First,
you shouldn't begin trying to create a podcast until you've learned to
subscribe to one and listened to many. While there are many ways you
can subscribe to a podcast, about 90% of all subscribers use
iTunes.
So, download iTunes if you don't have it already. It a little confusing
the first time you try using iTunes to find a podcast, because even
though podcasts are generally free you have to click on the "iTunes
Store." Once inside, you then click "podcasts" and you'll see lists of
top podcasts. However, since the essence of podcasting is niche
marketing, try exploring by typing a keyword into the search box and
seeing which podcasts come up.
A really easy way to start creating a podcast is to use
Gcast.
All you need is Internet access to sign up and after that all you need
is a telephone. After setting up your Gcast account, you just phone in
and speak. This means you can do a podcast from anywhere your phone
picks up a signal. I've experimented with using this to record people
out at events and have the audio up on the web site in a minute. This
is so easy, it makes considering creating your own podcast for a few
family members or friends very reasonable.
If you want to record a conversation you can call a land phone using
Skype.
Before making the call, navigate to "Do More" in the "Tools" menu. Then
select the "call recorder" for installation. For editing and recording
the free Open Source tool Audacity is a first choice of many
podcasters. Now that you've got an MP3 you need to wrap that with the
necessary code to make it into a podcast. You don't need to worry about
this code if you chose the Gcast route above or countless similar tools
(use the advanced Google search to find sites similar to Gcast). But,
if you are going to take the next step, then
feedburner
(recently acquired by Google) is a good place to get your recording
turned into a real podcast. You get statistics and all sorts of add on
capabilities.
If you want to do a really professional podcast,
then you'll want to have the media from each podcast episode embedded
into a blog post, which offers the ability to easily associate a text
post that describes your show both for your human audience and for
search engines. In that case the premier solution is the
Wordpress platform along with the
podpress plugin.
The
most important thing is to just get started. Once you're hooked you
find the time to learn the more advanced methods or decide to work with
someone who has already done it. You can get to know local podcasters
through user groups such as the
Detroit Podcasters Network.