Category: Podcasting

Have you Unchain the Name?

Paul

The Cathedral – Unchain the Name from Creation Warehouse, Inc. on Vimeo.

Chains need to be broken!

Having been working with The Cathedral video ministry, I have been doing the videos for this church for some time and have been having a blast doing it.  Pastor Rick Vanhoose has decided to do a great video campaign on this great series that he feels he must preach about.   I usually don’t like to mix my personal stuff with my technology blog but I was so impressed with the videos and thought this would be something good to help promote this great series.

God VS Technology — is that possible?

I will not say that there is any similarities, I really don’t know what they could compete against each other.   I believe God has called everyone to do what we can every day of our lives.   Whether it be blogging about what we love or serving the community and doing it to the best of our ability.    I don’t know what others believe but I think God did want us to have technology to make our lives a little bit better.   When live is better, we don’t have to worry as much!

Any of this coming to a Podcast?

I have been talking to the Pastor for the past few months about creating a video podcast to broadcast around the world and also monetize the use of the video to help others and church grow bigger and better.  I’ve not had any luck but I will keep on trying because this would be a great podcast series for everyone to hear and watch.   I don’t expect every one of my readers to want to hear sermons or to be saved but I have a passion for what God may have for me and I also think this series is something that you should stop and ask yourself this very questionn.

Do you use the name to much?

We’ve all had those times when you are using the name of Jesus for some reason or other to either ask for grace and forgiveness but what else do we use the name for?  I won’t go into the possibilities but I thought this was something that should at least open some eyes and make people a little more open to what they may want to do.   If your wanting to hear the sermon or possibility have the video’s available on the web, then feel free to email the pastor and tell him. I’d probably be willing to produce the podcasts and make them available on their website if they were looking to pay someone to do it.

Paul Sylvester

 

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Intro To Podcasting : Part 3

Paul

Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte Image via Wikipedia

This is where it gets interesting!

Have you ever wanted to know why celebrities like Leo Laporte dedicate 5 mins to talk about a certain product.   This is what everyone would call Word of Mouth Advertising.   If you have not read my other two articles this would be a very good time to review them:

As you can see there is a lot to talk about and not very much time to talk about each and everyone.   This tutorial is more or less going to be the outline for those of you who would want to monetize your podcasts and bring in even more revenue.   It isn’t easy making money but you have to consider the impact of the recommending a product or service and how your audience will take it.

Making Money from your Podcast!

Like I was talking about you don’t have to be approached by any company.   You can make money just by asking readers to go to a special URL.   These URL are quite easy to do and can be done using a .htaccess file on the domain of your choice.  Some ideas about making easy URL redirection links are:

There is some debate whether this is moral or not.   I can not say because I even know that your aren’t trying to hide it just make it easier for the listeners to go to a site through your affiliate link.   I am sure someone out there will remind me that this has been abused in the past.   I would argue just because of it being used wrongly in the past doesn’t mean every site or podcast is doing it maliciously.   I will say that it is far easier to say a simple URL then to have a complicated URL for podcast listeners to remember.

You don’t need paid sponsors!

When I say that I mean it, if you already have accounts with affiliates like Amazon or Hostgator then you can star making money.   This is essential a free way to make without having to find sponsors to pay.   You do however have to be careful which ones you recommend and advertise on your podcast.  Some important things to consider is:

  • The length of the podcast

  • No more than1 affiliate per 30 mins

  • Recommend products you use all the time

  • Always do research on your product or service before hand

In my final tutorial we will discuss the pro’s and cons of Paid versus Free podcast hosting and which one fits you and why.   These are all hard questions that you will need to answer before you can actually start to podcast.   Until then . . .

Paul Sylvester

 

 

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Intro to Podcasting Part 2

Paul1 Reply

Station building and one of the towers of Mota... Image via Wikipedia

What is old is New Again!

In my previous post about podcasting, I talked about What is Podcasting and why you would want to podcast. These are some important questions that you must first want to answer before you start podcasting. It is one of the most terrifying things anyone could do but the most enjoyable after you do start podcasting. You can become an expert in your own right but just because you are podcasting doesn’t mean you know everything or to ignore the little guy.  You can learn at lot from other podcasters in your field or area.  It isn’t that you need to be afraid of the other guys but you should at least be working together and bringing other followers to your podcast.

How to Podcast!

Everyone who ever wanted  to podcast should do their research.   I happen to have done some research on the subject and also was part of several different podcasts.   Some of my most memorable podcasts were:

As you can see these are just a few of the podcasts that I was part of.   I really enjoyed them and I wanted to help those who wanted to start your own podcast.   The setup that Mike Smith has is something that only grows from the passion and dedication of his love of community.  It however is not the bare bones to say the least.   He has bought this equipment one piece at a time and you should really start off small and work your way to big.   So what are bare essentials?  It is just these things:

That is the Bare minium you will need to start podcasting.   It however isn’t going to be expensive but it will be time consuming.   So as you can tell some of this is going to be optional but others are required to podcast.   Most of this is just what you feel is needed for your podcast.  If your looking for an in depth article you can check out the how to podcast tutorials.   They give you some excellent advice on what it is required of you to podcast.

The Purpose of Podcast!

It isn’t hard to understand why anyone would podcast but if you are curious as to the purpose of podcasting, well I will explain it to you.   Before we had computers we had radio stations and before we had radio stations we had a campfire.   As you can see, we are always want to connect to other people through spoken words because it makes it more personable and real to us.   We all want to be a part of a community to learn something new, so that is where podcasting comes into play.   We can be driving our car and listen to a podcast like an audio book, and not be around a computer.   It seems more and more people are doing this while driving, and less and less listening to the radio.   I must say a good podcast keeps me driving for hours without having to turn the station.

Are you going to be a podcaster or are a podcaster.   I’d love to here your experiences.   Feel free to leave a comment and tell others how you got into the business of podcasting!

Paul Sylvester


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Intro to Podcasting Part 1

Paul2 Replies

Watamu (16) Image by malczyk via Flickr

So you want to start your own podcast?

I’ve helped several different organizations set up there own podcast, so I thought we would go into detail about the process.   I am going to lay it out to everyone who might be interested and discuss the finer points on how you’d start and what you will need.   Although, this will not be a complete tutorial, I did figure we could at least talk you through it and help someone who might be wanting to start your own podcast.

Starting a podcast can be a challenge, but yet really fun.   In the tutorial we will discuss aspects of:

  • What is podcasting?

  • Why Podcast?

  • How to Podcast?

  • Purpose of Podcasting?

  • Making money from Podcasting?

  • Examples of Podcasts?

  • Content Delivery, Free VS Paid!

As you can see there will be several different aspects that we will be delving into and even discussing them in length.   I will say this will be one of those times I am going to learn with you on this because I will be researching this as I post it.   So you can have all the information with you and learn something.

Podcasting 101

You’ve probably heard the term podcasts, or even have some podcast that you listen to already but if you don’t, I will explain it to those who might need to understand it.

A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication. The word replaced webcast in common vernacular due to the fame of the iPod and its role in the rising popularity and innovation of web feeds.

Via Wikipedia

Anyone can podcast and you could be the next big podcast.  It just depends on what your goal is and what your aiming for.    I will say that podcasting seems to be more and more out there than it was 10 years ago.

Why Podcast?

This has been asked over and over through the years. It varies from person to person. I will give you the general answers because it will be hot topic to anyone. Although some would say why not, here are in my mind the most common answers:

  • To Make even more Money

  • Connect to even more people around the world

  • easier than blogging

  • Your Personality

Like I said these are in my mind the most common reasons and are not all the possible answers that someone in the podcasting field might not have another reason. As you can see these are just generalized and should be used as reference and nothing more.

In the next part we will discuss the fundamentals of podcasting, what you will need and why you’ll need it. Hope you’ll stay tuned into this fun little subject!

Paul Sylvester

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To podcast or Not to podcast? That is the question!

Paul

US Navy 100514-N-7227H-012 Rear Adm. Craig Fal... Image via Wikipedia

I did love doing the Miketechshow Listener Round Table!

I kind of wish Mike would do more Listener Round tables.  Talking about the tech of the day and having those how to podcasts are something that really excites me.    I loved the discussions we had about our experiences and stuff.   I loved the creativity of the podcasts, and I would love to restart those podcasts.   I just have some problems with this.

First Problem: Extra Guests!

As you can see this would be the most crucial part of the whole problem.   Having guests who would want to come on board on a usual period.   I haven’t decided if i will do this but if i did, It would probably start off being a monthly podcast and then we’d go from there.

Second Problem: Intro Music and Album Art!

I have never been good with making intro music like Mike does on his podcast.   If I did decide to do this then I’d want to have everything set before I do start having a podcast.  I already have a good Podcasting headset which is the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset which is a very good headset to do a podcast with.   I even did most of the podcasts with this head set.   I absolutely love this little headset to use on any podcast.   That at least is not a problem for me right  now.

Third and Final Problem:  Editing!

Although I can edit them using Audicity, I do not have a good understanding just yet and also where I would host the file for you to download.   I can always host it on a free service but I think it is important for the listeners to be able to download them to listen.   Although I have looked around, I have found some great free services but I would like to not do free because most of them require an audio advertisement that i get no money for.   If I am going to do some kind of advertisement, then I would like to have the money to help support the blog or podcasting, so I can buy more stuff to make the podcast even better!

What do you think?   Do you want to do a listener round table like we used to or not??   You answer will determine what I do next!

Paul Sylvester

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