It's true that it's cheap to start a podcast.
Evo Terra:It's also true that the best podcasters don't often podcast on the cheap.
Evo Terra:Getting serious about podcasting means selecting serious
Evo Terra:podcasting tools and services.
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Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:In just about every craft or trade, you'll find people selling
Evo Terra:and making picks and shovels, you know, the tools of that trade.
Evo Terra:Some of these tools are often used by people outside of the craft,
Evo Terra:where other tools and services are highly specialized and rarely used by
Evo Terra:anyone other than true professionals.
Evo Terra:And that's no different in podcasting.
Evo Terra:In fact, like most creative pursuits, there's been a blurring of the
Evo Terra:lines between the tools used by hobbyists and dabblers, and those
Evo Terra:used by serious professionals.
Evo Terra:Now, I feel like this episode is going to require two disclaimers
Evo Terra:from me right up front.
Evo Terra:Number one is this, using professional-grade tools and services
Evo Terra:does not mean you'll become instantly a more successful podcaster.
Evo Terra:You still have to master the craft.
Evo Terra:Number two, yes, it is possible to be a successful podcaster using standard
Evo Terra:consumer-grade tools and services.
Evo Terra:Again, this is all about mastering the craft.
Evo Terra:But at some point in your journey to becoming a better podcaster, you may
Evo Terra:discover that there's a better suite of tools and services that save you
Evo Terra:time and money in the long run that let you focus more on that craft.
Evo Terra:So with that, here are five upgrades, if you will, for tools and
Evo Terra:services used by serious podcasters.
Evo Terra:First, it's time to get serious about your DAW, your Digital Audio Workstation.
Evo Terra:Yes, I know you can do everything you need to do with the free tool that
Evo Terra:you're using, but I assure you there are massive, massive things you're
Evo Terra:missing out on by using that free or already-on-your-computer tool.
Evo Terra:Time-savings is the biggest one, also much better options.
Evo Terra:There are ways to make great audio you have not been exposed to because
Evo Terra:of the DAW you are using right now.
Evo Terra:Personally, I use Hindenburg, and I also recommend Hindenburg Journalist Pro.
Evo Terra:But there are other tools, lots of tools out there, Adobe Audition,
Evo Terra:Reaper, Logic, even Pro Tools if you want to go all the way to the top.
Evo Terra:I actually don't think the tool itself matters as long as it's a tool designed
Evo Terra:to do this at a professional level.
Evo Terra:And yes, I'll concede once again, that I know people who make
Evo Terra:great audio using free DAWs.
Evo Terra:I get it.
Evo Terra:But I don't know of a single advanced podcaster who took the time to
Evo Terra:learn an advanced DAW and decided to switch back to that free download.
Evo Terra:I'm sure that person exists, but I don't really want you to prove me wrong on here.
Evo Terra:Again, it's time to get serious about your DAW.
Evo Terra:It's also time to get serious about cleaning your audio tracks.
Evo Terra:I know it's super easy to grab a few plugins and stick them in
Evo Terra:your existing DAW and let them do all of the heavy lifting.
Evo Terra:But pre-cleaning your tracks before they go into your DAW has a major
Evo Terra:impact on the audio that I'm putting out now, both for me and for my clients.
Evo Terra:I know it sounds like a needless step, right?
Evo Terra:If you've got the plugins in there, why not let it all do it at the same time?
Evo Terra:But I promise you that, while it sounds like a needless step to you, it will
Evo Terra:not actually sound like that to people.
Evo Terra:The sound will be better if you clean your audio tracks before
Evo Terra:you put them into your DAW.
Evo Terra:Also, it does not take a huge amount of time.
Evo Terra:Not after you learn how to make the tool you choose sing.
Evo Terra:About 95% of the work I do with my tool of choice, which is iZotope
Evo Terra:RX, the standard version, takes me, with maybe five button pushes.
Evo Terra:Total time per track, I don't know, five minutes, ten?
Evo Terra:And that's only if I'm doing some real serious work on the cleanup.
Evo Terra:So I use iZotope.
Evo Terra:There's also Accsonus.
Evo Terra:There's Waves.
Evo Terra:There's a lot of different tools designed to clean audio
Evo Terra:before you put it into your DAW.
Evo Terra:Third thing, it's time to get serious about upgrading
Evo Terra:your recording environment.
Evo Terra:That, to me, firstly means acoustically treating the room in which you record.
Evo Terra:Moving blankets and pillows can only get you so far in this.
Evo Terra:I really like Audimute, the panels that they make for
Evo Terra:hanging on the walls are great.
Evo Terra:They're also not terribly expensive, but seventy bucks a pop can sure
Evo Terra:seem that way to many people.
Evo Terra:I judge no one buy their pocketbook, or my pocketbook.
Evo Terra:But it makes the room sound amazing.
Evo Terra:While you're thinking of treating your room, also consider upgrading your cables.
Evo Terra:You know, the things that you plug your microphone into?
Evo Terra:I know nine bucks for a twenty-five-foot cable is a smoking deal on Amazon,
Evo Terra:but that cable's not built to last and might be adding noise
Evo Terra:or glitches into your sound.
Evo Terra:They're not cheap, but I can't recommend enough microphone
Evo Terra:cables by KOPUL and Mogami.
Evo Terra:Very good stuff if they're in your budget.
Evo Terra:Again, not cheap.
Evo Terra:Number four, it's time to get serious with your communication tools.
Evo Terra:I know you're getting by right now with a mix of Dropbox,
Evo Terra:Google Docs, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, and probably even email.
Evo Terra:But seriously, I did that for the longest time when I first started my
Evo Terra:agency, and it's just crazy how much time you waste and how many things can get
Evo Terra:lost and how you're confusing clients and people that you collaborate with.
Evo Terra:I know you've got a good workflow right now, but only up to a point.
Evo Terra:I suggest making a commitment to try out a dedicated solution that minimizes
Evo Terra:steps and centralizes all activities.
Evo Terra:Personally, I like Basecamp 3, looking forward to Basecamp 4.
Evo Terra:It allows me to collaborate, communicate, and coordinate with my
Evo Terra:clients and the other people that I work with all in a single app.
Evo Terra:Also, you can get Notion, you can get Monday, there's ClickUp.
Evo Terra:There's a host of other services.
Evo Terra:Go through the feature sets of those.
Evo Terra:Watch some of the videos.
Evo Terra:Take the time to learn a new tool.
Evo Terra:Your life will be made that much better.
Evo Terra:Next, it's time to outsource.
Evo Terra:Seriously.
Evo Terra:Yeah, I know that it's very hard to turn a bunch of things over.
Evo Terra:I get it, especially when you've got to pay someone to do things that you,
Evo Terra:yourself, are perfectly capable of doing.
Evo Terra:I have been there all the time.
Evo Terra:But it really makes a lot of sense to start outsourcing so many facets
Evo Terra:of what you do with your podcast.
Evo Terra:Now, my first suggestion may not be the outsourcing you're thinking.
Evo Terra:I think the first thing you should think about hiring is an assistant.
Evo Terra:Yep.
Evo Terra:Someone that you can trust to do as much of the rote, day-to-day
Evo Terra:stuff that's pretty easy to do, but it's also pretty easy to screw
Evo Terra:up because, well, it's easy to do.
Evo Terra:You don't double check it enough.
Evo Terra:My second suggestion of a hire would be someone to master your episodes for you.
Evo Terra:No, no, not the editing, not the individual audio
Evo Terra:engineering, the mastering.
Evo Terra:You still will assemble the audio, put it all together, but then they
Evo Terra:come along and make everything, your voice, your guest's voice, your music,
Evo Terra:everything, sound great, crisp, and amazing, and where it should be.
Evo Terra:This makes a world of difference.
Evo Terra:Trust me.
Evo Terra:Now, again, I need to repeat those disclaimers I said at the beginning.
Evo Terra:Upgrading tools and services to pro is not a magic pill, and yes, people
Evo Terra:do turn out great podcasts all the time without any of these things.
Evo Terra:So your mileage may vary, but I strongly believe that upgrades like
Evo Terra:these will make it much easier for you to become a better podcaster.
Evo Terra:Now, if you got value out of this episode, or perhaps the entire
Evo Terra:miniseries I did this week on specific ways to become a better podcaster,
Evo Terra:you can return some of that value to me at the finally functioning
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com/support.
Evo Terra:On that page, you should find links to Buy Me A Coffee, some direct payment options,
Evo Terra:and even the way to give me some of that fancy new currency that's out there.
Evo Terra:There shall be no episodes from me on a Friday, which means enjoy your weekend.
Evo Terra:I shall be back on Monday with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.