Listen Up! - 9 steps to Podcasting to your customers

Before you read this I want to let you know that this for everyone and Podcasting is alot easier than you think.

What is Podcasting?

Well, it is a Personal On Demand Broadcast. A podcast enables you to store snippets of your favourite shows or subjects of interest that are either audio or video that you can watch on your PC or on the go on you MP3 player.

Why would I record a Podcast?

By recording a podcast you will connect with communities who are interested in hearing about your business, industry news or helpful advice to your customers in your chosen industry. It is cheap and easy to do and give you content that can use time and time again.

What do I need to record a Podcast?

• a good quality microphone (Shure or equivalent USB)
• a Laptop or PC
• Audio editing software - the best in my experience is www.audacity.com (and it is free!)
• MP3 encoding software such as LAME download
• A hosting service to broadcast (LibSyn for free, AudioBlogger is also a good choice)
• Web publishing service such as Blogger

So how do I get started. Voices.com is a great resource on the perfect recipe for Podcasting for a small business. They follow a 9 stage plan to successful podcasting, follow this and you will not go far wrong:

1. Plan your Podcast

• Identify a name, personality, get a blog/domain name and theme for your Podcast

2. Write a Script 

• An outline of a standard podcast could be:
  

• Show intro monologue (who you are, what you're going to talk about): 30-60 seconds 
• Intro music jingle (repeat for each show so listeners identify the jingle with your show): 30- 60 seconds 
• Topic 1: 3 minutes 
• Topic 2: 3 minutes 
• Interlude (music or break): 30 seconds 
• Topic 3: 3 minutes 
• Topic 4: 3 minutes 
• Closing remarks (thank audience for listening, thank guests, talk about the next show 
briefly): 2 minutes 
• Closing music jingle (suggest same as Intro music jingle): 2 minutes 

3. Set up your recording equipment

• Ensure you have your microphone set up, test your tone, open your audio software and test it is all working as you would like it to
  

4. Record your Podcast

• Just hit record and make sure you are alone. You can also try out interview in person or via Skype
  

5. Edit, Mix and Export your episode

• This can be the more technical and difficult part. Stick to your script and plan you made earlier and just make sure it sounds professional and like a seamless experience for your listeners
  

6. Upload your episode to a hosting provider

• At a beginners level I would suggest uploading to Audioblogger.com or LibSyn 
  

7. Create your podcast episode and show notes

• You will need a Blog account so that you can post your audio blog here. I would recommend Blogger.com. Here are some tips:
  
• Give your podcast a title
  
• Number your episode 
  
• Add a short description for your episode 
  
• Add a hyperlink to the MP3 file for this episode 
  
• Add tags to help search engines identify the contents of your podcast episode 
  

8. Burn your podcast feed

• Use Feedburner to create an RSS feed for your Podcast so that feed readers will pick up your Podcast 
  

9. Add your podcast to ITunes and other Podcast directories

• Upload your Podcast to iTunes to other Podcast sites to maximise your coverage.

Where can I learn more?

I would highly recommend visiting www.mypodcast.com, downloading the free guide to podcasting on the site, watch Common Crafts easy and simple guide to what podcasting is and creating a podcast to help you on your way.

Source and Credit to Voices.com - Small Business Podcasting Kit document