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Podcasting: Adding iOS Quick Subscribe Links

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Podcasting: Adding iOS Quick Subscribe Links

Have you ever been to a website on your iPhone that had a link to help you subscribe to their podcast? It’s actually not that hard to do. Here’s how:

First, let me give credit where credit is due. I heard of doing this on Podcaster’s Roundtable, but the information came from this post on BusyCreator.com.

Now, for how to do it. Basically, there’s a nine-digit show ID you get from iTunes that you replace the “XXXXXXXXX” in this code with:

In my case, it’s “773502003” for the show that contains all the podcasts. I got that by logging into PodcastsConnect.com and clicking on the link for that show. It’s the last 9 digits in the “Mirror URL” field.

You can also go to iTunes and search for your show. For the audio version of this show, the code is “558202170” which I got by going to iTunes on my computer and searching for “Tech Help for Churches” (with quotes). Then I clicked on the show to bring up the podcast listing. Underneath the album artwork, there’s a “Subscribe” button. Click the down arrow next to that and select “Copy Link”.

Now, just paste that link somewhere and you should get something like this “https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-help-for-churches-internet-web-technology-for/id558202170?mt=2”. The 9 digit number after “id” and before “?mt=2” is what you want.

Now, take that code, with the 9 digit number replacing the “XXXXXXXXX” and paste it somewhere between and on your site. If you don’t know how to do that, there are plug-ins for WordPress that allow you to do it.

If you’re not using wordpress, you might need to ask your web host how to do it or ask your webmaster to do it for you.

That’s it. You’re done. Now, going to your site on an iPhone should give you that link.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

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More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Streamlining the podcasting process

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http://TrinityDigitalMedia.com/thfc On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Streamlining the podcasting process

Do you have enough time to get better at podcasting? Why not start by getting the process right so that you have more time to create better content and work on your delivery?

Start with planning:

Plan content. Don’t just turn on the microphone and start talking. Have a plan.

Make notes. Make sure you write down. Unless you have a photographic memory, this will help. You can also use this step to organize the content and reuse your notes later in the process.

Give yourself the grace of live. Don’t start and restart just because you make a minor mistake. Think of this as a live recording. You wouldn’t restart if you mispronounced a word or misstated something. Don’t do it in your recording.

Edit with templates. Either reuse previous projects or make a template, so you just plug in the new content. You’ll have the open, transitions, etc. if you do this. Having a template turns editing into something that’s really very simple and easy to do.

Use a checklist to make sure you do everything the same. I’m really guilty of not doing this. There are several steps that I do every week for each show and I depend on my memory. This is a bad habit. The reason is that you could get distracted in the middle or somehow forget something and just miss an important step. Additionally, you don’t have something to pass off to others when you don’t have a check list. Take a little time to invest in creating a checklist so that you get the advantages down the road.

Upload as few times as possible, while maintaining quality. How many formats does your show get consumed in? How many times do you upload to do get that? Instead of uploading a new version for each format, see if there are any tools you can use to combine steps. Does you live streaming host also save to mp3? Can you use an API to take one version of the show and share it across multiple places?

Don’t compromise quality. If it starts as a 1080p video, but gets downsampled to 360p because you didn’t upload separately, that might not be a good compromise, but if your audience can’t tell the difference and it saves you time, why not do it?

Have a post template. If you write show notes for each episode, only write the new stuff. Have a template that includes contact information, etc., so that you only need to add the show notes themselves.

Use your notes as show notes. Remember those notes you wrote earlier? Why not copy them and paste them into your website, cleaning them up and adding what you need, instead of starting from scratch?

Use graphics templates. Don’t reinvent the wheel every week. Keep the look similar, but tweak things to include the title, if you want. If you have Photoshop, use photoshop actions to automate the process and have a plan for getting any new images you need.

Did I miss any? Leave your ideas below, so we can talk about them.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate: http://patreon.com/paulalanclif

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software.

Podcasting with a family

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Podcasting with a family

The apostle Paul was right. You have more time to do ministry when you don’t have a family. That said, family is a gift. So, if you need to podcast, but you have a family, how do you do it? Try these tips.

Record when they’re not around or asleep. Kids tend to sleep 10-12 hours a night. You probably sleep 6-8. Take advantage of the extra time.

Record in batches. Don’t set up and record a single episode. Record multiples so you always have a spare ready to go for when you need it. You can edit and do other things when there’s more noise. Take full advantage of every recording opportunity.

Get ahead. You never know when life will happen, but if you’re ahead, you’re protected.

Have backup days planned. Maybe you plan on recording one day. Have another planned, just in case. You never know when you’ll need to record on a backup day.

Plan alternate and quiet activities. Some kids can be amused by quiet activities. Pay attention to those. Also, if your spouse craves some time with the kids, plan an activity for them to get out of the house to do.

Podcast from a hidden location. If they can’t find you, it’s harder to disturb you. Consider a basement where no one goes, the attic, anywhere that your location is hidden.

Expect and plan for interruptions. None of these ideas will go well 100% of the time. Plan for interruptions and assume there’s a reason for them. Don’t get bent out of shape. Remember that this wasn’t a surprise to God, who knows who will listen. Trust that interruptions are redirections. That should help.

Do you have any tips for podcasting with a family? Put them below in the comments, so we can share.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Making an audio and video podcast from one recording

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Making an audio and video podcast from one recording

Every week, I create both audio and video podcasts from one recording. It’s not hard, but there are some things to keep in mind if you go this way.

Recognize the limits of both media

Audio and video are different, so you should be aware of the limitations, like the obvious (you can’t see what’s going on if they’re listening to an audio-only file) or the more subtle (like people who are listening are likely doing something else).

Don’t assume people can see

Don’t make reference to something they can’t see. Don’t make gestures or facial expressions that are necessary for understanding.

Pick which is your primary, but cater to the secondary

For me, this is video. The reason is because more people consume my content on youtube. Still, I keep my audio-only audience in mind so that they don’t feel left out.

Don’t just do both because you can

If there’s no reason to do video, don’t do it. If there’s no reason to do audio only, don’t do it. Know why you’re using each.

Either edit audio and then replace during video editing or edit audio during video editing

Don’t forget the audio. It’s easy to do if you’re making a video. Maybe audio should be mono; maybe you need to compress it. No matter what, don’t neglect it.

Don’t fake video; either do it or don’t

Just putting a logo or a still picture as the only video on a video will cause people to stop immediately. Sometimes it can’t be avoided, like for old content, but try and make it the exception, not the rule.

How about you? What have I missed?

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Is 2017 the year podcasting takes off

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http://TrinityDigitalMedia.com/thfc On today’s Tech Help for Churches, is 2017 the year podcasting takes off

Every year since 2005, I’ve heard the same thing, “20xx is the year that podcasting takes off.” Well, we’re at the beginning of a new year, so “Is 2017, the year podcasting takes off?”

Let’s see.

Here are some reasons why it might not:

* smartphones are mainstream

* big media is already using podcasting

* Apple and Google are both behind podcasting

* there are more media choices than ever before

* you can go through life with an Internet connection most of the time so you don’t need to download media ahead of time

Here are some reasons why there is still growth to be had:

* self-driving cars are coming

* some content that could benefit from podcasting isn’t yet podcast

* Facebook isn’t making it easy for podcasters yet

* people are still confused about the process

* mobile internet is still where cell phone calling was a few years ago. You still often have to be careful in order to avoid a big bill and not everywhere is covered reliably.

So, what have I missed? Leave your suggestions below.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Podcasts about podcasting that I listen to

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Podcasts about podcasting that I listen to

I’m always learning and am not satisfied with being current. I want to know what’s coming around the bend. So what podcasts about podcasting do I listen to?

Let’s start with my favorite. I’ve been listening to Dave Jackson and the School of Podcasting since the beginning, almost 12 years now. Dave is very entertaining and a genuinely nice guy. If you want to know about everything podcasting, this is the show for you.

A similar show is The Audacity to Podcast with Daniel J. Lewis. It’s on hiatus right now as Daniel and his wife await the arrival of their first-born. This show follows a “top 10” type of format where he gives 6 ways to do thus and so or 12 things to consider about that. Great content from another great guy.

Next, comes the podcasters’ roundtable. This is a fortnightly (Ray Edwards likes that term) where Ray gets Dave and Daniel to co-host a panel discussion about all things podcasting with an ever-rotating group of podcast hosts. I haven’t met Ray yet, but look forward to it.

If you like stats and experiments, the last show, The Feed, is for you. Elsie and Rob highlight old and new shows as well as geeking out on stats to show what’s important and what’s not when it comes to your podcast.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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5 iTunes podcasting myths

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, 5 iTunes podcasting myths

1. Ratings improve iTunes rankings directly

It’s actually subscribers, weighted toward more recent subscribers. Now, more ratings will encourage more people to subscribe, which will therefore help you climb the charts, but not ratings directly.

2. You need to upload your podcasts to iTunes

iTunes will take your feed url and point to that and your media (which is hosted on a media host), but it won’t take the files directly.

3. iTunes is the only directory that matters for podcasts

This used to be true. Today, it’s becoming less and less true with the Google play store, Stitcher, iheartradio, and others vying for attention. iTunes is still the most important, but it may not be for long.

4. You only have a couple of weeks to be in New and Noteworthy, so you better maximize them.

Not true either. There is a finite period of time that you can be new, but the list is a list of shows that are either new or noteworthy. I think of it as the new list and the noteworthy list. You can be noteworthy anytime. Daniel J. Lewis of “The Audacity to Podcast” co-hosts “Once” which is a “Once Upon a Time” podcast. It hasn’t been new for years, but when the new season starts, it becomes “noteworthy” and so reappears in the list quite often.

5. “New and Noteworthy” can make or break your podcast.

There was a time when making the “New and Noteworthy” list would yield a spike of thousands of subscribers. That day is gone. Often people in the list see a few hundred listens, but only a fraction of those become actual subscribers.

So, what iTunes myths have you heard? Share them in the comments below.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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5 Podcast Hosting Myths

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, 5 Podcast Hosting Myths

When you’re looking for where to host the media for your podcast, there are plenty of myths that you should know are simply not true.

1. There are plenty of free podcast media hosting options you should use

Not only are there not plenty, but the ones that claim to be free tend to have problems. Not the least of these is how they make money in order to stay free. Many have tried, and to date, all have failed to figure out a way to host podcast media for free (with one exception, but that’s a side thing, not their main thing).

2. You should host your media with your web host

This is a huge mistake. By hosting on your own web server, you’re betting against your own success. Should your show get popular, the best you can hope for is that they shut down your site and ask you to move. Some hosts will also give you a huge bill, too. Media hosting isn’t too expensive and comes with the added peace of mind that your show will be fine, when you find success.

3. You podcast by uploading to YouTube

This show is on YouTube and there’s nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t allow people to download the videos, so it’s not a podcast host. I wish it was, but it’s not.

4. All podcast hosts are created equally

Some podcast hosts don’t have good business models. Others change things for no apparent reason. Others have advantages that have faded away with the passing of the years. Do your homework to learn which is best for your situation.

5. It’s okay to delete old episodes after a month or two

For most podcasts, you want all of your back catalog available. The reason for this is simple. More often than not new subscribers will find your show and decide they love it. Having done that, they download everything they can get their hands on. If that’s 100 shows or 1000, you have a happy subscriber. If it’s 4, they’re quickly dissatisfied, especially when it’s clear there are more shows to consume, but they just can’t get to them.

What myths have I missed? Go ahead and leave them in the comments below.

Join the conversation; leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Podcasting: The brand of microphone most churches shouldn’t use for their podcasts

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Podcasting: The brand of microphone most churches shouldn’t use for their podcasts

In 2005, when podcasting was just beginning, podcasters rushed to try and find microphones that they could connect to computers and record with. One of the most popular lines of microphone was the Blue line. The Blue snowball was particularly popular.

Here’s the problem though. Both the Snowball and the Yeti are condenser microphones. In a controlled environment, that capture beautiful sound. Unfortunately, most churches don’t have dedicated studio space that’s been treated to get the best sound. As a result, condenser microphones get not only the sound you want, but other background sounds as well.

Now, there’s a better option if you need a microphone that connects with a USB connection to a computer, the Audio Technica ATR-2100 (affiliate link). This microphone is a dynamic type and uses either USB or XLR, so it can grow with you.

Some people might argue that it’s not as good a microphone as the Yeti or Snowball. That’s true, but for most churches, it’s a better choice. If you have a dedicated studio with sound treatment, maybe not, but that’s the exception and not the rule.

Join the conversation; call 1-877-763-3246, leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.

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Podcasting: Where to host your RSS feed

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On today’s Tech Help for Churches, Podcasting: Where to host your RSS feed

This is actually a long running debate between the two oldest podcast media hosts. On one side, Blubrry says that you should retain control of your RSS feed. On the other, Libsyn says, too much can go wrong to risk self-hosting it. Who’s right? It depends.

Should you host your RSS feed on your website or with your media host? It depends:Click To Tweet

Your RSS feed is arguably one of the most important things in your podcast. If it goes horribly wrong, your show is dead. So, depending on an expert to generate and host it is a good thing, but if the host makes it hard to leave, that’s a bad thing.

Libsyn has a track record of over a decade of allowing you to move your feed anytime, for any reason, so that’s less of a concern. For people like me, though, the problem lies in the fact that they only host one feed and I upload audio for four shows a week.

That brings me to the Blubrry powerpress plug-in for wordpress. It allows me all the control I could ever want to generate multiple feeds and host them on my site. There is a problem, though.

Just like hosting media on your site is a bad idea because it’s betting against your own success. It’s hoping that too many people don’t download your file because if they do, the best thing that can happen is that your web host will shut you down. The worst is that they’ll charge you tens of thousands of dollars.

That’s less likely with an RSS feed, though because its size is measured in kb, not mb or gb. It would take A LOT of traffic to hit the same bandwidth that would raise the ire of a web host.

The third thing (that both of these solutions don’t suffer from) is to host your RSS feed with a service that doesn’t let you get it out. Imagine that you have a billing dispute, or they go out of business, whatever the case, it’s not worth the risk to lose all your audience. Make sure you can move your feed anytime, for any reason.

My advice would be to host with a media host that lets you move your RSS feed if you want simplicity. If you don’t have tens of thousands of people in your audience and have multiple shows, hosting your own is fine too. It just depends.

For more, watch the video above.

Join the conversation; call 1-877-763-3246, leave a comment below the video, or hit me up on Twitter (@PaulAlanClif)

About this show:

If you use the internet, social media, or new media to advance your church’s mission, this show is for you.

Subscribe for free:

Subscribe for free in iTunes.

Subscribe for free in other software. and don’t forget to rate the show there as well.

For more questions, comments, or snide remarks, comment below or contact me at:

Facebook or Twitter

More video can be found on YouTube.com

Also check out my Google+ page

If you’d like to chip in a few bucks, anything you do is appreciated. Just click this link to donate.