Once you have an established blog with real visitors and readers, you might be looking at ways to expand the type of content you’re offering to increase engagement. Instead of just writing content for you blog, a podcast can be a great way to increase the value of your blog along with reaching other potential audiences on iTunes or YouTube. “Podcast” is really just a fancy word for audio or video content that is delivered through Apple’s iTunes service in a format that people can subscribe to and get updates when you post a new episode. Today, we’ll dive in to some tips for creating your very own podcast in no time.
Audio or Video
The first question you need to answer is do you want to create an audio or video podcast? Video obviously has a higher barrier to entry with equipment and production. However it can be more effective and engaging for certain topics. Audio is much simpler and straight forward but lacks the visual component of video. For getting started, I would recommend audio first as it will be much easier to get up and running. If you want to dive right into video, I’d recommend keeping it simple and either recording with your computer’s webcam or doing a screen share to cast a presentation you’ve pre-created. This will result in much less editing at the later stages and keeps it very simple.
Equipment & Software
There is some basic equipment and software you’ll need to get started — but don’t get too caught up in having the best of the best right off the bat. Look for the basics you need to create your first few episodes and, over time, you can add more professional equipment to your arsenal.
- Microphone – Whether audio or video, you’ll need a microphone. The easiest one to start out with is your computer’s built-in mic. These can often work well enough for your first podcast. If you want to step up production value a bit more, look for a desktop condenser microphone like the Blue Yeti USB microphone which runs about $50.
- Recording Software – There are certainly many expensive, high end software packages out there but often you can just use what’s built into your computer to get the job done. On a mac, Apple’s GarageBand is unbeatable. For a PC (and other operating systems), Audacity is a great open-sourced solution. If you’re working with video that you need to edit, Apple’s iMovie or Windows Movie Maker are great beginner solutions.
- Mixer – Most beginners won’t need a mixer setup however once your podcast gains some popularity a mixer will help you integrate multiple audio sources into your recordings. This is especially useful if you have more than one host or speaker you need to record. A mixer can also come in handy if you want to integrate sound clips or effects into your podcast on-the-fly as you’re recording
- Pop Filter - To step up your sound quality even more, a pop filter can be used on your microphone to combat those explosive “p” type syllables and words. Pop filters are fairly cheap and should run around $25 on Amazon.
Script
While many podcasters record on the fly, for beginners it’s much easier to have a script prepared beforehand. At the very least you’ll want a skeleton of the topics you’re going to cover so that your podcast is very logically laid out and easy to understand. The more pre-planning you do, the less editing you’ll have to do later. Try to keep your podcast focused on one topic specifically, if you want to expand to a few topics, try to segment them into sections throughout the broadcast. This keeps your content more streamlined and easily-digestible by your listeners. Podcasts are also great opportunities for interviews with other bloggers or subject experts. If you’re recording an interview for your podcast, make sure to have questions prepared ahead of time. If you can share this questions with the interviewee, even better! This way, they’re prepared to answer you and provide rich and engaging content beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer.
Creating your Podcast
The first step to creating your podcast is recording your content. Since podcasts are typically recorded ahead of time and posted, don’t worry about making mistakes because they can be easily edited out in post-production. You won’t be an expert at first, so expect to practice a few times to get the timing down right. Practice makes perfect, so don’t get easily frustrated in the beginning. Once you have your first run through, listen back to identify any areas you might need to re-record.
Once you have your audio clips recorded, you can use your software to slice and dice the content/re-dubs along with adding in any post sound effects or processing. Using each software package is different so definitely refer to the software documentation or a site like Lynda.com to get training on the ins and outs of each. The basic functionality should be all you need at first so as you get more comfortable with the software over time, you might consider adding additional features and media into your podcast recordings.
Once you’re satisfied with your episode, export the mix as an audio file (preferably .wav).
Make your Audio a Podcast
Now you should have an audio file on your computer but to make it into a podcast you need a way to make it publicly available. For starters, you can easily upload this content to your blog and post it for your readers. For audio, simply upload the audio file to your post, for video I would recommend using YouTube hosting and embed the video into a post.
If you’re looking to be included in iTunes, there are a few more steps that are involved including finding a podcast host. Podcast hosting is a separate cost but makes it easy to upload your content to be formatted in a podcast-friendly format. This will help deliver it to Apple in the format they’re looking for so others can subscribe to your podcast in iTunes. There are many hosting options out there but for a more comparative list, check out this great post from Digital Trends.
Rinse & Repeat
Congratulations, you’ve created your first podcast! Since podcasts are traditionally presented in “episodes,” you’ll want to keep producing content for all of the new users that will be listening to your podcast content. It’s best to have a consistent schedule for when listeners can expect your content to be released, this will help you build a following of people hungry for your content. Your format and production value with definitely change over time as you get more experienced with recording so don’t be afraid to make changes as you go and ask your listeners for feedback. You can also listen to other popular podcasts in iTunes to get a feel for what other podcasters are doing in terms of format and presentation. This will all help make you a better podcaster and give your users another way to consume your valuable content!
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