There are many things about a podcast that a podcaster needs to know even if you don’t do everything for your show.  A lot of indie podcasters do everything.  Prep, Talent, Recording, Editing, Producing, Publishing, Booking guests and ALL of it.  Some only do the parts of it.  Sometimes it’s a whole team.  BUT, YOU as the owner of your show, need to know some things no matter if you do them or not.

Here is my checklist of things I suggest you Know or Learn about your show so that you are able to take care of what needs to be taken care of if something goes wrong.

1. RSS feed address. The WHOLE address.
2. The Title of your show as it appears in the directories.  This may seem silly, but sometimes people call a show by a shortened name or a ‘nickname’ of sorts. It’s always good to KNOW the title.
3. The email address for the feed.
4. Apple Podcasts listing URL (mainly the ID# at the end)
5. Where is the website hosted.  (and address)
6. Where is the Podcast Media hosted.
7. Logins to Website, Media Host, Web Host, Apple Podcasts and any other logins to manage listings on directories and apps,
8. Media Encoding (This is a little geeky but it will help if you need to hire an editor)

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From Wikipedia;  RSS (RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. These feeds can, for example, allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator. The news aggregator will automatically check the RSS feed for new content, allowing the list to be automatically passed from website to website or from website to user. This passing of content is called web syndication. Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, or episodes of audio and video series. RSS is also used to distribute podcasts. An RSS document (called “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, and metadata, like publishing date and author’s name.

What it really is, is your connection to the world for your podcast.  The transmitter for your “Radio Station”.  Your RSS feed address is just like a “Frequency” Like “101.9 FM”.

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We talked yesterday about why you need a website.  Here are my top 6 web hosting platforms and why (Plus a few I don’t recommend).

1. A2 hosting – EASY importing into their platform. Great support and so far (knock on wood) NO Issues with downtime or page speed. Price is great
2. Blubrry PowerPress Sites – Easy, no updates to deal with.  Rocket ship fast.  (use Promo code HELPDESK at checkout for a free month)
3. WP-Engine – Same as A2 (in fact A2 is owned by WP-engine).  Their prices are a bit higher but they are VERY good.
4. SiteGround – Also, very easy setup and good support. Price is good.
5. Godaddy – Not my favorite anymore, but they are OK.  Their support is “good” but they do try to upsell the heck out of you. but if you already know what you are doing, it’s an OK choice.
6. Bluehost – Also not my favorite anymore, but they have improved at LOT in recent years and their prices are very good.

A few to stay away from:

1. Squarespace – The pages look great and are “easy” to setup.  The downside is their podcast support is very minimal.  They barely have a feed that is useable and their support for the podcasting part is very limited.
2. HostGator – This is a WordPress host but they charge you for “visits”.  This can be bad if you are successful and get a lot of subscribers to your podcast.
3. Godaddy – Yes, I know it’s on my other list, but here is some reasons you might NOT want to use them.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

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Do you need a website for your podcast?  YES!

Here is why….

1. Building your brand is best done on your OWN website with your own domain name.  Not on someone else’s domain.
2. Give your listeners a place to ALWAYS find you.  No matter what the directories and apps do, your site will always be there.
3. Gives Google a place to find you. Google search is the #1 way people find a podcast.
4. It will give you a place to post text only posts or videos that go along with your subject.
5. It makes it so you can not be completely de-platformed.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

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Do you do advertising in your show?  Do you WANT to do advertising in your show?

There are a lot of ways to do advertising.  BUT, do you want to do it? Is it worth it?

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

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Being everywhere with your podcast is a good thing. I don’t care how you listen to Podcast Help Desk.  I just want you to listen.

Being everywhere is not too difficult. You have an RSS feed and that is (mostly) all that is required. There are ways to submit to any of the directories with an RSS feed.  For the most part, if your show can be on Apple Podcasts, it can be in most other directories, apps and indexes without changes.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

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