Podcasting is the best way to get your information out to the public to build a brand, create backlinks, drive traffic and sell more products and services. Anyone can add a podcast to their website. The process is quite simple.
Before you begin, you just need to ask yourself the following questions:
What works best- a set of podcasts or a recurring podcast?
Sometimes you may have questions that are asked repeatedly by visitors to your site. A podcast can answer all of the questions at one time and give lots of people good information all at the same time. In other cases your industry content may change frequently and that means you may need to update your podcasts more often.
On James and Arlene Martell’s podcast the Affiliate Buzz, there has been so much regular content that they have been recording on a steady basis for over 7 years! Yet in Arlene’s podcasts for her website epilepsymoms.com she only recorded a set of 6 permanent podcasts because there aren’t a lot of changes in her niche.
Arlene says the most important thing is “to not overwhelm yourself.” You are setting yourself up to fail with too busy a schedule and too much content to produce. You want to set the podcasts far enough apart that you don’t get so stressed out that you end up quitting.
So many people quit after one podcast that podcast directories now require a minimum of 2 podcasts before they will accept submissions. They want to ensure that the podcasts they include won’t suddenly disappear.
What is the best length for a podcast?
The length of a podcast can vary considerably. There are:
- monthly podcasts of over an hour
- weekly podcasts of 30 minutes.
- daily podcasts that are 2-3 minutes long
You need to determine the length of your podcast, taking into consideration how much content you will have and how often you will publish it.
Who should be the host?
For James and Arlene, the husband/wife co-host model has been very successful. Business partners can host together also. Sometimes it works best to have one host. Think about what works for you and your style.
What is my cause/product/service?
Are you selling a service or promoting an affiliate product? Are you trying to call attention to a particular cause that you feel passion about? You need to decide what your niche is and then develop an applicable website if you haven’t already done so.
WordPress is the best way to create a website for free because it can be ready very quickly.
There are an unlimited number of plugins that you can choose from to make your website look as professional as possible. You can add eBooks, seller tools and even an email listing building plugin for WordPress. The options are endless.
How will I record?
Accuconference.com is a conference call site where users receive an 800 number with an extension. They phone in with their code when they are ready to record, and so does anyone else taking part in the podcast. Everyone receives a message stating “This call is being recorded.” After the podcast ends, everyone hangs up.
Users can sign in to their account 10 minutes later to access an mp3 or mp4 recording of the podcast. It really streamlines the entire process. James and Arlene use accuconference.com for the Affiliate Buzz.
What if I need to edit?
There will always be mistakes to edit out of a podcast. Audacity is editing software that is simple to use. There are also tutorials on YouTube if you want some basic training in Audacity.
You can trim the podcast front and back to get rid of anything that is said before the official podcast begins and after it is over. You can also add an intro and an outro.
How do I get the podcast onto my website?
Publishing is simple. Blubrry is a free WordPress plugin that adds functionality and elegance to your blog. It also makes it easy to add your podcast to your blog very quickly. Blubrry has free advanced features as well.
How do I syndicate my podcast?
“You want your podcast in all the top directories,” says James Martell. He spent a couple of hours generating a list of health-related directories for the epilepsymoms.com podcast and then submitted the podcasts. He also added RSS feed because it updates all of the directories with the latest content automatically.
Answer these questions and you will be prepared to start recording your podcasts and adding them to your blog.
Mike Kelley, owner of http://www.shopwpthemes.com likes that WordPress sites are versatile and can be adapted to suit any user’s needs. They are easily changed or edited from any computer. Mike and his wife Beth reside on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State in the city of Port Townsend.