Hiring a podcast team today means you take seriously podcasting as a platform to tell your story in a compelling way. Congratulations! According to research, as of 2023, there are over 5 million podcasts. With a podcast, individuals or companies can, for example, increase sales by expanding their audience. But creating a good quality podcast takes a lot of effort and time.
Creating podcasts solo can be difficult. While not all of us can build a team yet, understanding all the roles we play and preparing to share work responsibilities in the future is smart. What skills are lacking? In this article, we’ll provide some tips for hiring a podcast team by explaining each podcaster’s role.
How big should the podcast team be?
You don’t need a huge team to make a great podcast, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Oftentimes, big budgets lend to bigger teams. If you are working on a small podcast, then one person can take on several job responsibilities.
For example, if you’re a natural leader, personable, and charismatic, you could be a podcast host, executive producer, and public relations manager all at the same time. There is also an option to outsource some of the work, such as ordering a logo design or social media post templates from a freelance graphic designer.
You should think carefully about what is most important for your podcast. This will give you a clearer understanding of who exactly you need to hire first.
Roles on the podcast team
To create a productive podcast team, you must first understand who you need to work effectively and distribute responsibilities. Below, we describe typical roles on a podcast team.
Producer
A study found that 38% of podcast employees consider being an executive producer one of the most important jobs on a podcast. The producers of a podcast show lead the team.
They make the tough decisions, execute the show’s vision, oversee the entire production, and keep all the team members organized and focused. The producers also ensure that episodes publish on schedule.
Outreach manager
If you plan to invite guests to your podcast, you should hire an outreach manager. The job of this manager is to find and attract guests to participate on the show. They need to send out emails to potential guests and try to convince them to guest on the podcast.
This job requires recruiting persuasive, personable, and organized candidates.
Show host
Show hosts are the “face” of the podcast. They must be insightful, charismatic, able to connect with the show’s guests, and have a pleasant voice for audio. Show hosts also need patience and vocal stamina. They can talk for long periods while maintaining energy and interest.
Writer/Editor
The writer’s job is to prepare the script or notes for the podcast recording and the audio transcription after the episode is released. These are the critical parts of the release page on the podcast website that help with SEO, audience growth, and accessibility. One of the main tasks of writers is writing social media posts, newsletters, promotional texts, and clickable headlines.
According to research, 54% of professionals promote their podcasts on their blog or website. If you also plan to blog on the podcast site, the writer will do it.
Voice-over Specialist
Depending on the format of the podcast show, you can record, for example, an intro and outro or even an advertisement in another person’s voice. To do this, you will need a voice-over specialist.
Employees for this position do not have to be a regular part of the team. They can be hired for occasional work or directly when you need a recording.
Sound engineer
In order to create a raw recording of a polished sequence, you need a sound engineer. They can remove background noises, edit awkward pauses, adjust levels, and more. Also, the duties of a sound engineer include organizing a podcast show, adding intros, endings, or advertising. They can add background music and sound effects.
The audio engineer converts raw recordings into perfect podcast episodes. According to research, 37% of podcasters consider editing and sound engineering to be among the most in-demand podcasting jobs.
Graphic Designer
You will need graphic designers to design and promote your podcast. You can create a podcast cover or logo, social media images, graphs and charts, newsletters, guest photos, and more with them.
In addition, graphic designers can create titles for podcast blog posts, lay it out visually in an infographic and pictures for each episode. It also includes creating a professional podcast landing page.
Video Editor
A video editor is vital for podcasting success. They create captivating visuals, incorporating stock footage to enhance storytelling. Elevate your podcast with their expertise and attract more viewers, delivering your message effectively. Embrace the power of a skilled video editor to reach new heights.
Coordinator
Coordinators ensure all work on the podcast is done on time and smoothly. Once the podcast show launches, they schedule all episodes, coordinate email lists, post on social media, and monitor the episode’s traffic growth.
They also make sure podcast guests have everything they need. People in this position are often very organized and focused.
Some tips for hiring a podcast team
Although hiring a podcast team is one thing, managing tips for organizing the team are helpful as well. Here are a few tips on how to make your team as productive and efficient as possible.
- Be prepared to do most of the work yourself. If you have a limited budget, be prepared that, at first, all the main tasks will have to be done on your own. This will not only help you save money but also give you the ability to understand the smallest aspects of your podcast.
- Start with a small team. Rather than hiring a large team at the beginning, you can write down a description or playbook of each role before you pass off that work. By performing some of the duties yourself, hiring becomes much easier.
- Engage people in exchange for a part of your show. With a limited budget for your podcast show, you will only be able to pay some employees a decent wage. You can solve this issue by giving them either a share of ownership or profits from your podcast. This will also help increase their motivation to do their job to the best of their ability.
- Choose people with the right skills. When recruiting people for a podcast, always pay attention to whether the candidate actually has podcasting experience. The more experienced your employees are, the faster and better episodes will be created. And always pay attention to the high demand soft skills of candidates.
- Establish ground rules in advance. Establishing and explaining the rules of work to your employees helps set the standard. For example, let them know that episodes should be published only after your approval.
- Create a lightweight collaboration system. Create a simple system of collaboration at work. To do this, you can use various project management tools to organize your team. This will allow all employees to be more responsible and see who is doing what.
Conclusion
To create a quality podcast, you need a talented presenter and a well-coordinated team of professionals who will help create a quality product. Hiring a podcast team means finding hard working professionals who are united by a common podcast concept. Each team member contributes to the project’s success and development, making it unique and exciting for the audience.
Tania Doshko is a motivated and avid content creator who believes in the power of quality writing for business success.