Which accessories are best for your show?
Accessories. They are not necessarily essential to the success of your show, but they may make it a little more stress free by alleviating some of the stress. When it comes to podcasting, you will quickly learn that you’re biggest “enemy” is time. Some podcasters may have more time than others, but at the end of the day if you can save some time - why not? The accessories that we talk about today are going to help you with anything and everything, from streamlining your organizing process to making your recording process easier. First up, let’s start with something to make your life a little bit easier with marketing.
Marketing is a difficult tool to manage, but once you’ve found a system that works for you - it all becomes about time. One thing to help consolidate your time and efforts with social media marketing is to employ the use of a social media manager. Entities such as Zoho, Hootsuite, and more. Some of these entities have free options with limited capabilities. But these sites allow you to consolidate your social media posts, analytics, messaging, and more all into one site. There are also add-ons where certain sites will recommend the best times to post and offer an in-depth look at when you are getting the most traffic to your social media pages. This is incredibly useful not only for the simplicity of being able to make one post that is published to multiple social media platforms, but to have real-time analytics that allows you to market effectively to your potential audience. In order to do any marketing at all, you have to have a product to market in the first place.
This brings us to my next point of building on the product you have already and make it even better. There is one product that comes to mind when I think about this, and that is having access to royalty free music. Music can add an emotional value to your show that can help your audience not only hear your message, but to feel it. For example, if you have an intense moment with a guest that you wish to emphasize the importance of - you can add some music that is slow and has an uplifting tone to it. A few different services that are relatively inexpensive would be Pixabay, EpidemicSounds, or YouTube. This will allow you to be able to add that extra touch to your show that your viewers may have been looking for. Finally, there is a piece of equipment that is definitely a fun toy to have in your toybox.
This toy would be the RodeCaster Pro or RodeCaster Pro II. The RodeCaster is an audio interface that allows you to input up to 4 different audio sources into it, along with connecting a Bluetooth audio source, and downloading that directly into your recording software. In addition to that Bluetooth capabilities, individuals are able to take phone calls and download that audio into your recording software as well. This is beneficial for those that are streaming their show live, or are planning on having multiple guests call in throughout your episodes. There is a downfall of the RodeCaster though, and that is the cost. On the Rode website it is currently listed at $600 for the Pro and $700 for the Pro II. Again, if you can and are willing to spend the money on this - then it could be an added benefit to your arsenal of podcasting equipment.
Now again, these are just accessories that I have worked with that I believe are beneficial. The most important thing to remember about your show is to work within your means. If you cannot afford these right now, do not feel as if you have to purchase it. Podcasting is a marathon, not a race. Overtime you can continue to add and replace equipment as your show and brand continue to grow.
