A pretty good podcast, or really a succession of pretty good podcasts, is all you need to attract an online audience. But just what does a 'pretty good podcast' entail?
First, let's look at how to make a podcast. A podcast is just creating MP3 files from your audios - it can be you reading an article, giving advice, teaching how to do something or an audio recording of a teleseminar or webinar you did. If you've been creating MP3 audios and putting them on your blog, you're already a podcaster whether you knew it or not.
So don't be frightened of becoming a podcaster, especially since you don't have to get it perfect - a pretty good podcast will see you through. Your best podcasts will be the ones that deliver the most information, information helpful to your target audience, irregardless of the quality of your MP3 audios.
Now that doesn't mean you should have a lot of background noise or poor recording quality - your best podcasts should be crystal clear and easy to understand. But creating a pretty good podcast can be done with the standard mic and headset combinations for computers, or even with the mic built into most laptops and netbooks these days.
If you need a podcast tutorial there are a lot of Podcasting 101 type of resources online, but really it's just a matter of recording the material you want and then uploading the audio MP3s to your blog or using an RSS feed to submit your podcast site to a podcast directory like Podcast Alley or iTunes.
But the main point here is it doesn't have to be perfect - you don't need fancy intros, background music, audio effects and the like - nor do you need to have that perfect 'radio voice'. As long as you speak clearly and don't have a heavy accent you'll be fine - or, of course, you can always have a friend, colleague or pro voiceover artist do the MP3 recording if you feel your voice isn't 'right' for your podcasts.
In general though, don't get too wrapped up in the technical side of RSS feeds, creating MP3 audios, building an RSS script, etc - focus on the content you deliver, and on delivering that helpful content on a regular schedule. As any successful podcaster can tell you, consistency is more important than the quality of your MP3 audios, as long as you're producing a pretty good podcast at the minimum.
First, let's look at how to make a podcast. A podcast is just creating MP3 files from your audios - it can be you reading an article, giving advice, teaching how to do something or an audio recording of a teleseminar or webinar you did. If you've been creating MP3 audios and putting them on your blog, you're already a podcaster whether you knew it or not.
So don't be frightened of becoming a podcaster, especially since you don't have to get it perfect - a pretty good podcast will see you through. Your best podcasts will be the ones that deliver the most information, information helpful to your target audience, irregardless of the quality of your MP3 audios.
Now that doesn't mean you should have a lot of background noise or poor recording quality - your best podcasts should be crystal clear and easy to understand. But creating a pretty good podcast can be done with the standard mic and headset combinations for computers, or even with the mic built into most laptops and netbooks these days.
If you need a podcast tutorial there are a lot of Podcasting 101 type of resources online, but really it's just a matter of recording the material you want and then uploading the audio MP3s to your blog or using an RSS feed to submit your podcast site to a podcast directory like Podcast Alley or iTunes.
But the main point here is it doesn't have to be perfect - you don't need fancy intros, background music, audio effects and the like - nor do you need to have that perfect 'radio voice'. As long as you speak clearly and don't have a heavy accent you'll be fine - or, of course, you can always have a friend, colleague or pro voiceover artist do the MP3 recording if you feel your voice isn't 'right' for your podcasts.
In general though, don't get too wrapped up in the technical side of RSS feeds, creating MP3 audios, building an RSS script, etc - focus on the content you deliver, and on delivering that helpful content on a regular schedule. As any successful podcaster can tell you, consistency is more important than the quality of your MP3 audios, as long as you're producing a pretty good podcast at the minimum.
Marketing mentor, coach and speaker Doug Champigny is the author of 'It's You, Live! - Podcasting and Vlogging Your Way To Success'. Creating podcasts and video blogs is just part of the curriculum taught in his PowerStart Marketing coaching classes. Doug is also a regular speaker at many of the live marketing events and conventions around North America - watch for him speaking live onstage in your area soon! |
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