The Podcaster’s Checklist

In the course of working with clients on their podcasts (and my own Trafcom News Podcast), I started to build a checklist of steps that most podcasters need to follow. Keeping with the spirit of our generous podcasting community, I thought I’d share the list with you here. Note: It’s a work in progress and will be updated from time to time.

Do you see any glaring omissions? If so, please comment below.

Planning

• What is the goal of your podcast? Why do you want to do one anyway?


• Who is your intended audience?


• Does your audience have broadband access?


• How technically savvy is your audience?


• What are your competitors doing?


• Do you have the resources to produce your own podcast or do you need help?


• How long will your podcast be?


• How often will you produce your podcast?


• Will you commit yourself to a regular schedule or do a limited series instead?


• Have you researched and chosen a name and tagline? Is it easily repeatable by word of mouth?


• Have you registered a domain name for your podcast?

Publishing

• Will you integrate the podcast into your existing Web presence or build something new?


• Do you have album art and a visual identity for your podcast?


• Have you selected theme music as your auditory signature?


• Do you want listeners to be able to subscribe via iTunes with one click?


• Will you allow listener comments? Audio and/or text?


• Will you set up a comment line so listeners can phone in?

Content

• What kind of tone do you want to set?


• Do you have any existing content that can be repackaged?


• Will you record a standard into and outro with music?


• Will you write show notes for each podcast – for the sake of your listeners and to boost search-engine rankings?


• Will your podcast sound like a radio show, a tutorial, a conversation or something else?


• Will you be recording conference presentations or seminars?


• Who is the host?


• How long will the show be?

Production

• Where will your audio be recorded? Studio? Location?


• Do you need to record over the phone or Skype?


• Will you script any of your content in advance?


• How much editing do you expect to do? Have you selected software for this task?


• Do you need professional voiceover talent for your intro/outro?


• Have you sourced royalty-free podsafe stingers and music for your musical signature?


• Are you linking your podcast to a blog?


• Have you thought about adding Technorati tags to your podcast?


• How will you generate your feed?


• Have you evened out the volume of speech and music in your file?


• Have you added proper ID3 tags so that listeners can identify your show?


• Where will your MP3 files be hosted?


• Where will you store backup copies of your files?

On recording day

• Do you have your notes?


• Have you confirmed your guest, if you have one?


• Do you have some room-temperature water to keep your throat hydrated?


• Have you shut down non-essential gadgets that make noise (phone, computer fans, etc.)?


• If you are in a remote location, do you have a portable recorder, batteries, microphone, etc.?


• Is your microphone hooked up properly? Have you done a test recording? Checked your input levels?


• Do you need a pop filter?


• Are you using headphones to monitor your recording?


• If you’re recording a Skype call, is your audio-capture software ready?


• Have you remembered to record roomtone to enable noise removal later?


• Have you backed up your uncompressed files and then your final mix?

Promotion and measurement

• How will you promote your podcast using traditional and social media?


• How will you track download statistics?


• How will you measure the success of your podcast?

Thanks to Christopher S. Penn, podcaster extraordinaire, for taking a quick look at this checklist for me. If you want to see a beautifully constructed home page for a podcast, look at FinancialAidPodcast.com.

Comments

[Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with]

Beautiful! Can I cross-post it on the Asylum site?

[Donna Papacosta]

YES, PLEASE, SALLIE! Forgive me for not sending it to you earlier today. Crazy busy here. THANKS!!

[Michelle Sullivan]

Invaluable - referencing this tool in my blog - many thanks, Donna. Generous as always!

[Donna Papacosta]

Glad you found it helpful, Michelle.
Thanks for commenting!
Donna

[Scott Monty]

Donna, this is a fantastic checklist that is a must-read for all podcasters. You've provided probably the most comprehensive set of essentials in a succinct post. Thank you!

[Vivian]

On you note on ... Have you sourced royalty-free podsafe stingers and music for your musical signature?
Do checkout http://www.Opuzz.com/. Our stingers make good signatures, intros and outros. They are only $2.99 each and we are having a 50% off currently. Thanks.