EP:000 – The Cotton Club Podcast
In the next couple of days I will be launching the first installment of The Cotton Club Podcast. The Cotton Club is one of two podcasts that I am going to be a part of this year, the other is a project that I am going to be working w/ Keith Crawford on called The Social Radar, stay tuned for details on that podcast in the very near future.
Unlike The Social Radar Podcast project, The Cotton Club is going to be a lot less focused and a lot more laid back. The Social Radar will deal mostly with the topic of Social Media and Marketing as to where The Cotton Club could end up being a free for all! I am pretty passionate about what I do so it’s probably a safe bet that a large portion of each show will be dedicated to the web in general, including development, blogging, social media, seo, etc., but since I am also passionate about things such as NASCAR and Football, there is a high probability that there will be a certain amount of trash talking as well.
If you know me very well, you will probably know that I am also somewhat of a joker, and no matter how hard I try, weird occurrences seem to find me. Highlights from these occurrences as well as some older stories will also be a big part of this project.
If you have iTunes and would like to subscribe to The Cotton Club, you may do so by clicking here (iTunes will open in a new window, just hit the subscribe button).
Projects: Podcasting in Wordpress
I have been doing a little bit of research lately on podcasting. I am in the process of putting together a major revision of my Church’s website, www.thechurchalive.org. One of the things we started doing this past year after the last revision was to place our weekly sermon audio files on the web for download. At first I tried to keep everything up to date with the itunes xml file but it just got to be way too much trouble so one of the things on the top of my list this time around is podcast automation.
I had also been giving a lot of thought to using Wordpress as the Framework for our next site upgrade. It already brings a lot of plugins to the table that I would have to otherwise write myself to make things work so I knew going into this that I was likely going to be leaning toward Wordpress. After doing a little research I found that there is a pretty big trend out there with Church’s using Wordpress as their backend framework. One of the reasons I have found is that it’s really easy to handly podcasting! Here’s an article I found on Codex about podcasting with Wordpress: Podcasting « WordPress Codex.
This revision to the site is likely going to take me another week or two so I will probably be blogging again on other parts of the project and working within the Wordpress Framework in the near future….
Basic Podcast Tips from Mitch Keeler
If you have ever considered starting your own podcast you have probably given some thought as to what all is involved in putting together a quality product. Mitch Keeler, who operates one of my favorite podcasts, the Web Hosting Show, posted some tips on his blog, here’s a link: Basic Podcast Tips from a Hosting Media Rock Star | Mitchelaneous.
Here’s an excerpt from his post:
Try moving the mic around!
That is the number one audio recording tip I would give anybody. You would be amazed how differently you can sound depending on where the mic is. Most will tell you to put it under your chin so you don’t “pop your p’s” but for me, I like to keep it at a distracting eye level (that is with a headset mic).
Move in a little closer…
You don’t want to sound like you are in an empty room, echoing around – unless you are pretending to be the booming voice of god in your audio podcast. Make sure your close enough to the mic to where you don’t sound too loud but your not sounding too far into the background either. This will take some time to find the exact spot that is right for you.
Try to speak from the heart!
Having a guide or show notes is good for a base, but don’t be afraid to go off on your own. Often times I’ll pre-write my show notes and as I record get off when I had wrote down. Why? Well after hearing it out loud I think to myself, “Well it would be better if I go off in this direction instead”. Then I’ll update my notes later to reflect that.
Stick yourself in the Cone of Silence?
Try your best to eliminate any and all background noises. That means if you have a loud heater in the winter months, turn it off to record. If your air conditioner’s buzz is being caught by your mic, turn it off in the summer months. Suffer for your art so your listeners aren’t left wondering – what was that noise I just heard?
The last ‘bit of advice I would have for you is have fun! Don’t think of your show, audio recording or any other side project like this as a job. Treat it like a hobby. Audio podcasting might not be for everybody, but there is no way to find out if you like it unless you try. As long as you try to have fun with it, your listeners will pick up on that positive energy and will tune in again to hear more.
