When I first started this website I thought to myself, what do I know about podcasting? Well, I did a shit ton of research...
As I was doing the research I figured that it would only make sense if I actually had a podcast, so for the sake of knowing what the heck I'm doing I've gone ahead and created a podcast to be added to the list of all the other podcasts here, but before I could do so, I had to figure some stuff out.
Step 1 - what is the podcast's concept
I can't talk about acting auditions because I never go on any. I can't talk about musicals because I'm no expert at that. I can talk about actor websites, but that probably wouldn't suffice for a singular concept. How much talk can be done about actor websites? I'm pretty sure I could cover it all in a single episode + bonus chapters for me ranting about people doing it wrong. :)
Well, I always wanted to force myself to review certain products for actors. There are actor apps, actor tools and services available through the webs, and I've been using many of them, not to mention that I've created a bunch of them myself, so why not sit down, break them down and explain their worth. So there we go. Concept established.
Step 2 - recording equipment
I was lucky enough that my girlfriend is a film composer so she had some spare mikes laying around. I'm using a Bubird SL microphone - the cheapest one you can find would go on ebay for about $260 https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Blue-Microphones-Bluebird-SL-Large-diaphragm-Condenser-Microphone-Mic-/273329563115 - does it have to be this quality, of course not. Just do your research and find what works for you.
Next is a recording software. I surely have plenty of that, but for the simplicity's sake (and since my podcast concept involves recording of the screen) I will utilize zoom.com. That will allow me to record my webcam, my screen, and if I want to have a remote guests pop in, they are more than welcome to join in.
Step 3 - recording of the first episode
I think the first episode is the hardest as you're doing it for the first time, but as you DO go through it, write your steps down. If you encounter any issues and resolve them, the second time will be this much easier because you will have a step-by-step guide of how to prepare and where to go.
Since I DO build actor websites, I think it's only fair that I would "review" Web For Actors first. Can I say "review" if it's my own product? Fine, I will "DISCUSS" Web For Actors first, so, let me pop the camera on and start my regular pitch and explain why this service is so much better than all the other ones. I normally would add a wink-face at the end of this statement, because of the self-promotion, but since it's true, I'll just add multiple exclamation points!!!
Step 4 - edit and export the episode
The odds that my podcast is perfect were bound to be low and sure enough, I did my fair share of stuttering. Since this podcast comes with a video option, it's much harder to cut it and replace all the "umms" and "uhs", which would definitely be a valid option. So, for audio alone, I would use crossfades between clips to eliminate possible clicks, but since it's a video, I will utilize Camtasia with fade transitions to slap it all together. Yes, I'm "slapping" it together. :)
For exporting I will have to do it twice - once for just the audio - I will export to MP3 at 64 kbps mono, because it's a spoken word. This will save space in the long run. If you were doing music, 128 kbps stereo would be prefared, but you'll see an increase in file size. Finally I will do a standard high definition MP4 export from Camtasia for YouTube. After all, YouTube doesn't force size limits, so the higher video quality the better.
Step 5 - upload your episode to your podcast host
As mentioned in or main blog post about podcasting, there are multiple places where your podcast can be added. I am going to break down each addition to a seperate article for you to follow (with exception of YouTube). So first, I'm going to upload my video to YouTube and then I will go ahead and add it to X, Y and Z.
Once you add it to either X, Y or Z, you will be able to get RSS of your feed. When you have it, don't forget to share it on A, B and C. The more places you share your podcast on, the higher chance people will find you, and as long as your RSS gets updated, you won't have to keep resubmitting it to these sources, so whatever choice you make for RSS, remember to keep adding your episodes there, otherwise your RSS will go stale.
Get your podcast listed in Apple Podcasts - https://medium.com/create-buzz/submitting-your-podcast-to-itunes-using-itunes-connect-22b95b38068d Get your podcast listed in Google Podcasts - https://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/submit-google-podcasts Get your podcast listed in Spotify - https://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/submit-podcast-spotify
Step 6 - get a website for your podcast
No, I'm not necessarily selling you on this one. I know a lot about actor websites, podcast websites are brand new to me. Can I get you something that isn't hiddeous and does it's job? Yeah, I know I can. Would you be able to get the same quality website from Square Space? For sure, for sure.
But still, if you want something done ASAP and you have no idea what you're doing and you like the look of this website, here's an example of how your website would look like. I can even help you with art work / logo, but still I need to pay for domain and hosting, so I think $99/year is a fair price for your podcast website that's all about your podcast.
