How About Starting Your Own Podcast?

Starting your own podcast may be easier than you think!

For example, besides having my own Internet Station, I'm also working on creating my own podcast. Actually I have already created the basic podcast now what's left for me to do is to decide what kind of podcast I want to have and what kind of content that I want to put in it.

You can start your own podcast for free at a couple of websites that will let you upload, store and broadcast (or provide a link to your podcast) your podcast for free. There are also lots of sites where you can download content in mp3 format that you can add to your podcast. * - However there may be a problem if you want to add music that is copyrighted by someone else. On some of the free podcast sites you won't be able to do that but that still leaves a lot of content that you CAN add to your podcast!

Starting your own podcast can be as simple as recording what you want to say and converting that into a mp3 format. Most of the "free" content that is available for your podcast is already in mp3 format and even if it wasn't you can download one of the many conversion programs so you can convert your sound file to a mp3 format.

Using myself as an example, I have a sound program called Cool Edit Pro that lets me record and save that recording into a mp3 format. If you like you could try one of the free sound conversion programs that are available over the internet just in case you don't want to pay for the Cool Edit Pro program. However Cool Edit Pro was well worth the cost because I can do so many things with this program! I can do a lot of nice production work such as adding background music, adding sound effects and so much more.

After I have recorded my content into a mp3 format then its just a simple thing of uploading that file to my podcast page and storage area - and there you have it - your very own podcast!

Now getting back to you and how starting your own podcast can be a great way to start your own working from home business - just think of your podcast as your very own version of an audio blog! Whatever you can blog about you can probably podcast about.

How do you make money with your podcast? How about adding advertisements? That is exactly what radio stations (and tv stations for that matter) have been doing since they were started.

Let's say for example that you wanted to start a business using your very own podcast. Well what kind of business would you want to start in the first place? What is your passion? What is your dream job?

Let's say that you are a stay-at-home mom and you want to earn some extra money. In previous posts I have mentioned that one could start a newsletter specifically geared towards single mothers. Just think how much more better (and fun) it would be if you had a podcast! You could include interviews with other single mothers. You could add your own "words of wisdom" - sort of comparable to having your own column only it would be in the spoken word and not the written word. In fact it would be most beneficial to you if you do both - have both the podcast and the newsletter!

Next would be getting advertisers to advertise on your podcast. You will have to come up with a "rate" sheet and schedule so that you will know what to charge your advertisers. What kind of advertisers would be interested in advertising on your podcast? What about those advertisers whose products are specifically geared to stay-at-home moms?

You can also have a website version of your podcast so that you can add Google's Adsense ads to your site.

You could also do reviews of certain products - giving them the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" review. What you can add to your podcast is only limited by your imagination!

Podcasting!

Well I am just all over the internet today! I'm visiting blogs and reading newsgroup threads...............posting to my AOL Journal.....and so on................

One of the things that I am currently working on is one of my podcasts for my local area.

This podcast of mine is relatively new and I'm still learning it. However I have some things already included on it so far. I have a public service announcement that I produced about my area's local firehouse. There are also a couple of other public service announcements that I got online and added to my podcast as well. I'm also working on adding music to my podcast but here is where you have to be careful! Unlike Live365 where you can add any music, my podcast's host doesn't allow just any type of music to be added - it has to do with copyright issues. But there is a site where you can download certain music and add it to your podcast.

I'm treating this podcast like my own little radio community talk show! It's like having your own talk show and being the host of your very own talk show!

Just think of the things that YOU could do with your very own talk show! Money and income-wise you could get advertsing and sponsorship for your show and since its YOUR show - you have control over what goes into it!

Now you may be thinking that it might just be too hard to produce and have your own podcast but to that I say just think of the possibilities that you could do!

My podcast (so far) consists of me recording to my computer and simply uploading the file to my podcast host site.

If you have had a chance to listen to podcasts on the Internet then you know that there is a whole lot of possibilites there!

So far hosting my podcast is not costing me a thing - except for my Internet access. And since I'm doing my income taxes now and having to report my Adsense income its also making me think of the possibilities of adding my podcast(s) as part of my self-employment business. When I do so there will be a lot of deductions that I will be able to take as part of this business!

So really think about starting your own podcast!

How About Creating Your Very Own Podcast!

I am sure that I mentioned many times on this blog about podcasting. What is podcasting? Well it's like having your own show on the Internet.



How do you create your own podcast? Well it's kind of simple really! What you do is record your show the way you want it to be and then you upload it to one of the free podcasting sites and there you have it - your own show! Of course you have to read the guidelines of the free podcasting site that you are using because on some of them you can't use copyrighted music - so check their rules first.


What can I podcast about? That's the beauty of it because you can podcast about almost anything you like! I recently created a podcast for where I live:

LaMott Podcast









How Can You Make Money With Your Podcast? Well the most obvious answer is that you can sell advertising time on your podcast - just like they do at radio stations! The more popular your podcast the more potential for more advertisers who will want to advertise on your podcast.


The tools you'll need should be relatively simple and most of the tools you will need should already be a part of your computer. You just need a microphone, a way (program) to record your show and since the most acceptable upload format is .mp3 you will need a program that will convert your show to an .mp3 format.


You'd be surprised and amazed at the number of topics that are on the Internet in the form of podcasts.


If you're feeling nervous or anxious or are just feeling afraid to try, then you might want to take a listen to some of the podcasts that are already out there and then you will see how it can be possible for you to have your very own podcast!



Who knows? You might even become a star!

I Have My Own Podcast Now!

My podcast is very (very) new! I have put up a test message that I called in from my cellphone just to see if it would work and it did! I have also added a few public service announcements. Now I think adding music is going to be tricky because that involves copyrights.

I haven't figured out what the theme of my podcast will be yet. (However I do have my Nailbiter's Message Board Podcast up and ready.

I did have one other post about having a podcast and I have learned a little bit more about them since then. The process seems simple enough. Its providing the content that I am having trouble with - so I'm working on that for now - but enough about me!

As I mentioned in my first post about podcasting, having your very own podcast is like having your very own talk show. I think about the only hindrance you will discover is the ethical "no-no" of playing copyrighted music. But you can have other things on your podcast - most importantly - YOU! You can talk about almost any subject that you want (as long as those subjects fit in with the terms of your hosting site). In essence you can have your very own talk show. You can include commercials and interviews and phone conversations and that is only the beginning.

Basically what you need to have your own podcast is the ability to record your content and then upload it (preferably in mp3 format) to a hosted site. There are some free hosting sites on the internet and all you have to do is use one of the major serch engines to find some of them.

I would give you a link to my other podcast but it just isn't ready yet

Using Your Talent!

Maybe you may find it hard to believe, you may have "talents" that you don't think that you could possibly use to start a business of your own.

Currently I am editing my Frappr site. Frappr is a site where you can create a map of almost anything that you like. My current Frappr map is for where I live - LaMott, Pa!

The map was originally for my LaMott Radio Internet Station but that is temporarily down now. However there is still the LaMott Podcast that I have!

I have a background in radio broadcasting so having both an Internet Radio station AND a podcast is quite fun for me - even though it is a bit of work doing the production for it.

I mention this because it occurred to me that this is a special talent / skill that I have that I can put to good use. And it also occurred to me that since I have a "Working From Home" blog that I should post about it here because this is a skill that you can use to work from home. Not everyone has this specific type of skill but you may have a skill or talent of your own that you can put to good use and make it profitable for yourself!

With both the Internet radio station and the podcast I can generate income from sponsorship and advertisements. I'm also thinking about my local community center where I can post flyers and even a newsletter that I can create relating to both the podcast and the Internet radio station - which would generate more interest and hopefully more revenue!

If you're asking what this may have to do with you it is quite simple! Do you have a talent or skill that you can turn into a profitable business? The answer is probably "Yes" but you may not think that you have any kind of talent or skill that you can turn into a business.

One of the favorite things that I like to mention on my Dream Job Consultation page is the fact that you could even turn something that you hate into a profitable business of your own! My most favorite example of this is the whole subject of washing dishes. Now you may hate washing dishes - but guess what? - you are not alone! What about starting your own "I HATE WASHING DISHES" club?

How would you start it? How about starting with a free blog where you don't have to pay anything to have the blog and you start posting about your experiences relating to washing dishes - which you hate to do? You could add pictures regarding it and continue to post about your experiences. If you promote your blog (or website) you will start to get visitors and hopefully even a few of those visitors will start posting comments to your site. You can mention that you are starting a club about it and hopefully you will get people interested enough to join. You can decide whether or not you want to charge a fee or not - but the main point is to just get started to get started getting more interest to your site.

To start earning money you can add Google's Adsense program to your site so that you can have ads on your site where you earn money when visitors to your site click on the ads.

Promote your site, get more traffic and more visitors and optimize your site for the search engines so that even more people will find it!

The more traffic that you generate the more interesting and appealing you will look to potential advertisers! You may even get advertisers who will want to advertise on your site directly instead of going through a third party and that will mean even MORE money for you!

To start to make even more money start writing reviews of the different products that you use relating to washing the dishes. Companies are always interested in what people think of their products! You may even get comments and suggestions from other consumers who are using the same product and that will even bring more interest - and hopefully more traffic to your site - thus making it more popular!

There are so many additional things that can be added to this!

You could start a podcast of reviews. Just think about it. Listen to a local radio station or tv show and notice the advertising and the kinds of ads that are appearing! That could be YOU if you had your own podcast because it would be like having a show of your own!

Now maybe there is something else that you do or don't like that you could turn into a business - but hopefully you are getting my point here!

If you don't think that you have any special talents or skills just think about what you do in the course of a day! Look around you. Do you collect something, have a special hobby or special interest? You may be able to turn that into a profitable business of your own!

Please think about it and give it some thought!

So many people are being laid off from their jobs and they are having a hard time finding another one. But being able to do something profitable in the meantime can surely do more harm than good!

If you would like to comment about your special interests, skills, etc so that you can receive some feedback, then please post your comments here.

Broadcasting?

I was reading online about how someone wanted to get into broadcasting and it made me remember my days in radio broadcasting. I was a DJ for about 10 years but since I worked at mostly smaller stations I did a lot of other jobs at the radio stations as well! I was even a receptionist at one time - I really hated that! But it was a stepping stone to my first DJ job.

I believe that radio stations and radio station broadcasting has changed a lot since the time that I was a DJ - although I do think that the more smaller markets still offer some great opportunities for those that want to be in broadcasting.

How did I start my DJ career? Well I went to broadcasting school for about 6 months. Then it took me about 2 years before I got my first radio job! In those 2 years I almost gave up hope but I got that first job because one of my co-students worked there and that's how I got the job there. Like I mentioned above, I started off as being the receptionist.

I kept saying that I wanted to be on the air and it took about a year before I finally did get on the air! There was a DJ that didn't show up and that is when they put me behind the mike! I had been a DJ ever since!

But like I said before, these were smaller radio stations and I did just about everything from producing commercials to repairing some of the equipment!

I mention this because I believe that the radio biz has changed a lot! When I was a DJ we could pick the music that we played as long as it stayed within the realms of the format. I have worked at stations playing everything from gospel/christian music to classic rock 'n roll! Nowadays a lot of the major stations work from a playlist or - more worse - work from a satallite feed from somewhere else! The last radio station that I worked for fired about 90% of its air staff (including me) to broadcast a feed from Califorinia.

I miss those broadcasting days but am reminded that one can be their own broadcaster on the Internet!

If this is something that interests you, it may be more easier to do than you think! I have had an Internet radio station and while it was not free it did cost about $100 a year and if you can "swing" that then you might want to take a look at Live365.com.

You could also start your own podcast which would be like having your own talk show! There are some good (and free) podcast hosting sites online. Just do a search for them and you should find some good links to get you started!

Having a podcast is like having your own talkshow and you could also consider it comparable to having your own audio blog as well.

You never know who may be listening or where that next big (and profitable) opportunity may come from!

There Are More Opportunities Out There Than You May Think!

On a previous post I talked about podcasting which involved recording your voice and then uploading it to your podcast so that it would be a part of your podcast.

Here is another related opportunity. You know that there are still open casting calls out there? News and information about open casting calls are on the internet too and if you know the right sites to go to then you can find out about the latest casting calls.

With the popularity of animated movies comes the opportunity for "voice" actors and I have seen open casting calls from film studios and productions sending notices about open casting calls for voice actors. Now some of these roles don't pay anything but some of them do!

The lastest casting call that I have seen was a paying, non-union role that is paying over $100 for a voice over actor. Sometimes the audition process can even involve you reading from an already made script and submitting your reading via email or their website. Once you have the information about the audition and have a copy of the script excerpt all you have to do is record yourself reading the script and then upload it per their instructions.

I know that it can be hard and sometimes even frustrating for those that want to go into show business but the more opportunities that you can take advantage of the more better for your and your career.

I also realize that this doesn't fall under the "working from home" category but it does fall under the "being able to make an income" category and lets face it - there are still a lot of people that want the security of being able to work for someone else rather than starting a business of their own.

That's not to say that actors can't have a business of their own. Many do! Big stars generate income from other sources besides their acting careers. The start clothing lines, create perfumes, they start their own production companies and they even write books.

So just because you have decided that you want to become an actor, that doesn't mean that acting could be your only source of income. Besides many actors have said that they themselves are the product and they look at it as a business - that they are in charge of - so in a way they are working for themselves.

I'm A Photographer!

Remember when I said that one never knows what kind of hidden talents they might posess? Well I have recently come to find out that I am a photographer! It never really occurred until I was visiting one of my "art" galleries that I have online. (You can find out more about my "art" by going to my The 3D Beginner blog.

I was looking at other people's art galleries and realized that they had included their own photography into their galleries and I thought to myself that 'hey, I have pictures that I have taken too!' and I started adding them to my art galleries as well.

I have taken quite a few pictures of my local area and have added them to my blog. Now some of the pictures look blurry and some of them are not 100% clear but it is still photography. What is also interesting to note is that most of the pictures that I have taken so far have been with my camera phone. (Note to myself - I need a digital camera!).

Now since I have earned an income from my blogs that means that I can deduct the cost of a lot of things (business expenses) as far as my income taxes are concerned. What comes mostly to mind is that I could buy a digital camera and deduct the cost of it on my income taxes.

Now you may ask about how does this relate to working from home and hopefully it would be obvious but just in case it is not...............................

Because I have a website and blog about my local area, I have been getting email from those that have seen them and these pages are started to get a reputation and their popularity is growing. I have gotten email from some of the local businesses and organizations in the area as well. I put up a picture of our local church and got a nice email from a woman who said that she was feeling nostalgic about the area and was searching online and up came the picture that I had posted of the local church. She said looking at that picture brought back a lot of memories......................

You could start your own little newsletter-type thing about your local area as well. It could be a blog or a website (both that you can get for free!) and you could start to put content on it about your local area. Sign up for adsense so that you can have advertising on your site and start to earn an income from the adsense. Once you reach a certain amount in adsense earnings you can declare this as your business and start to be able to deduct business expenses that are related to running it. Invest in a cameraphone and/or digital camera and go around the area and take pictures. Put those pictures on your site. Let your site build up a reputation and as more and more people come to visit your site it will gain an even bigger reputation. You can then solicit the businesses in your area to advertise on your site. You can make good money using adsense but you can make even more money by getting advertisers directly!

I also have a LaMott Radio (Internet) Station and a LaMott podcast (that I'm still working on) as well. The internet radio station has a yearly fee but the podcast hosting is free.

There are just so many possibilities that one can work with when building up a business such as this. But the important thing to remember is that since your income will be had from advertisers that you have to appeal to them in order for them to want to advertise on your site. Then there can be other forms of income coming from it as well. You could even classify yourself as a reporting and report on different events and issure in your area as well.

There are just so many ways that one can go with an idea such as this one!

Give it some real consideration as a possible business for you to start that you can work from home from it.

Do You Have Your Own Ministry?

I used to work at a gospel music station back in the 80's and 90's - things have changed a lot since then. BTW here is a link to my Internet Radio Station:

However there are a lot of people (both men and women) that have their own ministries and there are lots of things that they can do to help bring more attention to their ministries.

Like I mentioned above I have an Internet Radio Station so why can't you have one for your own ministry? You will reach a more wider audience because the Internet is all over the world and open 24/7! Now there is a fee with having your own internet radio station and you are going to have to decide whether the cost will be worth it. (I made my decision that having my own Internet Radio Station was well worth the cost!)

But there is a way to have your own broadcast without having to pay a fee for it. All you have to do is start your own podcast. You can record your ministy teachings and include contact information for others to reach you. Put up a corresponding webpage and add Paypal so that you can get donations. Put an online version of your ministry on the Internet. some ministries may have qualms about having Adsense on their sites but if you don't this is another great way to earn revenue from your website or blog.

And since I mentioned blogs - Does your ministry have a blog? If not is should! If for no other reason than other people from all over the world being able to see and read it!

There are so many ideas for increasing your ministry's income and with the Internet the number of those ideas just go on and on and on and on!

"How Can My Band's Site Be More Profitable?"

"How can I make bands website come off as profitable and stable?
Right now I am learning HTML but I want to know what else is really needed to have a website come off as profitable and stable. This is for a bands website."

It depends on what you mean by "have a website come off as profitable and stable" - what are you talking about?

Do you want to make a profit from the website for your band? Do you want your site to look professional? Are you talking about selling stuff as far as your band goes? You can show pictures of what your band has to sell, take payments via paypal. You can also add adsense ads to your site as well. You earn money when people click on the ads.

A lot of bands have myspace pages but you can't add adsense ads to myspace pages but you CAN have both a myspace and a regular website.

Your band could also get sponsors and advertisers of their own.

You could also start a podcast/talkshow featuring your band - all for free!

There are a lot of free ways to make your site profitable but you have to do the work and not just build a site and then do nothing else to it.

Sister2brother

My Blog - Free Things That I Have Found On The Internet!

Turning A Bad Experience into Learning Experience

I was listening to this guy talking on the radio. He was the host of an hour long program on one of my local radio talk stations. He was giving out advice about financial matters and in the course of his show he talked about how he lost his house. Losing one's home is a devastating experience but he went on to say that when he lost his house he decided right then and there that it would never happen to him again and he did something about it. He learned more about the foreclosure process and he used his knowledge to help other people who were in the same situation as he once was.

This is just another great example of how another person turned his passion into a business. This also a great example of turning something that you hate into a busines. If you didn't think it was possible to turn something that you hated into a business now you know that you are wrong.

Now you may be saying that well "that guy has a radio show" and what I would say is that you don't have to have your own radio show to get your point across. But it is becoming more and more easier to have your own radio show on the Internet. I have my own Internet Radio station called LaMott Radio that's supposed to be half romantic music and half community news. While the media that I use is Live365 where you have to pay a fee there is an alternative that you can use if you don't want to pay a fee. You can simply start your own by using the recording tools on your computer and create your own podcast and upload that to your website. There is so much that you can do with this, you can accept advertising and the added exposure will give you more publicity and if the subject that you are talking about will help people then that will help you even more.

If you don't know about podcasting then LEARN!. With the exception of paying for your Internet access you can use one of the free webhosts that are on the Internet and that will help to keep your costs at a minimum.

A Government Grant "Scam" Alert!

As someone that does grant research and consultations for a living, it pains me to have to read articles about companies and / or other businesses that are not operating on the up and up! I read an online article about one such company and I will be providing a link to it below the blog post.

It seems that this "government grant" business asks you to pay something like $1 or $2 plus shipping and handling for sending you their government grant cd. BUT you might also be billed monthly on your credit card account! It's supposed to be in the fine print. They are currently advertising on the popular Facebook site(s).

Here is a link to the article. The article itself provides a lot of good information about this company including mentioning how one can get that monthly charge to their credit card canceled.

Like I said I do grant research for a living (you can visit my Grant Basics 101 Blog to find out more information about what I do and if you would like to find out more information about government grant programs that you may be eligible for.)

I'm sure that basically if you are curious about government grant programs one of the most frequently asked question has got to be "Are there any government grant programs to help start a business" and the answer to that is Yes! You can go to my Grant Basics 101 website to see examples of grant recipients who have received money to start their own businesses!

Another popular frequently asked question is about government grants and starting a daycare business - again the answer is yes there are government (and other) grant programs that can help you start your own daycare business! As a matter of fact I sent one daycare-related client over 10 pages of information concerning grant programs that her for-profit daycare center may be eligible for - so yes there are grant programs to help start a for-profit daycare business. You can find out more information about that by going to my Grant Basics 101 - Daycare website and blog. You can also listen to my Grant Basics 101 Podcast in which the first caller asks about government (and other) grant programs for their for-profit daycare business.

As far as working from home is concerned it really depends on the kind of work that you want to do. There are grant programs for writers, artists and even musicians too! There is even a grant program for comic book artists as well!

Golf?

I just got finished posting on my Grant Basics 101 blog about a grant program for non-profit organizations that help encourage the sport of playing golf. If you don't know it the golfing industry is a billion dollar industry! But it got me to thinking about this blog.

If you have an interest in golf you can turn that into a career too! The most obvious way is to start a blog about your golfing interests. Add Adsense ads to your blog and accept ads from various golf-related advertisers. You can also start your own podcast - just like having your own golf talk show - and add golf-related advertisers. You can supplement this by having an offline newsletter relating to golf and you can have an online version of your offline newsletter - or visa versa!

I want to repeat that the golf industry is a billion dollar industry and if you can tap into that you are well on your way!

Have You Ever Thought Of Starting Your Own Music Label?

I got an email from an aspiring singer who wanted help in spreading the word about her music. She does have a myspace page. But it did get me to thinking about how one could start their own record label.

Many of the famous rap stars have started their own labels and they do it from the comfort of their own home! Now you may not have to the money to buy sophisticated equipment but you have some good tools right in front of you if your computer is relative new. You could record your songs and put them to CD and distribute/sell those CDs. Besides being a singer or musician you would also be a producer. You could get an internet radio station like mine and promote your own music! You could also create your own podcast for free and promote your own music.

"Baby Sleep Consultant"

This is the first time that I have ever heard of this term. But it also reminds me that that there is almost no limit to the kinds of skills that a person can have. A baby sleep consultant helps babies sleep more better, more comfortably and through the night. This is a welcomed benefit to new parents who have babies who cry throughout the night. And apparently this service is more popular than I thought!

This is but yet another example of one's skill(s). People have talents that they probably never thought of as such. I read somewhere that if you can't make a living doing what you love to do then you are doing it wrong!

You may have a skill and/or talent but you probably never thought of it as a skill or talent. There are still people that make furniture by hand even though we have furniture that is massed produced and these individual furniture makers are making enough of an income to live on and beyond! Let's say that you have a talent for making furniture and you want to be able to make a living doing that. It may be hard to believe but there are still a lot of people (and potential clients) that are out there who still buy furniture from independent furniture makers. The more popular your work gets the more "word of mouth" spreads and the more potential customers you will have.

But you can do even more! You could write a book about furniture making, you could create a newsletter about furniture making and you could even start a podcast about furniture-making. You could teach a class about furniture making too! There are a lot of possible income opportunities other than the most obvious.

You may not think that you have a skill or talent- but you probably do!