APPS & BOTS
Podcasting is all the rage right now. Even though the art of podcasting started a few years back, it hasn’t really picked up speed until recently. Nowadays, there are podcasts about anything and everything. You can find cooking recipes, you can follow a serial story, you can hear an interview from your favorite actor, actress or director. For those into fandom and who love theorizing about shows or reading reviews about their favorite shows airing right now, there’s a podcast for that.
You can find podcasts on all the most famous shows like Game of Thrones or just listen to reviews for popular shows like Once Upon a Time, Gilmore Girls, Black Sails, etc. Most of those reviews come from fans just like you. But have you ever wanted to do a review but figured it was too expensive? Maybe you thought no one would listen. Here at The News we can give you a few tips for podcasting on a budget.
Microphone: Here comes the tricky part, some people will claim you need a good microphone to start with and that you should see it as an investment. This doesn’t work if you’re not sure podcasting is something you’re going to enjoy. For starters and test runs, most of the time the microphone that comes included inside your phone’s earphones does the trick. The sound is not perfect of course but it’s decent.
If you want to go a step further, we recommend a USB headset (prices range from affordable to expensive). That way if you decide it’s not really your thing you’re not stuck with a surplus microphone, as a USB headset is good for a great number of things.
Recording: There are two ways not to spend a dime while recording your podcast: Skype and of course Google Hangouts. If it’s just you or a small number of people, then Skype should work. You might need to shell out for software that saves your calls, but there are ways to get Skype to do that for free. Of course the problem here is that Skype can drop your calls and it doesn’t like it when two many people are on a call at once. Google Hangouts is the other — and in this case better — option. It’s not a perfect solution either, but Hangouts is better at connectivity and holds more people.
And when it comes to recording, always remember to record in a quiet room so the sounds from the outside doesn’t filter in.
Editing & Publishing: You’ve got your microphone; you’ve recorded your first podcast and now comes the task of editing it. This is another easy solution. You just need to install Garage Band or Audacity. Both are free products, and are simple to use for editing purposes. And from then you just need to export it, get an RSS Feed and upload to your website of choice (Tumblr, SoundCloud, iTunes).
And it’s as simple as that to start podcasting on a budget. If you’re scared no one will want to listen to what you have to say, I can guarantee there’s a least someone somewhere that is interested in the same topic.