As a busy mum I have felt very daunted about starting a podcast as there seemed to be so many steps which you needed to get right. Last week I thought I would look into in a bit more and 'accidentally' launched the podcast there and then. It took about four hours (probably less) and am having an absolute blast. Here are the steps I followed in the hope I help other people who are thinking of starting their own podcast to just get it out there! If you do start a podcast please do come and say 'hi' and we can support each other on our exciting podcasting journeys!
Here are the nine simple steps I followed (in-fact you will see I skipped one completely and seems to be fine without!)
Step 1
Think of your podcast name, find an image which represents what you do and order your Podcast artwork. This can be achieved for $5 over on Fiverr.com
Step 2
Decide on a way to record your MP3 and create your first Mp3 file, here are some ideas:
- SpeakPipe
- Record via Zoom and just save the audio
- Use your phone to record an MP3 using an App such as voice record pro.
- Use a stand alone MP3 recorder from Amazon
- http://freeconferencecall.com
- Audacity Free Audio Recording/Editing Software
- Call Recorder for Skype (for Mac Users)
Step 3
Edit your MP3 file and add in an intro/ outro if you wanted to include this. I have been experimenting with Fiverr again!
You can use Audacity for this too or there are Fiverr Gigs for editing audio if you are not a natural techie (remember to do what you are best at and aim to outsource the rest)
If you are using Audacity to edit then you can also add in your tags here (see point 4) as you export the file so can bypass step 4. Or if you are using something else without the ability to add tags/metadata then you can go to step 4.
Step 4
Tag your file using a tool such as ID3 Editor (you can skip this tool if using Audacity)
Other tools include:
ID3 tagging for Windows
- MP3tag (free)
- ID3 Editor (£15)
- EasyTAG (free)
ID3 tagging for OS X
- ID3 Editor (15)
ID3 tagging for Linux
- Puddletag (free)
- EasyTAG (free)
Create your tags - these will vary depending on the software you use and ITunes may overwrite some depending on the RRS feed. Here are the important ones and please note that not every tagging program has them all.
- Track: This is your episode number. I would keep a spreadsheet with number, topic and guest so you can refer back when you want to refer to a previous episode.
- Title: Include your episode number again here and then the title of the episode. Be descriptive to help your listeners and peak interest.
- Artist: the name(s) of the episode host(s) or name of your network. Again remember to use words to help people find you. For instance Victoria Casebourne: Online Entrepreneur, Blogger and Mum
- Album: the title of your podcast as a whole Don't forget Itunes is also a search engine so be sure to include some search terms such as "The School Run Podcast: Mums in Business | Blogging | Inspiration | Motivation | Productivity"
- Year: the year you have released the episode.
- Genre: Choose your most relevant
- Comment: a short summary of your episode. This may be the same of the Summary
- Copyright: your copyright information. For instance"© 2015 Victoria Casebourne"
- URL: a link to your show notes
- Cover / picture / album art: your podcast cover - see above
- Summary - by default this will take your blog post text to put here but ideally you will want to override this to be more useful. Include things like bullet point lists, links to show notes on your site and information on how to contact and feedback. Make sure it is engaging and contains your keywords again. You can have upto 4000 characters
Step 5
Upload to your host. While you can host yourself it is recommended to use a podcast hosting service in-case you get lots of traffic. You basically upload your podcast to something like Libsyn.com and then ITunes and Stitcher pulls it in from the RSS feed (you don't need to know what that means and how it works to make a podcast ;-)) .You can find your RSS feed in Libsyn via Destinations Tab and then quick links. Mine is http://victoriacasebourne.libsyn.com/rss so you know what you are looking for.
Step 6
IMPORTANT. I missed this step as was not in any of the tutorials I watched. You must go to the destinations tab in Libsyn and then click on the "Libsyn Classic Feed" and then select your ITunes categories which match your niche. I also filled in my name and email and ticked to show show image for episodes at the bottom. Also Fill in the Itunes Store basics with the details from above otherwise they will be blank which is not very helpful.
Step 7
First Test: Validate your RSS by entering the link at http://feedvalidator.org/
Second Test: Subscribe to your URL via ITunes. Open ITunes and then -> File -> Subscribe to Podcast and enter your RSS feed link (above). This should then start downloading your files onto your copy of ITunes.
Step 8
Now you are ready to submit your new podcast to ITunes. Launch ITunes and then go to ITunes Store and click Podcasts. On the right of the page there is a link saying to 'Submit Podcast' and then just follow their lead from there. As long as you have done as above it should go through without error. You have to allow 48 hours for them to review and approve before it goes into the shop. You can also submit to Stitcher too to reach a different audience.
Step 9
Now the fun begins :-) You will want to make an amazing impression in the first 8 weeks so you appear under New and Noteworthy.
I hope this helps you on starting your podcast as quickly as possible. As I say I am LOVING it so much and am finding more and more ways to use the content to grow my reach.
If you would like see how my Podcast has been put together then simply search "The School Run Podcast" on iTunes and hopefully we can connect.
Thanks for reading and good luck.
Victoria Casebourne