Content Creation Series ~ Creating Podcasts

January 29, 2010 By Jackie Lee 29 Comments

Listen up those of you who don’t like to write… today’s another content creation day for you. We’re going to talk about creating podcasts. Now don’t freak out… this doesn’t have to be complicated or hard and if you like to talk it can be super fun!

What is a podcast?

Quite simply it’s an audio file (usually mp3 format) available for people to listen to and download from your (or another) site.

Basically that means you’re talking and you let others listen and download the conversation.

Creating a regular podcast for this site is one of my goals this year so I’ve been doing a little research and a little brainstorming in this area and there are a lot of options and choices and you’ll have to make some decisions.

1. Is audio right for your site and the purpose of your site?

2. What platform or tools will you use for your podcast?

When should you add a podcast?

Podcasting is a fantastic way to build more traffic as well as build your name recognition and your expertise in any area. So… if you are building squidoo lenses, or mini niche sites you probably don’t need or want to start a podcast. If you are doing a larger site and are enjoying your niche and think you might like to take your site to the next level podcasting is something to be considered.

If you’re considering a podcast ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do I want to become THE resource for this topic on the web?

2. Am I ready to commit to a regular podcasting schedule?

3. Am I ready to get more traffic?

These questions are the key to creating a great podcast and moving your blog to the next level. If you’ve answered yes to these questions I’d say you’re ready to start podcasting.

Let’s look at the options.

Voice recording
Blog Talk Radio

Podcasting can be really simple ~ and yes, I totally get that it can be overwhelming (do you see a podcast on this website yet?? )

Audacity and a microphone

Let’s start really simple. If you just want to talk to your audience you can get a microphone and then download the free software called audacity. It will allow you to record your voice right into your computer. From there audacity allows you to edit the audio file. You can take out the “uuummms”, you can add music at the beginning and end, you can get as fancy with it as you want.

Conference Call

If you want to have a conversation with other people you can use a conference line (I use freeconferencecall.com). There is also an entire service created for this type of podcast called audio acrobat ~ it helps with the logistics the process, but it will cost you $20 a month. You can also use skype for this. If you choose a conference line make sure you choose one that has the ability to record your call (freeconferencecall.com does). Both of you call in to the number given, start recording and then have your conversation. You then download the recording to your computer. At this point you can also use audacity to edit your recording or add intro music. If you use skype I believe you’ll have to grab another piece of software to record your skype conversation. I haven’t much looked into that method.

Your own online radio show

If you’d like to make it really easy on yourself and create a serious brand for you and your site you can start a radio show of your own over at Blog Talk Radio (definitely NOT the only platform, but most widely known). BTR will give you your own channel. When you want to do your podcast you just schedule a show, then you call in to radio channel phone number. People can call in (or not), talk to you live (or not). Your shows will be kept on your BTR channel, and you can grab a widget to put your shows on your website. You can also download the show and do some editing to it if you choose. Blog Talk Radio is a free service, and I’m sure there’s a way to upgrade, but it gives you a LOT to work with and a great way to build your brand.

What do I get out of all this?

Podcasting is definitely more work than just typing out a post, which is why 99% of bloggers don’t do it. So the first thing you get out of podcasting is noticed. Since most people can’t be bothered to take advantage of this type of content people will notice that you did, and that will say something to them.

When your podcasts are done you can also upload them to Itunes. Have you heard of Itunes? Yeah, like the biggest music site around right? Well your podcast can be right in there with everyone else. When someone searches for something related to your topic they may find you. Can you imagine how many people will have access to your podcast via Itunes? That reason alone is enough to get started for me!

Once you’ve set yourself up on itunes people can subscribe to your podcast and they’ll get every new podcast you do sent directly to their computer or ipod ~ now that’s nice.

You can use interviews or podcasts as bonuses which is always great.

You can take podcasts and have them transcribed and give that away or use it as a bonus, or as a way to get people to sign up to your newsletter/list.

Podcasting is hugely beneficial, but you have to get started and I myself realize that is a BIG hump!

What kind of podcast should you do?

That’s where I’m at right now. I’m personally leaning toward setting up over at Blog Talk Radio, but when it comes down to content how do you decide what to talk about?

Couple stumbling blocks I’ve encountered.

1. Don’t think it has to be an hour long. A ten minute podcast outlining a great tip or trick is more than fine.

2. You can do more than one thing. Yes, you can do an hour long interview, but also do shorter 10 minute podcasts as well.

3. If you don’t make a decision and start you never will. (oh that one was for my benefit lol)

Since I’m still stuck on the whole “content” piece of this puzzle myself I thought I’d list out some of the general content ideas I’ve come up with and then let’s brainstorm some more things and help each other out.

tips
tricks
interviews
Q and A
Coaching call ~ where people call in and you walk them through whatever problem they’re having (this could work for any topic!)
Book reviews

That’s all I got right now.

Ok…

Let’s work together on this part. I’d love to know three things:

1. What kind of podcast topics you’d like to see on this site.
2. What other topics you can think of to build out that list up there a little bit
3. Whether YOU will be doing a podcast! (Please let me know if you are I can’t wait to listen)

Let’s talk about it in the comments ~ if we need more room we can take specific conversations about YOUR podcast to the fanpage.

Other Posts That Might Help:

Build Connections by Creating a Collaborative Ebook

26 comments 0 people listening

Comment help
Get Livefyre

Sort: Newest | Oldest

Jackie

yes you should be able to do that ~ if you're going to do a slideshow or picture type video ~ you can just upload whatever audio you want (that's stored on your computer) to play over the video itself.

Content Creation Series ~ Creating Podcasts

Trackbacks

Your Work at Home Business Blueprint

Sponsored by:

Let’s Get to Know Each Other!

My Most Popular Posts