Fast, free and easy podcasting with Podbean & PodOmatic

This week, I was speaking about podcasting to a group of social enterprise entrepreneurs. These are the heroes and heroines of our communities, in my opinion, yet even those who knew what a podcast was were nervous that the technology might be beyond them.

So for those I met at the UnLtd/Media Trust event (and maybe a few others), here’s a way to connect your passion with some of the most committed online communities using two simple, free platforms: PodOmatic and Podbean.

First, though, what’s it all about? Podcasts can be audio or video – anything you can imagine on your iPod, really. But let’s keep it simple for now and focus on audio.

OK, so why not just plonk your latest rant, recipe or review on your website as an audio file. You can. And that’s fine. But wouldn’t it be nice if people could listen to your latest masterpiece anywhere, anytime? And how neat would it be if your podcast popped up in iTunes, where people could download it and become regular subscribers?

And that’s the key word. Your audio file + SUBSCRIBERS = podcast. How do people subscribe? Through RSS (Really Simple Syndication). So podcasting isn’t just about creating an audio file, but an RSS feed that will enable it (and subsequent gems) to get found, shared and enjoyed. (if you’re not familiar with RSS, try this brief explanation).

Now let’s start where we all should in the connected world: by listening (skip this part if you subscribe to podcasts regularly). I’d like you to hop over to Podbean.com and browse a few of the featured podcasts.

Enjoy that? As you now know, if you’re learning a foreign language, looking for academc lectures, or passionate about music, meditation, faith or politics … there’s a podcast for you. And a place for YOUR podcast.

Go with PodOmatic, Podbean … or DIY

Let’s say you’ve already decided on a title and subject for your podcast; you have a 300 x 300px picture to go with it … and, most importantly, an MP3 file. You’ve created it with anything from a professional recorder to your laptop’s built-in microphone. Or, in the case of the examples below, a Flip camera. There are lots of audio editors out there. If in doubt, go for free Audacity.

Now you have a choice. Your audio will need to sit somewhere on the internet.

1. If your website is hosted and you’re comfortable with FTP, it can go on your own server (but, beware, successful podcasts eat bandwidth). For those with a WordPress-hosted blog, there are podcast plugins ready to roll, such as PodPress and Blubrry PowerPress. Or you can use Feedburner to create an iTunes-friendly feed.

2. If you want to keep things really simple … enter Podbean and PodOmatic. (With a WordPress.com blog, you might be swayed towards PodOmatic).

Podbean and PodOmatic both make uploading and managing your podcast a piece a of cake; they also make it easy for the world and his wife to subscribe, and they welcome you into their growing communitiy of podcasters … so you’ll be in good company. All for free? Of course. Podbean and PodOmatic really want your podcast to be a soaraway success, so you’ll upgrade. Nothing wrong with that. And, by the way, both Podbean and PodOmatic offer serious benefits, like revenue potential, for the high-traffic podcaster.

So you get the idea. We’ll upload our audio file and picture to Podbean/PodOmatic, give them the information they need to create an RSS feed and our own customised podcast page, then we’ll embed a pretty podcast player on our own blog and, finally, we’ll submit our podcast to iTunes (and other directories).

What’s the difference between Podbean and PodOmatic?

Not a lot at first. Both do the job a treat. You get more free space with PodOmatic but more podcast player options with Podbean. (The following applies only to free accounts):

PODBEAN

• 100mb storage. 5GB monthly bandwidth (Upgrade details here)
• A vibrant community of 228,503 podcasters. Podbean makes it easy to search and subscribe to podcasts, and listen to them anywhere, including your mobile. (And if it’s easy for you, it’s just as easy for anyone to find your podcast).
• One-click sharing to Facebook.
• Very basic stats (view total number of visitors to all episodes). You need to upgrade to get detail.
• Podcasts are uploaded and managed in a WordPress-based interface, with lots of theme and widget options. Here’s a Podbean page just to give you a feel.
• When it comes to embedding a player in your website, you can choose this simple MP3 player for each episode, with a choice of size and shade. (Usual procedure – just copy and paste the code) …

Powered by Podbean.com

… or choose the all-singing Podbean Feed Player (or MP3 version without the bells on), which automatically updates each time you post a new podcast. This might sit on your home page, or a permanent podcast page. Again, you have a choice of size and shade. Click the edit button to see/hide episodes:

Powered by Podbean.com

Nice. But what if you have a free WordPress.com blog and find the embed code won’t work?
Take the URL of your episode from Podbean (go to Upload/MediaManager and click on the file), then add the MP3 to your WordPress.com post using the [audio] shortcode.
To do this, make sure you in HTML view, and type [audio http://youraudiofile.mp3]. Here’s what you get:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

PodOMatic

• 500mb storage. 15gb monthly bandwidth (Upgrade details here).
• Stats including feed visitors, downloads and subscribers (more detail than Podbean)
• Podcasts uploaded and managed in PodOmatic’s own clear and well-organised dashboard (rather than Podbean’s WordPress-based dashboard). You still get a WordPress-style page for your podcasts (though with not so many options as Podbean). Here’s my PodOmatic page
• With PodOmatic, it’s just sooooo easy to post to other media, including WordPress.com. Nevertheless, the podcast player only comes in one flavour, and here it is:

Great Central Railway: The magic of steam

Dan Mason’s Soundscapes

Getting started with your first podcast

Just do it. Sign up, plan your podcast and dive in – that’s why it’s free. Don’t be afraid to try things. This free e-book from Voices.com has some excellent podcasting tips. Here’s my quick-start introduction to editing with Audacity (download). And you’ll find plenty of advice and tips on the PodOmatic FAQ and Podbean FAQ pages.

Podbean has an excellent step-by-step guide to getting started. If anything, PodOmatic is even easier, although they could do with a walk-though tutorial. You might find this visual guide to publishing your first podcast with PodOmatic useful (no words – it’s to support a session with non-English speakers).

You’ve created your first podcast? Great. Now let’s submit it to iTunes.

First, check your feed (here’s how to validate your feed and check with iTunes). If all’s well, submit your feed to iTunes (click on iTunes Store, Podcasts in the top navigation, Submit a Podcast in the right sidebar and paste in your feed URL).

Don’t worry if iTunes takes two or three days to display your podcast after you submit it. That’s normal.

You can also spread your message further by submitting your feed to other podcast directories. There’s a pretty comprehensive list in the Voices.com download mentioned earlier, and iTunes is the mother of all podcast directories, but here’s a couple of good, popular directories to get you going: Odeo, Podfeed, PodcastDirectory.

Happy podcasting!

Related posts:

1. Podcasting on iTunes: How to test your feed
2. Review: Getting started with Audacity 1.3
3. 40-ish free multimedia tools for the backpack journalist …
   (or charities with the passion to connect, but not the cash)
4. 5 more great free multimedia tools for journalists & non-profits