If you have an iPhone or other Apple device, you can use the Apple Podcasts app – it has many recordings categorized into sections: “Leisure,” “Business,” “News,” “Humor,” and so on.

If you use an Android smartphone, you can download the Google Podcasts app from Play Market. It also allows you to search for interesting entries on various topics.

There are other apps and services that give you access to podcasts. For example, you can find interesting content, and Youtube presents podcasts in video format. Many of them know how to recommend recordings that might interest you and notify you when new material appears on channels to which you are subscribed.

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Today, podcasts are among the most effective marketing tools. Taking into account available experience, it is possible to point out 5 main factors which indicate the prospects of creation of own audio content from the point of view of brand promotion:

• The possibility of attracting free traffic and expanding the audience.
• The possibility of generating additional income. Podcasts have advertising integrations that can be used to make good money.
• You can effectively influence the loyalty of your target audience with the help of this format of content distribution. The main thing is to ensure that the information provided is useful for the listeners. No one wants to waste their time on meaningless conversations. Expert audio materials can build a loyal audience of thinking consumers.

Podcasts are an interesting tool for collaborative activities. Many firms are eager to participate in programs produced by successful brands, so there is an opportunity for collaboration.

What budget is needed to produce a podcast? There are two main cost items to consider here. These are the fees of everyone involved in creating and recording the program, as well as the costs of promotion. Since in most cases, the second item of expenses is missing (podcasts can be promoted for free on music platforms), let us take a closer look at the specialists’ salaries.

A team for audio content creation includes one or two presenters, a project manager and an editor.

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How podcasts differ from radio
In some ways, podcasting is similar to radio. But there are a few important differences:

• Podcasts are not broadcast on the radio airwaves, but are distributed over the Internet;
• A radio broadcast is in real time, while you can listen to a podcast online or download it, and you can pause and resume playback, go back to the beginning, or skip some parts;
• Radio shows are played according to the schedule, and you can choose your own podcasts.

Podcasts are often posted online at a certain time, which makes them similar to radio shows. Unlike radio, podcasts are convenient because they can be downloaded on almost any modern gadget – smartphone, tablet or laptop. Thus, you can listen to them if you don’t have a radio or if, for some reason, it doesn’t pick up your favorite radio station, e.g., when you’re out of town.

There are several common formats.

Monologue. One author speaks on topics that concern him or her and that interest his or her listeners.
Dialogue. A classic example is an interview in which the host asks questions of a politician, writer, businessman, or some other interlocutor.
A conversation between several people. Many variations are possible here – from a conversation between experts to a radio play or audiobook, where each character will have his own voice.

Podcasts are made on a wide variety of topics. It gives to each listener a possibility to choose what is interesting for him/her: politics and sports, cars and humor, history and advanced scientific discoveries, life of stars and actual financial news, and many-many other things.

You don’t need sophisticated, expensive equipment and a whole team of people to write, record and broadcast a podcast. All this can be done by one person. This opens up a wide space for creativity and allows talented authors to address the audience on a variety of topics.

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Accordingly, the podcast topic can be formulated according to the following template: “What tool will help your business client solve this or that problem?

Then, you need to write a script. It is difficult to write an impromptu podcast, but a script will help you structure your thoughts and keep your thesis in mind.

There are 3 kinds of scripts for a podcast:

• A play script. It is used to mark only the key points of the recording. This type is more like a map with a sequence of important steps in the story. This script is suitable if you plan to cover several topics in one podcast or invite several speakers.
• Script-article. It contains a detailed description of the text which is read out by the speaker. This approach helps to get rid of fear of the microphone, and not to forget a single important detail. It is important to ensure that the text of the script was as close to oral speech – is not saturated with complex sentences, did not contain deuteronomous and participative passages, inversions.
• Script-plan. It prescribes only theses. This is an intermediate type between the article and the play. It leaves room for improvisation. This type of script can be used if you plan to record several speakers at a time.

The next step is to prepare the room and equipment
The room should not have any surfaces (furniture) from which sound can be reflected. This is called hum. If reflectors are not removed, the echo can create the feeling of recording in a pipe, and this will degrade the quality of the final product. You can reduce the droning by using heavy, thick curtains, carpets and upholstered furniture – these objects “dampen” the sound. There are also special screens that you can buy in record stores.

It is necessary to prepare the room because most USB-microphones are condenser microphones. They record the voice well, but are sensitive to noise. Dynamic microphones are worse at recording all sounds, so they require a preamplifier. For podcasts, it’s better to buy a condenser microphone.

The last step is editing.
You need to remove all the caveats, pauses, and loud sighs from the rough recording. You can delete statements and talking points which are irrelevant to the podcast’s topic. You should also remove extraneous noise, sharpen the sound, add music and effects. You can edit your podcast using free software: Audacity, GarageBand or Edjing Mix.

Then you need to publish the podcast. You can do it on your company’s website or on specialized sites, like free aggregators.

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