ParisByPod

Podcasts have become extremely popular. Have you ever thought you might like to try to produce your own? Producing your own podcast is surprisingly easy and can be a fun new hobby. The only things required to produce a podcast are your ideas for your content and some podcasting software. The choices of software for producing podcasts available on the internet are enormous and vary in quality and features. To produce the most professionally sounding podcast possible you should remember the following points when considering your choice of software.

The first thing you will need is an audio recorder, make sure you choose one that records high quality audio, and is compatible with your operating system.

Once you have recorded your content you will need to edit it to produce a professional sounding product. Many sound recording software packages have editing capabilities included; combining these two tasks in one piece of software will make life easier.

When choosing your software for recording and editing try and ensure that the software can produce MP3 files and MPEG files. These smaller more compressed file types are easier to upload and download. If the software you have chosen does not produce these file types file conversion software is also available.

Another hint to ensure that your podcast sounds as professional as possible is to remember to listen to your finished article before you upload it! Use your software’s playback function. This is the easiest form of quality control – you will hear exactly what your subscribers will be listening to.

The final consideration when choosing your production software is to try and ensure that it creates RSS feeds. You can find specialized RSS feed creators on the net but a combined software package is always preferable to having to run numerous programs. (RSS feeds are the way users find and download your podcast.)

A software package that also creates valid iTunes feeds is also a fantastic advantage. ITunes will expose your podcast to the greatest number of listeners and potential listeners as it is the largest portal through which people download podcasts on the net.

To upload a podcast you need a file transfer program. Many podcasting software packages also include this capability. This is another function you can find as a separate piece of software, but as always it is better if one program can handle all of the functions required.

Potential listeners will search for podcasts in podcast directories. Being listed in these directories will promote and expose your podcast to the widest possible audience. If your software allows you to list in these directories will be a definite advantage.

Podcasts are traditionally produced to create a series or episodes. Constantly creating the next episode and uploading it is the best way to attract and retain an audience of loyal listeners. If you choose software that alerts multiple directories of your updates automatically you will not have to manually alert every directory you are listed in of your new content.

Frédéric, editor-in-chief of ParisByPod.com

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