Podcasting; How to Podcast

Podcast Basics

A podcast is a digital media file, usually in audio or video format. The name podcast is a combination of the names pod, as in i pod, and broadcast. So your podcast material is broadcasted on the internet in a blog or website, or podcast directory. Podcasts are often done in a series, like having episodes that are shown regularly. If you are already a blogger, the concept is already clear, the marketing and basic idea is the same, its just a matter of adding video and audio. The more consistent and organized your blog posts are, the better your chances for success. If you choose to start a podcast, you are up against the same issues a blogger faces. It will take time and organization to develop a sold following.
If you have not done a podcast before, it can be a little stressful, to say the least. With a little patience, it will become relatively simple. You will need a microphone, computer, audio editing software, an RSS feed, and a website or hosting service that you can upload podcasts to.

• Audio podcasts. Contain sound only, and are small in file size making them easier to download and play on any portable music player. Some people like these, and others feel that by not having video, they are missing out on a major part of podcasting experience.
• Video podcasts. have audio and video included, making them larger in file size, requiring a music player with video capabilities. Putting together a video is far more complicated as far as business presentation goes, you will want your environment, attire, and lighting to present your professional image.

Either video or audio podcasts can be effective ways to market your business by providing information, knowledge, branding, and entertainment.

Once coming up with a topic for a podcast, write an outline being sure that you have a solid theme. Think of English 101, and the thesis sentence, and the supporting issues. Make sure it flows, in an organized manner that does not deter too far off the main subject. Be sure to always have a plan when creating a podcast. It is easy to become cocky and think that because you have done this a few times you don't need to have so much structure, but believe me, that is how your casts start looking disorganized and as a result you lose audience. Pilots always go through a check list that they read out loud, and their co pilot repeats back each check, no matter how obvious the checks are, they go through this routine because it has been shown that it prevents accidents. Having organized systems will keep your podcasts from appearing haphazard.
Organize the structure of how you want it presented and where you want it to break. A good way to get started is to take a look at some podcasts that others have done.
Just as with blogging, the key factor to building subscribers to your podcasts is to be regular about it. Once per week is a good, regular schedule.
Watch a few good tutorials on on podcasts before you attempt one yourself.

Create A Podcast

To create your own podcast you will need a computer with recording software and microphone. Recording software varies in terms of complexity and cost but free software such as Audacity is somewhere to start.
As far as editing goes, be sure and remove excess background noise. Many podcasts begin and end with a little music. You may wish to look into Royalty-Free Music just to be on the safe side.
Markers will let you add chapter titles, and URLs
If you wish to submit your podcast to Apple iTunes, you may wish to have artwork that represents your podcast.
RSS: Users can subscribe to your cast. This is done though the creation of an RSS feed that is based on the MP3 file of your podcast. The RSS feed for your podcast contains links to the pod episodes.

Technologies

This is the new world of networking, teaching and learning: 3-D animation sites.
Second life, TelePlace, Protosphere, and Olive, are new 3-D virtual environments.They may remind you of Yoville, for those who play games on Facebook. You are in cartoon land all over again, and can create anything you want. This may seem like kid stuff, but major corporations are using this technology, and it is rumored to be a part of business structure in the future. It is also being experimented with for teaching foreign languages. These 3-D virtual world communities will be a bigger and more important part of business seminars and conferences, as well as networking events as they evolve. These sites are a little tricky to get used to however, users have discovered that these sites have a very supportive team, and provide a lot of network training.

You will need a headset, microphone and a tutorial before you begin.

Using Search Engines

Once you have made your podcast you will want it indexed and as visible as possible on Google. A few ways to do this is to add text to your podcast and use keywords that people will be searching, and optimizing a landing page with relevant text. This gives search engines more information to the audio file that will help them stand out. The more key word text you have, the better your chances of being found.