I just got done reading “Podcasting: The do-it-yourself guide” by Todd Cochrane. For the most part, a lot of good information, and very helpful on certain matters, such as hardware and software recommendations.

However, Todd seems to make certain assumptions about the potential podcaster. Specifically, he seems to assume that everyone is just like him. As such, much of his advice seems a little odd. For example, I don’t feel the need to plan for 5,000-plus visitors. I don’t expect I’ll ever have more than a few dozen. And he seems to assume (at least in some places) that we all have a news show of some kind which we need to research and interview for. So a lot of his tips seem like they will never apply to me.

Of course, if I start having tens of thousands of visitors, and make a lot of money on advertising, that would be fine. I think.

Of great use were Todd’s tips on using Audacity to edit the podcast audio, as well as tips on recording in the first place. I realize that I’m still just guessing when it comes to audio quality. Partially this is because I’m half deaf. Not a lot I can do about that. But part of it too is because I just have absolutely no experience with this sort of thing. I was amazed, however, with just how loud my house is, and how difficult it is to find a quiet place. Maybe if I shut myself in the closet …

For the most part, I recommend this book for folks that are interested in podcasting, but have no idea about the audio side of things. You can sort of get started with almost no initial investment, but it’s becoming quickly obvious that I’ll get a far better outcome if I can get a little recording equipment, like a decent microphone.

Oh, yeah, and I realized that I really have no idea what a mixer even is, let alone how to choose one wisely.