March 24th, 2007

Creating and Hosting an Audio Podcast for Free

This is a Click by Click Tutorial

Introduction:

If you want to learn to podcast and/or want to do it for free, you are in the right place. This tutorial is designed to show you that anyone can podcast. While there are many steps involved these individual steps are not complicated, there is just a bunch of them and they require using multiple services and products.

While there are other products and services you could use in place of some of the items listed below, we felt at the time this tutorial was created/updated that these services offered an advantage in ease of use and/or performance over the other services we were aware of. Please note that we are always looking for new services that offer an advantage over those listed here and your feedback is strongly encouraged, as we do plan to make this a living, breathing tutorial that is updated often based on your feedback. So please direct any feedback to:

rob AT podcast411 DOT com

When it comes to podcasting NOBODY knows everything, but we do assure you that if you follow the instructions in this tutorial, that a few hours from now you can have your first podcast up, and you will have done it without spending any money.

Who is this Tutorial for?

It is for anyone looking to distribute an audio podcast for free on the internet, but does not have a lot of money (or any money) to do so. This tutorial is perfect for students, educators, churches and those with little to no technical experience. Even if you have never had a website before by following this tutorial you will be able to have a podcast.

We also realize that many people just want to test the waters of podcasting and then decide if they want to take it to the next level. Because of that we designed this tutorial such that you will be able to move your podcast to a different hosting service in the future if you so desire without having to change anything on your listeners end. Essentially future proofing the podcast so you are not locked into a service you might out grow if you decide to turn this into more than a hobby.

Who is this Tutorial NOT for?

People that think Audio Quality is more important than content. While Audio quality is important it is not as important as many make it out to be. No one will ever tell you they stuck with your show because the audio quality was so good, they just knew eventually the content would come around. We are not suggesting you deliberately produce audio with poor quality, as we will point out ways to help you improve the audio experience for your listeners. Dawn and Drew became podcasting stars using nothing more than their laptop and a cheap $20 USB Mic. Chances are if you are reading this tutorial you probably are more interested in just getting a podcast up and could care less if your show sounds like the mid range is off a little from how you sound in real life.

Ok enough with who this is and is not for and on with the tutorial.

Software and Services Used:
The following is a list of items and services we will be using during this tutorial.

NOTE: The services and software listed in this tutorial work for both Macs & PCs unless otherwise specifically stated.

Full Disclosure: We have nothing to disclose, there was no payment, favors or any other form of compensation made for any product or service mentioned anywhere in this tutorial. All products were picked on their merits and can and will be replaced if we come across a product or service we feel is better than that already listed. We reserve all rights to determine what we feel makes one product better than another.

Hardware:

Your Current Mac or PC

Microphone The built in mic or the one that came with the computer.

(If you do not have a mic, then you will need to spend about $20 for one. That would be your only cost)

Software:

Audacity For Recording and Editing

Levelator For Fixing Levels

iTunes For Encoding to MP3 format and editing ID3 tags

Feedback Services:

K7.net

Mychingo.com

Gcast.com