SI4OE 001: Is podcasting for you?

podcast training This is a story of how I went from a podcast-ignorant person to create my first podcast ever with the help of Hector Cuevas’s Podcasting For Bloggers training course.

You will find my first podcast episode of Self Improvement For Online Entrepreneurs (SI4OE) at the bottom of this page.

If we go 6 months back in time and you would then asked me about podcasting and what do I think about it, I probably would have answered that I find the whole thing very boring. I didn’t like listening to podcasts at all and I just didn’t “get them” – I didn’t understand what was the big deal with them anyway.

Around November – December 2010, I found a site run by Hector Cuevas. He had just started podcasting and I stumbled upon to the Business Blogging Podcast show that he was producing.

Since I was (and I still am) very interested about blogging from business perspective, I figured out that I might just give his podcast a try. After listening to one of his shows (I can’t remember which one it was), I was truly excited about it – both the show and podcasting in general.

First, I found the information to be interesting from my stand point, so I started to listen to his other podcast shows that he had created.

Second, I realized that podcasting would be a very good way to create valuable content to my blog, but also to strengthen the relationships with my readers and other people in my market.

I started to look at podcasting from a different perspective. Earlier, I had completely ignored the whole podcasting thing, but now I saw it as a very appealing thing and I wanted to learn more about it.

Benefits of podcasting

After listening to some of Hector’s episodes (and reading his articles about the subject matter), I became a podcasting convert – I truly understood the value of it and what benefits it can bring to a blog. In fact, here are the benefits that I learned:

Traffic and exposure

Podcasting is yet another way to generate traffic to your site. Most blogs are producing text-only content, so audio is something different. You can reach new audiences by podcasting and you are reachable through new platforms, like iTunes.

What I also love about podcasting is that your content becomes mobile. People can download it to their iPods or any other devices that can handle MP3 files, so they don’t have to be in front of a computer to consume your content.

Connecting with others

Podcasting brings more depth and personal touch to your blog. People can hear your voice, which gives more personality to your content.

You can also connect with other bloggers in your market by doing interviews. This is a great way to pick their brains on a topic and getting to know that other person a little bit better

Valuable content to your blog

If you are doing interviews with other interesting online entrepreneurs in your market, you are adding valuable content to your blog. You don’t have to be an expert on everything – instead, you can bring the knowledge to your blog by interviewing an expert.

Authority

Podcasting is a great way to show your authority on a certain topic. This of course means, that you provide content, that your listeners like to listen to and which they find valuable.

Easier content production

Podcasting requires some work – at least in the beginning phases (for example when you set your blog ready for podcasting).

However, once the initial work is done, the recording phase is very straightforward. And the task that is missing in podcasting compared to writing, is proofreading. I find that to be the most tedious part, when I create written content.

Crushing yet another fear or yours

The first time you hear your own voice on MP3 file, it sounds funny, that’s for sure. However, you will get used to your voice eventually.

After you have done your first podcast or interview ever, you have crushed yet another fear of yours. You can also feel your self-confidence rising to a new level.

The next podcast you create will be much easier, because the initial fear is gone.

How to get started with podcasting?

Obviously, you could just start speaking to the microphone, record your talk to MP3 file, upload the generated file to your web host and just link to your MP3 file from your blog post.

However, if you want to do the podcasting the professional way, there are better alternatives. One of those alternatives is a training course by Hector Cuevas and it is called Podcasting For Bloggers.

It is a training program, which teaches you all the necessary steps for creating a podcast – even if you are just getting started.

This is why I decided to check out the training to see, if I’m capable of creating a podcast myself. As for the background information, I had never created a podcast before, so I guess you could say I was a podcast virgin

“I decided to check out the training to see, if I’m capable of creating a podcast myself.

What is in the training course?

Podcasting For Bloggers is divided into four different modules and an Extra Goodies section:

1. Learn the system

The first part of the training focuses on your lead magnet (lead magnet is for example a free e-book, video tutorial or audio, that you give away free in exchange to visitor’s name and e-mail).

To be quite honest, I was a little bit confused at first, because I didn’t understood, what does this section has to do with podcasting. However, I soon realized that this part is extremely important and you shouldn’t miss it.

This is because you want to capture as many of those podcast visitors of your blog to your e-mail list as possible. This happens by providing a lead magnet on your blog and that’s why it is important to have that ready, before getting into actual podcasting.

2. Get the tools

This part focuses on the tools and the necessary software and important purchases you need for podcasting. Things that are covered here are for example hosting, domains, storage space for your podcasts or the software to use when recording and editing the audio files.

3. The audio file

Before you can publish your podcasts, you have to do some planning and initial configurations of your audio file.

The planning part focuses on the structure for your podcast. The configuration part discusses things like MP3 tagging or uploading the audio file to your storage space.

4. The entire setup

This is where all the pieces are put together. The section talks about setting up your blog, so that it is ready for podcasting. It talks for example setting the category information in WordPress, configuring a Feedburner account for your podcasts and how to submit your podcast to iTunes.

Extra goodies

This section talks about miscellaneous things that are related to podcasting. These things include for example a checklist for your podcast show, episode ideas or how to record an interview over Skype.

My Verdict

What I liked:

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to find out if I could create my first podcast ever with the lessons and tools taught in this training course. After finishing the course, I can confirm, that I was able to create my first podcast, thanks to Podcasting For Bloggers!

This online training is very easy to go through, if you go it in the correct sequence. Hector recommends that you go through the modules in sequential order (starting from Module 1: lesson 1, lesson 2 … Module 2: lesson 1, lesson 2 and so on). This ensures that basics are covered first and you are ready for the more advanced stuff later.

The lessons are in video format and they are very easy to understand. Hector speaks clearly and I had no difficulties to understand his talk (as a side note, I’m not a native-English speaker and I could understand everything clearly). Also, the videos are short enough (around 10 minutes), so that you attention span won’t suffer of too much information.

I also like that Hector provides help if you have any questions regarding the lessons. I had some questions I wanted to ask him and every time I got a reply.

What could be improved:

Fortunately, there isn’t that much to improve, since all the necessary information on podcasting is covered on the training course.

The only thing that I was looking for on this course was what kind of audio equipment Hector would recommend for my podcasts. There wasn’t a separate lesson about this on the training but luckily in one of the lesson’s show notes, he had a link to an older post of his (on his blog), where he talks about this topic.

As a non-audio savvy person, I had some difficulties of understanding what pop-filter does and how to actually install it, but after figuring out for a while, the issue was solved.

Final conclusion of the training:

Go get this training! If you are getting started with podcasting and want to do it the easy way, then Hector’s training is just for you.

As a proof that this training works, you can find the podcast I did with him below.

SI4OE 001: Interview with Hector Cuevas, creator of Podcasting For Bloggers

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Show notes:

Conclusion

Podcasting is yet another way to create content to your blog. However, it is a powerful way of differentiating yourself from the blogging crowd.

Also, you can reach new audiences by providing content on a platform like iTunes.

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