Sending Traffic To Your List Building Page: Part 4, Podcasting Your Heart Out

In our traffic series of articles, we've already covered the writing forms of advertising for traffic--blogging and articles. This time, let's go on to a way to get traffic without the need to write--podcasting, a great alternative.

Your first piece of equipment will be your headset and microphone. Be sure that the product you choose is comfortable to wear and that the sound it produces is clear. Most of them will probably work OK, but you have to decide which one is right for you. You can find headsets on eBay, at Amazon.com, or in any store that carries electronic items.

Then, you'll need some recording software. You can find shareware and freeware out there, for you to try and buy. Try a few of the different programs and play with the functions until you find the program that 's right for you. Just be sure that the program has editing capability because you will need that feature at times. You don't need to make a pristine recording, but big bloopers should be edited out or you won't seem very professional. Some slight errors may make your recording seem spontaneous, though, so don't go overboard on editing things out.

Yet, have a plan of action before just talking randomly into the mic. Make a loose outline or a mindmap that will give you a general path to follow. You needn't make it too detailed or regimented or you could lose your creativity. Just be sure that you have a direction, and if need be, you can edit for length later on.

Try to keep your podcasts to around half an hour at the longest and five minutes at the short end. Though you'll find podcasts that are shorter and longer, when you're providing information to people used to moving at the Internet's fast pace, try to pack as much information into as little time as possible. You can always break your podcasts down into a series, if you feel that you've gone too long.

Once your podcast is recorded and edited, you'll need to convert it to the .mp3 format, if it's a .wav or other type of audio file. You can go to a software site like Tucows.com to find converter software or just plug ".mp3 file converter" into Google and see what you come up with. The reason you need to do this is so that you're compatible with the podcasting sites, and that's the platform Apple iPods run on, hence the name--podcast.

After you have your .mp3 file, you're ready to upload. Sites like Google Base and Sweetwater accept podcasts, as does iTunes, but they're just 3 of many places that do this. These are places like YouTube that accept audio files, rather than videos. However, at some of the video places, you can upload podcasts, too. The main issue is finding a site that will house the podcast files for you. When you do a lot of them, they will take up a lot of room if you house them on your own server. Either have lots of room on your own host, or find a site that not only allows you to upload a link to your podcast, but that actually houses the podcast file for you. Once you're decided on where the files will be stored, then don't forget to upload the podcast to your blog, too.

Podcasts can also be set up on RSS feeds like blogs. You can do it at places like FeedBurner can help to with that. You can also get a plug in for your WordPress blog called "PodPress" that will help you to make sure the ID3 tags are correct for the podcasting on your blog. ID3 tags are just like META tags for your website or your blog, and use keywords that should be researched in the same way that you'd research them for another form of traffic.

What this article has done is really scratch the surface about podcasting. It's just a great traffic source that will increase your squeeze page traffic and ultimately your list. Don't overlook it!

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