PodCraft by Alitu: Honing the Craft of Podcasting

New mics turn up on our doorstep all the time here at The Podcast Host. Which is handy, because our ‘best podcast microphones' article is one of the most popular on the entire site. Many podcasters love equipment and gear. And, though it's far from the most important factor in making a great podcast, who doesn't like to try out some brand new kit? So what exactly did we try out mic-wise in 2019? I...

On the episode, I talk to David Bain, a long time and very prolific podcaster, the one I remember most being Digital Marketing Radio. David is also the author of Marketing Now (available very soon on Amazon!), which is a book which had it's genesis in a podcast.  David is in good company with this type of repurposing, one of the biggest examples being Tim Ferriss and the Tools of Titans book. Tim...

Interviews are a big part of podcasting, and for good reason. They break up the potential monotony of one voice talking for too long, they add expertise and gravitas to your episode, and it's a chance to tap into your interviewee's own following – a tale of two audiences! You'll want to get the most out of your interviewee and maximise their contribution to your cause. That boils down to the conve...

Every successful podcast has to be unique in some way. If there's no uniqueness, then there's no draw. There's no reason to listen. And with over 700,000 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, you have to give people a reason to listen. Read the full article Taking on a new podcast, as a listener, is a commitment. Don't underestimate that. It's giving up 20 minute of your time, at a minimum, to find out: is...

We've run our annual Grand Gear Survey to find out what podcasters are using to record their shows in 2019? We also found out a bit about how they're recording. Read the full article - complete with graphs and charts In this episode, we talk through the results in full. You'll hear stats from our sample of 330 podcasters on the following; Top Microphone Brands Top Microphone Models Microphone Type...

In a world of YouTube views and Twitter followers, we've become accustomed to figures in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions. Read the full article It's important to realise though, these numbers are completely irrelevant to podcasting. The time and effort it takes for someone to click ‘Follow' on Twitter, or watch a few seconds of a Youtube video, should never be compared to podcast list...

Podcast advertising is just one of many ways to grow your show's audience. Growing an audience, ultimately, starts with creating good content on a consistent basis though. Then, if you make it easy to find and share, you'll struggle not to grow your audience. However, many early-stage and aspiring podcasters don't like to hear that it can take months, or even years, to build an established listene...

In this episode I'm talking to Kennedy and Rob Temple from Responsesuite. Their speciality is using surveys to get your know your audience, and particularly to in using them to create great products or services that suit exactly what your listeners need.  So, if you've been looking to grow your listeners, and start using your podcast to sell a product or a service, this episode is right up your st...

Some might call this a "Pet Peeves" episode, but you can also think of them as "Growth Opportunities".  Are you doing some things that might be costing listeners to drop off and unsubscribe? Or is your show set up in the way that it's really hard to even find listeners in the first place? Then you might want to check yourself against our 10 Commandments of podcasting (of which there's actually 14....

A bit of a bonus episode to bring down the curtain on our Podcast Equipment Series. You put a lot of work into creating your episodes, so let's have a chat about where (and how) your end product is actually consumed. This episode starts with a discussion about why you should consider listening to less podcasts too. It was prompted by a great article by Greg Campion titled The Problem With Podcasts...

There are a few good reasons why you might want to broadcast the recording of your episodes live - and maybe even film them too.  Doing live episodes can help build and harness community, as your listeners can feel more directly involved with your content. And the content itself can benefit from that immediate feedback. The ability to answer questions and offer help and advice in real time can rea...

Okay, granted, having a top-of-the-range mic doesn't necessarily mean you'll have top-of-the-range content. But the various bits of equipment different folks are using to create audio can become an obsession for some podcasters.  We know this because the Equipment section of our site is by far the most viewed and visited. Combine that with your average podcaster's love of stats, and that's what le...

As another year draws to a close, we sit down to chat through the last 12 months at The Podcast Host Towers. What went well? What didn't? And what do we have planned for the future? In terms of big milestones this year, we had the long-awaited launch of Alitu - The Podcast Making App , the switch up of The Podcast Host Academy to an annual membership, the launch of our Podcast Launch Service , and...

Creating a 30 second promo trailer for your show is a great way to grow your audience. A trailer is a little "taster" for potential new listeners, and gives them an idea of the tone, feel, and content of the show. It's easy to consume, and easy to share too. On this episode we're going to listen to and offer feedback on some promo trailers that were created by members of The Podcast Host Academy a...

On this episode, we're talking niche. That's neeeesh, not nitch, but either way, it's all about getting really specific with your content offering. Karen Reyburn is our guest, and her whole business is built around this concept. She runs a creative agency, but for a particular niche: Accountants. On this episode you'll learn: What is a niche, exactly? And why it's not just an industry How to find...

By it's very nature, podcasting is storytelling. But what makes a story good, or interesting? Well, who better to give us a crash course on how to tell great stories than Jessica Abel, creator of the essential book and podcast series Out on the Wire. In this episode, the key things you'll learn are; How to capture good stories How to draw stories out of interviews How to use tools such as the X/Y...

Jon Ferrara was the founder of Goldmine, which was a customer management tool back in the day, but when he sold that company he didn’t stop thinking about connections, and networks. He kept an eye on the CRM market, and spotted the fact that they tended be pretty expensive or over complicated, or a bit […] Support the show

You can pour your heart and soul into making the best podcast possible. But simply hitting publish and taking the “if you build it, they will come” approach isn’t enough, sadly. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to optimise your show’s exposure and continually grow your audience with new listeners. And to talk […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)

Planning and launching your first podcast can be a steep learning curve. But once you’re actually putting episodes out there, the pitfalls are a little different. Now the battle is about keeping things consistent, sustainable, and enjoyable. So once you get past your first 20 episodes, what then? That’s what we’re going to help you […] Support the show

So far we’ve walked you through to the point where you’ve uploaded your first episode to your media host. At this stage, you have a podcast. But it still can’t actually be found in all the places people actually listen to podcasts. That’s an easy fix though, don’t worry! In this episode we’ll tell you […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)

So you’ve recorded your first podcast episode and now you’re ready to share it with the world. How exactly do you upload it though? In this episode we’ll give you a crash course on podcast websites and media hosting. Here you’ll learn what you need to publish a podcast episode, and the various options available […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)

Cover art and music are two ways of branding your podcast and giving it its own unique personality. It isn’t essential to have music in your podcast however. If you want to keep your show really raw and simple then you might avoid using it altogether. But music can create that immediately identifiable opening to […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)

Without a doubt, editing is the one aspect of podcasting that we’re most frequently asked about. In this episode we’re going to run through some of the options available to you when it comes to editing. What Can I Edit With? You can use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to edit your podcast. Commonly used […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)

On today’s episode of Podcraft we’re taking a look at something that’s super important. However something that you might not naturally consider. Your recording environment! By this, we mean the place you decide to record and how all of the factors around you can come into play. Recording Environment The recording environment goes hand in […] Support the show

We know that one of the biggest barriers you might have stopping you creating your podcast is worrying about how to set-up your equipment. We’re going to go through how to get your show on tape, how to set-up everything you need to record your perfect podcast. And we’re going to cover recording online, and […] Support the show (https://pod.academy)