Monday, May 12, 2008

How To Create a Podcast

Most of us have heard all the craze about downloading podcasts to our home computer, laptop, or iPod. Many of us have spent hours watching such podcasts for entertainment, to collect information, and for work purposes. If you are interested in creating your own podcast, it is a fairly simple process.

First, the Internet is a wonderful source for researching how to create a podcast. Many sites allow you to create one through their site for free, or for a minimal cost. If you want to do it completely on your own, make sure your system is set up for MP3 files. Creating a podcast is a great way to get you some exposure all over the Internet. This makes it popular for musicians wanting to get their music out there, an author who entices readers to purchase the book after they hear an interesting segment of it, a pastor wanting to get his sermon heard by those who can’t attend the Church, or you just want to have a little fun.

Regardless of your reason, creating a podcast is easy and fast. The great thing about the set up is your can do it with any type of platform or application. Save your completed audio to ensure the quality will remain the same when it is connected with the audio portion. Then convert it to MP3 format. It is important to use MP3 or your podcast will be distorted or users just won’t be able to open it.

Next, decide where on your site you want to post the podcast. It is recommended that you add a podcast directory to make them easy for users to find. Then create your podcast feed. This is the RSS files that connect your podcast and allow the information to be transmitted. If you are using a blogging tool, remember to create an item for each MP3 item that you publish. If you are not using a blogging tool, simply add the enclosure tag to the end of the file name.

If you run into problems creating your own podcast, there are many online troubleshooting sites as well as online assistance. Don’t be frustrated as new things often take time to master. Within a few podcasts, you will be doing them without thinking twice about it. It is ironic that transferring information has become so easy with the advances in technology!

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