How Podcasting Can Advance Your Mission

Podcasting is a very powerful tool for anyone who is looking to become an expert in their field. It's a tool that you should investigate and a tool that you probably should be using.

But why?

How can podcasting advance your mission? How can podcasting help you to achieve your goal of being an expert?

Any learning content that truly provides useful information to the audience will enhance your credibility. Whatever the media. And podcasting is no exception. Because podcasts squeeze so much information into a short burst of information they really can't afford a great of fluff. This means that the audience in its turn is not going to be overwhelmed by extraneous information. They are going to hear the core information clearly. As a result your credibility is going to be increased because the audience is hearing you provide a great deal of information.

Not only that but the fact that podcasts are a regularly, occurring product will also enhance your credibility. Your audience is not only going to be impressed by the information you provide each week. It's going to be impressed by the fact you provide that level of information week after week after week. Your credibility in their eyes is going to increase exponentially as a result.

Unlike media which disguises or distances you from your audience, podcasting is an in your face kind of media. Only videocasting approaches the same level of one-on-one connection while remaining a mass media product. People are far more likely to trust someone they have come to know than to trust a stranger. The fact that podcast audiences hear your voice, hear your inflections, hear your voice patterns means that they soon feel they know you personally. And the person that you believe the most is the person you know the most. If only because you believe you know when they are lying. The ole' poker tell... it works both ways. If you know (or think you know) the tell, then you know when they are bluffing. But you also know when they aren't.

There are two emotions that any true expert exudes. One is passion. The other is confidence. Passion for you subject is what drives you to work through the hurdles. What drives you to keep on when you're having problems understanding what is happening. Confidence is what you get after you've driven through those problems. Confidence is what you exude -- not because you're a particularly egotistical person -- but because an expert has gone beyond simply knowing his or her subject. They've absorbed it. And the command of your subject will show in your words.

A live broadcast such as a podcast is a great way to show both your passion and your confidence in your abilities related to that subject. A podcast increases your credibility as an expert because your passion for your subject and your confidence in you skills cannot help but show. And your audience realizes and recognizes both.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast   

How to Add Music to a Podcast With a Free Program

Adding music to a podcast is a fairly straight forward process using a software program called Audacity. The hardest part, in my opinion, is picking out music that suits the mood of the podcast.

Like with big budget Hollywood movies, you want to make sure that the music that you pick goes along with the mood of the podcast. For instance, you don't want music with a fast heavy metal beat if you're talking about something somber.

Those two things just don't go together well. Keep in mind that your choice of music, should match the mood of the podcast, or the moment in the podcast that you're inserting the music to.

These are the steps to add music to a podcast.

The first thing that you need to make sure of, is that you have the rights to use the music at all. Garageband for the Mac comes with a library of royalty free music that you can use as you see fit. If you're on a PC, or if you want to use some other kind of music, do a search for "royalty free music" and see if you can find something that you like. Once you've picked your music, you need to import it the song into Audacity. To do that, just launch Audacity, and import your voice file by dragging the file into the open window. After you drag in your voice file, drag your music file into the same window. You'll notice that you now have 2 separate "tracks" in the window. After you've imported your music and voice tracks, select the music file track, then using the "Time Shift" tool, drag the music to the point where you want it to play. Once the music is at the correct point in time in your podcast, you may want to use the effects menu to fade the music in or out, and also turn down the gain so that the music doesn't over power the voice. If you need music track at the "intro" but also at the "outro" just import the music track again, place it at the end of the voice file and repeat the process from step 3.

I recommend keeping the music intro to no longer than 20 seconds. I suggest a 10 second "pure music" intro, followed by about 10 seconds of you talking over your music track as the music track fades out. On the "outro" you can probably go a little longer, probably 30 seconds or so, but still only about 10 seconds worth of you talking over the music track as it fades in.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast   

Podcasting - Importance of an Introduction and Recap

Why can't you just create the core of a podcast? Why do you need an introduction? Why do you need a recap?

The introduction for your podcast and the recap are more than just a tradition. They are an important part of your podcast. They are necessary.

In this article I'm going to explain the importance of an introduction and a recap.

There are three elements that your audience will use to judge any learning content including that provided in a podcast. The first is content. The second is organization. And the third is delivery.

Having an organized argument which builds from an interesting statement of the issue to a logical summation of the argument is important. Your audience expects it of you. It's one of the most important elements in their decision to believe that you know what you are talking about. After all, if you can't organize your thoughts then you obviously don't understand the material very well.

But it goes beyond that simple definition of quality. There is a definite cognitive purpose to having an introduction, body and recap. In training we describe the rule as "Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you have told them." In essence people need to hear the message three times before they will treat it as important. You'll see triplets and their big brother quads used throughout a professional presentation.

An introduction fills four basic needs. The first is to tell them what they are going to hear. In this way, you are filling the audiences' cognitive needs. The second is similar in that it awakens people and gives them advance notice that they are going to hear something of importance. The third is that it fulfills the requirement for a starting point or hypothesis for your argument. Finally, it is a hook. That is it must attract the audience and speak to their innate curiosity in order to create an urge to listen to the rest of the podcast.

Similarly the recap fulfills three needs. The first is to fulfill the audiences' cognitive needs by telling them what they heard. The second is that it brings closure to the argument. A final conclusion. And finally as a result it also brings fulfillment. Your audience knows that the end has been reached and they can then relax.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast   

Internet Marketing - Using Podcasting To Get Sales

Podcasting is one of those internet marketing strategies that is similar to video marketing. But podcasting is quicker. With video marketing, you have to make the video, get your website promoted on it, edit it, and then submit the large video file to sites like YouTube and Metacafe.

But with podcasts, it's incredibly easy. All you do is record yourself (or someone else), mention your website information at the end of the podcast, then submit the MP3 file to iTunes and the rest of the podcast directories. This can be a very potent strategy in your business if you know how to do it right.

With a podcast, it's just another way to get your website information out there to the masses. You see people in your niche hangout at a lot of places of the internet. And the more you can find and tap into these places... the more traffic you will get and the more money you will make because of it.

There's a podcast that I love to listen to all the time. I listen to it whenever I can't catch her show. Do you know who I'm talking about? If not, then you should know that I'm talking about financial mastermind Suze Orman's podcast. She comes on every Saturday night at 9pm and 12am, and her information is just incredible. I listen and watch her show all the time, because it's just a phenomenal television show.

Now imagine if you had fans who were listening to your podcasts also. You could be a star in your niche, and could have a whole team of people lining up, ready to hear each new podcast that you create. Now obviously when you get started you won't have millions of fans like Suze Orman, but creating that first podcast is a step in the right direction.

You can make a podcast in a variety of different ways. I remember when I first started out, all of my podcasts were created from the YouTube videos that I used to create. I would take the finished video, and extract the audio from it and make it into a podcast MP3 file. I wasn't a techie back then, but the software and process was extremely easy.

You should look into making podcasts for your business. They can get you a lot of traffic, and it's something that can potential go viral. The more people like your information, the more they will share it with others, and it can get distributed around the internet in a short period of time.

Even though someone can't "click" on your website in a podcast, you can simply mention it at the beginning and ending of the recording, and people will type in your website address into their web browsers. And these are good buyers, because they came to your site after sampling your expertise. So you have credibility in what you are saying, and they want to find out more about you and their hands on more information that you have.

Podcasting is a marketing strategy that can be used to earn a lot of money in your business.

Be sure to use it today to maximize your sales and profits easily.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast   

5 Ways to Spice Up a Frequently Updated Podcast

Podcasts are a powerful tool to gain traffic and to build your reputation as an expert in your field. Because they are a repeating media they constantly reinforce this reputation.

But they have a problem.

Precisely because they are repeating, there is a tendency to burn out on podcasts. I'm not talking about flaming out -- although that can happen. Nor am I talking about burning down -- which eventually happens to every podcast. I'm talking about pure, unadulterated boredom -- both yours and your audience's.

Because podcasts are frequent and a single media they will eventually reach a point where you need to spice things up. Otherwise you'll stop wanting to do them and your audience will stop wanting to listen.

So here are five ways to spice up a frequently updated podcast.

1. Change the players. Are your podcasts normally an audio version of the talking head? Is it just you audio blogging about whatever topic strikes your fancy? Then bring in someone else. Who would you like to interview? Call them up and see if they would be interested in being interviewed. They might surprise you.

2. Change the players II. So your podcasts are just you and your topic. Over and over. Just you; yapping about your problems. Why not take a break. Get someone else to host your podcast for a time or two. Even if you introduce them. Pick someone you would like to hear from. Ask them if they would be willing to do a podcast for your audience. You won't know until you ask!

3. Ask your audience for advice. Most of the time, it's just you and your ideas with a microphone. All you do is sit down, put some ideas together and then record your thoughts. And that's your podcast for the week. Well why not change your format a bit? Ask your audience for their questions and thoughts. Let them tell you what to talk about. Give them a chance to ask you questions directly.

4. Let your audience participate. In one of the earlier suggestions, I talked about interviewing someone else. So turn that idea on its head! Run a contest to give a member of your audience a chance to interview you. Let them figure out what they would like to know about you and your opinions.

5. Run a contest. It doesn't really matter what you give away. But something that is related to your topic is best. Why not give away one of your products. Or a one hour one-on-one coaching session? Just make it interesting to your audience.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast   

Creating Your First Podcast In 5 Easy Steps

If your new to podcasting, this article will explain the basics. In simple terms podcasting comes from two words, pod for iPod, and broadcasting. It's amazing what an everyday individual with a computer can do. Just like blogging, you can create a podcast about your favorite hobby, or interest.

1. There are 4 tools that you will need. A computer, a microphone, headset (optional), and recording software. You will need to record in mp3 format. A free recording software program that I would recommend is Audacity. If you have never used recording software before, there are tutorials on the Audacity website. You can also find tutorials at YouTube.

2. There is a learning curve, so experiment with a few trial runs. Record for a minute or two, and play it back. How does it sound? You don't need an expensive microphone to get a decent recording. What you don't want to hear is low volume, distortion, or background noises coming through. If there is a problem, make the necessary adjustments to your recording software. How comfortable were you behind the microphone? Did you freeze up? Listen to how many times you cough, or say "uh".

3. When recording your podcast, should you use a script? There are several schools of thought concerning a script. If your reading from a script it might sound boring. You need to be able to improvise. Instead of a script you might be more comfortable using an outline. Make a list of talking points, this will help keep your thoughts organized. But you don't want a bunch of "um" and "uhs" throughout your recording.

4. When recording your podcast, you will need to include a few elements. First, your podcast will need a nice introduction message. Briefly introduce yourself, or your company, and explain what the program will be about. Now your ready to record the body of your message. Finally, you will want to add a closing statement at the end of the program. You can inform your listeners when your going to release your next podcast, and what it will be about. If nothing else, you can just say a simple goodbye and thank them for listening.

5. You will also need some means of distributing your podcast. Now that you have saved your podcast to an mp3 file, simply upload it to your website. If you do not have a website, then you may want to consider starting one. The other alternative would be to submit your program to a free podcast hosting website. Just use your favorite search engine to find a "free podcast hosting" website.

If you have something to say, I encourage you to try podcasting Whether for fun or to make money, podcasting allows you to easily reach a focused and loyal audience. There is a learning curve, but you can find most answers just using your favorite search engine. Just have fun, and let yourself be heard.

Podcast Transcription: Converting the Spoken to the Written   How to Begin Podcasting the Right Way   The Art of Podcasting   How To Pick A Great Name For Your Podcast