Podcast Quick Tips - Learn how to podcast one tip at a time

Include names of interviewees and guests in your podcast titles so that they show up in iTunes search. Please visit PodcastQuickTips.com to view the complete shownotes with links.

Most podcasts are a hobby endeavor which usually means budgets for gear, websites, software and everything else involved in making a podcast is usually limited. When deciding where to put your money first, focus on the elements of your podcast that are most likely to affect the overall quality of your show. The best place to start is your microphone. This is likely the single largest factor in getting a good sounding podcast. The best microphone on the market as of the date of this post (02/15/13) is the ATR2100 from Audio Technica. For less than $50 U.S., you get a dynamic mic (best for the typical podcast studio) that produces excellent audio quality (on par with the infamous HEiL PR40) and plugs into your computer via USB. Please visit www.PodcastQuickTips.com for the complete shownotes including all the links mentioned on this episode.

Learn how you can earn money when someone uses your iTunes subscription link to subscribe to your podcast. Every podcaster should have a link to their podcast in the iTunes store on their website. You can see mine in the upper right hand corner widget area of this site. It's important to make it easy for people to find and subscribe to your podcast when they arrive on your website. Often times when people visit your site, if they can't find what they're looking for in the first few seconds, they're gone. Likely you've just lost your chance at getting a new listener/viewer for your show. Once you have a link to iTunes on your site, you'll want to sign up with the iTunes affiliate program run by Linkshare. This gives you the opportunity to connect your subscription icon with a special hyperlink that lets Apple know the person clicking the subscription icon came from your affiliate link. When that person buys anything in the iTunes store (podcasts aren't free so you don't earn a commission for the actual subscription) you get a 5% commission on the total of their purchase. You'll receive credit for any of their purchases up to three days after they click your link. This adds no additional cost to the person using your link. It simply gives you a small credit for being responsible for that person using the iTunes store. Connecting an affiliate link to your iTunes subscription button is another way to help monetize your podcast and blog. This isn't about getting rich. With a little luck you'll be able to mitigate the costs of running a podcast such as media and website hosting. To be successful doing so, you'll likely need to have several revenue streams (affiliates, services, ads, etc) incorporated into your site and/or podcast. The key is to choose revenue streams that fit with your content and values. In this case, having an affilate link connected to your iTunes subscription icon is a great way for your community to help support your show without any additional costs to them. Please visit www.ThePodcastersStudio.com to see my post about the iTunes affiliate program for more in depth features such as the link maker and widget builder tools and how to get started making money with your iTunes subscriptions.

Is FeedBurner shutting down? I cover this topic, the fear going around the Internet and the truth about what is really happening. The key takeaway here is not to worry. Don't panic and scramble to move your podcast RSS feed(s) away from FeedBurner. If you are currently using it, there has been no official announcements that the service is going away. Some things have changed but the core functionality that it provides for your podcast is intact and stable. If Google was to close down the service, I'm sure you would have adequate options and time for leaving and/or moving your feed. But at this time, no such plans have been announced. If you wish to move away from FeedBurner, my suggestion here (as I am planning to do) is to start migrating slowly. You can begin by using the PowerPress plugin for WordPress and replace FeedBurner's SmartCast function, which controls the iTunes tags within your RSS feed, with the iTunes options within PowerPress. After that, you can work with the redirect system (inside PowerPress) for moving your feed permanently. Daniel from The Audacity to Podcast gives you some very detailed options for implementing this process. If you are using a third-party platform like Blog Talk Radio, Blogger or any other where FeedBurner gives you control over your feed in place of using the third-party's feed (i.e. for iTunes submission) I would recommend sticking with FeedBurner and the system you currently have in place unless you decide to move to paid hosting (i.e. Libsyn - use promo code: PodcastHelper for a free month) or Wordpress. These options will allow you more control over your feed and can free you from the need to use FeedBurner. Control of your brand should be very important to you as a content creator. Try and have as much as possible when it comes to your content. Please visit www.ThePodcastersStudio.com for complete coverage and additional content.

Sign up for a free Gravatar to automatically display your image and or podcast logo next to comments you leave on the web. Visit www.podcastquicktips.com for complete shownotes and more.

Listening to your podcast while you edit with headphones on might lead you to think your audio is just right. That everything sounds perfect. But what about the most important listener...your audience? Make sure the audio you're publishing sounds as good to your audience as it does to you. Take your podcast for a trial run on as many speakers you can find. Play your podcast in your car where a large number of people are listening on their commute. Can you hear it clearly over the traffic and other sounds inherent to driving? Try your podcast on cheap earbuds that came with your mp3 player as well as the speakers on your computer, TV, and phone. Testing your audio in as many places as possible will give you a good gauge of how your audience hears your podcast. Make sure what you're publishing can actually be heard most places it might be played and you'll keep your listeners coming back for more. Get one month free on a new Libsyn account! Do you need a reliable host for your audio or video podcast? Consider moving your show to Libsyn.com (my chosen host) and get your first month free when you use promo code: podcasthelper at checkout. Need helping starting your first podcast? Contact me to work one on one setting up your show today. Subscribe to Podcast Quick Tips

Once you've edited your video you need to export it, add some metadata and then upload it to YouTube. But before you do that, make sure that the name of your actual video file is something relevant to the information contained in the video itself. This is because YouTube indexes the file name as well as all the other metadata you include. Doing so will help increase your visibility in YouTube search and is just another bit of insight into YouTube's algorithm for choosing which videos rise to the top.

Looking around my studio, I counted almost ten different ways to record a podcast. Over the next few episode of Podcast Quick Tips, I'm going to be using each of these methods to demonstrate how you can produce a quality sounding podcast many different ways. Recording with the H4n on-board mics about 7-10 inches from my mouth First up is the Zoom H4n. This digital audio recorder is an amazing little piece of technology and really the only thing you need to record a podcast. You'll hear how I use the on-board condenser microphones of the H4n to record this episode. Coupled together with some post production, you can create some fantastic sounding audio. A little compression, a limiter, some EQ and a touch of noise removal can really improve the audio that comes off the Zoom. However, this device is powerful enough to produce a show without using any post production. It can even compress your raw audio file into the mp3 format for you.

If you weren't already aware, Skype is likely controlling your audio levels. As podcasters, we want to make sure we are in control of all our settings all of the time. This is how you can make sure Skype isn't changing your audio quality. Skype just released (03/06/12) a new version of it's software for the Mac (version 5.6.0.143). In this release they placed a check-box (already found in the Windows version) for controlling Skype's auto gain control (AGC). What AGC does is listen to the proximity of your voice to the microphone and adjust the volume as necessary so that the person on the other end can always hear you at a decent level. However, as podcasters, we don't want anyone besides us deciding what our gain level should be and we certainly don't want it to change during recording. Now you can simply go into your preferences audio/video settings and uncheck the "Automatically Adjust Microphone Settings" box. Then go into your computer's settings and set the level you want your mic to be. When enabled, AGC will constantly adjust the level of your audio based on your relationship to the mic and whether or not you are speaking into it. During times of silence or if you move too far away from the mic, this can cause the "noise floor" to be raised higher thus producing an audible hiss. Disabling AGC will help to prevent unwanted noise.

Sean Allen sent in a guest Quick Tip detailing how he increases the credibility of his podcast by using voice overs. Visit Sean at www.MartialArtsofBusiness.com

When you insert a link to a hosted audio file into Facebook's link section above the status box, Facebook will automatically create an audio player. Below this audio player is a couple areas of information about any particular audio file you link to. They don't make it obvious that you can actually edit the information that is contained in these fields (title, artist, album) but it's an easy process once you know how. Once your file is linked, you see that the fields display "unknown artist" and "unknown album." Simply place your mouse over each section and the field to be edited will be highlighted. Click and place whatever text you like into this section. It's that simple.

There are any number of reasons why you might need to convert a video from one format to another. In the case of video podcasting perhaps you need to make your file compatible to work on Apple devices or you need to take your original file created specifically for iTunes and make it more compatible with any type of media player. These are just two of the reasons why a video converter can be an important piece of software in your podcast production tool box. In many cases, because the web often deals in flash (flv) files, you may need to convert them to another format which works better for your particular needs. In this episode I give you a brief introduction to some of the free, cross platform (Windows and Mac) tools I use for converting video file formats. Free video converters: Any-Video-Converter Miro video Converter Handbrake Mpeg Streamclip Real Player VLC Media Player/Converter Subscribe to Podcast Quick Tips

An introduction to mixlr.com, a new live streaming dedicated to the audio only podcaster. With mixlr's easy to use app, available for both Windows and Mac, you can easily stream your show live to the web while you record it in your studio. The advantages to live streaming audio only are many in the case of mixlr. Of primary interest to every podcaster should be mixlr's ability to put your show live into the hands of anyone, anywhere. Mixlr's live streams can be played on any mobile device with a browser effectively allowing your audience to listen live in the car, at the gym, or just waiting in line. Essentially anywhere your audience is, your show can be too. Also, streaming audio only allows for your computer to use much less computing power and is much easier on your bandwidth. For a much more in depth review of mixlr and it's features which include great embed players for your website and facebook page, check out The Podcasters Studio Episode 048. Subscribe to Podcast Quick Tips

If you use WordPress to create your podcasting RSS feed then you may have noticed that only ten or less of your most recent episodes are showing up in podcatchers such as iTunes. There's a simple fix. Simply adjust the default syndication setting (10) in the Reading section of your WordPress settings. This works for both free sites on Wordpress.com and your own installation of WordPress. Visit www.ThePodcastersStudio.com/Tutorials to watch a screencast of my walking you through the process.

When you create your album artwork, the graphic that represents your podcast, make sure you use a high enough resolution so that it displays well on large screens. I recommend making your show art 600x600 pixels.