How to Podcast for free
By: Brent Anderson
Last revision date: September 27, 2005
Copyright (c) Brent Anderson
All Rights Reserved

Hello. Your reading this because you want to start your own Podcast. Initially, I was under the impression that I would have to shell out money for the website, bandwidth, and a host of other things. However, I didn't have to pay for anything. The only part that may cost money is a microphone, but most computers come with one built in now, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

To begin with you will need a few things:

1. An internet connection
    Ą Anything better than dialup will do, but if your patient than dialup works too
    
2. A microphone
    Ą Microphones run from 5 to 500 US dollars. Just pick one in your price range that is compatible with your computer.
    
3. Recording software
    Ą Audacity is free (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), but I prefer using Garageband from Apple (Included with new Macs and the iLife suite).

4. An email account
    Ą You can use your own email account to handle this, but I would recommend creating a new one that matches your shows name (myshowname@gmail.com, for example).
    Ą I also recommend using Gmail because it is arguably the best email solution out there. Contact me for an invite.

5. An idea for a show
    Ą This is the most important feature. Even if you have terrible internet, recording software, and equipment, if your show has the content looked for by large audiences then your set. Figure out what you want to talk about. Be it your own audio blog, or perhaps news from some website, or maybe the weekly journal about your dog.  To put the icing on the cake, come up with a catchy name and logo that people will remember.
    
    So, you have the above things worked out. Now what I would do right now is decide whether or not you want to do shownotes. I would recommend them if you plan on having a set format for it each week. This helps your listeners because you can include links, but I think more importantly it helps you to have an agenda for what you want to talk about. I would suggest printing out a draft copy of your shownotes to run your show off of, keeping it more organized than "Well, umm, I guess I'll talk about goldfish now...uhh...".
    
    Now for the fun part. You need to become familiar with the following places:
    www.blogger.com
    www.ourmedia.org
    www.archive.org
    www.feedburner.com

Here is the basics on each of these places and their purposes -
     Blogger.com is a website allowing you to create a blog (Hence the name). Register here and create your blog. In a few minutes you have a subdomain and you can start posting. Customize it however you want BUT you will need to make sure you have the atom feed turned on in it (Do this from your blogs settings). 
     
     www.ourmedia.org and www.archive.org give you your web hosting and storage. You need to register at both of them, and I would suggest downloading the utility they have (http://www.ourmedia.org/tools) to make it easier for you when your uploading episodes, images, etc. When you upload something, you will need to find the path to the actual media file (There should be a link called to "This media files link: here").
     
     www.feedburner.com is used to compile your final feed for iTunes. Register here and configure it how you like, but I highly suggest using their SmartCast option to format it for iTunes. When you set up your account, point it to your original feed at blogger.com. Please note that when setting up SmartCast, you will need to set the option "Create Podcast enclosures from links to..." to audio files only if you are including any other links (Such as show notes) in your post.
     
     
     So, you have a dozen accounts set up. Now for the actual fun: Record your show. Make it fun to listen to. Once you have it exported, try to compress it down using iTunes (Adjust importing settings in iTunes to the format/compression you want, right click on the media file in iTunes, and choose "Convert to <format>") so it has good quality, but doesn't take up too much space. Upload it to your ourmedia/archive account using the utility you have. Once the file is uploaded and processed, get a hold of the link from the "This media files link" link. Then, go to blogger.com, add a new post. Title it how you want the episode to appear in iTunes. In the content of the post, give a brief description or insert your catch-phrase. Then at the bottom, insert a link to both your shownotes and the audio file using the html tag <a href="your_files_url">Click here for the show!</a>.
     
     Now that this is done, go to iTunes and publish your Podcast using the link they provide. You will need to have an iTunes account set up (This requires a credit card or PayPal). Then, once it is added to the directory, your show is available to the masses!
     
     To add new episodes, all you should have to do is record it, upload it, and then make a new post to your blogger account as described above.
     
    
For comments about this document, contact Brent Anderson.

Disclaimer: Don't sue me over this document. I'm not advertising for any of the sites listed here. They belong to their respective owners, as do their trademarks, copyrights, etc. This document is not guaranteed for any specific purpose, but may be useful in helping you start a Podcast. Basically, I'm not responsible for your actions, and this document is just here to give you an idea of how to make a Podcast for free.