Category Archives: Podcasting Articles

Articles on podcasting

How To Start A Podcast

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy something, I get a little money. You know how it works.

I get this question a lot so I thought I’d write up a post that would explain how to start a podcast. I’m going to assume that most folks want to do their podcast for as little money as possible. I will begin with low-cost/free options and then go up from there. If you’d like to know my own setup and how I podcast click here: How I Podcast 2019

What is a podcast?

A podcast is an audio file (mp3 typically) that folks can access through an RSS feed. To have your own podcast you’ll need:

  • Microphones & Headphones
  • Computer or recording device
  • Audio editing software (to edit, compress and tag your podcast audio file)
  • Media hosting (a place to keep your mp3 files online)
  • A website (to host your RSS feed).

Podcasting for (close to) free.

If you’re looking to podcast for with nearly no budget, this is possible. There are compromises you’ll have to make and you may not have as much control as you’d like over your media, but free is free.

  • Microphones & Headphones
    • Use headset microphones (under $30 on Amazon). You’ll be combining two of your needs into one.
    • Or use a single mic, like the Snowball, and use wired Studio Headphones.
  • Computer or Recording Device
    • Use your computer or laptop to record audio using either USB or the Mic In and Headphone jacks.
  • Audio editing software
    • You can use Audacity to record, edit and compress (from wav to mp3) your audio file.
    • You can use MP3tag to edit the tags for your mp3 file. You’ll be editing the Title, Artist, Album, Year, Track, Genre, Description (Comment) and Show Art. (Click here for more information on using MP3tag.)
  • Media Hosting & Website
    • Use a free service like Talkshoe to host your files and generate your RSS feed.

Podcasting with a budget

If you’ve got some money you can do a little better. See my article on Equipment Suggestions for a Basic Podcasting Kit

The Recording Process

  1. Record your audio. Save the completed file to your computer.
  2. Edit the audio file using the editor of your choice. This can include removing dead space before and after the episode, removing “um’s” and “ah’s” or adding sound effects.
  3. Save your file as an mp3.
  4. Use MP3tag to set your mp3 tags.
  5. Upload your file to your hosting service.
  6. Add your episode to your RSS feed.

How to get your podcast on iTunes

  1. Log in to iTunes Connect.
  2. Submit your RSS feed.
  3. Copy your iTunes URL for future use.

If you have further questions ask away. Also check out the other posts I’ve done on podcasting.

How I Podcast 2022

**Updated 4/2022**

Product links are affiliate links. These are products I use and stand behind but I get a commission when you use my link to purchase them.

Here’s a diagram of my current podcast setup. I’ll attempt to explain what equipment I’m using and how it’s connected. Click to make the image larger.

Equipment:

Software:

  • Adobe Audition CS6 – Editing and encoding
  • Mp3tag – ID3 automated tag editing
  • Photoshop CS6 – Editing episode images
  • Absolute RSS Editor – Feed Generator
  • Podcast Soundboard – For playing music, intros, voicemails live
  • Discord – Free voice and text chat

Online Services:

Recording Setup:

  • Main Mix:
    • Mic 1 plugs into the first channel on the mixer.
    • TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) cable from the back of the mixer into the Compressor/Limiter/Gate and then back from the Compressor to the channel.
    • Audio goes through Tape Out (L/R) using a stereo RCA to 1/8″ cable and into the H4n recorder.
  • Aux Send (Provides a Mix-Minus for my cohost via Discord):
    • Mic 1 plugs into the first channel on the mixer.
    • Aux Send is output from mixer via stereo 1/4″ TRS to 1/8″ stereo plug and a Ground Loop Eliminator to Line In on the Podcast Machine.
    • Discord is set to receive sound from Line In so co-hosts can hear everything but themselves (called a Mix-Minus).
    • Line Out on the Podcast Machine sends incoming audio from Discord into Compressor/Limiter/Gate and then into Channel 3 on the Mixer.
  • Input from Discord:
    • Output from the soundcard runs through a mono1/8″ to 1/4″ cable into the second channel on the Compressor/Limiter/Gate and then into the 4th channel on the mixer via a 1/4″ patch cable.
  • Soundboard:
    • Soundboard software plays sounds when triggered sending audio out of 2nd sound card in Podcast Machine and into Channels 7/8 on the Mixer.
  • OBS:
    • I’m not currently live streaming video and audio to Twitch, but when I did I ran the Main Mix through a Ground Loop Eliminator and into the Line In on the 2nd sound card on the Podcast Machine.

Recording Procedure:

  • I turn on the Power Conditioner which powers up my Mixer, Compressor/Limiter/Gate, and H4n Recorder.
  • I insert the SD card and once the H4n boots I hit record on the remote twice to begin recording.
  • Throughout the show, I can press the Record button again to place a marker in the waveform that I can see later in editing. Helps me find things later that I want to modify.
  • During recording, I mix everything live. All music, fx, bumpers, voicemails, and mics are recorded to the H4n.
  • After recording, I turn off the H4n and eject the SD Card, place it into a dongle on my Main PC and import the waveform.
    • I import each episode to its own directory (example: podcasts/tss/283/wavform.wav)
  • I open the Wav file in Audition. I trim the front and end of the episode, plus make any edits I may have tagged during the recording of the show.
  • I run a Multiband Compressor and Hard Limiter on the waveform to get the most volume possible and then save it as a 16-bit mp3 file (thus keeping the original wav unedited and archived).
  • I open the mp3 file into MP3tag, and I give the mp3 a title (234: The Tree Dude). then using an Action I created (see how here) I automatically add artwork, episode numbers, and other information with one click. My mp3 filename is also automatically generated (ex: 234-the-tree-dude.mp3)
  • I then upload the tagged mp3 file to SoundCloud, enabling the permission to download the file.
  • Using the RSS Feed SoundCloud automatically generates, I locate the address of my uploaded file and copy it.
  • I log in to WordPress and create a new post and using the PowerPress plugin I paste the address of the mp3 into the appropriate box. I add a featured image, show title, and description and hit Publish.
  • For That Story Show, I do not use PowerPress. Since the feed contains over 400 episodes I use Absolute RSS Editor to create a very bare-bones feed that will allow all of my podcasts to be listed at once.

Conclusion

If you have any questions about my setup, equipment, or software and you are a hobby podcaster, feel free to touch base. If you are podcasting for your business or to get rich I would urge you to find and pay a podcasting guru.

For more (possibly outdated) information on podcasting check out other podcasting articles I’ve written:

Thoughts On Podcast Structure: Part 2 – Segments

structure

Read Thoughts On Podcast Structure: Part 1

Every podcast is divided into segments. Even the hip shows that don’t do intros and just dive into the interview, dialog or conversation have them even if it’s just one or two. A lot of new podcasters fight segmenting their show. They are concerned that it will stifle their creativity or limit the scope of their potential topics. In the same way blinders limit a horses’ vision to help him focus on the road ahead, segments help you to instantly know what content you need created each week as determined by your topic. Continue reading

How To Find Your Worldwide iTunes Podcast Reviews For Free

Did you know that when you check your reviews in iTunes that you probably aren’t seeing all of your reviews? That is because iTunes has an individual store for 120 different countries. Your show is listed in every version (as far as I know) and each has the possibility of some additional reviews from foreign listeners! There are services that would love to charge you a lot of cash for every podcast you own every single month… but with a little elbow grease you can check these reviews yourself… or even set up a feed to have new reviews delivered to you automatically. All for free. Continue reading

Enhance Podcast Subscription Options on Your Site

subscribe-options

While there is no “best” way to get people to subscribe to your podcast from your website there are things you can do to make the option to do so more obvious.

Here are the things I’ve done to help site visitors to subscribe to my podcast, offering subscription options, not pop-ups and other guerrilla tactics.

I don’t know where I heard this, but someone at Amazon once said something to the effect of, “They should be able to buy something on every page.” It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not… it’s good advice. I apply it to my site by saying, “They should be able to subscribe to my podcast from every page.” Here are some places I put subscribe options:

Subscription Options on the Main Page Header and Sidebar

main-page-header-sidebar

I added a tab above the navigation but below the header. It puts a call to action right at the top of the main page (only). You’ll also notice a line of subscription icons along the top of the sidebar. The key icons are iTunes, RSS and Email. The Email links to a MailChimp subscription form.

Subscription Options on My Subscribe Page

subscribe-page

I have a Subscribe link in my main navigation bar. This is what it links to. I added a brief description of what subscribing is, then a text version of the sidebar icons. Here I also directed folks to the option of listening on the website by directing them to the podcast archives.

I added links to the various podcast listening apps that I have available as well.

Lastly I list out three alternative feeds. My main feed only holds the last 100 episodes. So we have a feed for episodes 1-100, 101-200, and 201-300 (that gets a new addition each week).

Subscription Options under Episode Posts

under-post-content

Using a great plug-in called Shortcode Exec PHP I can add a short bit of code and have all of the text shown above automatically added. This is great because if this information ever changes, I edit it one time, in the settings of the plugin, and every page using the short code is updated.

You’ll see that I have repeated much of the content on the Subscribe page… but tightened it up for space reasons.

Just One Thing…

Between the main page header, sidebar, the subscribe page and the text added under every episode post I feel like I’ve got everything covered. You can literally subscribe to Nobody’s Listening from any page on the site.

I tend to obsess about my website… but from what I have gathered in 7 years of podcasting most of my subscriptions come directly from iTunes (to the tune of 98%) and most of my audience have experienced the show without ever coming to the website. So any stress you might feel about not having your website setup to attract new subscribers… get your house in order… but don’t lose any sleep over it.

Video: Automate Id3 Tag Editing With Mp3Tag Actions


This is a video tutorial that explains how you can fill in the static (unchanging) fields of your podcast episode id3 tags automatically using Mp3Tag Actions.

If you have several podcasts or even one regular show typing in the ARTIST, ALBUM, YEAR and other static content can be redundant and if you’re me, outright annoying. Thankfully Mp3Tag (a free download) allows you to set up Actions to automate this process.

The video above shows how to use the TITLE field and a series of format actions to fill in every id3 tag field, including the importation of your podcast cover art. After you’ve set up your first set of actions, creating one per podcast is a snap.

If you have any tips about Mp3Tag or id3 tags in general, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!

Download Mp3Tag (PC Only)

What Is Your Motivation For Podcasting?

A question was recently posed by Chris Cowan on The Hobby Podcaster Facebook group. He asked where the line was between podcasting as a hobby and being considered a professional. If you make money on your hobby podcast does that move you into the professional category? The conversation quickly shifted to the question of motivation… why and how we do what we do in the practice of podcasting. This is an important subject for me and what began as a short reply quickly became an entire post; the one you’re now reading. You may not agree with my particular slant on the topic—and if you don’t I would love to hear from you—but I think most of us would agree that our culture generally values Image over Integrity. This article is a critique of that distorted value, its influence on podcasting and our motivations in general.

Continue reading

Got Multiple Podcasts? Request an iTunes Artist Page!

Sometimes I think I enjoy starting new podcasts more than I actually like podcasting. Podcasting always wins out… but the result of my dual passions is that I have a lot of podcasts, some in an archived state, that are individually listed in iTunes. I’ve always worked to share each show’s audience with my other shows. That’s why I started the NLCast Podcast Network and even added a little toolbar to the top of each website in the network with links to the other shows. But the truth is, 9o% of my audience has never been to my site. They found me in iTunes or through their iPhone and their entire experience with my content has been via iTunes and on an individual show basis. Naturally I cross-promote within the shows themselves… but what I was trying accomplish could have been done a lot better, easier… and a long time ago if I’d known about this little trick. Here it is: Continue reading

Thoughts On Podcast Structure: Part 1 – What Is Your Topic?

structure

Whenever I get an email asking for advice about starting a podcast, I always cringe after I ask what the show will be about and hear, “It’ll just be me and my friends talking about geeky stuff.” You’re allowed to podcasting however and about whatever you want, but I have news for you: Unless you are famous, nobody wants to hear you and your friends talk about random geeky stuff. As my fellow podcaster Chris Cowan said, “[Listeners are] only interested in…something that piques their interest…Talking about random stuff is not going to pique someone’s interest…talking about their favorite TV show, activity or subject matter [will].” In other words:

Continue reading