The Podcast Launch Checklist: What to Have Ready Before Launch Day

Three sassy snaps echoed through my living room.

My friends and I had just snapped our pink rubber gloves in a perfect imitation of Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s iconic creation speech.

We got the gloves from the participation kits I had prepared the night before, which also included: bubbles, water guns, glowsticks, noisemakers, pieces of actual toast wrapped in plastic, party hats, bells, and playing cards. While we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show, we had instructions to use all of these items to interact with specific parts of the movie.

It was SUCH a fun Halloween party, and everyone said so when they left, which is always my favorite part of hosting.

But October was one of my busiest months in recent memory. A month earlier, I was staring at my calendar, stressing out about how packed it was looking. I really wanted to throw this party, but I was also really busy.

So instead of giving up one of my favorite yearly traditions, I gave myself time.

A month out, I sent the invitations and created our group chat.

Three weeks before, I researched Rocky Horror props and ordered everything online.

Two weeks before, I had all my decorations sorted.

One week out, I asked everyone about food contributions.

And two days before, I assembled the participation kits.

And I spent party day prepping a taco dip, leisurely decorating, making an on-theme simmer pot (rose petals, cranberries, lemon slices, cinnamon stick, vanilla, and honey), and actually enjoying the process.

When my friends arrived, we had the most ridiculously fun time. We blew bubbles during the wedding scene. We soaked each other with water guns during the rainy car scene. We threw plastic-wrapped toast when Dr. Frank-N-Furter makes a “toast.” And when he snapped those gloves three times, we were RIGHT there with him.

The party was a success in one of the busiest months of my year because I had all the important elements in place before hosting.

When launching a podcast, the same rule applies — there are certain things you need to have in place before launch day!

Why Pre-Launch Prep is Worth It, And You Totally Need to Do It

It’s so easy to put off launching a podcast and submit yourself to the temptations of Endless Procrastination.

There are so many moving pieces, and producing episodes takes up so much time, you might feel like once you have one ready, you have to just launch it to force yourself to commit.

You might feel as if you don’t launch this singular episode, you will never launch your podcast at all.

And while I’m a firm believer in messy action, the truth is that launching with only one episode in your docket is a recipe for podfade (the commonly recognized phenomenon in which a new show pops up on Apple Podcasts and fades away three weeks later).

Doing this podcast launch checklist before you launch, might seem daunting, but just imagine having a launch day in which you feel prepared and at ease. Yes, you are starting a new commitment, but you’ve built in space for life’s inevitable curveballs, so you know you will be able to keep up.

Feeling excited rather than a sense of impending doom on launch day is absolutely worth it, if you ask me. So read on to learn exactly how to do it!

Your Podcast Launch Checklist

1. Launch with at least 3 episodes.

You don’t want people to listen to one episode and promptly forget your show exists. Instead, give them something to binge, three episodes right from the start!

Three episodes mean three opportunities to fall in love with your show in its first week.

You want your audience to be super familiar with your podcast and looking forward to the next episode!

2. Batch as many episodes as humanly possible.

This is your safety net for when life inevitably happens. And trust me, it will happen.

You’ll get sick, work will explode, or you’ll just have one of those weeks where the thought of recording makes you want to give up and succumb to the sweet slumber of podfade.

Having episodes banked means you stay consistent even when you’re not feeling particularly podcast-y.

You can batch episodes in so many ways:

1. Dedicate a week to recording one episode per day.
2. Record 2 episodes in one go whenever you’re feeling it.
3. Plan your podcast in seasons, and record all episodes for the season before it comes out.
4. If you’re feeling a bit wild, dedicate a full day to it and batch 3-5 episodes in one go.
5. Come up with your own plan. The options are endless!

3. Plan for at least 2 months of episode ideas.

Beyond your batched episodes, have a content calendar that stretches out for at least two months.

And update it regularly! Future You will feel so thankful they don’t have to scramble for episode ideas the same week a new episode is meant to go live.

4. Create a sustainable marketing plan.

Notice I said sustainable, not perfect. You need something realistic that you can actually stick to week after week.

Maybe that means sticking to only one platform like Instagram or Threads.

Or maybe that means a newsletter template you use to send out a weekly email to your list.

(If you’re reading this thinking, “Marketing??? I’m not even sure about my podcast idea yet!” Grab my free podcast concept training, The Podcast Starter.)

5. Record a podcast trailer and distribute it everywhere, a week or two before launch day.

Apple Podcasts alone can take 24-72 hours to approve a new podcast, so submitting episode 1 on launch day and announcing it to everyone might be a problem. You might think the episode is live everywhere, but it’s not yet available on your listeners’ preferred platform.

Recording a podcast trailer is not only a good idea for hype-generating purposes, but it’s also the perfect opportunity to sort out any technical issues, make sure your podcast is showing up everywhere, and give people a chance to subscribe to the show early.

Launch Your Podcast with Your Nervous System Intact

It feels like a lot of work to have all of these things in place before launch day, but it’s one of the best ways to ensure your podcast makes it through that rocky transition period of becoming a podcaster.

It will also help you go through the launch process with your nervous system intact, which, in my opinion, is priceless.

Want more podcasting tips like this? Sign up for my newsletter, Sounds Like Brunch, and you’ll get them every Wednesday!

And if you’re reading this because you’re thinking of starting a podcast but haven’t ironed out the concept yet, you need to grab my free training, The Podcast Starter. It’s literally step 1 in launching your dream show.

Thanks for reading! 🥂

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