How do you make a podcast for iTunes?

How can I make a podcast?

• How can I make a podcast? I'm interested in starting a learning Spanish podcast and I want it to be on itunes. I see an option on itunes to submit a podcast but it needs a link for the podcast. What exactly do I have to do? How do I record it on my PC? What equipment do I need? Will this cost me anything? Is it too late to start a podcast because there are so many Spanish learning podcasts on there and I don't think many people will listen to mine if I start one. I don't want to waste my time doing all that work and not having anyone use it. How can I make it do well? Any advice or links with advice will be good. Thanks.

• Answer:

  It doesn't have to be unique, it just has to be better than anyone else's. For a teaching podcast, it also helps to have some kind of credentials, like being a teacher or being a native Spanish-speaker. The hardest part is learning to use editing software. You can record on a handheld digital recorder or plug a microphone directly into the back of your computer. Then you put it into an editing program to cut out stuff you don't want, move things around, add music et cetera. There is a free program you can try at http://audacity.sourceforge.net if you are doing audio only. For video, you need a digital video camera and an Apple computer with Final Cut software. After you get it edited, you save it as an MP3 file if it's just audio, or MP4 for video, and it's ready to be uploaded to your web host. itunes is just a listing service. You have your podcast hosted somewhere on the web and then you just list it in itunes. You upload your episodes to the same url every time and use RSS code for your fans to subscribe. If you use a web host that exists only to host podcasts, they will provide the code. Or you can google for RSS code generators. Expect to pay $5.00 - $10.00 a month for the space to hold past episodes and bandwidth for your listeners. .