Podcasts are a great way to reach new demographics, engage your existing audience, and entertain listeners with valuable information in an interesting format. But if you’re exploring new opportunities for content marketing and have never dabbled in podcast recording before, then the process may seem quite daunting. However, recording a podcast isn’t all that difficult when you know what to do, and today you’ll learn everything you need to know about creating small business podcasts that are effective, engaging, and low-cost to produce.
Getting Your Equipment in Order
Beyond having a computer, you’ll also need a USB microphone that can be plugged into your computer, as well as recording and editing software—such as Audacity or WavePad—that will allow you to record and edit your podcasts. Lastly, if you want to record interviews via VOIP, download Skype recording software that will allow you to do that.
Choosing the Basic Format
To start, decide on a topic: what is your podcast about? Choose something that there’s an audience for, and most likely something that’s related to your business. For example, if you run a travel agency, a natural fit for a podcast topic would be exotic travel destinations. In terms of the format, you might want to go with an interview style podcast where you talk to people who have visited fascinating places around the world. Other possibilities for the format include:
• Single host
• Multiple hosts
• Call-in
• Narrative
Finally, decide the length of the podcast, because it’s good to keep this consistent from episode to episode.
Episode One: Writing and Recording Your First Podcast
Before you sit down to record, write out a script to keep you on track. Don’t forget to include an introduction that welcomes the audience, introduces the hosts, and briefly describes the theme for the episode. When it comes time to record your first episode, turn on your computer, plug in your microphone, and launch your recording software. Have your script at the ready, and when you’re all set, hit record, record five to 10 seconds of dead air for editing purposes, and then launch into your first episode.
Don’t worry about making mistakes, because you can edit later. When you’re finished, immediately save your recording as an MP3 file. Once that’s done, go back and listen to what you’ve recorded, and start the editing process, which includes:
• Cutting out dead air
• Removing bad takes
• Editing out ums, ahs, and other extraneous words
• Adding an intro and outro
• Saving the edited version separately
Branding Your Podcast
When people go looking for podcasts, they’ll scroll through a list of possibilities and see two things primarily: the podcast name and the artwork. The name should be somewhat descriptive but also inspire curiosity, and the accompanying artwork should be appealing, beautiful, and professional. When writing the description, don’t be afraid to include keywords that will help the right audience find you.
Making Your Episode Available to Your Audience
The last thing you have to do is syndicate your podcast, and one of the simplest ways is to submit the podcast to various directories and hosting sites, such as:
• SoundCloud
• Podbean
• iTunes
• Stitcher
• Fireside
• Podomatic
• Libsyn
• Amazon S3
When you have about three episodes ready to go, generate buzz by sending notifications to your email list, blogging about the launch, creating a landing page dedicated to the podcast, sharing information on social media, and asking listeners to subscribe.
Podcast are great SEO tools for small business marketing, and you shouldn’t let a lack of experience prevent you from taking advantage of this great content marketing format. FireRock specializes in helping businesses create content strategies that deliver leads. Schedule a consult today.