From the category archives:

The Podcasters Studio

TPS Ep. 057 – The Benefits of Using a Mixer

by Ray aka @podcasthelper on April 16, 2012

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Adding a mixer to your podcast studio will allow your productions to grow along with your show.

As you get further along in your podcasting venture, you’ll likely want to add in more capabilities such as Skype hosts and guests, more in-studio microphones, and built in capabilities for backing up recordings to avoid loss of your audio. Having a mixer in your studio allows you to easily add in these and many more features as your skills and productions progress over time.

On this episode I explain the many ways a mixer allows you to easily expand your studio’s capabilities and what features you might want to look for when choosing your first mixer or upgrading your old one.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:06 — 42.4MB)

TPS Ep. 056 – SXSW, Archiving Your Podcast, and Powerpress 3.0

by Ray aka @podcasthelper on March 24, 2012

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Fresh off my return from SXSW, I share my experiences from the conference and a couple panels I saw that led me to bigger ideas about my podcast, sharing and your show’s legacy.

One of the speakers I sat in on was Jason Scott from the Internet Archive. He talked about curating the culture of the web and capturing it for future generations. So what happens to your podcast when you’re gone? I discuss this and suggest that you might want to backup your episodes to Archive.org. You’re creating great content that when viewed from a far in context with other shows produced during the same time, can lead to a bigger picture of what was happening in a particular time in our history. Save it.

I discuss a new episode of Podcast Quick Tips where I take a look at Skype’s new release which includes an option (for Mac users) to disable auto gain control. Windows users already have this in their version of Skype. Don’t let Skype control your microphone. Now you can easily disable this setting for times when you are using Skype to record a podcast.

Check out ThePodcastersStudio.Tumblr.com. Yet another way I’m using the content I create here to generate small amounts of income. The site is a collection of mobile photography of podcasting gear that I come into contact with, connected to affiliate links. This might be another revenue stream for your podcast. Anytime you are creating content that promotes other’s products, try and incorporate affiliate links. It adds no extra cost to your audience and it could help you offset the costs of producing your show.

Custom title tags are a way to help you write blog posts for humans and robots. I discuss how you can create catchy titles while still maintaining good SEO for the likes of Google, Bing, etc.

Finally, I take a look at PowerPress 3.0, the podcasting plugin for WordPress created by Blubrry.com. Once again they have added some great features that you are likely able to add into your podcasting site’s backend to help improve how your show is delivered to your community. Don’t miss the great resources I list for helping you work your way through the newest version of the plugin.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:54 — 27.6MB)

Links mention in this episode:
Jonathan Stark – The guy who gave the Internet free coffee
Archive.org – for free podcast hosting or archiving
How to disable Skype’s AGC and EC with HTML code
All in one SEO pack – plugin for WordPress
The School of Podcasting’s Morning Announcements – Feedburner Vs PowerPress – An interview with Mike Dell, part of the PowerPress tech support team
The Audacity to Podcast Episode 72 – How to Setup PowerPress 3.0 with video walkthrough

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TPS Ep. 055 – Podcast Currency: How Your Podcast Pays You Back

by Ray aka @podcasthelper on February 15, 2012

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You produce a podcast that you make available for free and in fact spend lots of your own money on (if you’re truly invested). So how does your podcast pay you back?

A podcast pays in both tangible and non-tangible ways. In this episode I cover all of the ways I’ve found to make money from your podcast as well as how to see value in your show when you aren’t seeing cash. In a lot of cases, money is not the goal of the podcast producer and even those that have an interest in making money from their show need to understand all of the ways a podcast pays back.

Affiliate Accounts: Quite possibly the easiest way for your podcast to earn real income is to make sure you sign up for affiliate accounts with sites such as Amazon or any other retailer who has products that you are promoting on your show.
Donations: Don’t be embarrassed to ask for donations. It can help offset the cost of producing a podcast and often times you have people in your audience who understand all the hard work you put into producing your podcast. Let them donate.
Ads: There are a hundred different ways to approach getting sponsors. There are network sites like Blubrry.com who will find the sponsors for you or you can go out and get your own. This is often the most difficult way to get income from your show but it can also be the most lucrative.
Premium Content: It’s possible to make your back catalog or even your entire show pay-for-content. Libsyn.com now offers a service that will allow you to determine how much of your feed is premium.

Non-tangible Returns on Your Podcast

Subscribers: Every new subscriber is cash in the bank for a podcast. In podcasting, it’s all about the audience.
Email List: If someone is willing to give you their email, consider that as good or better than a donation. Email’s can be used to reach your audience from now until they unsubscribe so it’s a pretty big return when your audience likes you enough to give you access to their email inbox. Treat it wisely. This could be your only link to your audience should something go wrong with your hosting, podcatcher, etc.
Reviews, Comments, Social Sharing: Anytime someone gives you a review on iTunes, a comment on your site, a Like on Facebook or any other feedback, you’ve been paid. These help increase your visibility in search engines be it Google or iTunes or wherever else people can find your show.
Emails and Voice Feedback: When people leave you feedback or ask questions, this is content you can use to power your show. Including your listeners in the content of your episodes increases their investment in your podcast as well as helps you create content which can be a challenge after producing a lot of episodes.
Word Of Mouth: Just as it reads. When people tell their peers, you win. More subscribers leads to more podcast currency.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:58 — 29.7MB)

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TPS Ep. 054 – Free Audio Hosting Woes

by Ray aka @podcasthelper on January 5, 2012

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Blip.tv announces they will no longer accept audio only uploads. For the past six years or so, Blip.tv has been kindly hosting audio only files for free. Blip.tv is primarily a video site and now they’re cementing that with the discontinuation of audio only uploads. Here’s the official announcement:

At blip.tv we’re focused on being the best home for high quality, original, episodic, video web series. To that end, we have focused on making our upload process as easy and fool-proof as possible. For a number of years we’ve permitted the upload of non-video formats, but beginning December 13th, 2011 we will be turning off the ability to upload all audio-only formats, including MP3.

Pro accounts will still have the ability to create MP3 conversions from their source video files, but direct MP3 uploads will no longer be allowed. If you are uploading an audio only podcast, we strongly recommend using a more appropriate platform such as Libsyn or Podbean. By next week at the latest, we will begin offering an option in your Dashboard to re-direct your current feed to a new location. This will allow iTunes to move your subscribers over to your new feed and host automatically.

Thank you,
blip.tv

As of December 13th, 2011 Blip.tv no longer allows you to place your .mp3 files on their servers. This means if you hosted an audio only podcast on Blip.tv, you need to look for a new host for your show. Blip will be deleting any remaining audio only files that are hosted on their servers in July 2012. This means you must get your episodes off of Blip if that is the only place they live. Download them now and save them to your desktop.

Also, if you are using Blip’s feed features to deliver your podcast RSS feed (i.e. to iTunes), you will have to use their redirect tool to ensure that your listeners are not lost in the transfer.

Hear my opinions on the the Blip move as well as learn what to do if you need a new host. I also talk about my newest resource for podcasters, www.PodcastingQandA.com. A great place to get your podcasting questions answered or explore the catalog of questions and answers to learn a lot about producing podcasts.

Links mentioned in this episode
Podcasting Q & A (Learn about podcasting while getting your questions answered)
Vimeo.com/RayOrtega (Learn about HDDSLR filmmaking and browse my videos)
Auralex 1′x 1′ acoustic foam treatment kit – 24 pieces (Follow along as I treat my studio for better sound).
Blip.tv RSS feed redirect (use this to redirect your Blip.tv RSS feed to a new feed).
Zoom audio recorders

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:09 — 40.6MB)

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TPS Ep. 053 – Podcasting Controversies – Part 2 of my Interview with Dave Jackson

10.09.2011

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We continue where we left off talking to Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting. On this episode Dave and I chat about podcasting software and how using old gear can be just as effective as buying brand new. I ask Dave what he thinks about having to have the “radio voice” sound for your [...]

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TPS Ep. 052 – An Interview with Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting (Part 1)

09.24.2011

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An interview with Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting’s Morning Announcements. A “podcast that talks about all things Podcasting. From planning planning, producing, and promoting your podcast along with all the tools and techniques.” With over 250 episodes published, Dave is one of the original podcasters. He was an early digital mentor for me [...]

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TPS Ep. 051 – Back to Podcasting Basics (Part 2 of 2)

08.30.2011

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Continuing where I left off in part one of this two part series, I wrap things up with a discussion about the remaining basic pieces you’ll need to start a successful podcast. I’m defining a successful podcast here as a podcast that starts off with all the core elements in place so that you don’t [...]

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TPS Ep. 050 – Back to Podcasting Basics (Part 1 of 2)

08.05.2011

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Learn the basics of podcasting from how to decide on a topic to choosing gear, software and hosting for your website and media. You’ve decided you want to start your own podcast and now you need to know how to proceed. In this episode we go back to the beginning and walk you through the [...]

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TPS Ep. 049 – Noisy Headphones, Free Graphics Editor, and Creating Supplemental Video

07.16.2011

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On this episode I talk about the effect that bad headphones can have on your podcast’s audio. Headphones that don’t fit properly, are not well built or are simply turned up too loud can affect that amount of feedback that your mic hears. If the audio going into your headphones leaks out and into your [...]

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TPS Ep. 048 – Audio Only Live Streaming Via Mixlr And Podcast Myths

06.27.2011

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Have you ever wanted to live stream your podcast in an audio only player? Finally a solution that caters to audio only podcasters has arrived in the form of mixlr.com. A live streaming, audio only applicationavailable for both PC and Mac. Live streaming your podcast as you record can be another great way to interact [...]

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