Anyone who’s ever successfully launched and managed an ongoing podcast knows that there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. You never hear about the unsung heroes managing the backend. You wouldn’t see any happy faces on iTunes if it wasn’t for the dream team making things happen.
Here are 14 tools that we’re using to level up and make sure we’re running a well-oiled machine that cranks out quality content on weekly basis. Without these systems, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to have a systemized podcast production machine.
1. Scheduling Apps: ScheduleOnce, Acuity, Calandly
One of the biggest time wasters when booking interviews is the back and forth e-mail. You can end this nonsense right from the get go by having a scheduling app.
And let’s be honest – busy people don’t have time for this (and you want to make it easy for them to say yes). Having a scheduling app also makes it easy to reschedule when something comes up.
Highlights:
- No back and forth email
- Easy rescheduling
- Linking to Google Calendar, Outlook and iCloud
2. Ringr
Skype sucks. If you’ve ever had a call drop or cut out you know exactly what I’m talking about. Ringr allows you a record conversations with anyone, anywhere in the world, on any device! No studio or equipment needed!!
Highlights:
- Quality audio recording
- Record from a mobile device
- No Skype required
3. Trello
Our team eats, sleeps, and breathes Trello. It’s an awesome linear project management tool for team collaboration, mapping out launches and making lists of potential guests.
I use it to keep a communication profile for people I’ve reached out to. I call it the bootstrap CRM. The slew of mobile apps makes it easy to check-in and make notes while I’m travelling on the road without having to whip out my laptop.
Highlights:
- Project management
- Team collaboration
- Streamlined workflow
4. DropBox
DropBox is another tool we live and die by here at Pod Parrot HQ. In case you haven’t heard, DropBox has become the king of file storage (at least in the podcast world anyway) because it’s easy for our clients to send us recorded episodes for studio post-production and editing.
When combined with Trello or Slack, DropBox becomes a deadly weapon. Unless you’re recording a trilogy of audiobooks, 1TB of storage should be enough to keep you busy for a while.
Highlights:
- Easy file sharing between team and clients
- Inexpensive cloud storage
5. Slack
They say once you go Slack, you never go back (actually, I just made that up). We just recently started using it but I can already see it being a game changer.
It takes project management and team communication to a whole new level. Instead of sending dozens of e-mails back and forth between team members, we can now have everything in one convenient place.
Highlights:
- Eliminate or cut down on team e-mail
- Channels, private groups, and direct messaging
- Keep everything in one place
Click-To-Tweet makes it easy for your guests to share their interviews via Twitter. I do all the heavy lifting for my guests by sending a Click-To-Tweet link in the follow up e-mail.
It also works as a great tool for getting traffic back to your blog by embedding quotes and key takeaways from your interview.
Highlights:
- No hassle Twitter sharing
- Easy blog posts and promo
7. Social Media Management – Buffer, Meet Edgar, Hootsuite
Research has proven that podcast listeners check social media more than once a day, so it’s not optional to have a social presence – it’s a must. But it also can also be a huge time suck if you don’t automate some of the process.
Using tools like Buffer, Meet Edgar or Hootsuite are essential if you don’t have a team already running things behind the scenes. This doesn’t replace a real person, but if you can’t afford to hire an in-house team or outsource, it’s your next best option.
Highlights:
- Post scheduling
- Automated social marketing systems
7. Canva
Canva rocks. It completely changed the design game for non-designers. If you’ve fussed or pulled your hair out trying to get Photoshop sorted, you feel my pain.
If you can’t afford an in-house designer, you can save a couple thousand dollars by using Canva for custom episode art and blog posts.
Highlights:
- Easy episode art and image creation
- No Photoshop skills required
8. Google Apps for Business
I mainly use Google Docs, but you can’t go wrong with the entire apps suite. They are used for show notes, outlining episodes, show flow docs and SOPs.
Everything I need is only a click away, stored in folders on the Google Drive. I also create lists and cards in Trello for each SOP.
Highlights:
- Create and manage SOP docs (Standard Operation Procedures)
- Show notes and bullet points
- Episode outline
9. Call Recorder for Skype
Call Recorder makes the podcast life easy if you have to use Skype for interviews. You’ll have to look elsewhere if you’re a PC, as it’s only available for Mac.
Highlights:
- Integrates with Skype
- Auto Record feature
- Split conversation tool
10. ID3 Editor
ID3 Editor is a great tool, albeit not very sexy, for adding ID3 tags and metadata to your audio files. Metadata includes things like your title, episode description, host name and episode art. And yes, it matters. Your listeners will appreciate it too.
Highlights:
- Add ID3 tags and metadata
- Add episode cover art
11. Jing
We use Jing to record videos for our team and train new hires. If you need to outsource different parts of your workflow, you can save time and storage space instead of using Jing.
Highlights:
- Record SOP videos
- Store recording in the cloud
- Train new hires
If you can’t hire a professional audio engineer or audio editor, Levelator and Auphonic are your next best alternatives. Have you ever heard an interview and the levels are off? One voice overpowering the other?
These are tools that will help you avoid sounding like an ammature. There’s a saying in podcasting: your listeners will forgive you for a lot of things, but they will not forgive you for terrible audio.
Highlights:
- Enhanced podcast audio
- Low budget alternative to hiring audio engineer
13. Evernote
I don’t use Evernote, but if I did, it would be a tool for creating a stockpile of notes for show ideas, keeping research profiles on your guests and categorized tagging.
Highlights:
- Store ideas for future episodes and guests
- Data on research profiles
- Category tagging
14. Pretty Link Lite
Pretty link is an awesome WordPress plugin that’s used to mask affiliate links and shorten blog URLs. You can also use it for shorter, cleaner links to refer your listeners to. For example: yourwebsite.com/cashflow instead of yourwebsite.com/episode09
Highlights:
- Shorten blog URLs
- Easy, memorable links for listeners
Has your team used any of these tools for systemizing your podcast workflow? Did you get value from this article? Please do us a favor and share it (it’s as easy as clicking the link) with a fellow podcaster or friend. Remember, caring is sharing.
Did we miss a tool? Any tips for getting even more systemized?
Comment below and let us know.