Why use podcasting

Schedule: Starting a podcast for your business is a big commitment if you want it to be a success. You might decide to publish one episode per day, a couple per week or maybe a few times a month.

Either way, consistency is key as it helps you develop a connection with your listeners. In reality, you can start recording easily. You can begin with just your smartphone and a pair of headphones. Although the content of your podcast is the crucial part, having superior sound quality takes it up a level and ensures people will stick around.

Location: Find the right locations. So the smaller the room, the better the acoustics. Also, have somewhere to sit or relax - the point of the podcast is to be casual and laid back. Microphone: Get yourself a microphone. Blue Yeti is one of the best and most affordable to get started with. Just put it in front of you and your line-up then hit record.

You can use this mic at events and for other types of videos as well. Also, multiple speakers at once can be a bit jarring for the listener. Video: If you want to record video for your podcast at this level, make sure your set is presentable and your guests. To get your smartphone to stay pointed at your set-up, pick up a tripod with an adapter.

You can record straight into this too. Location: Now, you should have a nice room with a carefully-crafted setting. Maybe some posters on the wall and a few indoor plants. Most importantly, you have crisper room acoustics that don't make voices sound echoey. Microphone: Use an HD camera for the full shot of your set. We use the Panasonic Lumix GH5 and you can use an iPhone or another smartphone to cover any alternative angles if you like. Just a heads up, though, the quality of the image will be different to the main camera footage.

The Manfrotto tripod should do the trick. Software: Zoom Digital recorder has inputs for all types of microphones while also having an on-board microphone which is powerful enough. Microphone: Depending on how many people are in your podcast per episode, have at least four condenser microphones.

These are better on arms which you can adjust to match to your mouth. Try out the Aston Stealth Mic which has a cardioid pick-up pattern. This cuts out noise from other people around you and then attach these onto studio-quality boom arm like the Rode and feed the XLR cable to a midi controller like the Tascam with four inputs. Software: You can then record your episodes using Adobe Audition as it gives you more power to edit and a smoother interface than Audacity.

Cameras: To really spice up the final output of your podcast, set up multi-camera recording. Have a main camera with a full-shot as well as separate camera angles of each speaker to cut to so you can mix up the visuals. Recording and editing is where it all comes to life. Even some of the best podcasts start off with a few bad episodes. You might be a natural and start on the right foot but if you need to find your footing and make some tweaks, then use that to make your next episode better.

Before recording, make sure you have some sort of plan. As Aleks said, record in a quiet room with great acoustics as the crisp audio quality along with your content is what will please listeners and determine if they subscribe or leave.

In a podcast, the content is communicated directly to you, the listener, either verbally or through video. Once you subscribe to a podcast feed, new podcasts are automatically downloaded to your computer as soon as they are available. You can listen to them at your convenience.

Because podcasts are delivered digitally, they eliminate many costs associated with other forms of communication including postage, printing, and paper. They can also reduce meeting costs and e-mail storage costs. They are easy to archive and updating them is quick and easy.

You can listen to podcasts while you do other things at work or at home, or during your commute. Some types of meetings can be eliminated in favor of podcasts, saving time and improving productivity. If you can establish a strong audience before the podcast boom, it will be hard for your competitors to attract those listeners to their own shows.

This loyalty also translates to other marketing channels. When the podcast is over, audiences will turn to channels like social media to continue the conversations and interact with each other and your business.

One of the reasons that podcasts are so engaging and foster such loyal audiences is because they are very interactive. This helps pull listeners into the show and makes consuming the content feel more like an interactive experience, rather than simply listening to audio.

This interactivity helps solidify that connection with audiences. Very few content types offer this level of brand-customer interaction. You can also interview other experts in your industry, which helps build your professional network and establishes credibility in your field. In terms of creation costs, podcasts are scalable. Like photo and video content , the cost to create is really dependent on quality.

Smartphones shoot exceptional videos and photos, but if you want to raise that content to the next level, then you need to invest in more expensive equipment. The same is true for podcasts. You can capture good audio with relatively cheap equipment bought on Amazon.

The familiarity and consistency of regular podcasts helps develop your company's brand to make it a household name. You are able to integrate information about your products and services as they relate to the information in the podcast. For example, if you are a financial planner producing a podcast about retirement planning, work in information about the services you offer in that area. In this way, the podcasts serve as a type of advertisement for your business.

Based in the Midwest, Shelley Frost has been writing parenting and education articles since Her experience comes from teaching, tutoring and managing educational after school programs. Frost worked in insurance and software testing before becoming a writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education with a reading endorsement.