How to start a podcast

There are so many options fo’ everything when it comes to podcasting!
What I’m going to teach you is how to start a podcast on WordPress, where to host your files and how to make it go to iTunes.
Y’all ready?!
STEP ONE: PREPARE A HOST FOR YOUR PODCAST FILES
- First thing first, you need a place to host your audio files cuz they can be huugee.
- You can host your podcast entirely on a site like Blubrry if you don’t want to put a website together…but then you lose out on some crazy good SEO.
STEP TWO: DESIGN YOUR PHOTO ART
- Create a square graphic for your podcast in Photoshop or Canva.
- Remember that it shrinks wayyyy down in iTunes!
STEP THREE: SET UP YOUR WEBSITE AS A HOST
- If you’re using Blubrry and WordPress, Install the Blubrry PowerPress Plugin.
- Every time you publish a podcast episode, you will need to add a new post on WordPress.
- The title will be the title of the episode for iTunes and the copy will be the show notes. Scroll down and you’ll add the audio file from Blubrry.
- Create a special category for your podcast post that you’ll use to alert iTunes of new episodes. You gotta do this step!
STEP FOUR: CREATE A FEED FOR YOUR PODCAST POST
- You can do this easily with feedburner! Your ‘Feed Title’ will be the episode name.
- Here’s where it gets tricky – ‘Original Feed’. This is going to be the url from your post
If you choose a category to alert iTunes it will look like www.websitename.com/category/categoryname/feed
If you choose a tag to alert iTunes it will be www.websitename.com/tag/thetagyouused/feed
If you aren’t on WordPress, just google what your feed url should be.
- THEN, go to the ‘OPTIMIZE’ tab in feedburner and enable the SmartCast. This is where you’ll change your cover art, description, and so much more. Ta-da!
STEP FIVE: SUBMIT TO ITUNES
- Head to podcastsconnect.apple.com, sign in, and hit the plus sign.
- The RSS feed URL is back in feedburner under ‘Edit Feed Details’ as ‘Feed Address’.
- If you’re in WordPress, you CAN do this feed stuff through PowerPress instead of feedburner.
Now you’re ready to start a podcast! See, it doesn’t have to be hard. It’s actually pretty easy. #happydance