Ask the Podcast Coach

Today Dave and Jim answer a slew of questions from the phone line and chat room. Join us every Saturday Morning at 10:30 AM at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/live. 

If you haven't already, subscribe to Ask the Podcast coach in iTunes, please do so and never miss another episode. We are also available in Stitcher.

Michael Kicking Bear Johnson of www.singlefeathermedia.com One way to do this is to use a USB mixing console like Alesis MultiMix 8 USB FX which goes for about $139. Where this mixer differs from others in the lineup is in its USB 2.0 technology. This enables you to send 10 channels (8 input channels plus the 2-Track input) individually to the computer, at up to 24-bit, 96 kHz resolution. Because each channel is sent individually, you can use virtually any DAW or other music software for mixing and editing the incoming audio. Jim notes that this is the mixer he uses and it only shows one channel coming into Audacity. Potentially more complex software like Garageband, or Logic, might be able to identify the mixer channels coming from the mixer.

You want to grow your audience, and one way to do this is to put your website on everything. Dustin from Www.definingmomentstv.com asked about iTunes stats vs libsyn.com stats. iTunes does not furnish stats to podcasters in regards to the number of downloads or the number of subscribers. It is a directory of podcasts (think of it like a phone book).

If you are using a media host like Libsyn.com or Blubrry.com when someone listens on a website, phone, tablet, your media host will track your download. It tunes (if it tracks downloads) does not share this information with the public). 

One thing you can do is make it easy to play your podcast. You can find one if you have a blubrry.com account (even if you're not using them as a host). Another one is at player.podtrac.com which is what I use on my Podcast Review Show website.

Chris Drake from the Nocturnal Podcast while everyone that downloads a podcast may not listen to it. In general there is no "spam" in podcasting. People are choosing to consume your podcast because they want it (and if they don't its easy to unsubscribe). The only way to see how long people are listening is through your stitcher stats. They are reporting that the average completion rate is 48%. You can sign up for stitcher, but going to stitcher.com and using the Partner Signup link at the bottom of the page.

George Jackson from www.scifisuperfriends.com asked about solutions for when your guest is hearing themselves echo back to them on a skype call. There are a few things to check

1. Make sure that everyone is wearing headphones to avoid voices bleeding into the microphone.

2. In Skype make sure that the input for the microphone is just listening to your microphone (and not the "stereo mix").

Something else you can do is get your guest on the line before the actual event. Do a precall. Jim as a checklist at http://theAverageguy.tv/guest  (32:00)

In some cases Jim will actually ship them out an Audio Technica 2100 microphone (as they are plug and play on both Mac or PC) and they are only $40  (it costs $10-15 to ship). It's a great sounding microphone. In some cases its easier to ship it straight from Amazon to the guest. It would be free shipping if you had an Amazon Prime.

You can now edit what stitcher is using for your RSS feed. COOL. You can also enter your twitter handle if someone shares your show via twitter via their app, you will be notified. 

Dave Is Liking Stitcher as a Podcast Consumption

I love the Stitcher App, and I love that you can listen through your browser. When I'm on my PC, I wanted to speed up the playback (a feature you can do on the app). It turns out if you press the numbers on your keyboard you can speed up as fast as 3X!

While you can record a show and just let go, if you plan on doing some editing here is a tip.

When you make a mistake while recording, look at your watch and wait 10 seconds. This will make it OBVIOUS where the edit is when you go in later to take it out. You can also speed Audacity (I spoke about this in a previous School of Podcasting Episode where I talk about speeding up your editing time by 70%). I also use Sony Sound Forge (which allows me to speed up while I listen). Sony Sound Forge is around $45. 

Also if you are recording into a portable recorder, don't forget you have a pause button. 

One other way to reduce the need for editing is by doing better show prep. Jim mentions that don't go crazy with show prep. There are times when you have to just press record. 

On an episode of the Feed, Libsyn has created an app for Windows phones call the Source. 

Podcast Directoy of directories at podcast411.com

The Chat Room had a discussion about Jim's Theme on his website which you can find HERE