How To Start a Podcast for Free (And Why Your Agency Should)

There’s no shortage of marketing strategies agencies can use to attract new clients, but few methods build trust, authority, and deep relationships the way podcasting does. And the best part? You can start a podcast for free—or even get paid to podcast if you play your cards right.

I know this because I’ve done it.

Our agency, Shop Marketing Pros, runs The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, which has made us one of the most recognized names in our niche. It has brought us new clients, built relationships with industry leaders, and positioned us as the go-to experts in auto repair shop marketing.

If you run an agency and haven’t considered starting a podcast, this article will change your mind. And if you’ve been overthinking it, I’ll show you exactly how to launch your podcast with little to no investment, turn it into a client acquisition tool, and even monetize it.

This isn’t going to be some generic "Top 5 Reasons to Start a Podcast" article. I’m giving you real strategies, real lessons learned, and the exact process to start, grow, and profit from your agency’s podcast.

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Why Your Agency Should Start a Podcast (Even If You Think You Shouldn’t)

1. Showcase Your Expertise & Attract New Clients

When you create long-form content through a podcast, you’re doing two things:

1. Building trust—listeners start to feel like they know you.

2. Positioning yourself as the expert—your voice becomes the authority in your industry.

I’ve had people listen to our podcast for over a year before reaching out to work with us. They used the free advice we shared to grow their shops, and when they finally hit the point where they could afford professional marketing, we were their first choice—because we had already helped them, just by showing up every week with valuable insights.

And it’s not just potential clients.

Industry coaches, mentors, and influencers listen to us too. Some of them have never worked with us personally, but they’ve sent their clients our way because they trust the knowledge we share on the podcast. That level of credibility is hard to buy.

2. The “Trojan Horse Method”: Turning Guests Into Clients

Most people think of podcasting as a way to reach an audience, but one of the most powerful and underrated strategies is what I call the Trojan Horse Method.

Here’s how it works:

1. You invite your ideal client onto your podcast as a guest.

2. They research you before saying yes. Now, they see you as an expert.

3. You have a conversation with them—not a sales pitch.

4. They continue listening after their episode airs.

5. When they need the services you offer, they think of you first.

It’s genius because it flips the script on traditional client acquisition. Instead of cold-pitching them, you’re offering them exposure, credibility, and value first.

I’ve seen this method work even when we weren’t trying to use it. While we don’t actively invite guests with the goal of selling to them, we’ve had multiple guests later become clients, just because they got to know us through the podcast.

It’s selling without selling—and it works.

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3. Expand Your Reach & Build a Community

A podcast creates a loyal audience that engages with you weekly. And unlike blogs or social media posts, listeners stick around for entire episodes—sometimes 30, 40, even 60 minutes or more.

That’s unheard of in today’s short attention span, scroll-happy world.

Podcasting also opens doors to collaborations with influencers, industry leaders, and potential clients who otherwise wouldn’t know who you are. Every new guest brings their audience with them, expanding your reach in ways traditional marketing can’t.

In our world we often work with coaching companies. We have the same exact prospects as them but we don’t compete with each other. We actually complement each other incredibly well because we know that shop owners who are working with a coach are going to do a much better job at turning the leads we send them into lifelong clients.

We invite these coaches onto our podcast and other content and they invite us onto their podcasts, to teach at their events, and more. They are introduced to our audience, and we are introduced to theirs.

4. Monetization Potential: Get Paid to Podcast

Here’s something most people don’t realize: You can actually get paid to podcast.

Our podcast is part of Aftermarket Radio Network, a network owned by Carm Capriotto. He knew that the best way to scale his podcast business was to bring in additional hosts and industry experts, instead of running everything himself.

For us, this was a game-changer.

• We don’t own our podcast—the network does.

• We’re the talent. We record the episodes, but they handle the editing, hosting, and promotion.

• We get paid through a revenue share model. Instead of spending money on a podcast, we actually make money from it.

Beyond that, being part of a network forces us to be consistent. We’re under contract, so we have to deliver weekly episodes. That structure keeps us accountable, whereas most independent podcasts die out after seven episodes.

Even if you don’t join a network, you can still monetize your podcast through sponsorships. But in our case, the real money comes from the clients the podcast brings in.

Your agency’s niche may or may not have a network like the one we’re part of. If you like the idea of this but there’s no network to be part of, find someone in your industry who owns a podcast where their revenue is solely from sponsorships. Ask them if they would be interested in having another show that they can make sponsor revenue from in exchange for them providing the setup, editing, and promotion expertise. You may just be the one to get their network started for them!

What You Need To Start a Podcast for Free

One of the biggest misconceptions about starting a podcast is that you need an elaborate setup with thousands of dollars in equipment. That couldn’t be further from the truth. You can start a podcast with nothing but a phone and a cheap microphone.

Now, does that mean you should record on your phone forever? No. Audio quality matters. But don’t let the lack of high-end equipment hold you back from getting started.

I’ve personally recorded podcast episodes using just my DJI Mic and my phone, and the sound quality was surprisingly good. I’ve also listened to successful podcasts where the host used nothing but a pair of wired AirPods while driving to work. One example is Russell Brunson’s podcast, Marketing In Your Car. 

The audio quality? Awful. But the content was so good that people kept listening.

So if you’re just getting started, focus on content first, audio quality second.

The Minimum Equipment You Need (No Budget Required)

If you’re looking for the absolute bare minimum setup, here’s what you need to get started:

• A Microphone: Your computer’s built-in mic will technically work, but a $20 USB headset like the Logitech H390 from Amazon will significantly improve sound quality. This is what I recommend to guests if they don’t have a good mic.

• A Quiet Space: You don’t need a professional studio, but you should record in a small room with soft materials. A closet with hanging clothes works great for DIY soundproofing, but it’s far from optimal if you are doing video as well. Don’t underestimate what a rug or an old piece of carpet and a cheap set of drapes will do to quiet the echo in a room. To this day my podcast studio still has canvas painters dropcloths hanging as full-length curtains on the side walls. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that, they actually look pretty good, and there is almost zero echo in that room.

• Headphones: Even cheap wired earbuds help prevent audio feedback while recording. You don’t need studio quality, over-the-ear headphones to record a podcast. I have recorded without headphones at all when I was in a pinch, but I do recommend headphones to monitor the audio as you record. The last thing you want is to record an episode and then realize someone’s mic was muted!

• Recording & Editing Software:

  • Audacity (Windows/Mac): Free and easy to use.

  • GarageBand (Mac): Comes pre-installed on Macs and works well for beginners.

  • Riverside.fm (Free Plan): Records high-quality audio and video in the cloud.

If you’re recording solo episodes, this setup is all you need to start putting out content without spending a dime.

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Where You Don’t HAVE To Spend Money, But You Should

Yes, you can start a podcast for free. But if you want to save time, improve quality, and grow faster, there are a few areas where spending a little makes a big difference. These aren’t required investments, but they’re the kind of things that separate "hobby podcasts" from professionals.

1. Podcast Hosting: Free vs. Paid Options

If you’re starting out, free hosting platforms like Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor) are great (well, they’re “okay”). They distribute your podcast to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts with just a few clicks. But they come with serious limitations that will hold you back in the long run.

Here’s why paid hosting is worth it:

• Better Analytics: Free hosts give you basic download numbers, but paid hosts give deep insights into audience behavior, listener locations, and engagement trends.

• More Control: With free hosting, your podcast’s branding, RSS feed, and sometimes even your ads are controlled by the platform. With paid hosting, you own everything.

• Easier Monetization: If you ever plan to sell sponsorships, most advertisers won’t work with podcasts on free platforms.

• Reliable Long-Term Storage: Some free hosts limit how long your episodes stay live or cap the number of hours you can upload.

Best Paid Hosting Options:

• Libsyn: Rock-solid reliability, great analytics, and a trusted industry leader. If you want a no-frills, dependable host, this is a top choice.

• Captivate.fm: Built-in marketing tools, dynamic ad insertion, and listener growth features. This is great for agencies because it makes growing an audience easier.

• Transistor.fm: Allows multiple shows under one account (great if you’re launching multiple podcasts) and includes private podcasting options.

Bottom line? If you’re just playing around, free hosting is fine. But if you’re serious about podcasting, switching to a paid host early is worth the investment—and some of them start at just $7 per month. Seriously, you can afford that!

2. Editing & Repurposing Tools: Save Time & Multiply Your Content

Editing a podcast manually can take forever. If you’re cutting out filler words, balancing audio levels, and manually writing show notes—you’re wasting hours on tasks that AI can handle in minutes.

This is where investing in the right tools saves you time and energy.

The Best Podcast Editing & Repurposing Tools:

• PodSqueeze: This AI-powered tool generates show notes, timestamps, blog posts, and social media captions from your podcast.

  • My experience: We use PodSqueeze for every episode. It saves us so much time that I wouldn’t run a podcast without it. It pulls key points, writes summaries, and generates transcriptions automatically.

• Riverside.fm (Paid Plan) – Studio-quality remote recording. Records locally on both your end and your guest’s end, so even if there’s buffering or internet lag, the final recording is crystal clear.

  • Why it’s a game-changer: Unlike Zoom, which compresses audio and video, Riverside.fm records everything locally and uploads as you go. Even if a guest’s internet glitches, the final file is perfect. It also includes AI-powered editing tools, making post-production faster.

• Descript: Edit your podcast like a Word document. It transcribes your episode, and you can cut or move sections just by editing text.

  • Coolest feature: Automatically removes filler words like “uh” and “um” with a single click.

If you value your time, these tools will pay for themselves.

3. Professional Microphones & Audio Gear: The Best Bang-for-Your-Buck Upgrades

Good audio quality matters. People will forgive a lot, but bad audio will make them turn your podcast off—fast.

The built-in mic on your laptop? Trash. Recording with just your phone’s mic? Also trash.

If you’re serious about sounding professional, upgrading your mic should be the first thing you invest in.

Best Budget-Friendly Microphones:

• Samson Q2U ($80) / ATR2100x ($99): Fantastic sound quality for the price. USB and XLR compatible, meaning it works with both computers and professional audio setups.

• DJI Mic ($300): Ultra-portable, wireless, and shockingly good audio quality. But this is best for a secondary mic when you need your podcast studio to fit in your pocket.

  • My experience: I’ve recorded entire podcast episodes using just my DJI Mic and iPhone. The sound quality is nearly indistinguishable (to my non-audiophile ears)  from my $400+ Shure SM7B (the same mic Joe Rogan uses). If you want something portable, this is a killer choice.

Other Accessories That Improve Sound Quality:

• Pop filter: Blocks out plosive sounds (like hard "P" and "B" sounds).

• Boom arm: Holds the mic at the right distance so you don’t get weird audio inconsistencies.

• Foam panels / Soundproofing: Prevents echo and background noise. If you don’t want to spend money on soundproofing, record in a closet with hanging clothes—it works shockingly well.

4. Outsourcing Post-Production (If You Want To Save Time)

Editing takes time. If you’re busy running an agency, you probably don’t want to spend hours each week cutting audio, writing show notes, and scheduling episodes.

The smartest thing you can do? Outsource it.

Where To Find Affordable Podcast Editors & Assistants:

• Fiverr & Upwork: Affordable editors who can clean up your audio, remove background noise, and cut out dead space. Prices start as low as $20 per episode.

• Podcast VA Services: Virtual assistants who specialize in podcast management. They can handle:

• Editing & mixing

• Writing show notes

• Scheduling and publishing episodes

• Creating social media content from your podcast

Why this matters: Most podcasts fail because of consistency. If post-production is holding you back, outsourcing it ensures your podcast actually gets published—on time, every time.

Spend Smart, Save Time, and Grow Faster

You can start a podcast for free. But if you’re serious about building authority, landing clients, and growing your agency, investing in the right tools will save you hours of time and frustration.

If you’re going to spend money anywhere, focus on:

• Paid Hosting: So you own your brand and have full analytics.

• Editing & Repurposing Tools: To speed up post-production and maximize content.

• A Decent Mic: Because bad audio will kill your podcast before it even starts.

• Outsourcing: If you don’t have time to edit, get someone else to do it.

Step-by-Step Guide To Launching Your Podcast

You don’t need a big budget to launch a high-quality podcast—but you do need a plan. This section will walk you through the exact steps to take your podcast from an idea to a fully functioning show that attracts listeners, builds authority, and grows your agency.

Step 1: Define Your Podcast’s Purpose & Niche

Before you even think about hitting “record,” you need to get clear on two things:

1. Who is your ideal listener?

2. What is the purpose of your podcast?

If your podcast is just for fun, you don’t need to overthink this. But if you’re using it to generate leads, position yourself as an expert, or land clients, you need to be intentional.

Picking a Clear Name

A good podcast name should:

• Be crystal clear about what the podcast is about.

• Speak directly to your audience.

• Be easy to remember.

When we started, we considered calling our show "Always Be Marketing." It sounded catchy, but it didn’t clearly communicate who the podcast was for. Instead, we went with "The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast" because it leaves zero doubt about what listeners are getting.

Lesson learned: Clarity beats cleverness. If someone stumbles across your podcast, they should instantly know if it’s for them or not.

Choosing a Podcast Revenue Model

What’s the end goal of your podcast? There are two primary approaches:

1. Traditional Marketing Tool: Your podcast serves as free content marketing that educates your audience, builds trust, and naturally leads people to hire your agency.

2. The Trojan Horse Method: You invite your ideal clients onto your show as guests, build relationships, and convert them into customers without ever pitching them directly.

Both methods work. You just need to decide which one aligns with your long-term goals.

Trying to land a new client? Get pitch presentation tips here. 

Step 2: Plan Your Content Strategy

A podcast without a clear content strategy is like a road trip with no map. You might still get somewhere, but it’s going to be a long, messy journey.

Pick Your Podcast Format

What’s the best format for your show? Here are a few options:

• Solo Episodes: You talk directly to your audience. Great for establishing expertise and keeping things simple.

• Interviews: You bring on guests. Great for networking and borrowing credibility.

• Co-Hosted Discussions: You and another host go back and forth. This works well if you have strong chemistry and natural conversation flow.

What we do:

• Most of our episodes are conversations between my wife and me. People love the back-and-forth dynamic (and even our on-air arguments we like to call “domestics”).

• Guest interviews? About 20% of the time. They add variety, but we’ve found that people enjoy our personal dynamic the most.

• Sometimes, we mix in solo episodes—especially if there’s a specific topic I want to cover in depth.

Plan Your First 10-15 Episodes

Before launching, map out at least 10-15 episode topics. This ensures you:

• Stay consistent (no scrambling for topics last minute)

• Keep your show structured

• Avoid running out of ideas early on

If you need inspiration, look at common questions your clients ask you. Those are perfect starting points.

Set a Realistic Recording Schedule

A consistent release schedule is more important than frequency. Pick a cadence you can stick to.

• Weekly? Great for fast growth, but it requires discipline.

• Biweekly? More manageable for most business owners.

• Monthly? Slow growth, but better than nothing.

What we do:

• We do NOT record every single week. Instead, we batch record 4-8 episodes at a time.

• This allows us to stay at least 4 episodes ahead, so if life happens, we don’t miss a week.

Step 3: Record & Edit (Without Breaking the Bank)

When it comes to recording, simple is better. Some of the biggest podcasts started out recording on phones. Don’t overcomplicate things. Done is better than perfect.

Simple Editing Tricks to Improve Sound Quality

• Normalize volume levels to prevent jarring volume shifts.

• Remove background noise using free tools like Audacity.

• Add intro/outro music to make the podcast sound polished (royalty-free music sites like Incompetech work great).

Step 4: Publish & Distribute Your Podcast

Your podcast is useless if no one listens to it. Here’s how to get it on all major platforms for free.

Best Free Podcast Hosting Platforms

• Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor): 100% free and auto-distributes to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

• Podbean (Free Plan): Allows 5 hours of free storage before requiring an upgrade.

• Buzzsprout (Free Plan): Free but limited to 2 hours per month.

Optimize Your Titles & Descriptions for SEO

Your podcast titles and descriptions matter. A lot.

If no one can find your podcast, your content is wasted.

Some SEO Tips:

• Use keywords that match what your audience is searching for.

• Write compelling episode titles (instead of "Episode 5," say, "How to Get More Auto Repair Customers Without Ads").

• Include detailed show notes that summarize key takeaways.

Step 5: Promote & Grow Your Podcast Without Ads

Even the best podcast won’t grow itself. Here’s how to get more listeners organically.

Leverage Your Existing Audience

• Email List: Share new episodes with your subscribers.

• Social Media: Post clips, behind-the-scenes content, and takeaways.

• Website/Blog:  Embed podcast episodes into relevant blog posts.

Repurpose Episodes into Short-Form Video

• Upload full episodes to YouTube (even if it’s just audio with a graphic).

• Cut 30-60 second clips for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.

• Use tools like Riverside.fm to create video snippets easily.

Why this works: Short-form video is one of the fastest ways to get new listeners. Some people will discover your podcast through TikTok or Instagram first, then go listen to full episodes.

Encourage Guest Cross-Promotion

If you have guests, make it easy for them to share the episode:

• Send them pre-written captions they can post.

• Provide custom graphics with their name & episode highlights.

• Tag them in all social media promotions.

When your guests share the episode with their audience, your podcast is exposed to a whole new group of potential listeners.

Lessons Learned From Launching My Own Podcast

When I first started The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, I knew it would be a good marketing tool for our agency. What I didn’t realize was just how much of an impact it would have—not only on our business but also on our relationships, authority, and the way we connect with our industry.

If you’re on the fence about launching a podcast, here are some real, hard-earned lessons from my own experience—the good, the bad, and the surprising.

The Good: How Our Podcast Transformed Our Business

1. It’s Brought Us a Lot of New Clients

We didn’t start our podcast with the goal of directly landing more clients, but that’s exactly what happened.

Many of the shop owners who hire us today started out as listeners. They’ve been tuning in for months, sometimes over a year, implementing our advice, and seeing results. Eventually, they realize:

“If this free content is helping me this much, imagine what they could do if I hired them.”

And that’s when they reach out.

Podcasting lets you build transparent client relationships at scale. Unlike ads or cold outreach, it creates a deep level of trust that makes selling almost effortless. By the time they contact us, they already see us as the authority.

2. It’s Set Us Apart from Our Competitors

Most agencies in our industry don’t have a podcast. They might do some social media, run ads, or send out newsletters—but very few consistently show up in people’s ears every single week.

That’s what makes it a huge competitive advantage.

Think about it: If two agencies seem equally skilled, but one has an entire backlog of podcast episodes that educate, entertain, and help potential clients, who do you think they’re going to trust more?

We’ve become the top-of-mind agency for auto repair shop marketing simply because we show up more.

3. It’s Made Us a True Authority in Our Industry

I always say people do business with people they know, like, and trust. Our podcast has been one of the most effective ways to build that trust—not just with clients, but also with other industry leaders.

We’ve had:

• Industry coaches recommend us to their clients—even though they’ve never worked with us directly, just because they listen to our podcast.

• Other vendors in the industry reach out for collaborations, sponsorships, and partnerships.

• Shop owners feel like they know us personally before they ever meet us in real life.

When people feel like they already have a relationship with you before they even pick up the phone, it changes everything.

The Bad: The Challenges We Faced

Running a podcast isn’t all sunshine and client leads. There have been some real challenges along the way.

1. Staying Consistent Can Be Tough

The biggest challenge? Showing up every single week.

• Some weeks we feel energized and inspired, and the episodes flow easily.

• Other weeks, we stare at our topic list and feel completely unmotivated.

There have been times when neither of us felt like recording, but we knew we had to. And funny enough—some of those episodes turned out to be our best.

The key to sticking with it:

• Batch Recording: We record 4-8 episodes at once, so we always have content ready.

• Keeping a Running List of Episode Ideas: If we ever feel stuck, we pull from the list.

• Realistic Expectations: Not every episode will feel amazing—but consistency wins in the long run.

2. Coming Up With Fresh Topics Isn’t Easy

When you’ve been podcasting for a while, you start wondering: “Have we already talked about this?”

Marketing, like many other industries, is constantly evolving. What was true a year ago might be outdated today. That means we:

• Have to stay on top of trends to keep episodes fresh.

• Sometimes have to revisit old topics with updated strategies.

• Ask our audience what they want to hear (which also increases engagement).

The good news? Marketing never stops changing, so there’s always something new to discuss.

The Surprising: The Unexpected Benefits of Podcasting

1. The Sheer Number of Listeners Blew Me Away

I’ll be honest—when we first started, I had a little imposter syndrome.

I remember thinking:

“Are people really going to listen to us?” “Do we actually have anything valuable to say that hasn’t already been said?”

Turns out, people do listen. A lot of them.

I realized this when we started going to trade shows and conferences and people kept coming up to us saying:

• “I listen to your podcast every week! That episode about XYZ completely changed how we do marketing.”

• “I feel like I already know you because I’ve been listening to you for months.”

• “You guys crack me up with your arguments—I love the banter between you and Kim.”

It still catches me off guard. You never really know who’s listening until they tell you.

Takeaway: If you’re on the fence about starting a podcast because you’re afraid no one will listen—just do it. The audience will come.

2. It’s Opened Up Unexpected Opportunities

Our podcast hasn’t just brought in clients. It’s also led to:

• Speaking engagements or invitations at industry events.

• Collaborations with other big names in our space.

• Sponsors who want to be featured on our show.

Podcasting is more than just a marketing channel—it’s a relationship-building tool. It positions you as a leader in your field, and before you know it, people start reaching out to you for opportunities you never saw coming.

Image: Kim and Brian Walker (right) at the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence Summit in February 2025. They watched some of their shop owner clients walk across the stage and accept awards in profit, service advising, management, and overall excellence. 

Final Thoughts: Why You Should Start a Podcast

Starting a podcast has been one of the best business decisions we’ve ever made. It has:

• Brought us new clients who already trust us before we ever talk to them.

• Set us apart from our competitors who aren’t using podcasting as a marketing tool.

• Built our authority in our industry and made us the go-to experts.

• Led to unexpected opportunities we never even thought about when we started.

Yes, it takes consistency and effort. Some weeks, it’s hard to come up with topics. But in the end, the good far outweighs the bad.

If you’re thinking about starting a podcast but holding back because you’re not sure anyone will listen—take it from me: they will.

You just have to show up and start.