PodCasting 101: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
Everywhere you turn online these days you hear
the word "podcast" or "podcasting." No, it's not
some broadcasting method used by Martians, even
though it might sound like it. A Podcast is just
an audio file that is syndicated via an RSS feed,
that you download and listen to with your computer
or a portable device such as an iPod. What makes it different from an ordinary RSS
feed is the audio component included in the
"enclosure field." Think of it as a feed that
talks to you. Podcasting is increasing in popularity. According
to Forrester Research, by 2010 podcasting should
have about 12.3 million listeners. That's a pretty
big audience. For more info see
http://tinyurl.com/84tyo Similar to a talk radio show, podcasts can also take
the format of an interview. Topics range from
business to hobbies; even rants and obsessions.
Lengths vary, but a typical podcast will run
anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, but I have seen
some longer. So far, there are not many music
podcasts due to the red tape and cost of music
licensing -- although musicians and/or small
record labels bypass that issue by utilizing their
own recordings. Before you think you need some special device to
listen to a podcast, let me assure you that you
don't. Most RSS readers have the capability
built in to play podcasts. Any software that
can play a sound file can play a podcast. If you
want to take them with you to listen to while on
the road you'll want to invest in a portable MP3
device like an iPod. Like other RSS feeds, you decide which ones you
want to subscribe to and you can unsubscribe at
any time. Online business owners should think of podcasting
as yet another avenue for promoting your products
and services. Like an ezine or the RSS feeds you
already use, it's a simple inexpensive method of
syndicating your audio files online. It would appear
that a podcast is a bit more personal. Instead of
just reading, like an ezine, people can listen to
the sound of your voice and make a more personal
connection. Now that I have your attention you may be
wondering "How do I create a podcast?"
Well, it's really pretty simple if you follow
the easy steps below: 1) First you'll need to use software to
record your own audio file. A good free
one is Audacity which you can download
at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
While there, you'll also need to download the
Lame MP3 Encoder which allows MP3 exportation. 2) Once your audio is recorded you'll need
to create an RSS feed file which is simply
a special text file with an RSS extension
that also includes a particular enclosure tag.
For step by step directions on making a feed
file see this site: http://make-rss-feeds.com/making-an-rss-feed.htm There's also a great tutorial on RSS here: http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/ 3) Once your audio and RSS files are completed
you'll need to upload both of them to your
server/website. If you'd like to read more here are some more
online sites to help guide you. Make Your First Podcast
http://tinyurl.com/757fx Create Podcasts Using Your PC
http://tinyurl.com/9jfcb If you don't want to do all this work manually
there are software tools specific to podcast
creation. ePodCast Creator
http://tinyurl.com/do7sq Pod Producer
http://tinyurl.com/9dwrh That's it. Wasn't that simple? Remember, you
can't get subscribers if people don't know
about your feed, so make sure you add it in
a prominent place of your site. You want to
make it easy for them to subscribe and add
your feed to their news reader. Audio files are rather large and can take up
a lot of space on your server, so make sure
you won't run out of bandwidth. If you're
tight on space you can always farm it out
to a third party service such as
http://www.PodLot.com . For only $5.00 they'll
give you 150 MB of storage space with no
bandwidth limitations. Your domain will
look like this: nameofyourshow.podlot.com If you think you're going to have a hit
on your hands and want to try to generate
cash from your podcast, check out
http://www.PremiumPodcasting.com . They
provide a system that allows you to charge
for your shows and also include private
access to them, track who is listening
and more. You can try them out for a four
day trial for only one dollar. Once your podcast is live you'll want to make
sure you list it with the various directories
that exist for just this purpose. You'll find
a nice list here: http://tinyurl.com/create.php Podcast Bunker
http://tinyurl.com/9qayk Open Media Network
http://omn.org/submitfeeds.htm Podcasting Station
http://tinyurl.com/7qlzq Robin Good has a huge list at
http://tinyurl.com/9rusq So now that you see how easy it is to create
a podcast, what's stopping you? Remember, this
is a great tool to add to your marketing mix
and if you're a bit on the creative side this
might be just the ticket. Have fun with it,
experiment and you'll become an expert podcaster
in no time. By Merle- Want to Know the SECRETS of Article
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Merle_Stinnett
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