Podcast Your Personality

Whether you're an aspiring radio personality, talk show host, spoken word poet, music student, or just enjoy talking a whole lot, creating a podcast to broadcast your own radio show to hundreds of iPod users a day is as simple as 1-2-3.

But wait - what is a podcast?
A podcast is an electronic audio file (like an mp3) or collection of audio files in a series that can be downloaded to a portable media player (like an iPod) or personal computer by a third party. Today, hundreds of podcasts are available on a wide range of topics including business, news, story telling, music, art and movie reviews, and "expert" commentary on just about any topic from self improvement to natural science to salad. For example, radio stations like National Public Radio often offer podcast versions of their radio shows for internet download.

The number of people using podcasts was up to 27 million in January 2006 and that number is growing every day - which makes podcasting a great way to reach wide audiences and make a name for yourself. (Stats provided by Arbitron/ Edison Media.)

Here's what you need to get started:
1. A Microphone: To broadcast your voice or music clearly, you'll want a microphone sensitive enough to pick up soft sounds while eliminating static or feedback. For interviews and debates, you might want to pick up a multi-user mic set so everyone talking has their own personal microphone. You can also choose between home-studio mics with stands, to wireless clip-on microphones, depending on how much flexibility you require.

If you own an iPod, you might want to get an iPod voice recorder that essentially makes your iPod a recorder for meetings, lectures, thoughts, ideas, conversations, or whatever you want. You can also connect any standard microphone to your Apple computer using an iMic audio interface adapter. For a really basic, hassle-free microphone, you might want to start out with a USB desktop microphone for your Apple or PC.

2. Audio Software: Once you have your recorded audio, you'll need software like Adobe Soundbooth CS3 to edit, mix, and polish it. Free software for audio editing is also available but can be limiting. You might also want to create your own music on your computer to put on your podcast instead of using pre-recorded music. For that, you might want to invest in a good package for digital music production like SONAR 6 Producer by Cakewalk.

3. A Place To Publish Your Podcast: Once you've got your podcast ready to whip out to your adoring fans, you'll need a place to submit it. The best place to submit your podcast is the iTunes podcast directory, which is a pretty comprehensive directory of podcasts available that iTunes users can easily subscribe to and download automatically. Apple iTunes provides a detailed write-up on how to submit your podcast to the directory here. Other places to upload your podcast includes the new Yahoo! Podcast Directory and many other independent podcast directory sites.

So what will you podcast about?