Discover the five worst-case scenarios that could happen when hiring help for your podcast.

So you want to hire a company to help with your podcast?

Maybe you're reading this because your boss tasked you to find a podcast service for your business, and you want to do a good job. Because you know… if this goes badly, your career could death spiral and land you in the basement working next to Ted, who, if we're being honest, might be a murderer, or at the least has some type of checkered past...

Or maybe your are personal brand or small business and you simply want to make the best choice with your budget and make sure you don't get ripped off. Because you know... if you get ripped off, you'll have to move your three kids into your mother-in-law's and let's be honest, the WHOLE house smells like moth balls and tangy old potpourri…

Too far? Maybe. Still, at the very least, you're curious about what could go wrong if you pick the wrong podcast service. You've probably thought about all or some of these questions before. Because you want to launch and grow a successful podcast, we get it! We understand the fear around making a bad choice. So we've designed this post to take your concerns and give actionable solutions for the following worst-case scenarios.

What if I create a wonderful show and the service or freelancer I hire says they own the intellectual property?

This is one of the most common questions we get at Blue Sky Podcasting. If a business is paying us to produce, engineer, or simply edit their show, who owns that show? "You do," is the quick answer. Individuals, organizations, and businesses contract us to help with their podcasts. We've worked on hundreds of shows, and we don't own any of your intellectual property. We have heard of podcast producers who will split the revenue with content creators, in which case you would co-own the content. The only time the question of "who owns my podcast" can get tricky is if you hire a host outside of your company to use their voice, ideas, and concepts to bring your show to life. In this case, we encourage you to solidify these details in a simple contract before beginning release. If you have specific questions about being a host for someone else's show, this article can help you with that. But you retain your intellectual property when hiring a company like Blue Sky Podcasting.

What if it sounds terrible?

So this is probably not the way you would ask this question over a phone call, but we've heard this fear before. They fear outsourcing some or all portions of their show and being disappointed with the results. Especially when we speak with someone who's been editing their show for some time, this one is easy to answer, though: find a new editor! If you hire a company to help with your show, or your cousin Steve who bought a bunch of equipment from Costco on a credit card, and they don't do a good job, just like that bad relationship in high school - break up with them!

What if your freelancer quits or doubles their prices?

Price creep is very much a risk when working with one individual. They begin getting some traction and tons of inquiries about their work, but they don't want to start a business and manage employees. Their only feasible option, other than degrading the quality and becoming late with deliverables, is to raise their prices. See the response to the previous question. Find someone new. As my dad used to say, there are many fish in the sea.

What if the company you hired keeps bouncing you around from one editor to another editor?

Sadly, this is a real-life story we've seen repeatedly. The "24-hour" or "quick editing" style services are not built for keeping the same editor on your show. The frustrating part is you will have to repeat how you like your music to fade out and where the ad spot goes with each upload. Sure, you're saving money, but it's a big headache. Additionally, while each editor might be great, every episode will sound slightly different because the other editor preferred a different eq, compression, or loudness for your show. Platforms like apple podcasts will also rank your show lower for volume differences between episodes. The best solution would be to save all of your preferences on a document and send it with each episode you want to be edited. But be specific with LUFS, fade points, and direct links to files, so there's no confusion. We only favor using these "quick editing" services if you're podcasting just for fun. When you are doing it for fun, these are great, low-cost solutions.

Someone starts a podcast under the same name.

This is also a real-life sad story. It's still sort of the Wild West of podcasting. We've seen a lot of shows with the same or very similar names pop up long after a show we've been working on has been established. For the casual podcast with a few listeners, no big deal. For corporate brands or personal brands that create meaningful revenue through their podcast, it's a big deal. You'll need to research more information about trademark registration to protect your podcast name. Many online services help with this, and many lawyers in your city can help if you prefer something more personal. Do note trademarking could take well over 12 months and cost well over $1000. Our advice would be not to let trademarking stop you from creating your show. Still, if you find it hard to sleep at night without a trademark, by all means, talk to a lawyer. We also found this post on Christine Odonnell's website helpful.

When hiring a company, freelancer, or new employee to run your podcast, a lot can go wrong. We hope this post was helpful and insightful and provided actionable solutions. But hey, do remember — a lot can go right too!