Creating, promoting and distributing podcasts to reach millions of audiences on the internet is now relatively easy. Creating podcasts has become popular. Many bloggers are now turning to internet radio shows to broadcast their music/messages. You can also create a podcast in just 5-10 minutes! All you need is yourself, some recording equipment, internet access, and an interesting topic!
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Method 1 of 4: Before Recording
Step 1. Determine the nature of your podcast
What's in it? Write it down so you don't forget. Make some kind of outline or arrangement so that what you will discuss and/or promote does not stray.
- There are countless examples of existing podcasts. Podcast.com features podcasts by category, such as comedy, news, health, sports, music and politics. For your reference, examples of existing podcasts include Mugglecast which includes the "Harry Potter" novels and films; The Word Nerds who discuss the etymology of words and other linguistic matters; Fantasy Football Minute is a podcast to help all fantasy football coaches and general managers; and NPR Science Friday, a weekly podcast broadcast of events affiliated with local public radio.
- Listen to popular podcasts to get a feel for their style and content. Start with Podcast Alley. Draft an outline to minimize awkwardness. To conduct an interview, you may have to write the script first.
Step 2. Select the product to use for the Podcast
Most podcasts have a microphone (USB or analog), a mixer (for analog mics) and even a new computer. Podcast packages for beginners can be purchased starting at 100 dollars.
- Don't rely on the standard microphone built into your PC. You have to sound as professional as possible. You need a complete headset with a noise-canceling mic so that the sound can be heard clearly by the listener and not disturbed by the sound of the air conditioner in the corner of the room, for example. For an affordable voice recorder, a dynamic unidirectional microphone can be used. RadioShack sells a lot of cheap microphones or you can choose a higher quality microphone that is sold in music stores.
- Will the podcast be portable or will it be recorded at home? You can use a smartphone or tablet (Android, iOS). However, the basic tools you will need are a microphone and a podcast voice recording app. You only need a mixer if you have multiple inputs. A smaller unit with about four inputs will suit all but the most ambitious podcasts.
Step 3. Choose the software
You can use GarageBand if you're a Mac user (this app part of the iLife suite is free with every Mac purchase). Free (such as Audacity) and paid (Adobe Audition) software are also available. There's also tiered software like Sony Acid (music studios sell for just $50, Acid Pro for $200). Some types of mixers and microphones come with free software.
- An application from the Audio Industry called iPodcast Producer is very podcast friendly. This application can handle the whole process, from recording to uploading products from the built-in FTP application. However, this application is paid.
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Audacity (free!) is easy to learn and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This app has a number of useful features and plugins.
If you find this application too overwhelming, Sound Recorder (on Windows) can do everything you need, but it can only save files in wav format; You have to convert the recording into an mp3 file. You can use MusicMatch Jukebox for this too
- If you use Adobe Audition, you can subscribe to a monthly subscription via Adobe Cloud which offers all Adobe applications (at a lower cost). In addition, Lynda.com has excellent tutorial videos (about 5 hours or more in length) for Adobe products (as well as many other technologies), which you can access with a monthly subscription and can end at any time.
Method 2 of 4: Creating a Podcast
Step 1. Prepare content
You can put together a script of what you will say at the start of the event and when you transition from one story to another. Sort content to create a list.
Either way, make sure you enjoy it. This business probably won't bring in a lot of money. Take your time to discuss or promote something you really care about; share your knowledge/humor/music with others
Step 2. Record sound for your podcast
This is the biggest step, without sound your podcast would not exist. Speak at a steady pace and show passion for what you are talking about. Read the script and don't forget to thank the audience for being a part of your show.
The podcasts you deliver can be perfect, but sometimes technical issues with recording can ruin your hard work. Before starting the actual recording session, take some samples to test the software, play around with the volume controls, and make sure everything works
Step 3. Save the audio file to the computer desktop
Make sure the file is in MP3 format; A bit rate of 128 kbps is sufficient for chat podcasts, and music podcasts should have a bit rate of 192 kbps or higher.
- Do not use special characters (such as # or % or ?) in file names. Open the file in a sound editor and get rid of any background noise or long silent pauses. Add start/end music if necessary.
- You can of course save the file first in WAV format, so you have a master backup.
Step 4. Add tags, add ID information (artist, album, etc
) and album cover. Create your own or search the internet for free images that are not copyrighted, or ask your friends to make them.
Carefully name the audio file so that the podcast name and episode date are clear. You should also edit the ID3 tag in the MP3 file to make it easier for others to find and list your podcast
Step 5. Create an RSS feed (aka RSS feed)
The feed must meet all the requirements of a valid 2.0 feed standard. Use full solutions and services like Libsyn, Castmate or Podomatic (see outside links below). For longer podcasts, you have to pay a small fee.
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The easiest way to do this is to use a blog. So sign up at Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, or another blogging service, creating a blog with your podcast title. Don't make posts.
If the host has a bandwidth limit, you could incur additional fees if your podcast becomes very popular (hopefully!)
- The feed acts like a "container" for MP3 files telling the feed collector program the location of the files for new episodes. You can also do this manually with a little bit of XML code. XML code is similar to HTML. You can copy other RSS files and use the existing templates to make the modifications you need.
Method 3 of 4: Uploading Podcasts
Step 1. Add your podcast RSS feed to the Internet
Open Feedburner and type in your blog's URL then click "I am a podcaster!" on the next screen to configure elements directly related to your podcast. The Feedburner feed is your podcast'.
- Go to one of the podcast hosts on the internet and sign up (this may take a while). Then find and upload your MP3 file.
- Create a post on a blog/website -- the post title must be the title of the podcast episode, and the content must be either "Shownotes" or "Description." Add a little bit about what you talked about in this episode. At the end of the post, place a direct link to your media file.
Step 2. Wait a while
In a matter of minutes, Feedburner will add the post to your feed, and now you have a new episode! To be popular, submit the feed to iTunes or another podcast directory. You may have to wait a bit longer for someone else to watch your podcast episode.
- How to send podcasts to iTunes is quite simple. The podcast page in the iTunes store has a large button asking for an RSS link and a little additional information about the podcast. Podcasts can also be submitted on the web via the link in the iTunes FAQ.
- Call (aka ping) the proper podcast directory when new shows are updated.
- Add an appropriate subscribe button on your website so that others can subscribe to the podcast's RSS feed.
Method 4 of 4: Making Money From Podcasts
Step 1. Sell your podcast
You can set up a web store that will charge you for each podcast episode. However, these paid podcasts will compete with thousands of free podcasts. Your content has to be very strong for other people to be willing to pay for, so very few podcasts use this method.
Podcasts cannot be sold in the iTunes store
Step 2. Insert ads on podcasts
If you insert ads into your podcast, listeners can easily miss the ads while playing your podcast. One of your options is to get sponsored for the podcast, or even a separate segment of the podcast. You may have to change the podcast title for sponsorship.
Make sure you don't bombard your listeners with ads. If a podcast is relatively short, listeners won't want to listen to three commercials, for example. Especially in the beginning
Step 3. Insert ads on the web
This takes extra effort, because once a user subscribes to a podcast, the podcast will be downloaded directly to their RSS reader and won't see your website again. The key is to mention your blog or website frequently during podcast events. This will drive click traffic to your site, and hopefully create a lot of ad revenue.
Think about banner ads and sidebar ads. Side ads are potentially larger because they are longer and non-scrollable, so they will have a higher click rate
Tips
- If you are going to create content playing music, make sure you own the rights to the song you are playing. While podcasts can't be prosecuted for using music without permission, you can be sued if you don't have the rights to use the song.
- If you use Audacity, download and install the LAME MP3 encoder so that you can save your recordings in MP3 format, the podcast format of choice.
- Make sure your feed is in a directory. Alltop, Podcast Alley, Digital Podcasts, All Podcast, and Gigdial are all suitable directories.
- If you want your RSS feed to be read in Apple iTunes, you'll need to add a custom field. Make sure your feed on iTunes is valid!
- Make sure you ping the appropriate service like FreshPodcasts (see below) after you've updated your show.
- One of the most famous video sites is YouTube. This is a great website to start a video podcast on.
- You can use popular social bookmarking apps to create and manage podcast RSS feeds. Once you've uploaded all your mp3 files on the internet, create a bookmark for each one.
Warning
- Some podcast owners delete old episodes from time to time. Those who have subscribed will still have the old episodes, but new subscribers will only get the current episode. Consider this before deleting podcast episodes.
- Bandwidth consumption can spike. Make sure your podcasts are stored on servers that are reliable and can handle large bandwidth spikes. Most cheap hosting services cannot do this.
- People won't want to listen to a podcast that's boring, uninterrupted, or doesn't have enough content on the show, so vary and edit your material.
- Make sure your podcast RSS feed is valid -- especially when you're creating your own. Go to https://rss.scripting.com/ and type in the RSS upload address; this website will tell if RSS is valid or not.
