn. This course makes sure you know how to use all of them. 💪
You'll get a complete walkthrough of the Captivate dashboard, from setting up your show and managing episodes all the way through dynamic content insertion, monetization, guest booking, and promotion tools. Captivate's AMIE system alone is worth the deep dive — it lets you swap out ads, add dynamic content, and make bulk edits across your entire back catalog without re-uploading a single file.
If you want a hosting platform that can grow with your show no matter where it goes, Captivate delivers. This course makes sure you're actually using it to its full potential.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to set up and manage your shows and episodes in Captivate
→ How to use AMIE to insert and update dynamic content across all your episodes
→ How to set up monetization, tips, and memberships through Stripe
→ How to use the one-click sponsor kit and attribution links for promotion
→ How to book guests and manage the full guest experience inside Captivate
Publishing Your Podcast Using Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout has earned a reputation as one of the most beginner-friendly hosting platforms in podcasting — but don't let that fool you. It's also packed with features that serve experienced podcasters well, and their customer support is genuinely one of the best in the business. 🌱
This course walks you through everything Buzzsprout offers, from setting up your show and publishing your first episode all the way through monetization, dynamic content, and their built-in AI tools. You'll learn how to read your stats, customize your player, get your show into all the major directories, and start earning money through subscriptions, ads, and listener support.
If you chose Buzzsprout as your home, this course makes sure you're getting everything out of it.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How to set up your podcast and navigate the Buzzsprout dashboard
→ How to create and publish episodes with chapters, ad placements, and dynamic content
→ How to get your show listed in all the major podcast directories
→ How to monetize through subscriptions, ads, sponsors, and listener support
→ How to use Buzzsprout's AI tools for mastering and co-hosting features
Podcast Syndication: Submitting Your Show to Apple, Spotify, Google, and other Directories
Publishing your podcast to your hosting platform is only half the job. If you want people to actually find your show, you need to get it listed in the directories where listeners spend their time. This course walks you through exactly how to do that. 🗂️
You'll learn what you need to have ready before you submit anywhere, how to write a description and prepare artwork that won't get your show rejected, and then get step-by-step walkthroughs for submitting to every major directory — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. No guessing, no hunting around for the right links, no wondering if you did it right.
Do this once and your show is everywhere it needs to be.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ What to prepare before submitting to any directory
→ How to write a podcast description that gets approved and attracts listeners
→ How to submit your show to Apple Podcasts step by step
→ How to get listed on Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major platforms
→ How to make sure your show is everywhere your potential listeners are looking
Growing Your Podcast
Every podcaster wants more listeners. But most growth advice is either recycled hype or tactics that worked five years ago. This course focuses on what actually moves the needle. 📈
You'll start with the most important lesson of all — that no growth strategy in the world can save a show with weak content. From there, you'll work through a full toolkit of proven strategies: getting your show found on Google and Bing, building a cross-promotion network, leveraging email, writing episode titles that get clicks, and finding creative opportunities most podcasters completely overlook.
There are no shortcuts here, but there are a lot of smart moves. This course shows you all of them.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ Why content quality is the foundation every growth strategy is built on
→ How to get your show indexed and found on Google and Bing
→ How to use cross-promotion, trailers, and newsletter swaps to reach new listeners
→ How to write episode titles that actually get people to click
→ Low-effort tactics like email signatures and online groups that most podcasters ignore
Podcast Monetization
Most podcasters think monetization means selling ads. The reality is there are half a dozen ways to make money from your show, and advertising is often the hardest one to start with. This course maps out the full picture. 💰
You'll get an honest look at every major monetization model — affiliate marketing, advertising, courses, communities, Amazon Associates, and media kits for landing sponsors. More importantly, you'll learn which models make sense at different audience sizes, how to match products to your specific listeners, and how to set up the tracking systems that tell you what's actually working.
No hype about passive income. Just a realistic, practical guide to turning your podcast into something that pays.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ Every major way podcasters make money and which fits your situation
→ How to do affiliate marketing without losing your audience's trust
→ How advertising CPMs work and what you can realistically expect to earn
→ How to use Amazon Associates correctly without getting your account banned
→ How to build a media kit that helps you land sponsors
Capturing Your Genius From Anywhere with Notejoy
Great episode ideas don't always show up when you're sitting at your desk. They show up in the shower, on a walk, in the middle of a conversation — and then disappear just as fast if you don't capture them. Notejoy fixes that. 💡
This course shows you how to set up Notejoy as your dedicated podcasting brain — a place where every idea, guest note, episode outline, and piece of research lives in an organized, searchable system. You'll learn how to connect it to your email so you can forward ideas instantly, set up a folder structure that actually makes sense, and import notes from whatever you're using now.
Stop losing good ideas. Build a system that catches all of them.
By the end of this course, you'll know:
→ How Notejoy works and whether the free or paid plan is right for you
→ How to set up a folder structure built around your podcasting workflow
→ How to connect Notejoy to Gmail so ideas go straight into your system
→ How to forward emails and import notes from other apps
→ How to keep everything organized so you can find it when you need it
School of Podcasting Affiliate Program
School of Podcasting Affiliate Program explains how to earn recurring income by referring new members to the School of Podcasting. You’ll learn how to get your affiliate link, use provided marketing resources, and share the program in a way that feels natural and trustworthy. The course focuses on simple, ethical promotion so you can earn a 20% lifetime commission without turning your audience into a sales pitch.
Preview of Other Courses
Not sure if a School of Podcasting membership is right for you? This course lets you peek behind the curtain before you commit. 👀
You'll get sample lessons from across the full curriculum — planning, equipment, content, interviews, remote recording, monetization, growth strategies, and more. Each preview is a real lesson pulled directly from the paid courses, so you get a genuine feel for the teaching style and depth of content, not a polished sales pitch.
Think of it as a test drive for the entire school.
By the end of this preview, you'll have sampled lessons from:
→ Planning Your Podcast, Content is King, and Podcast Equipment
→ All Things Interviews, Remote Recording, and Understanding Media Hosting
→ Podcast Syndication, Growing Your Podcast, and Podcast Monetization
→ Capturing Your Genius with Notejoy and more
Podcast Foundations
This course includes 1 module: How Do Podcasts Work? With 1 lesson total.