Because Sally and I are totally new to making podcasts, you might be wise to ignore anything we have to say about the process.
On the other hand... for anyone else who wants to start a podcast without a lot of technical expertise, we hope you'll find some help in this guide to how we created I Couldn't Throw It Out...
EQUIPMENT
Where We Purchased:
We got great advice about what to buy -- and how to save money -- at the online music technology store, Sweetwater. They assign a customer service rep to work with you for your entire project. Our excellent helper is Todd Kitchen.
What We Purchased:
If you have a laptop you need almost nothing. We got...
- Blue Yeti Microphones
- AKG K72 Headphones
RECORDING
We started by each recording our own tracks into our computers and then sharing the files on Dropbox. But when we began to include multiple guests, I played their audio on a speaker next to my mic -- and recorded it. The sound quality was pretty bad. So we switched to a service called Riverside, a paid service that is like a Zoom for podcasts. The sound quality is much better now, even if one of the guests has a bad Internet connection. You just have to be sure to do a sound test before each session.
EDITING
I never thought I'd like audio editing. It seemed so complicated. But, actually, I really enjoy editing with an audio editing tool (which has an annual fee) called Hindenburg. They have really helpful training videos that I had to watch a few times. But they also have great customer service. There may be cheaper options, but for me, it's definitely worth the fee to use a tool that I find intuitive and fun to use.
PODCAST AUDIO FILE HOSTING
There are many podcast hosting services out there. After hours of comparing them, I made the wrong choice. Twice. But the third time's a charm. We're now using Buzzsprout -- and I can't say enough good things about them. Excellent customer service. Easy tools that anyone can understand. And one important key point: Like several other podcast hosting companies, Buzzsprout generates a free website. That's fine if you want something bare bones. But, if you want to build a custom site elsewhere, Buzzsprout will hide their free site. This is a really important detail. Other podcast hosts can't do this, so you end up with two sites -- and it splits your traffic. But Buzzsprout solves the problem by hiding the automated site.
PODCAST WEBSITE
We wanted a custom website where we could build out interaction with our listeners, a blog, and other special features. So it's as if Brenden Mulligan, the creator ofPodpage, read our minds. He makes it so easy to set up a site, provides excellent customer service, and basically anticipated everything we could ever want. Again, we pay an extra fee for this, but the ease of use and extra features that we get in return are totally worth it.
URL/WEB ADDRESS
There are lots of convenient registries out there. We had a good experience registering our web address with Namecheap
Many thanks to all of the people who helped us create our podcast!