Sunday, November, 4, 2018

SWM was designed to help people be more savvy about taking advantage of the resources out there on the web. This is the Internet generation and more businesses are going online and integrating multimedia. Have you ever dreamed of starting your own site or your own video or podcast? Want to get a great following on the web? Well, we’ll cover some basics so that you can be on your way to starting your own e-commerce site and integrating audio and pictures easily.

For the purposes of this tutorial we’ll cover some podcasting basics. Really podcasting is quite easy and the hardest thing to do is just get some interesting content and speak it out.

Here is the basic equipment you will need:

• Microphone
• Audio editing software
• A smart device like a phone or a computer

And that’s it! Oh, and of course you will probably want to get a website that will host your content. You can either find a free website or buy your own domain and a web-hosting package. I know a lot of these new sites are trying to push you to site like Bluehost and other packages due to their affiliate relationships but we actually think that that does a disservice by matching you up with a one-size fits all solution. You may have custom needs so we recommend you do your own research and then commit to one. You may not even know what you need till you get it and start working on something and then realize you need to upgrade later. Depending on what your purpose is perhaps you’re doing a free podcast just for entertainment, or perhaps to education and get a message out or just doing it for fun cause you like talking. Whatever it is we are not recommending any particular site for this article because we want you to find a solution that is truly going to work for your needs.

The first thing we recommend is find a microphone. And for that we recommend you check out this site: https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/types-of-microphones/ AND https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/best-vocal-mics/ AND
https://www.thepodcasthost.com/equipment/the-best-podcasting-microphones-on-the-market/

Consider a Condenser USB mic or if you speak closer to the microphone out of habit a Dynamic mic will focus more of your sound into the mic but may not sound as full. There are some that are studio quality that use XLR jacks also known as a Cannon plug or Cannon connector but “XLR” is more well known.

The only real limitation on what you use is what kind of quality you want from your microphone and how much money you spend. The good thing is that this is usually a one time investment and you don’t have many recurring costs as opposed to cameras which you have to deal with cassette tapes and P2 cards etc. The microphone might have pop filters and wind screens or wind muffs if you want to accessorize.

The next step after you find the mic is to buy it and you usually will have to order them unless you have a specialized store close by. If you do then that’s great, you could go down the road and buy your microphone the same day but if you have to special order these let’s say out of New York then you will have to wait for shipping and all the associated costs.

Now remember, that microphones are really only necessary if you are going to be setting up a studio type environment. Podcasting does not require a lot of bells and whistles and complex equipment. Really you could use your phone or an audio recording device like an Olympus digital recorder and transfer it to your computer later. Basically as long as you have the sound file then that’s all that is required regardless.  It doesn’t matter if you use an iPhone or Android device or something else as long as you have good quality sound.

Next you will need to come up with something interesting to say. You could teach people about a hobby you’re interested in or interview people or have a skit you do or educate people about finance, games. Maybe you like a particular movie series or TV show or a novel that you love. You can spend time doing a interview and podcasting series where you just talk about that fantasy series or why you should use a particular motor oil vs synthetic and all the different kinds in between. As long as you are interesting people will usually want to hear what you want to say.

Make sure you have a decent length for your podcast. Sometimes 5 minutes is a decent length but people have done 1 hour to 2 hour podcasts certainly. Whatever you are doing you don’t have to record it all in one session. You can edit these audio files and stitch them together. All you have to do is find time to devote to actually saying what you want, speaking what you have to say and letting the recording device record what comes out.

Next you will need an audio editing program. You could use various different software programs. For example Audacity is a popular freeware program available from Sourceforge. You can also use commercial software such as Adobe Audition or Wavepad for Mac and other programs like Acoustica. Garageband may be able to also do some editing but for our purposes you need to make sure that you can edit parts of the waveform and also have multiple tracks so that you can add additional audio as needed. If you have ever used Photoshop layers then think of it as layers for audio.

FAQ:

How do you stitch two conversations together?

One of the great things about the multitracks that most of these programs may have is that you can see two waveforms of audio or three or four etc if you need to add audio. This is how you add more complexity to your podcast. For instance maybe you want to have an intro or outro theme as you’re talking or fading into a commercial advertisement product plug right before your go into a break. This is a way to work with multiple objects or files so that you don’t have to have everything recorded live correctly the first time. An example is that you might record John at his home and he’s giving an interview to Jane who is located in some other state like Michigan but you’re in California. As long as you have decent audio you could have recorded the conversation on your phone and Jane could also have recorded it her end. And then you can drop the audio into two layers of your audio editor and sync up the conversations that way. Audio is great because sometimes you might have overlapping conversation and it still sounds natural. And then after you align the audio. Then you can add another audio that perhaps you’ve recorded professionally in a studio that you can use over and over as your podcast theme song. You can include some riffs and music transition sounds or even sound effects if you’re doing an old style classic show. And then later on add maybe a recorded product placement in the middle of the show. Or add snippets of a different show in the same show as long as the audio levels and sound matches close enough. And then in the end you can put in a ending outro sign-off theme with credits.

Where can you get sounds?

You can probably find royalty-free songs or music and sound effects. You can also make your own and blend music in looping programs like Fruity Loops and GarageBand and other apps.

How long should your podcast be?

In general you should pick a topic you’re passionate about. A lot of radio programs give useful information and talk at length about news, headlines and anything and everything so pick something that either educates or entertains and then dedicate yourself to a good portion of time talking, interviewing people and running with the topic. If you are really passionate about the topic as other people are then you probably could talk for hours but then it may be a good idea to snip some of your content for multiple episodes for time so people can listen in the car, at the gym and on the run.

Once you have great content, find a web-hosting site and put your content on it. We highly recommend you find your own little self-hosted site so you have more flexibility and control. While many free blogging and web sites that are hosted by someone else can be options, it becomes almost a business if you have your own site and more likely you can convert it into a business and monetize your podcast if you own the site. Then you can also add affiliate links or publish your book and plug your own products if that’s the route you want to go. But of course, you don’t need to go down that route. If you do, our site has some great ideas to help you brainstorm on the route to be a business. Remember content, relatability and establishing a brand, a voice and entertaining content is the key to a great podcast.

Do you have a particular podcast site, method of editing podcasts or recording, place to find free awesome programs or just have a favorite podcast program you like? Comment below and tell us about it!