The Podcasting Bundle includes RecordForAll and FeedForAll makes it simple to record audio files, layer audio files, edit audio files and publish podcast feeds. Create iTunes compatible podcast feeds that can be posted to the Apple iTunes library. Create podcasts, create RSS feeds, record new audio files, edit existing audio files, layer sounds and show segments, and add transitions between segments. Includes built in Wizard that walks beginners through the process.

Price: $89.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Audio recording and editing software designed specifically for podcasters. Easy to use. Includes: - Drag and drop audio editing. Edit out sound distortions or remove entire clips. - Easily create a timeline, layer sounds and create background transitions for professional quality recordings. - Easily adjust the volume of specific audio clips which will result in a continuous production at the same volume. - Sample your audio creations and sound effect transitions with a single click. - Remove any audio recordings that are not deemed appropriate with a single click. - Label segments and arrange in any order. - Easily synchronize and sequence clips using drag and drop. - Effortlessly add music, jingles or intros and outros to shows. - Use cross fade effects for smooth transitions between clips. - Quickly and easily edit ID3 tags of audio files. - Seamless integration with FeedForAll desktop software for creating podcast feeds. One click will transfer audio files along with the feed! - Export audio files as MP3, WAV or Midi.

Price: $59.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

What's so wonderful about podcasts? And why are they any different than any other website audio that you put up?

What makes them special?

Not too long ago I was asked the above questions. At the time, I just answered the question but since then I've been thinking about my answers and realized that they didn't really answer the question behind the question. So what was the question behind the question?

How does the difference affect me?

Let me first organize the response into three general areas, the physical differences, the purpose and use, and the creation.

Physically, the difference between website audio and podcasts has to begin with the number of formats. Podcasts are typically in one of three formats. MP3 is the most common and flexible. AAC is used by iTunes and the original iPod. And WMA is used even less frequently. Of the three only MP3 is really important. Website audio on the other hand can be in any number of formats ranging from AU to RA to WAV.

Similarly podcasts tend to be in only a few time lengths. Short podcasts tend to be less than 15 minutes. Full length podcasts tend to cluster at the half hour, and hour marks. Website audio however varies depending on its use from only a few minutes to roughly one and half hours. And they don't show the clustering pattern of times that podcasts do.

The reason for this variation is most easily explained by examining the use of the audio file. Website audio generally has a player associated with it. Podcasts on the other hand are generally downloaded and played outside of the website for example on an MP3 play or iPod.

From a purpose point of view, the primary use for podcasts is to develop targeted traffic and to establish credibility through repeated exposure. Website audio has many reasons from being a digital product for sale to initial credibility to attention getting.

Podcasts are also a repeating product. That is they are split into regularly repeating shows or audio files which are released on a regular basis. Website audios tend to be singles. That is each audio file stands on its own and isn't really meant to be listened to in a group. Some exceptions to this exist but that's the basic concept.

For the individual who is creating podcasts and website audio there is a great deal of difference. Podcasts are meant to be released on a repeating or rotating basis. Each of them needs to be stand-a-lone. And they are short. So scripting needs to be tight and produce the most information in the shortest time frame. The focus should also be on creating a series and recording them in a group for efficiency reasons. Time to create is a major factor since any inefficiency will be multiplied.

Website audio -- depending on its purpose -- tends to be longer. More time needs to be spent designing the content if only because of the increased length of the audio. And the focus is on record a single audio at a time. Very seldom will you find advantage in recording multiple sessions at the same time. If an individual audio takes more time to develop that's okay. It is unlikely that other audios will also be affected.

Do you want to learn how to create information products (learning content)? Check out my new free eBook "7 Myths and Seven Tricks in Nine Steps": http://www.learningcreators.com/myths.htm

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

View the original article here

No one is perfect, not you, not the most professional broadcaster on the planet. No one. That's why editing exists. To polish your product by removing the weak points. To make your product perfect even if you aren't.

And it doesn't take a lot of money.

In fact you can download the tools you need for free. Yep, for free. There are a lot of articles on the net trying to sell you free audio editing programs. As if that weren't a bit of a contradiction in terms -- sell and free!

Audio editing is a fairly straightforward and mature tool. And most of the software will do the job sufficiently well. To find a program do a Google search using "free audio editing software" as your search term. Personally, I use WavePad (free) and sometimes Nero (not free) however, Audicity is also well thought of and is open source.

In this article rather than talk about the tools, I'm going to concentrate on the four tasks that you will need to do to spruce up a podcast.

1. The first thing you will need to do with an audio editor is to fix your own mistakes. When you are recording your podcast you may have a tendency to try to do everything perfectly the first time. Trust me -- you're not superman! Relax. You are going to make mistakes. Get over it. The editor is the person who is responsible for creating a perfect podcast. Your responsibility when recording is to give him enough material to do his (or her) job.

Mistakes generally fit into four groups. The first is dead air. Especially if you are working on a point level script you will have periods where you can't think of the right word. So you say nothing. Which works when you're on stage but doesn't work when you're only on audio.

The second mistake is what I call the lightly tripping tongue. That's when you try to say one word, get it mixed up with another and end up saying something entirely unrelated to either. Usually well garbled, I normally blame this on rented lips but feel free to blame it on a lack of coffee or any other excuse you wish.

The third mistake is related to our society's lack of vocal censorship. I'm talking about the occasional use of inappropriate language of course. Even the occasional swear word is inappropriate for a podcast unless you are very intentional in its use!

The fourth is results from not using a professional recording studio. I'm talking about the occasional poor sound quality. If you are constantly fixing the sound quality then you need to identify where and why the quality is being disrupted. However, if only occurs infrequently you may prefer to leave it to the editor to fix.

2. The second thing you can use audio editing software to do is change the size and characteristics of the audio file. Most of us record the original in a far higher quality than we really need. And the size of the file reflects that. Audio editing software can allow us to reformat the audio track into a more appropriate size, quality and format.

3. In movies and television, music is an extremely important and powerful tool used to create mood and emphasize elements of the content. The same thing applies in a podcast. You can use audio editing software to add music to help your podcast create the appropriate mood.

4. In a movie or on television there are two parts that always appear -- the beginning credits and the ending credits. Audio also has variations of these. Sometimes called packaging these chunks of editing help your audience to prepare for the show or to absorb what has been said. In any case, they definitely give your podcast a polished, professional sound.

Do you want to learn how to create information products (learning content)? Check out my new free eBook "7 Myths and Seven Tricks in Nine Steps": http://www.learningcreators.com/myths.htm

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

View the original article here

Price: $14.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Are you the kind of person who's got a lot to say? Have you ever wanted to share your talents, thoughts, and opinions with others, but have lacked the broadcasting knowledge and contacts to achieve such a goal?

Well, today it's well within your grasp, thanks to PodcastingÑusing only some simple recording equipment, a computer, and the Internet, you can record and distribute your own audio shows, including anything you wantÑcomedy, debate, news, reviews, interviews, musicÑthe only limit is your imagination.

Of course, you'll need a guide to tell you what you need to know, which is where this indispensable book comes inÑthe 2nd edition of the best selling Podcast Solutions. Inside, influential podcasters Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass provide a comprehensive guide to receiving, recording, editing, mixing, distributing, and monetizing audio and video podcasts. Also included is a guide to what hardware and software to get, whatever your budget is, and how to make sense of all that technology.

This is the guide to podcasting you're been looking for, and the only one you'll need.

Mac/PC Compatible

Price: $24.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

The Podcasting Bundle includes RecordForAll and FeedForAll makes it simple to record audio files, layer audio files, edit audio files and publish podcast feeds. Create iTunes compatible podcast feeds that can be posted to the Apple iTunes library. Create podcasts, create RSS feeds, record new audio files, edit existing audio files, layer sounds and show segments, and add transitions between segments. Includes built in Wizard that walks beginners through the process.

Price: $89.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Audio recording and editing software designed specifically for podcasters. Easy to use. Includes: - Drag and drop audio editing. Edit out sound distortions or remove entire clips. - Easily create a timeline, layer sounds and create background transitions for professional quality recordings. - Easily adjust the volume of specific audio clips which will result in a continuous production at the same volume. - Sample your audio creations and sound effect transitions with a single click. - Remove any audio recordings that are not deemed appropriate with a single click. - Label segments and arrange in any order. - Easily synchronize and sequence clips using drag and drop. - Effortlessly add music, jingles or intros and outros to shows. - Use cross fade effects for smooth transitions between clips. - Quickly and easily edit ID3 tags of audio files. - Seamless integration with FeedForAll desktop software for creating podcast feeds. One click will transfer audio files along with the feed! - Export audio files as MP3, WAV or Midi.

Price: $59.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Omni pickup pattern offers full coverage Condenser element & omnidirectional polar pattern Freq resp: 50 Hz - 18 kHz Imp: 1000 ohm +/-30% Includes LR44 battery & 1/4" adapters Lavalier microphone Integrated 6m, 20" cable with 3.5mm mini plug Includes tie clip & windscreen

Price: $39.95

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The Griffin Technology 9066-IMIC2 iMic/USB Audio Interface, the original USB audio adapter, lets you connect virtually any microphone or sound input device to any Mac or PC system with a USB port. iMic supports both mic and line level inputs via a selectable switch, and has a variable level output for connecting speakers or headphones.

The iMic really shines as the essential tool for converting your old LPs and tapes into MP3s and CDs. Griffin's audio recording software, Final Vinyl for Mac OS X (provided for free exclusively to iMic owners), makes recording old records and tapes very easy with its advanced features, including waveform-based cue editing and built-in 10-band EQ. You can use Final Vinyl to equalize LPs without having to connect a turntable to a pre-amp. iMic is also an ideal solution for your podcasting needs and for use with GarageBand, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro.

Price: $39.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

No one is perfect, not you, not the most professional broadcaster on the planet. No one. That's why editing exists. To polish your product by removing the weak points. To make your product perfect even if you aren't.

And it doesn't take a lot of money.

In fact you can download the tools you need for free. Yep, for free. There are a lot of articles on the net trying to sell you free audio editing programs. As if that weren't a bit of a contradiction in terms -- sell and free!

Audio editing is a fairly straightforward and mature tool. And most of the software will do the job sufficiently well. To find a program do a Google search using "free audio editing software" as your search term. Personally, I use WavePad (free) and sometimes Nero (not free) however, Audicity is also well thought of and is open source.

In this article rather than talk about the tools, I'm going to concentrate on the four tasks that you will need to do to spruce up a podcast.

1. The first thing you will need to do with an audio editor is to fix your own mistakes. When you are recording your podcast you may have a tendency to try to do everything perfectly the first time. Trust me -- you're not superman! Relax. You are going to make mistakes. Get over it. The editor is the person who is responsible for creating a perfect podcast. Your responsibility when recording is to give him enough material to do his (or her) job.

Mistakes generally fit into four groups. The first is dead air. Especially if you are working on a point level script you will have periods where you can't think of the right word. So you say nothing. Which works when you're on stage but doesn't work when you're only on audio.

The second mistake is what I call the lightly tripping tongue. That's when you try to say one word, get it mixed up with another and end up saying something entirely unrelated to either. Usually well garbled, I normally blame this on rented lips but feel free to blame it on a lack of coffee or any other excuse you wish.

The third mistake is related to our society's lack of vocal censorship. I'm talking about the occasional use of inappropriate language of course. Even the occasional swear word is inappropriate for a podcast unless you are very intentional in its use!

The fourth is results from not using a professional recording studio. I'm talking about the occasional poor sound quality. If you are constantly fixing the sound quality then you need to identify where and why the quality is being disrupted. However, if only occurs infrequently you may prefer to leave it to the editor to fix.

2. The second thing you can use audio editing software to do is change the size and characteristics of the audio file. Most of us record the original in a far higher quality than we really need. And the size of the file reflects that. Audio editing software can allow us to reformat the audio track into a more appropriate size, quality and format.

3. In movies and television, music is an extremely important and powerful tool used to create mood and emphasize elements of the content. The same thing applies in a podcast. You can use audio editing software to add music to help your podcast create the appropriate mood.

4. In a movie or on television there are two parts that always appear -- the beginning credits and the ending credits. Audio also has variations of these. Sometimes called packaging these chunks of editing help your audience to prepare for the show or to absorb what has been said. In any case, they definitely give your podcast a polished, professional sound.

View the original article here