Podcasting has been around longer than you think (for over 10 years!), But the way people have been tricked into telling their stories and connecting with others in very intimate ways has never felt fresher. While there are plenty of potential podcasters willing to try it out for yourself, many get lost along the way. It’s easy to see why – the onslaught of “necessary” devices like microphones, filters, and mixers, and the amount of time it takes, are intimidating distractions.
You don’t have to sweat, however – not that much, anyway. Getting started with podcasting is easier than you think with the most basic tools.
If you’ve blogged for content or follow blogs regularly, you already have a feel for what podcast means. Think about what your favorite bloggers are doing: They focus on a specific topic and write about it clearly and engagingly in regularly published posts. They know their point of view and their personality and are familiar with their overall brand. All of these can be applied to your podcast as well: You need to be specific, focus on telling a story, and keep your point of view in the foreground.
However, things differ when it comes to the technical details. A podcasting platform with the right management tools – like Spreaker’s – needs to be able to do the work required to make a podcast. To help you out, we’ve put together this easy-to-follow guide for your podcast’s needs.
The home of your podcast should be a place you can trust Host all of your audio files. Spreaker has ample room to give you plenty of breathing room no matter how you want to unpack your podcast. Whether it’s hours of daily podcasts or 20 minute updates once a week, you have plenty of time to make the best choice.
Spreaker’s hosting options range from a few hours to unlimited time depending on your podcasting needs. However, once you have an editorial plan in place, it is much easier to understand your needs.
Set up a editorial planor schedule, even before you even start podcasting, is a great way to figure out how much time you need for both hosting space and preparation. Use your start date as a benchmark to build all of your future episodes. If you start your podcast at 3 p.m. on a Thursday, try to post your future episodes at the same time on Thursdays. Then, using a spreadsheet or calendar app, fill in the topics you want to cover for each upcoming episode. You have the added benefit of saving time compiling podcast notes and setting up interviews.
A set schedule also serves your listeners – if they know when to release your episodes, they are less likely to miss them. Use Spreaker’s Publish Later feature to help them and yourself. Upload as many full episodes as you want and set them to be released on specific days and times. You can set and forget about it by preparing episodes of weeks in advance.
The real key to keeping your podcasting process running like clockwork is using a fully functional CMS or content management system. Spreaker’s CMS gives you a complete picture of your entire process and provides tools for creating and customizing the various aspects of your podcast. From managing metadata to setting up automatic distribution, you get the full control you’re looking for.
Here are just a few of its features:
Quickly upload your official graphics to your podcast and episode pages and turn them off. You can also Customize the look of the embedded player according to your own specifications.
There’s also plenty of room to add descriptions, chapters, tags, and other metadata that will make your podcast much more accessible and easy to find. More importantly, you can Customize your RSS feed To ensure that your podcast is presented exactly the way you want it once you’ve hooked it up to iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and other podcatchers:
Finally, you can connect your podcast to all major social networks via the CMS so that new episodes are automatically shared with you. Easily distributed, you can get your vote to millions of people in seconds.
Podcasting doesn’t stop once your episode is published. Your audience engagement and feedback on what works and what doesn’t are critical to moving your content forward. Spreaker offers a complete statistics system that shows exactly how many ears you are reaching and when (and everything is available in the CMS).
By upgrading to a Pro plan, you’ll learn even more details like geolocation of your listeners, their age and male-to-female ratio, the sources they listen to your music from, and the devices they use.
While good content always attracts an audience, with the right home and tools you can create a better podcast and provide a comfortable listening experience. Spreaker has the all-in-one solution you’re looking for to get you to work and sound great.
Not sure how to start your podcast yet? Find out what else Spreaker can offer you here.
