To start a podcast you don’t need artwork. It’s good if you have something in mind or have something ready but it’s not really necessary to start. A name is. The name is where everything else flows.
You don’t have to, but you should, have dedicated domain name for your podcast. That way you are not dependent on where you choose to host and distribute your audio files. You’ll be able to redirect your listeners to some other service without them even knowing you changed providers.
This is where I am right now. I will come up with 3 or 4 names and check to see if a .com domain is available. If so I’ll register them. I don’t want more than 3 or 4 otherwise I’m wasting money.
I’ll start typing words into Hover.com‘s domain search (they’re my registrar) to see if any of my initial thoughts hit on a free .com. It’s sheer luck these days to come up with a decent short .com TLD that is available. If I don’t get lucky on the first several that come to mind I’ll start using a thesaurus. I’ll plow through synonyms and antonyms to help find alternate versions of words that I want to use. I’ll use an alternate spelling if I have to but it’s really not desirable. For instance, my web site ketokooking.com. I obviously wanted ketocooking.com but it was taken. Keto Kooking isn’t too bad because at least I have the alliteration with the Ks.
After that I will think of podcast art that can represent the podcast over all but can also be modified in some way to make unique individual episode art. I like the way the No Agenda Show produces new artwork for every episode. They have a listeners that contribute the art to the show so it’s not something the hosts do themselves. That’s why I need something that would be relatively easy to modify to have something different while at the same time keeping continuity with the show over all.
As I’m writing this post I’ve come up with a few names. Here they are:
- Intermittent Hiker – intermittenthiker.com
- Soft Core Hiker – softcorehiker.com
- Soft Core Hiking – softcorehiking.com
- The Casual Hike – thecasualhike.com
- Restorative Hiking – restorativehiking.com
- Cathartic Hiking – cathartichiking.com
I like Soft Core Hiker but I think the association with porn or sex will be confusing. I use the term soft-core in the context of not being hard-core. I’m not serious about it and don’t go crazy with gear and such. I only have absolute necessary gear. The Casual Hike is very generic but could work. Intermittent Hiker is very specific but too long and cumbersome to say. Restorative Hiking and Cathartic Hiking are very similar to each other. Restorative Hiking uses one of today’s buzzwords. Everything is restorative these days.
Several good domains are available but must be held by squatters. Domains like justhike.com costs thousands with normal renewal prices. That’s the downside of searching for domains. Almost everything you can think of is taken. By the time I publish this post I would have registered at least 4 of the above domains.
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