Podcasts are web-based media files (audio, video or even text-based) that a user can download from the internet onto a computer or music player. Podcasting is different from media streaming in that it needs special software (example: iTunes) to be run/played. This software (also called pod catcher or media aggregator) works on retrieving readily available media files only after the user has subscribed to a Podcast. Podcasts are similar to magazine subscriptions in that they allow the user to receive updates all the way to his computer or iPhone. The update in a Podcast can be done manually or can be done automatically after a new episode is available depending on the setting the user has selected. Moreover, Podcasts are completely charge-free! Almost anyone could build a Podcast and make it available online. All that is needed to publish a Podcast is an account, a computer, a microphone, and an interest the user would like to share with other users over the internet. Two examples of Podcasts are radio shows and talk shows.

With its popularity increasing by the day, thousands of Podcasts are made available to users from all over the world. Podcasting has grown to be a very powerful tool to the extent that many musicians and artists have given permission to Podcasters to use their music or work on their Podcasts. Music, videos, or other media material would spread virally, especially on popular Podcasts.

Users associate many benefits to Podcasts. Some of the benefits are:
1) Aiding organizations, for example, keep their audience alert about recent updates, services added or current news.
2) Spreading awareness about a certain message, product, or service in an inexpensive way.
3) Combining several practical features possessed by radios and TV.

Going more in depth into iTunes’s (the most popular in Podcasts) functionalities, the iTunes Music Store makes thousands of Podcasts available to its users for immediate, free access. In order to download those Podcasts, the user is required to select “Podcasts”from the iTunes left-hand column. Before deciding on the subscription, users can preview a Podcast in the Music Store through simply double-clicking on the episode of interest. If the user approves of the selection made, he can simply press the button “Subscribe” which is usually located at the bottom of the Podcasts page. Once the subscription to a Podcast happens successfully, iTunes now automatically checks the newly available episodes during specific time intervals. This update action may have the number of available episodes grow out of control, thus the user may subscribe to Podcasts that update once per day, for example, or more often than once per day. To choose the updating intervals, the user clicks on Podcast preferences and edits the rate at which iTunes checks for new readily available Podcasts; the rate may be adjusted to hourly, daily, and so on. Podcasts, taking into consideration the fact that they occupy a lot of disk space (from the computer or iPod space), may be kept in the library for as long or as short of a period, according the user’s preferences. While the user browses Podcasts he has downloaded, he will come across a “Settings” button. After selecting this button, iTunes will take the user right to the Podcasts tab. From there, a “Keep” dropdown menu appears allowing the user to decide exactly how long to keep Podcasts, thus helping the user organize his library.

Also, at times, the user may find the Podcast number growing to an extent that he can no longer handle. Therefore, the user may choose to unsubscribe from certain Podcasts. Unsubscribing from a Podcast is easy. The user is only required to click the “Unsubscribe” button after highlighting the Podcast that is no longer in his interest. Moreover, the deletion of all related files to a specific Podcast is also possible through simply pressing the “Delete” key after selecting the Podcast.

Having your own podcast in the iTunes store is becoming extremely popular. Not just for celebrities or big name organizations but for the small business owner or individual hobbyist.

Podcasting itself began some years ago but with the recent release of portable “streaming” devices such as the iPhone and iPad, this medium is having somewhat of a renaissance around the world.

But to anyone who thinks they can set up a podcast in 5 minutes, a word of warning. Podcasting isn’t easy. Despite a lot of information being online, the majority of this information is out of date and irrelevant. It’s difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. In my quest to become a podcaster I was taken down several rabbit holes that only added to my confusion and made the dream of having my own podcast in iTunes even more unattainable.

So please take my advice, if you want to podcast then stop searching for and consuming all the free information online. This means steering clear of video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo.

My main reason for warning you against this is because of the plethora of mistakes I made from listening to podcasting advice from these unregulated and unreliable sources.

On one occasion, I wasted several hundred dollars on equipment because I listened to a podcast course video on YouTube. By the time I found this information wasn’t accurate it was already too late for me to get a refund. It was a complete waste of my time and my money.

One of the best ways to navigate the often-confusing path of podcasting is by taking a podcast course. There’s only a few good quality podcast courses online.

In my experience the best thing about a reputable podcast course is that it has all the information you need to know and it’s structured and in a logical order.

Like most new media and social media endeavours, with a podcast there are certain protocol and steps you need to understand and implement before you will be up and running.

And there’s a lot to do in the initial set up. To be honest it’s this groundwork that has created a “high entry barrier” for podcasting turning off because of the initial set up.

However once your podcast is created, releasing regular episodes are no more complicated than releasing a new blog post.

One of the easiest ways to know if a podcast course is going to teach you everything you need to know is to ensure it covers the following subjects.

1. What is podcasting? (a detailed explanation of the medium and iTunes)
2. Equipment and set up (what hardware and software is needed to record your voice)
3. Recording behind the microphone (how to integrate the recording software with your microphone)
4. Creating and submitting an RSS feed into iTunes and other podcast directories (publishing your audio)

Once you’ve found a podcast course that you’re happy with, it’s time to knuckle down do the work. Once you do, you’ll be dominating the charts in iTunes in no time at all!

Podcasting can generate you millions in revenue, increase your audience 100% and establish you as an authority figure on your preferred niche.

If you’re stuck with your blog wondering how to shore up numbers or wondering how to breathe a new spark into your blog business, podcasting could be the smartest moves you make this year.

One of my main missions this year is to start 3 Podcast Series – one on inspiration and the other two on lead generation tactics and tips & tricks behind content creation. Then it will dominate my content creation service offerings to my clients. Why? Well, I have over 16 years experience in radio and a podcast follows commercial radio’s main audience and sales strategies so I will know how to grow it exponentially. More importantly, a podcast is a powerful way of establishing yourself as an authority in your social space effectively.

More and more people are gravitating towards podcasts for authority information on anything to do with fitness, health, diet tips, to motivation, finances and entertainment. With a well thought out podcast, you will grow a new audience and link them back to your main blog hence growing your overall audience. There are hundreds of thousands of free podcasts at your fingertips in various podcast libraries. Your next podcast could be downloaded on someone’s iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or computer. Suppose you dominated your niche with well thought-out material that millions of listeners are searching for?

Create a podcast. Then create a web feed. Software developers can customize apps for subscription to this feed, creating you a new revenue stream. That means that new episodes are automatically downloaded on any phone at any time. They make money, you make money. Nice, huh?

The other critical reason why you need to go into this right now is that the apple watch is about to become a perfect podcast machine. APPLE watchOS 2 Apple is doing a lot for the podcasting crowd that’s going to result in a much better experience once the watchOS 2 arrives this Fall. The company has anticipated Watch uses beyond simple voice memos and messages with watchOS 2 recording powers. It will be almost an entirely new device.

Here’s why.

The device will support local, long-form audio playback, and support for audio recording. Long form audio immediately gives rise to Audio Books one of the most attractive ways for bloggers to build a new following. As you enjoy your morning run, listening to your new audio book on ‘best diet plans for 2015′ or ’10 exciting ways to improve your profit margin’ for example allows the person to keep you on the top of his list on that subject. You are then more likely to be his first choice when searching for any related matter on those topics. Offering long form audio in the background is key, because now you can listen along to your favorite program as you do your workout or your morning run. Equally fascinating is the audio recording capability that the watch has where it becomes an input mechanism for creating podcasts. There are three distinct audio quality choices developers can use when capturing recorded content, including a high quality version that will probably provide serviceable raw material for podcast recording in a pinch. It gives rise to interesting podcast-related features like a list of upcoming scheduled shows, or the ability to finely scrub through an episode’s timeline on your wrist.

Brian Honigan is a Speaker, marketing consultant and a freelance writer. He’s written for Forbes, Mashable, the Huffington Post, the Next Web and others. He says this, “Even if you aren’t a good writer, make a podcast or start a YouTube channel to get quality content out there regarding your perspectives on your industry. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by starting a blog, a video series or a podcast. We aren’t talking about a job with serious risks if you deviate from the norm like being a surgeon or an airplane pilot. One of the worst things that can happen if you start blogging tomorrow is that no one will see it. It’s a long-term effort that doesn’t happen overnight, but with hard work that you’ll begin to see results from step by step.”

If you have started a podcast, and are hoping to get back links to your show, or help get discovered, you may have come across the idea to list yourself in podcast directories. Nearly anybody can set up a podcast, but getting site visitors can be difficult. As a result, podcasters can submit their feeds to the podcast directory sites to gain visitors. Is this beneficial, or does this strategy work?

What Are Podcast Directories For?

A podcast directory is a listing of syndication feeds that link to a podcast. They are typically coordinated by group or subject, and also allow the individual to find a podcast that pertains to just about everything and everything. Just as blog search directories help individuals find internet sites and blogs with the topics they are looking, a podcast directory site offers a searchable list of podcasts individuals can subscribe to in like manner. Users might also have the ability to obtain the accessible episodes from within the web site itself.

However, unlike a lot of search engines, though, a podcast directory site seldom gives you immediate results with simple searches or the subject matter by itself. All the feeds are either contributed by individuals who are attempting to help people locate or discover their podcast.

Considering that it’s so effortless to make a podcast, a podcast directory often uses means to split the excellent feeds from the ones people do not like as much. A directory site might have a ranking system, or allow certain special features on the home page, or even allow website visitors to comment with their thoughts on a feed.

Website visitors to a podcast directory can easily thereby bring their very own podcasts, search for various themes or subjects that interest them, as well as even discuss those they want or object to.

Are They Effective For Being Discovered?

In my personal opinion? Not really.

First, you have to ask yourself how likely you think the audience you’re aiming for is likely to visit a podcast directory in order to discover content. With the large size and quantity of options available to them, you need to do something to stand out. If you’re original and have a brilliant title, excellent logo and other things to stand out amidst the myriad of other podcasters in your niche, then go for it. But if not, you’re basically going to drown in the sea of other competitors.

You’re better of aiming for word of mouth and sharing with any mailing lists of social media networks you’re on, and encourage your fan base to share. I’ve seen the snowballing effect of this. Use other websites or offline advertising you have at your disposal to create awareness of your brand.

Podcast directories won’t really help get new users to discover your podcast, but can possibly help with your feed site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and provide you a safe way to get a lot of back to your site, helping possible new searchers in Google, and Yahoo and other engines discover your podcast for other reasons based on searches they may already looking for.

Otherwise, I’m not so sure podcast directories are effective ways of being discovered in a very direct way. They just provide you back links to your site to get started.

Building your brand may sound to you like a phrase that belongs in a corporate boardroom and doesn’t apply to your podcast. This could not be further from the truth. As much as you may feel like a small-time independent podcast creator, the fact remains that there in order to build your podcast audience you are going to have to market your podcast.

Part of that marketing scheme should include building your online brand and figuring out how to market it.

If you are like me then you were born, tragically, without a single marketing bone in your body. So here are the basics of creating a brand for your podcast.

Podcast Name

This may come easily for some of you, the name of your podcast may have been the first thing that you created when you decided to do a podcast. If you haven’t chosen a podcast name yet, here are a few recommendations to consider.

Your podcast name should tie into your podcast topic somehow. If you are podcasting about quilting it makes no sense to call your podcast the SuperNova Podcast. That may sound like common sense to some of you, but I have seen some crazy podcast names out there.

Don’t make your podcast title something obscure that you will appreciate but others will find confusing. You want a name that is easily identifiable and relatable for your podcast audience so that they will remember you. Sometimes you can take a gamble and give your podcast a bizarre name and hope to be memorable because the name is so different, this is a big gamble and sometimes you gotta know when to fold ’em.

If you plan on having a website, and I highly recommend you do, then you should bring your website into consideration as well. If you are going to register your own domain for your website then you will want to pick a name for your podcast for which the website domain is still available. If your podcast is titled The SuperNova Podcast but that domain is already taken and so you register AstronomyCast.com you are going to confuse your audience and there will be a disconnect there. It would be a better option just to rename your podcast AstronomyCast.

Tagline

Having a tagline is optional, there are a lot of successful podcasts that don’t have a specific tagline but sometimes they are nice when rounding out a brand. Sometimes taglines can be used to elaborate on a podcast title that you had to shorten because it was too long.

Call your podcast AstronomyCast, and have your tagline be – SuperNovas, Black Holes and More…

Color Scheme

I can’t stress enough how important the color scheme for your podcast is. It will translate across the board to all of the marketing you do. If you rush to make a decision on color and then you change your mind later on, it will make for a lot of work as you have to go back and re-design your website, logos, business cards, everything else. If you aren’t color coordinated, surf the web and check out the sites you frequent. See what kind of color schemes they are using and try to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t work for you, then translate that into what you think fits your podcast. Also pay attention to what colors people use for backgrounds text etc. For a lot of people having a black background and white text is difficult to read, look for trends like that and steer clear from them if at all possible.