The Ultimate Podcasting Guide for Bloggers: Part 3

Still stuck with podcasting? Here are some of your questions and other frequently asked questions answered by The Podcast Guy.

If my readers are “readers” what would make them “listeners”as well? Or are your listeners a completely different group to your readers in which case how do they find you?

It depends on how engaged your readers already are with your blog – but by the same token, it’s important you don’t pigeonhole people as ‘readers’, ‘listeners’ and ‘viewers’ – and instead think of them at large as consumers, so you don’t get caught up in the detail.

Ok so people learn and are inspired in three different ways – by reading listening or watching. Unless you’re a wannabe chef, in which case your tongue also plays a part. But I wouldn’t recommend licking your computer screen, under any circumstances and no matter how tasty that photo looks.

By writing a blog you’re appealing to the segment that likes to read. That’s great – you’ve ticked one box. By producing a podcast that compliments your blog, you have a brand new audience – as well as those who like to indulge in your content any which way it’s presented.

If you produce a video blog as well – that’s amazing! And incidentally I also want to know where you get those tablets that turn 24 hours of everyone else’s day, into 48 for you!

A podcast is your chance to bring your content to life – literally. Grab a guest to talk over the day’s news in your niche with and you suddenly have a personality-packed, supercharged guest post people can engage with on their commute to work.

Of course you need to be creating different content for different media, but at the same time you should be promoting all the other types of content available on each of your platforms.

Think of podcasting as another mode of transport helping you get to your goal quicker. If your blog is a Lotus sportster, your podcast and blog combined is a smart, shiny chopper: It gets you there in style, in half the time.

How will people find my show?

Give your podcast show a meaningful name. Think about what people will search for on iTunes.

Do you need two people for podcasting?

Not necessarily, you can mix it up. Get a guest, co-host, interview for two different topics.

How do I create a little music intro for your podcast show to make it sound professional?

Free music at Music Alley.com, Free Play Music, Jamendo, Find Sounds or pay at Dual Beat.com, starting from 99 cents to create an introductory chord to show.

Sign up at Music Alley as a Producer using the Producer’s Register on the right hand side.

That way you can access all the music. Choose something instrumental.

Jamendo also has free music.

Create a project in Audacity with the beginning and ending.

I have garage band on my Mac – which allows editing of audio tracks, is it possible to use that instead of the software mentioned above?

In a word, yes – though I’m not going to lie to you; I’ve never owned a Mac, and probably never will. Voice Over Times brings you 10 tips on using Garage Band for podcasting here.

How do I upload my podcast?

Most good hosts like BlueHost will allow this. In order to upload a file you need log-in details for your host.

The sound is terrible. What can I do?

Keep the sound level between 12 and 0. Keep the volume on the computer about half way up and adjust the volume control for your mocrophone in Audacity.

Do a test recording first to see what’s the right level for you, your computer and your voice.

If the sound is still bad get rid of the cheap headset! You can’t expect to get quality audio out of a very cheap headset any more than you could race a Ferrari in a Ford Fiesta. I’m not saying go out and spend a fortune, but if you’re expecting your listeners to commit time to your show, you have to show them how much you care in return by giving them the best sound quality you can afford.

If you’re keen on using a headset to record your show, go for the Plantronics Audio 470 USB.

If you’re happy to use a dynamic microphone that sits on your desk, go for the Blue Yeti USB Microphone – that’s the one in the picture up top. Both will connect to your computer and allow you to record directly into Audacity or (ahem) Garage Band…

A BIG Thank You

To Dave Thackeray for sharing his fabulous podcasting tips and all his hard won experience with us.

To learn more about podcasting please check out Dave’s blog or hire Dave to help you get your podcasting venture all set up. He’ll take care of all the techie stuff leaving you to do the fun bits.

Missed Something? Here’s the Rest of the Podcasting Series

The Ultimate Podcasting Guide for Bloggers part one.

Part two: Video and screen casts to walk you through how to get our podcast online.

You can check out the very first Successful Blogging podcast about blogging events here.

Author: Annabel Candy