Don't Waste the Chaos

12 Steps to Launch Your Podcast

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Description

If you've had that little voice telling you that you should start a podcast — this episode is your sign, your permission slip, and your complete 12-step checklist all in one. Kerri Roberts is celebrating one full year and 52 episodes of Don't Waste the Chaos, and in this anniversary episode she pulls back the curtain on exactly how she built this podcast from scratch — the equipment she uses, the production team she found, the mistakes she made along the way, and the 12 steps she wishes she'd had when she hit record for the first time.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  1. Why Kerri started Don't Waste the Chaos — the moment in a board meeting at a private insurance firm where she said "don't waste the chaos" and watched it take on a life of its own, why she decided a podcast was the best way to reach the business owners and leaders who needed 20 years of HR experience but would never think to ask for it, and the four lessons this first year of podcasting taught her — that consistency builds trust, vulnerability connects, you learn by doing, and your message does not have to be perfect to matter
  2. The full 12-step podcast startup checklist — define your purpose and audience (content pillars: for Kerri it's HR, operations, mental health, and personal); choose your format (solo vs. interviews, episode length, frequency); develop your content plan (brainstorm 10 to 15 episodes and build an episode outline or script template); invest in equipment and software (Kerri uses a Blue Yeti mic, Audio Technica headphones, and Riverside FM for recording, plus Kajabi for hosting); design your branding including cover art and podcast description; set up hosting and distribution to Apple, Spotify, and YouTube; test your technology before your first real episode; create an intro and outro with royalty-free music; plan your marketing strategy including a website and email list; record and edit your first episode; launch with three to five episodes ready; and track and improve using platform analytics
  3. Exactly what Kerri pays for and who handles what — the full behind-the-scenes breakdown of her production workflow including Amplify Boutique (her editing and production team), what she submits to them after recording (title, release date, guest photo, show notes, cleanup notes), how they post to Kajabi and distribute to Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and why she runs two separate packages — one for podcast editing and one for YouTube — plus all of the tools she pays for monthly and what each one does
  4. Why you should launch with three to five episodes ready and not just one — why your intro episode alone won't give a new listener enough to decide whether to come back, how to think about episode length (Kerri's sweet spot is 25 to 45 minutes based on listener completion data), and why an email marketing list is more important than social media reach because you own that relationship and social platforms can go down or shut you out
  5. The mindset shifts that make the difference — why your first videos are going to be awkward and that's completely fine (Kerri's were too), why you should start with a script or detailed outline and evolve toward bullets as you build confidence, what it felt like to see Don't Waste the Chaos show up as someone's number one podcast on Spotify Wrapped, and why the right audience for a podcast is never about size — it's about reach

Chapter Markers:

This episode is a departure from our usual HR and people ops content — but if you're a business owner who's thinking about starting a podcast as part of your content strategy, the same foundation-first thinking applies to your people operations too. The free HR Audit will show you where your HR systems actually stand: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

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Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/episode-55-12-steps-to-launch-your-podcast

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