podcast mastery: special report · podcasting 101 podcasts are an incredible way to reach both...

PODCASTMASTERY:SPECIALREPORT


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TableofContents

Introduction............................................................................................5

Podcasting101........................................................................................7

TypesofPodcasts....................................................................................9

Solo......................................................................................................9

Duos.....................................................................................................9

Interviews..........................................................................................10

Groups................................................................................................11

GettingStartedWithYourFirstPodcast...............................................13

Computer...........................................................................................14

Microphone........................................................................................14

NEATWidget...................................................................................16

BlueYeti..........................................................................................16

BlueSnowballiCE............................................................................17

iRigMicLav.....................................................................................17

Recording&EditingSoftware............................................................18

Domain&Hosting..............................................................................19


DistributingYourPodcast......................................................................21

PodcastingSuccessStrategies...............................................................23

ShouldYouUseAScript?....................................................................23

HowCanYouFindListeners?.............................................................24

WhatShouldYouTalkAbout?............................................................25

FinalWords...........................................................................................26

Resources..............................................................................................28

AudioRecordingandEditingTools:................................................28

PodcastHosting:.............................................................................28

PodcastDirectories:........................................................................29


Introduction

Incaseyouhaven’theardmuchaboutpodcasting,letmetellyoua

littlebitaboutit,andhowit’scommonlyusedbybusiness

professionals.

Thinkofpodcastingassomewhatlikearadiotalkshow,onlypodcasts

aren’ttypicallybroadcastlive.Theyareusuallypre-recorded,edited,

andthenuploaded.SometimestheyCANbeliveshowsthatare

recordedanduploadedlater,butthat’sfarlesscommon.

Podcastscanbesettodownloadautomaticallybyfansofthatpodcast,

andcanbelistenedtoanytime,fromanylocation,aslongasinternetis

availabletodownloadthepodcastatsomepointbeforelistening.

Podcastsareagreatwaytostayintouchwithyouraudience,whilealso

expandingitquickly.Millionsofuserslistentopodcastseveryday,and

youcanreachalargenumberofthoseusersquicklyandeasily.

Infact,PatFlynnoftheSmartPassiveIncomeblog,saysthathis

podcasthasbecomehistopmethodforreachingnewcustomersand


generatingfreshtraffictohiswebsite,rankingpodcasting’sglobal

outreachaboveGoogle,socialmedia,andinboundlinks!

Asaresultofhispodcasts,Pathasreceivedlotsofmediacoverageand

opportunitiesthatprobablywouldnothavebeenopentohimifhe

hadn’tstartedhispodcast.

Wouldn’tyouliketohavethatkindofexposure?

Thenlet’sgetstarted!


Podcasting101

Podcastsareanincrediblewaytoreachbothcurrentandnew

prospects,nomatterwhattypeofbusinessyou’rerunning,orwhat

nichemarketyouarepositionedin.

Podcastingisalsoagreatwaytostandout,andsetyourselfapartfrom

thecompetition.LotsofpeoplehaveblogsandYouTubechannelsand

socialmediaprofiles,butnotnearlyasmanypeoplehaveapodcast!

Therearearound100millionpeoplewholistentopodcastseverysingle

day,butonlyabout200,000activepodcasts.Comparethattothe

millionsofactiveblogsoutthere!

Podcastreadershipisalsostillgrowing.Between2015and2016alone,

listenersgrewbyawhopping23%!

Podcastingisafantasticwaytogainexposureforyourblog,YouTube

channel,socialmediaprofiles,books,courses,brand,app,software,

videogame,oranythingelseyou’reworkingon!


Plus,it’sagreatwaytogainexposureforpeoplewhoaren’tas

comfortableinfrontofacamera.Peopleneverhavetoknowwhatyou

looklike.Andevenifyouhateyourvoice,youcoulduseavoice

changertomodifyit!

Butdon’tthinkyouhavetohaveafantasticvoicetodowellwitha

podcast.Aslongasyouhavesomethinginterestingtosay,listenerswill

keeptuningin.

Whateveryou’retryingtoaccomplishwithyourbusiness—whetherit’s

sellingproducts,gettingreadersforyourblogorbooks,gettingviewsto

yourYouTubevideos,orbuildingyourbrand—youcanachieveitwith

podcasting!


TypesofPodcasts

Therearemanydifferenttypesofpodcastsyoucancreateforyour

audience,andnothingsaysyouneedtostaywithasingleformat.In

fact,lotsofpeopleusemultipleformatsfortheirpodcastbasedon

whatevertheyaretryingtoaccomplishatagiventime.

Let’stakealookatsomeofthosedifferentformats,andhowtheycan

bestbeused.

Solo

Mostpodcastsaresolo,simplybecauseit’susuallyindividualswhostart

them.Solopodcastsgenerallyconsistofoneindividualtalkingabouta

particularsubjectduringeach“episode”.

Duos

Duosarealsopopular,withtwopeopletalkingtogetheraboutthe

topic.Duosareoftenspousesorfriends,butmaybebusinesspartners,

orothercloseacquaintances.

Thereasonmostduosarecloseisthattheirpersonalitiesneedtomesh

wellforthepodcasttobeinteresting.


Duosneedtofeedoffeachother,jokearoundwitheachother,andbe

abletoreadeachothertounderstandwheretheotheroneisgoing

withtheconversationandrespondthoughtfully.

Interviews

Interviewbasedpodcaststypicallyinvolvetwopeople.One,thehost

asksquestions,andtheotherpartyprovidesinformationandshares

theirstrategies,andexperienceswithinthepodcast.

Theinterviewformatisasimpleone:Thehostprovidesasetlistof

questionsaheadoftime,givingtheirguestachancetoreviewthe

materialandpreparefortheepisode.Justlikeinanyotherpodcast

scenario,it’salwaysbesttohaveapre-writtenoutlineofwhatyouplan

tocoverwithinthepodcast,aswellasopeningandclosingremarks.

Interviewbasedpodcastscanworkespeciallywellifyoumanagetoget

well-knownpeopleinyourindustrytoparticipate,becausethose

establishednamescandrawinadditionallisteners,andtheymayeven

promoteyourpodcasttotheirownfansorfollowers.


Groups

Thegroupformatcanbetricky,becausepowerfulpersonalitiesoften

havedifficultytakingabackstagetoeachotherandtendtotalkover

oneanotherandinterrupt.Buttheycanbeverysuccessfuliftheyare

properlymoderated.

Ifyou’veeverwatchedashowlikeRealTimewithBillMaherorThe

View,you’veprettymuchseenhowinteresting,anddynamicthistype

offormatcanbe.

Thegroupformatisn’tascommoninpodcastingbecauseoftheneedto

moderatesomanypersonalitiesandbecauseofpotentialscheduling

conflicts,buttheycanbequitesuccessfulifexecutedcorrectly.

AsImentionedbefore,youdon’thavetosticktoasingleformat.You

mightrunyourpodcastasasingleformatmostofthetime,andswitch

tootherformatshereandthere,oryoumightswitchitupallthetime.

It’stotallyuptoyou,andwhatyouhopetoaccomplish.

Ifyouarejustgettingstartedwithpodcasts,you’lllikelywanttostart

withjustasolopodcastformat.Thatway,youcancutyourteethon


theprocessinvolvedincreatinggreatpodcastcontent,gainexperience

andbecomemorecomfortablespeakingtoyouraudience.

Then,asyoubecomemorefamiliarwiththeprocessandfeelprepared

totryanewformat,considertheinterview-styleformatwhereyoucan

welcomeaguestfromwithinyournichemarkettoappearonyour

podcast.It’sagreatwaytonetworkwithothersinyourindustrywhile

givingyourlistenershelpfulinformationthatwillmotivatethemto

continuetuningineachweek,ormonth.

Plus,withinterviews,youaren’trequiredtocomeupwithasmuch

contentasyouwouldinasolo-format.Yousimplycreatealistof

questionsandletyourguestprovidetheanswers.Inexchangeforthem

appearingonyourpodcast,youcouldpromoteoneoftheirproductsor

website.It’sawin-win!


GettingStartedWithYourFirstPodcast

Alotofpeoplemistakenlybelievethattheyneedspecialequipmentin

ordertocreateapodcast,butthetruthis,youprobablyalreadyhave

mostofwhatyouneedonyourcomputer.

Here’swhatyouneed:

• Acomputer

• Amicrophone

• Somesortofrecordingsoftware

• Audioeditingsoftware(optional)

• Domain

• Hosting

Let’stakeacloserlookateachpieceofequipmentyouneed,soyou

cangetstartedquicklyandeasily.


Computer

Youdon’tneedtheworld’smostpowerfulcomputertocreatea

podcast.Workingwithaudioisn’tnearlyasintensiveasworkingwith

graphicsorvideo,soabasiccomputerisfine.

Technically,youcanevencreateapodcastonyourphoneortablet

usingsoftwaresuchasBossJockStudio.It’soneoftheonlyappsonthe

marketthatwillallowyoutorecordtwomicsatthesametime,andif

youplantodoanyinterviews,you’llneedthisfeature.It’savery

affordableapp,andyoucanuploadandpublishyourcontentasanMP3

filedirectlyfromtheapp.

Microphone

Manypeoplejustusethebuilt-inmicrophonethatcomeswiththeir

computerormobiledevice,andthat’sfinewhenyou’rejustgetting

started.Butthesoundqualitywillprobablynotbewhatyouwantitto

be.

Built-inmicrophonesaregenerallylowqualityandwillpickuptoo

muchambientnoise,andmayincludeannoyingartifactssuchasstatic,

hissing,wind,etc.Thiswillhurttheoverallqualityofyourpodcast

considerably,especiallyforpeoplewearingearbudsorheadphones.


Instead,it’srecommendedthatyoupickupanexternalmicrophone--

ideallyonethathasastand,noisereduction,andawindscreenorpop

filter.

Apopfilterisashieldthatattachestothemicrophoneandblocksany

airfromyourmouthandnosefromreachingthemic,whichwillhelp

reducewindnoisewhenyou’respeaking.Sinceitsitsbetweenyouand

themicrophone,itwon’tblockambientairflowfromotherdirections.

Awindscreenisusuallymadeoffoamandfitsoverthemicitselftohelp

reducewindfromalldirections.Thisisusefulforblockingwindwhen

you’rerecordingoutdoors,butwillalsoreducenoisefromfans,air

conditioning,etc.

Youcanbuypopfiltersandwindscreensseparatelyifyourdevice

doesn’tcomewiththem.Ifyouaren’treadytoinvestinthese

accessories,youcanalsocoveritlooselywithatissueorthinclothto

helpreducewind.Itwon’tbeaseffectiveasapaidproduct,butitwill

helpsome.


Therearemanydifferenttypesofmicrophonesonthemarket.The

leastexpensivemodelsaregenerallynotverygood,butyoudon’thave

tospendhundredsofdollarstogetaqualitymic.

Let’stakealookatafewmodelsyoumightwanttoconsider.

NEATWidget

TheNEATWidgetlineofmicrophonesrunsinthe$100rangeand

currentlycomesinthreedifferentmodels.Theyareallbasicallythe

same.Theonlyrealdifferencesarecosmetic,soitjustdependson

whichmodelyoulike.

Atthispricerange,thereisn’tmuchthatcanbeatit,andyou’llseethat

thereviewsonwebsiteslikeAmazonproveit.Thesemicsrecordvery

high-qualityaudio,doagreatjobofblockingambientnoise,andpick

upvoiceslikeachamp.

BlueYeti

TheBlueYetimicrophoneisprettymuchthestandardinpodcasting.

It’sabout50%pricierthantheNEATWidgetlineifyoupurchaseoneof

themodelsthatcomeswithapopfilterandheadphones,butalotof

peoplesayit’sworththeextracost.


BlueSnowballiCE

TheBlueSnowballiCEisanotherqualitymicrophonethatcomesitat

onlyabout$50.Thisisagoodoptionifyou’relookingtostart

podcastingonabudget,becauseofitsaffordableprice,butbeaware

thatitdoestendtopickupmorebackgroundnoisethantheNEAT

WidgetandBlueYetimodels.

Youmightthinkthiswon’tmattermuch,becauseyou’llberecordingin

aprivatespace,howeveritcanpickupnoisessuchasairconditioners,

squeakychairs,rustlingpapers,etc.Ifthisisn’tabigdealforyou,this

modelmightbeagoodoption.

iRigMicLav

Ifyouwanttorecordonthego,orifyouthinkyoumightmovearound

whileyourecordyourpodcast,youmightwanttoconsidertheiRigMic

Lav.

Thisdevicerecordsqualitysoundwithamobiledevice,andyoucan

evenchainthemsoyoucanrecordwithtwomicsatoncefor

interviews.Theseevencomeinaconvenienttwo-packonsomesites

likeAmazon,soyoucanpurchasetwoatonceandgetadiscountoff

thesingleunitprice.


Sincealotofpodcastersalsorecordvideosordolivevideobroadcasts,

thisparticularmodelcanbeespeciallyuseful.

Recording&EditingSoftware

Forediting,youcanusesomethinglikeTwistedWave.

(https://twistedwave.com/)TwistedWaveisavailableforMac,iPhone

andiPad,oritcanevenbeusedonlineifyoudon’thaveanyApple

deviceswithanymajorwebbrowsersuchasSafari,Firefox,Chrome,

andIE.

IfyoualreadyhaveasubscriptiontoAdobeCreativeCloud,youcanuse

AdobeAuditiontoedityouraudiofiles.Auditionisoneofthebest

audioeditingsoftwarepackagesaround,youcanrecorddirectlyinto

thesoftware,evenifyou’reusingsomethinglikeSkypetoconduct

interviewsviatheinternet.

Ofcourse,AdobeCCcanbeapriceyoptionataboutfiftybucksa

month,ortwentyjustforAudition,soyoumightwantsomethinga

littlecheaper.


IfyouhaveaMacoriOSdevice,youcanuseGarageBand.Youwon’t

havetherangeofoptionsavailabletoyouthatyouwouldwith

Audition,butitwillworkforbeginners.

AnothergreatoptionisAudacity.(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

Audacityisfree,andyoucanbothrecordandeditinsideit.It’snotas

powerfulasAudition,butit’sfree,anditisavailableforWindows,Mac

andLinuxoperatingsystems.

Domain&Hosting

Yes,youwillneedtohaveyourownhostingtorunyourpodcast.You

mightbethinkingthatitwouldbehostedoniTunesorotherpodcast

systems,butyourpodcastsareactuallyhostedelsewhere.Thinkof

thoseservicesmoreassearchenginesorcontentaggregatorsthan

hosts.

It’shighlyrecommendedthatyoudoNOThostyourpodcastdirectlyon

yourownwebhosting,becauseifitbecomesslow,youcouldlose

listeners.Itcanalsobeexpensivetohostthosefilesonyourown

server.


Instead,youcanuseaservicelikeLibsyn(http://libsyn.com)or

Buzzsprout(http://buzzsprout.com)tohostyourpodcasts.Youupload

yourpodcaststoyourchosenpodcasthost,NOTdirectlytoiTunesand

otherservices.

Instead,youuploadyourpodcastFEEDtothosedirectories.We’lltalk

moreaboutdistributingyourpodcastfeedinthenextsection.

It’salsoaverygoodideatohaveawebsitetohostyourpodcast,

becauseyouwillwanttohaveaplacetosendyourpodcasttrafficto

convertthemintoemailsubscribers,leads,orsales.

Mostpeoplechoosetohaveablog,whichisperfectforpodcasting

becauseyoucanhaveanopt-informtogenerateleads,youcanposton

yourblogwheneveryoureleaseanewpodcast,andyoucanpost

articlesthereaswell.


DistributingYourPodcast

AsImentionedearlier,youdon’tuploadyourpodcastfilestoiTunes

andotherpodcastdirectories.YoujustuploadyourFEED,whichis

basicallyalistoflinkstoyourpodcasts.

Sincethesedirectoriesarelikesearchengines,youdoneedtomake

sureyouaddmetainformationtoyourpodcaststomakeiteasyfor

peopletofindit.YoucandothisiniTunes,ID3Editor,ormanyother

softwarepackages.

Whenyouuploadyourpodcast,youwillneedtoaddyourtitle,

keywords,yourname(orpenname),yoursubtitle,asummaryor

description,andartworkthatisbetween1400x1400and3000x3000

pixels.Youwillalsoneedoneat300x300.

Thinkofthisimageasyouralbumcover.Youwantittobeeye-catching,

visuallyappealing,andinterestingtoyourtargetaudience.Ideally,it

willeitherhaveyourfaceonit,orimagesthatpertaintothesubject

materialyoudiscuss.


Onceyouuploadyourfilesandhavealinktoyourfeed,it’stimeto

submitittothevariousdirectories.

Herearesomeplacesyouwillwanttosubmityourfeed:

iTunes-JustlaunchiTunesonyourMacorPC,choosePodcastsfrom

themenuatthetop,click“SubmitaPodcast”inthemenuontheright,

pasteinyourfeedURL,andclick“Continue”.

Stitcher-Gotohttp://www.stitcher.com/content-providersandfillout

theform.ClicktoagreetotheStitcherterms,andclick“Continue”.

GooglePlay-Gotohttp://g.co/podcastportalandclick“GetStarted”.

useyourGoogleaccounttologinandclick“AddaPodcast”.Accept

theirterms.Enteryourfeed.Checkyouremailtoverifyownershipof

thefeed.Thenclick“PublishPodcast”.

OtherServices-Thereareothersmallerservicesyoumightwantto

submittolater.Iwouldn’tworrytoomuchabouttheminthe

beginning,buttheycanincreaseexposure,andeverylittlebithelps.


PodcastingSuccessStrategies

You’realmostthere!Youknowprettymucheverythingyouneedto

knowtogetstartedwithpodcasting.Butnowwe’regoingtolookata

fewthingsyoucandototakeyourpodcastingtothenextlevel.

ShouldYouUseAScript?

Whetherornottouseascriptisapersonalchoice.Irecommending

tryingtorecordoneortwoofeachtypewithoutsubmittingthemto

directories,justtoseewhichoneworksbestforyou.

Somepeopleworkbetterwithascript,becausetheytendtostammer

andstutterandhavelongperiodsofsilencethatmustbeeditedout

becausetheyneedtimetothinkofwhatelsetheywanttosay.

Othersworkbetterwithoutascript,becausetheyfindtheirspeech

soundsmonotoneorroboticasiftheyarereadingsomething,because

theyare.Noteveryonehastheabilitytoreadaloudnaturally.


Ifyou’redoinganintervieworgrouppodcast,youmightwanttousea

scriptjusttomakesureyoubothknowwhatthematerialwillbeabout

beforeyoustart,andsotherearenoawkwardperiodswhileoneof

you,orbothofyou,needtothinkaboutwhattosay.

HowCanYouFindListeners?

YouwillprobablyfindagoodnumberoflistenersjustthroughiTunes

andotherdirectories.Aslongasyou’reusingproperkeywordsinyour

titleanddescription,andyouhaveaninterestingconceptandcover

image,youwillprobablyfindlistenersthisway.

Anothergreatwaytofindlistenersistoconductinterviewswith

industryleadersorpersonalities.Thiswillboostyourviewsin

directoriesbyusingtheirname,anditwillalsopotentiallygetyousome

oftheirfansorfollowersbecausetheywillprobablysharealinktoyour

podcastontheirwebsiteorsocialmedia.Italsohelpsyoubuildyour

owncredibilityinthefield.

Socialmediaisalsofantasticforgatheringlisteners.Youcanjoinand

participateingroupsandfollowkeyplayersinyourindustryandlinkto

yourpodcast.


AYouTubechannelcanalsosignificantlyboostyourpodcastlistener

base,andyourpodcastcansignificantlyboostyourYouTube

viewership.It’satrulysymbioticrelationship.

WhatShouldYouTalkAbout?

Ifyouhavetroublethinkingofthingstotalkaboutforeachepisode,

takealookatcurrentpodcastsinyourniche,orcheckoutYouTube

videosorpopularblogstoseewhattheyaretalkingaboutandwhat

peopleareinterestedin.

Thisisaneasywaytoseewhatiscurrentlytrendinginthefield,aswell

asgivingyoutonsofideasfortopics!


FinalWords

Podcastingisagreatwaytomaximizeyourexposure,networkwiththe

leadersinyourniche,andgiveyourcustomerssomethingextrainorder

tofurtherbrandawarenessandconnectwithyourtargetaudience.

There’salotlesscompetitioninpodcastingthanthereisinbloggingor

creatingvideosaswell,yetit’sanincrediblesourceofquality,free

trafficthatyoushouldtakeadvantageof.

Podcastingcanbringintrafficto:

• Blogs

• Websites

• Ecommercestores

• YouTubechannels

• Socialmediaprofiles

• Andlotsmore!

Youdon’tneedalotoftimeormoneytogetstarted.Youcanoften

createapodcastandsubmititinacoupleofhoursorlessonceyou


learntheprocess,andyouprobablyalreadyhavealotofwhatyou

needtobegin.

Therearen’tmanywaysthatarebetteratbringingintrafficwithvery

littlemoneyoreffortinvolved,sogiveitatry!

Iwishyouthebestofluck!


Resources

Herearelinkstotheresourcesfoundinthisguide.

AudioRecordingandEditingTools:

TwistedWave

>>https://twistedwave.com

Audacity

>>http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

PodcastHosting:

Libsyn

>>http://libsyn.com

Buzzsprout

>>http://buzzsprout.com


PodcastDirectories:

Stitcher

>>http://www.stitcher.com/content-providers

GooglePlay

>>http://g.co/podcastportal

podcast mastery: special report · podcasting 101 podcasts are an incredible way to reach both...

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