Podcasts exploded during the pandemic; now is the time to start one

NEW YORK - The pandemic afforded a lot of people the time to pursue passion projects which for many included started their own podcasts.  

Rasiel Guevara is the executive producer of the Talkin' 21 podcast, a niche pod on the life and legacy of the late Roberto Clemente, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 18 seasons. Guevara and host Danny Torres met while working at Cardinal High School in the Bronx and shared an affinity for Clemente.

"We've always toyed around with the idea of working on a project together," Guevara says. "Since we were both cooped up in the house, we just got the idea of starting a podcast."

The podcast launched in September and has featured current and former baseball players. All the screen time and Zooms, not to mention working with everyone's schedules was challenging, but Guevara adds the journey has been fun.

"The simple aspect of getting a logo, getting published on Apple, Spotify, all these different platforms," he says. "How do you market a podcast? How do you all these different things that I needed to teach myself or rather needed to learn? Then finding communities with other people who are podcasting."

Guevara's advice?

"If you have something to say at all that you think somebody would want to listen, go ahead and jump into it," he says.

Veronica Davis, a podcast coach and a producer for Pod Sound School, echoed that sentiment.

"My advice for you is to start and start and start right now," Davis says.

More than 155 million people listened to a podcast weekly basis in 2020, according to Brandtastic. Davis says the audio-on-demand model will only continue to grow in popularity.

"We're going to go back to commute again, we're going to go the gym, we're going to go back to taking long trips and we're going to go back to flying," Davis said. "And that's where podcasting is most consumed."

She says to start with clear objectives and don't sweat the technical stuff.

"You can start a podcast with your smartphone. There are apps that you can download on your phone and you can start experimenting with podcasts in this way," Davis says. "And it's a very low cost, low risk. And if you fall in love with podcasts, which I think you will, then you can upgrade your gear."