Podcasting for Power Users

Getting started

You have some experience; here are the things that you should be thinking about to take your show beyond simple audio recording and editing:

• Find a microphone and stand to record the best possible audio with.
• Choose editing software that will meet your needs.
• Monetize your show with premium content.
• Look for features that will help your show to grow.
• Expand your web presence.

Your recording setup

Your recording software and hardware will make a world of difference as you look to improve your show's production quality.

Recording software

A basic DAW like Audacity will serve you just fine. Audacity is free and is used by many popular podcasters, and includes almost any feature you could want. However, Audacity may be limiting in some ways, and can become annoying over time if you spend many hours editing audio.

Consider some paid options:

• Descript is a very convenient tool with lots of powerful features that work great for podcasters. Built-in AI features allow you to edit your episodes by modifying the transcript, allowing you to quickly trim audio and fix mistakes. Paid plans start at $12 per user per month, billed annually. More advanced features are available with higher-tier plans.
• Hindenburg Pro is available for both Windows and macOS. It has great built-in tools for helping to make your audio sound great without needing expertise. Business licenses start at $20 per month or $200 per year. Personal licenses are available for a substantial discount.
• Cloud-based services like Cleanfeed and Zencastr let you prepare your audio without needing to manage any software on your computer. Podcast guests can record their audio by simply opening a web page, like a Zoom or Google Meet call.
• Apple has Logic Pro, which is a great first-party offering for macOS. If you deal with many audio tracks (i.e., you host guests who each record their own audio), this can be a great option. A license costs $199.
• Adobe has Audition, which is available with Creative Cloud. If you are already an Adobe customer, this is a perfect choice. A subscription is available for $20.99 per month.

Recording equipment

You'll first want to make sure that you have a microphone that's doing your content justice. The first and highest-rated (though pricey) option is the Shure MV7.

If you already have a microphone stand, be sure to check whether the Shure MV7 will work with it. We recommend a boom stand, but a tripod stand will eliminate noise caused by vibrations from your desk (e.g., those caused by typing or moving your hands). Any stand with a 5/8" threaded connector should work with the MV7.

If you are trying to be mindful of cost, you can consider a slightly less expensvie option that still has great audio quality. The Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB has been rated highly for its great sound quality, and could be a great choice if you're being mindful of your budget.

Monetizing your show

Pinecast lets you monetize your podcast using a dedicated tip jar. You can simply allow your listeners to leave tips and subscribe, but there is a greater opportunity to build your income with premium content. Marking episodes as private makes them available only to paid subscribers. Consider the following approaches:

• Regularly post extra episodes outside of your normal schedule
• Post extended versions of your episodes, or additional content that got cut from the un-paid episode
• Post bloopers, extra content, and other material that didn't make it into your main episodes
• Post special one-off content, like events or holiday episodes
• Post uncut or unedited versions of interviews

With the Pinecast Growth add-on, which is an extra $10/mo (or $110/year), you have access to additional options to help monetize your show further.

• Set a minimum subscription amount needed to access premium content (any recurring tip jar subscription has access to premium content by default).
• Set dates for each episode to become private.
• Configure your show to automatically make each episode private after it has been published for a certain amount of time.

Premium hosting features

Beyond the features that you receive with your Pinecast Starter subscription, consider these add-on features which can help you grow faster and have better control or insight over your podcasts.

Pro Analytics

This add-on unlocks additional insights about your show. There's no need to backfill, so immediately after you upgrade you'll be able to look at historical Pro Analytics data.

• See listener locations at the country and city level
• Rank your episodes by listens over a custom time period
• Visualize your show's growth and the relative growth of individual episodes to help gauge your promotion efforts

See the analytics documentation for full details.

Growth

In addition to the tip jar features mentioned above, the Growth add-on provides the following features:

• Allow your listeners—paid or free—to leave comments on your show and individual episodes. Set prompts for comments on episodes. Set moderation rules to avoid unwanted messages.
• Make a podcast (feed and website) password-protected.
• Monitor your Apple Podcasts and Podchaser listings for reviews. We'll check all Apple regions, giving you the broadest view of your show's success.
• Customize your podcast website with a favicon.

Crew

The Crew add-on is made for podcasters who don't work alone. Allow your co-creators to add episodes and administer individual podcasts or groups of podcasts. You can collect multiple shows together into a single unified network dashboard, complete with combined analytics.

You'll also have access to notifications, which allow you to receive alerts for events on your podcast via email, Slack, Discord, or via a HTTP webhook.

Hi-Fi

This add-on allows you to upload files up to 256MB. If you're looking to upload very high-quality audio files (e.g., 192kbps or higher), you'll likely want this add-on. Additionally, this add-on will update your RSS feed every five minutes instead of every 15 minutes, allowing your episodes to go live faster.

Grow your presence online

Pinecast's podcast websites allow you a great deal of flexibility when customizing their look and feel, but sometimes you want to do something unique. In cases where you want to have greater control, check out our WordPress plugin. This plugin will create WordPress posts for each of your episodes, optionally putting them into a category and syncing episode artwork.

With WordPress, you can customize the theme, add features and scripts, and make the site more on-brand. Because our plugin accepts many feeds, you can, for instance, build a network website that organizes episodes how you'd like. This is truly the most flexible option for hosting your podcast website, and our plugin gives you complete control over how episodes are presented.

Documentation is available on our support website.