What's up guys?
It's Aileen.
Today I'm going to talk about how to start
a podcast,
going from the beginning to the end: from
recording it, editing it, and getting hosted
online
where it could get picked up by iTunes and
Google Play, as well as post it on SoundCloud.
If you don't know already, I have a podcast
called the Lavendaire Lifestyle
that's out now on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud,
and if you haven't heard it,
go out and listen to it right now.
This video is part of my Q&A series for content
creators.
So if you haven't watched it already,
I have a video on advice that I have for creators
starting out, whether you're on YouTube,
blogging, or podcasting, and another video
on a more technical side
of like my filming setup for YouTube.
I'll post links to those videos below.
I'm going to break this video down into two
parts.
The first part is creating your podcast,
recording and editing the podcast, the content
itself.
And the second part
is hosting your podcast online so it could
be on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, etc.
The things you'll need to create your podcast
are: a mic, headphones,
a quiet space to record, and most times, a
DAW which is a digital audio workstation
where you edit your audio.
And if you want to do interviews online,
then probably a software like Google Hangouts,
Skype, or Zencastr.
First, let's start with the mic.
I'm going to show you what I use to record
my podcast
but then I'll give you a ton of other suggestions
for mics that you can use as well.
A little background information: I used to-I
mean I still do, I still record music.
My background is in recording, singing, and
producing music so I already knew
the technical skills for audio, and the mic
that I use for my podcast is the same mic
that I use for my singing.
That's why the mic that I have is not necessary
for someone who just wants to do podcasts.
I have a Rode NT1 Condenser mic,
and I have a Scarlet Solo interface.
My mic is an XLR mic so that it has to go
through
an interface in order to plug into my laptop.
So if you aren't in music,
it really isn't necessary to get that kind
of mic.
There are so many great condenser USB mics
out there, which means mics that you can
just plug in directly to your laptop through
USB.
If I were starting out as a podcast,
some mics I would recommend that are USB condenser
mics are:
the Blue Snowball, the Blue Yeti, as well
as some Audio Technica ones.
Or depending on what podcast you're doing,
I would consider getting a portable recorder.
If you're thinking of doing a podcast where
you're going to go out and interview people
or get environment sounds or that kind of
thing, then definitely get a portable recorder.
I would probably get a Zoom H1 or Zoom H4N.
Those are really popular.
Honestly, if you're starting out and you have
no budget, you could totally just use your
phone.
If you have an iPhone, there's a voice memos
app that you can use to record yourself
or other people.
Just get started with any mic that you can.
Get some practice just doing the podcast,
and maybe you can upgrade later on.
Next, you're going to need some headphones
while you're recording your podcast.
Honestly, any headphones or earphones will
do because all you need to do
is separate the audio that's coming out of
the computer.
You don't want that feedback
coming out from your speaker back into the
mic.
So to prevent that feedback,
just put it on mute or have some earphones
on as you're recording your podcast.
And of course, it's so important to have clear
audio, so you want to make sure
that you're recording in a very quiet space.
Usually closets are really popular
because they're small and they're closed to
muffle the sound.
You have to use your ear
and test the sound of that room.
You can hear an echo.
Even in this room right now,
I know there's an echo so this would not be
a good room to record a podcast in.
But if you walk into a big room, you notice
there's more echo.
If you walk into a smaller room, like a closet,
you'll notice that the sound is more muffled.
And also: the more furniture you have or whether
you have carpets or a rug,
then the sound will be more muffled.
It's all-you know, you're trying to stop the
sound waves
from bouncing around so that your audio into
the mic is as clear as possible.
So if you want to reduce the echo in the room,
you can do things like
hang blankets on the walls, put up pillows,
or you could get some acoustic panels.
That's what professionals use to put all over
the walls in those recording booths
so that sound doesn't bounce around.
I guess now I can take you into my studio
so you can see how I put up things to muffle
the room.
Alright this is my little walk-in closet that
I've transformed into my studio.
Here's my mic, and behind my mic I have this
big pillow to block the wall
and I've hung some clothes up here just to
muffle the sound a little bit.
And in that corner I just have guitar cases,
and here's the carpet.
This all muffles the sound.
So this is where I record my podcast.
That's my interface.
I run it in Logic.
And before I had this set-up, I really just
put my mic in front of my clothes in my closet.
So always have soft stuff in the back.
Alright, next up: you need a DAW which stands
for 'digital audio workstation',
and that's just a fancy word for a program
on your computer where you can record
and edit your audio.
I use Logic Pro because that what I use to
record my singing
and it's easy for me.
But you can use any DAW out there.
If you have a Mac,
you can use GarageBand, which is free.
And if you have Windows,
I heard Audacity is a free software you can
use to record audio.
What you do is just plug in your mic to your
computer, open the DAW software,
make sure it's reading your mic.
Sometimes you have to change it in the preferences
or the settings.
And then you hit Record, record your podcast,
hit stop,
and once you're done you can edit in that
software.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to show
you guys how to do that in GarageBand.
Alright, so now I'm going to open GarageBand.
What I would do is-you could do Voice.
Let's do Voice.
Here, GarageBand gives you a ton of vocal
settings that are pre-EQ.
EQ just means what they want to enhance or
lessen in your voice.
Feel free to play with these.
I would just go with Narration Vocal, so I
would just delete these other ones.
And make sure that your mic is plugged in.
You go to File, Preferences, Audio.
Input and Output, right now it's under System.
Mine is called the Scarlet Solo USB,
so I would do Scarlet Solo.
Now I've set these to my condenser mic.
Make sure you set it to whatever USB mic that
you're using.
Then you close it, and you press Record.
As you see, I've recorded my audio.
And to stop the recording, you just press
stop.
From there, you can edit this to your liking.
After you're done recording your podcast,
you can export it to an MP3 file.
You can do that in many ways.
Here, you can share your song to iTunes; AirDrop;
Mail; Song to SoundCloud, even.
Let's put Export Song to Disc.
Here, you can choose what type of audio file.
I would probably just choose MP3 and name
it 'Podcast 1'.
Save it onto wherever you want.
I would put it in my Desktop or my podcast
folder.
Export!
An exception to recording straight into your
DAW software is
if you want to do an interview with someone
online through Google Hangouts or Skype.
You can actually just record your Google Hangouts
from there.
I'm sure you guys could figure that out.
With Skype, I heard you have to download
external plug-ins to record that call.
And also, there's a new website
that I just discovered this week, called Zencastr.
That looks like a really simple interface
where you can invite your guest to go on that
page with you together,
and through that website you can hit Record.
And once you're done doing the podcast,
it will send that MP3 file to your DropBox.
So there are ways to record your audio online
without using a DAW, so it just depends what
kind of podcast you're doing,
what you're going for, and whether you really
want to edit your podcast a lot or have it
raw.
Alright, now that you're done recording and
editing your podcast, it's time to get it
online.
Now I'm pretty sure there are other ways you
can do this but I'm going to share you
the way that I know how, which is through
a Wordpress blog.
If you don't have a Wordpress blog, I know
that you can host your podcast
on podcast hosting sites.
I think the popular ones are Libsyn and Blubrry.
Feel free to do your research on other ways
you can host your podcast.
But if you have a Wordpress blog, then great
news: I know how to teach you how to do that.
So if you have a Wordpress blog, all you need
to do is download a plug-in
called Blubrry PowerPress.
And now I'm just going to take you on the
laptop
because it's easier to show you there.
Here I am in my Wordpress dashboard.
If you're in your Wordpress,
what you do is you go to Plugins, Add New.
Then search 'Blubrry PowerPress',
and this is the plug-in right here.
I already have it installed so make sure you
install it.
Once you have it installed, on your left side
you should have this PowerPress.
Once you're in PowerPress, here you can fill
out all your settings for your podcast,
fill in your description, everything according
to what your podcast is going to be about.
Under Advanced Options, make sure you click
'Category Podcasting', then Save Changes.
And to add your first podcast, what you do
is go to New Post, and it's kind of like
you're adding a blog post.
What you do is write your podcast title here,
and then you do your podcast description here,
and here, this is where you put the URL
to your MP3 audio of your podcast.
Depending on where you host it,
I like to host mine directly in Wordpress,
so what I do is I host my audio on Wordpress,
and this link is right here.
I would copy that link and then post it here.
But if you host your podcast audio on DropBox,
Amazon, whatever, just grab that link
from wherever you're hosting it and put it
right here.
Click 'Verify URL' to make sure
that the link works.
If it's verified successfully, then great!
All you have to do next is, under Categories,
make sure you check 'Podcast'
and do whatever else you need to do.
Add your tags, add your description, your
blog post.
But basically that's all you need to do.
Click 'Publish' and now your first podcast
is posted
on your blog.
But then you have to submit it to iTunes and
Google Play.
So once you've posted your first podcast and
it's up on your blog, to submit it to iTunes,
you go back into PowerPress.
Then you click this link that says 'Publish
a Podcast on iTunes'.
You click that and you have to copy this feed
link.
This is my feed link,
but yours will probably be: your website [dot]
com [slash] feed [slash] podcast.
Here, on this page, it will show you what
your feed link is, and you have to meet
these requirements before you submit it to
iTunes, and basically everything else
is just follow the instructions to submit
it.
Once you have it submitted,
you have to wait a couple days before they
email you back to let you know
whether your podcast is accepted, and if it
is, then congratulations.
Your podcast will be on iTunes.
Also: if you want to submit your podcast to
Google Play, what you do is:
in PowerPress settings, you 'Switch to Advanced
Mode'.
Here, you'll see more options.
You'll click 'Google Play' and then you click
this link: 'Publish a Podcast' .
And you basically follow the same rules to
submit to Google Play Podcast.
It's really important to note that you have
to post your first podcast blog post
before you submit to iTunes and Google Play.
You have to have one podcast audio up,
and then you can fill out the submission forms
and stuff, and then the submission process
takes a few days.
Once your podcast is accepted, they'll send
you an email.
Then from then on, you just have to post your
podcast as usual.
Check that category 'Podcast', and it will
feed automatically into iTunes and Google
Play,
and there's not much else you have to do on
your part.
Another platform that's really easy to post
on is SoundCloud.
With SoundCloud all you have to do is create
an account, and then upload your audio
one by one.
You can sort your podcast audios into a playlist
which is what I did,
and yeah.
It's really convenient.
Alright, that's it for my video on how to
start a podcast.
If you have any questions,
feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Make sure to check out my podcast,
The Lavendaire Lifestyle, on iTunes, Google
Play, and SoundCloud.
And if you like it, please, please help me
by writing a review on iTunes
because that helps a lot in terms ranking
and how well it does, so I'd really appreciate
that.
Alright, thank you guys so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.
Bye!
