Catalog > Other > Podcasting > Tips, tricks and how-to for Podcasters (i.e. Podcasting for Podcast creators)
Tips, tricks and how-to for Podcasters (i.e. Podcasting for Podcast creators)
Version of this page: 1.
While Podcasting is being ridiculed by many professional broadcasters as amateurish poor attempts in timeshifted Internet radio publishing, we donīt agree: everything is as amateurish as you want it to be! Below some tips about Podcasting. And by the grace of God let us know your suggestions here by a webform, so that we could add your suggestions! (include your name and website URL if you would like to get "Credit:").
try to avoid "background chatter, wind noise, lip smacks, mindless ramblings and the umms and ahhs of the amateur" (Credit: The Guardian)
Of course you can distribute your Podcasts through Peer2Peer technology like Bittorent but donīt worry about it until you will get many subscribers. Bittorent is not working if amount of people offering given files is too small. So at first distribute your Podcasts through regular hosting accounts - nowadays for about 100-150 USD you can get 1000 GB of web traffic monthly - pretty much enough for the beginning.
donīt ape Adam Curry in your Podcasts. He is a rich person and is married to rich wife. He has many millions of USD in bank account and mimicing him will not make you rich. Try to have your own specific profile and try to cover your specific area in depth. Shortly speaking: donīt ape Adam Curry but focus on your area of specialization. Good example of such a focused Podcast is Career Opportunities.
how to create Podcasts? Create audio files with recordings and put them on server. Create RSS feed (a type of XML file) and put it on server. See here to learn more about technical aspects of creating Podcasts but donīt be shocked by sophisticated set-ups that other peopel are using for Podcasting. You donīt need it! Some simple program that generates MP3 is enough - for example the fully free Winamp !
use iTunes for Windows or iTunes for Mac to assign image to your Podcast. In this way Windows Media Player for Windows XP, Apple iPod Color and other players will be showing also image apart from playing music. Make that image not too big - 300x300 pixels should suffice - keep in mind that sometimes it is being displayed on the small display of some MP3 player.
ping your Podcasts to http://audio.weblogs.com/ through Ping form if your software is not doing it automatically through XML-RPC.
to record Skype phone calls in a reliable way use external recorders. Regular MP3 players can serve the purpose of recoder but pay attention that they have "line-in" connector. We recommend MP3 players from iRiver. Donīt buy Apple iPod - it is overpriced and to have the same features as in iRiver (or other non-Apple) players you need to pay extra.
avoid raving with critic about Wal*Mart, George W. Bush, etc if your Podcast is mainly about gadgets. In other words: be positive when possible and avoid subjects that are not directly related to your main subject.
donīt use copyrighted music in your Podcasts. Use music from Garageband.com but pay attention that it is released for such copyrighted use - not all music there is!
having mellifluous voice could help. You may be known for the world as top notch blogger but after hearing your squeaky voice everybody will notice how lame you are. So if possible try to get mellifluous voice. Any tricks allowed, including drinking a pint and excercising.
Final remark: in Podcasts donīt talk about Podcasting. Just do them!
